Google Pixel 5 and Pixel 5 XL

[Tig Bitties]

I think the Pixel 5 is more than the sum of it's parts, if that makes any sense?

Yes on paper the specs of the P5 are mediocre at best, and other phones in the price range like the Samsung Galaxy SE and OnePlus 8T offer way better hardware.

But ... you are paying for that stock Google OS, with direct support from Google, with on the dot monthly security updates like clockwork, and 3 full years of Android OS updates. Samsung and OnePlus are certainly not doing that, especially on phones from a year or two ago, they lag behind pretty bad on older devices in regards to updates.

And the camera, the portrait mode on the Pixel is bar none the best in the industry, and I think you pay a premium for that camera.

So with the Pixel 5 you get the 3 full years of Android OS updates direct from Google, and the best in class still photography on a smartphone. I do think that's why they are charging extra.

The Samsung Galaxy FE? I wouldn't take that for $99, it's running Touchjizz UI, or whatever they call it now, Scum UI or something. F that, no way.

And OnePlus blows on updates for older phones, and their OS might be Chinese spyware.

 

[hallux]

a "flagship phone" generally refers to a phone that is great at everything.

We can agree to disagree. My idea of a "flagship" is the item that is your top-end product, no matter how it compares to the "flagship" from the competitors.

Take auto manufacturers as an example - Kia's "flagship" vehicle, arguably, is the K900 sedan, but how does that compare to a Mercedes Maybach, the top-line sedan from Mercedes? There's no comparison, but they both could be considered "flagship" for their respective brands.

Similarly, the Pixel 5 would be Google's "flagship" devices, while the Note series would be Samsung's "flagship" but there's no comparison between them.

So with the Pixel 5 you get the 3 full years of Android OS updates direct from Google,

Yup, and to be fully clear on the security patching you also noted - Google still releases them MONTHLY for the full 3 years, unlike Samsung that I believe drops a device to quarterly patching after 2(?) years and tablets NEVER get monthly patches for some reason. The Pixel 2 XL will miss its first monthly patch in November, and get its final update in December.

 

[michael9891]

I had such a terrible camera experience with the Pixel 5 tonight. I picked my phone up, pointed, took the shot and put it down. Can't believe it took me an entire 10 seconds.

 

[jdlindsey7]

I had such a terrible camera experience with the Pixel 5 tonight. I picked my phone up, pointed, took the shot and put it down. Can't believe it took me an entire 10 seconds.

View attachment 967634

Beautiful picture!

 

[Tig Bitties]

I had such a terrible camera experience with the Pixel 5 tonight. I picked my phone up, pointed, took the shot and put it down. Can't believe it took me an entire 10 seconds.

View attachment 967634

That's a great picture. Why was it a terrible experience? Or are you joking?

Did the photo processing take 10 seconds to complete? Or picking up the phone, snapping the pic, and putting the phone back in your pocket, all take a total of 10 seconds?

 

[jdlindsey7]

a "flagship phone" generally refers to a phone that is great at everything. Has you covered for the best experience everywhere. All of its parts/features are top quality. Where as upper mid range phones have some top notch parts and some they cut back on to save costs.

In the Pixel 5's case, the speaker isnt great, and display brightness is subpar. Top sustained brightness is about 483 nits.. compared to iphone's 800 nits. And outdoors, the Pixel 5 only reaches 670 nits while the iphone reaches 1200. Thats a massive difference which really matters for usability in bright outdoor environments. And having the highest end chip shouldnt be taken so lightly. Overall one is a flagship while the other isnt meant to be truly be one.

I would say that anyone can nitpick things about every "flagship" though. My current daily is an iPhone XS Max that I have owned for 2 years now. The battery is mediocre. The file system on iOS is garbage. I hate how Apple starts the 12 with only 64GB of storage. I hate the notch (personal gripe). The 12 does some stuff better, as you pointed out, but the iPhones make just as many sacrifies.

 

[michael9891]

That's a great picture. Why was it a terrible experience? Or are you joking?

Did the photo processing take 10 seconds to complete? Or picking up the phone, snapping the pic, and putting the phone back in your pocket, all take a total of 10 seconds?

I was being sarcastic (I am English!), as it's been stated on here by a non owner that taking pics with the Pixel 5 isn't a good experience. 10 seconds total start to finish.

 

[Carlo Aguilar Castrat]

We can agree to disagree. My idea of a "flagship" is the item that is your top-end product, no matter how it compares to the "flagship" from the competitors.

Take auto manufacturers as an example - Kia's "flagship" vehicle, arguably, is the K900 sedan, but how does that compare to a Mercedes Maybach, the top-line sedan from Mercedes? There's no comparison, but they both could be considered "flagship" for their respective brands.

Similarly, the Pixel 5 would be Google's "flagship" devices, while the Note series would be Samsung's "flagship" but there's no comparison between them.


Yup, and to be fully clear on the security patching you also noted - Google still releases them MONTHLY for the full 3 years, unlike Samsung that I believe drops a device to quarterly patching after 2(?) years and tablets NEVER get monthly patches for some reason. The Pixel 2 XL will miss its first monthly patch in November, and get its final update in December.

yeah thats one way of looking at it but some companies only make mid range phones. Like motorola in 2018, only made mid range phones, no flagships

 

[Carlo Aguilar Castrat]

I was being sarcastic (I am English!), as it's been stated on here by a non owner that taking pics with the Pixel 5 isn't a good experience. 10 seconds total start to finish.

this guy is referring to me. He wants to ignore what tech reviewers like MKBHD have pointed out. I never said it was a bad experience, i said its not as good of an experience as it is on iphones or the pixel 4. Because google removed the neural core which makes you means you now need to wait a few seconds before viewing your picture. And if you take multiple HDR pictures, its much worse.

 

[Tig Bitties]

I currently use a Pixel 4 XL and one thing that has been annoying me for quite some time is after I take a portrait picture the photo isn't ready for several seconds. I'll notice up in the status bar the camera icon and it'll stay up there for a good five or so seconds and it's been doing that for months.

And again this the 4XL has the neural core processor and it still seems to take a while to process photos.

So is the Pixel 5 worse than that? Or pretty much the same? If it's the same I'm already used to it.

 

[Carlo Aguilar Castrat]

I would say that anyone can nitpick things about every "flagship" though. My current daily is an iPhone XS Max that I have owned for 2 years now. The battery is mediocre. The file system on iOS is garbage. I hate how Apple starts the 12 with only 64GB of storage. I hate the notch (personal gripe). The 12 does some stuff better, as you pointed out, but the iPhones make just as many sacrifies.

I mean, you can compare an XS max to a pixel 4a and find stuff on the 4a that are better, but that doesnt mean the XS max isnt a flagship. The notch is responsoble for face ID and is necessary, face ID is bleeding edge tech so thats not actually a sacrifice in terms of quality. Its a design choice you might not like but its not done that way to cut costs.

 

[Carlo Aguilar Castrat]

I currently use a Pixel 4 XL and one thing that has been annoying me for quite some time is after I take a portrait picture the photo isn't ready for several seconds. I'll notice up in the status bar the camera icon and it'll stay up there for a good five or so seconds and it's been doing that for months.

And again this the 4XL has the neural core processor and it still seems to take a while to process photos.

So is the Pixel 5 worse than that? Or pretty much the same? If it's the same I'm already used to it.

thats kinda wierd, it might be a software bug on your side? my iphone processes portrait pics instantly, same should be true for the pixel 4 with neural core.

 

[michael9891]

I currently use a Pixel 4 XL and one thing that has been annoying me for quite some time is after I take a portrait picture the photo isn't ready for several seconds. I'll notice up in the status bar the camera icon and it'll stay up there for a good five or so seconds and it's been doing that for months.

And again this the 4XL has the neural core processor and it still seems to take a while to process photos.

So is the Pixel 5 worse than that? Or pretty much the same? If it's the same I'm already used to it.

I just took a quick portrait pic and counted 2.5 seconds from pressing the shutter to it being fully processed. Sometimes it will probably be slightly slower and sometimes slightly quicker.

Maybe that it's now not producing both pics (blurred & non blurred) at the same time speeds things up a little? You can fully adjust the blur afterwards if you want.

 

[Tig Bitties]

I just took a quick portrait pic and counted 2.5 seconds from pressing the shutter to it being fully processed. Sometimes it will probably be slightly slower and sometimes slightly quicker.

Maybe that it's now not producing both pics (blurred & non blurred) at the same time speeds things up a little? You can fully adjust the blur afterwards if you want.

I'm not a fan of the two pictures it produces when I shoot portrait mode that's all I want I don't want the clear version I just want the one portrait photo

 

[Awesomesince86]

I think the Pixel 5 is more than the sum of it's parts, if that makes any sense?

Yes on paper the specs of the P5 are mediocre at best, and other phones in the price range like the Samsung Galaxy SE and OnePlus 8T offer way better hardware.

But ... you are paying for that stock Google OS, with direct support from Google, with on the dot monthly security updates like clockwork, and 3 full years of Android OS updates. Samsung and OnePlus are certainly not doing that, especially on phones from a year or two ago, they lag behind pretty bad on older devices in regards to updates.

And the camera, the portrait mode on the Pixel is bar none the best in the industry, and I think you pay a premium for that camera.

So with the Pixel 5 you get the 3 full years of Android OS updates direct from Google, and the best in class still photography on a smartphone. I do think that's why they are charging extra.

The Samsung Galaxy FE? I wouldn't take that for $99, it's running Touchjizz UI, or whatever they call it now, Scum UI or something. F that, no way.

And OnePlus blows on updates for older phones, and their OS might be Chinese spyware.

I can't take you seriously when you keep hating on Samsung's software when you clearly haven't used it in a long time. It's fine that you don't like Samsung phones, but to base that off of an experience you had with then 5 or so years ago seems odd to me.

At least you called it Touchjizz instead of Lagwiz...so at least we're making progress.

 

[Carlo Aguilar Castrat]

I can't take you seriously when you keep hating on Samsung's software when you clearly haven't used it in a long time. It's fine that you don't like Samsung phones, but to base that off of an experience you had with then 5 or so years ago seems odd to me.

At least you called it Touchjizz instead of Lagwiz...so at least we're making progress.

yeah, Samsungs One UI is pretty good looking. One UI 2.0 is very fluid. Dark mode on it looks awesome

 

[Tig Bitties]

I can't take you seriously when you keep hating on Samsung's software when you clearly haven't used it in a long time. It's fine that you don't like Samsung phones, but to base that off of an experience you had with then 5 or so years ago seems odd to me.

At least you called it Touchjizz instead of Lagwiz...so at least we're making progress.

Don't get me wrong Samsung produces great hardware specifically displays. An internal storage and processors etc they're really great at that.

It's their OS which is poo. I do the tech stuff for everyone at work The whole office has S10 model phones It's lag city on every person's phone I have to update or deal with monthly, has stutters and lag and slowdowns reminds me of an old Windows 95 computer. And half the office their phones look exactly like they did when they took them out of the box, barely any new apps, and same setup the phone ships with.

My biggest beef with Samsung is the duplicate apps Google already has a calendar and messaging app and clock
Samsung shouldn't even be allowed to ship alternate duplicate apps than the core stock Google stuff.

Google phone app with all the special cool features it has should be standard on every Android phone.

But I do respect Samsung for hardware they make the best Android hardware hands down no question.

 

[gautampw]

I was being sarcastic (I am English!), as it's been stated on here by a non owner that taking pics with the Pixel 5 isn't a good experience. 10 seconds total start to finish.

Did you edit that picture with auto enhance or that's what you got out of the box? The picture is very good indeed.

 

[Tig Bitties]

In my opinion there's really only two phones to pick from either Apple iPhone or Google Pixel.

Mostly for security updates and OS support which is really important nowadays with viruses and people trying to steal your data. In the Android world Google Pixel's are the only one that handles that well.

 

[Awesomesince86]

Don't get me wrong Samsung produces great hardware specifically displays. An internal storage and processors etc they're really great at that.

It's their OS which is poo. I do the tech stuff for everyone at work The whole office has S10 model phones It's lag city on every person's phone I have to update or deal with monthly, has stutters and lag and slowdowns reminds me of an old Windows 95 computer. And half the office their phones look exactly like they did when they took them out of the box, barely any new apps, and same setup the phone ships with.

My biggest beef with Samsung is the duplicate apps Google already has a calendar and messaging app and clock
Samsung shouldn't even be allowed to ship alternate duplicate apps than the core stock Google stuff.

Google phone app with all the special cool features it has should be standard on every Android phone.

But I do respect Samsung for hardware they make the best Android hardware hands down no question.

I don't know what those people are doing, but I've had an S10 plus and now an S20 plus and I can count on one hand the number of times I've had noticeable lag on both phones combined.

 

[Tig Bitties]

I don't know what those people are doing, but I've had an S10 plus and now an S20 plus and I can count on one hand the number of times I've had noticeable lag on both phones combined.

It is the Sprint version with a bunch of pre-loaded bloatware. And none of my coworkers keep their phone up to date or know how to streamline it to be smooth.

So maybe a Sprint Galaxy phone It's just garbage?

 

[michael9891]

Did you edit that picture with auto enhance or that's what you got out of the box? The picture is very good indeed.

No editing, except for blacking out a phone number on the dog tag.

 

[Carlo Aguilar Castrat]

Don't get me wrong Samsung produces great hardware specifically displays. An internal storage and processors etc they're really great at that.

It's their OS which is poo. I do the tech stuff for everyone at work The whole office has S10 model phones It's lag city on every person's phone I have to update or deal with monthly, has stutters and lag and slowdowns reminds me of an old Windows 95 computer. And half the office their phones look exactly like they did when they took them out of the box, barely any new apps, and same setup the phone ships with.

My biggest beef with Samsung is the duplicate apps Google already has a calendar and messaging app and clock
Samsung shouldn't even be allowed to ship alternate duplicate apps than the core stock Google stuff.

Google phone app with all the special cool features it has should be standard on every Android phone.

But I do respect Samsung for hardware they make the best Android hardware hands down no question.

hear me out. One UI 1 was laggy. S10 models have One UI 1 and its laggy. I had a note 9 with One UI 1 and it got laggy and stuttery at times. Specially the launcher and app switching animations.

This is not the case anymore since One UI 2.0. Its now smooth as butter it seems.

 

[Awesomesince86]

It is the Sprint version with a bunch of pre-loaded bloatware. And none of my coworkers keep their phone up to date or know how to streamline it to be smooth.

So maybe a Sprint Galaxy phone It's just garbage?

I don't know, I've only used Tmobile or unlocked variants. But the S20 plus I'm currently using is the best phone I've ever used hands down. It's class leading in just about every category besides camera.

 

[Tig Bitties]

I won't derail the threat any longer last comment on other phones. But I recall a ton of YouTube videos coming out when the OnePlus 8 Pro was first released, And it's very similar sized and shape as the Galaxy S20 ultra.

Anyways a lot of these reviewers were saying they had the S20 ultra as well and tested that 8 Pro and every one of them they're consensus was the OnePlus 8 Pro absolutely blew the S20 ultra out of the water in smoothness and fluid UI. Everyone said it was night and day radical difference how fast and lag free the 8 Pro was compared to the S20 Ultra.

Ok back to the Pixel 5.