Google Pixel 5 and Pixel 5 XL

[michael9891]

Clear case because I really like the sage colour and I'd rather not damage it when the inevitable accidental knock occurs.

 

[Cole Slaw]

Just placed my order for a black Pixel 5

I'm a little surprised; I figured you'd wait a bit and get an iPhone 12 pro max.
BTW, I also have Pixel 5 on the way. Seems like a competent if not exciting sort of phone.
Reports on its battery life look good.

 

[Cole Slaw]

Clear case because I really like the sage colour and I'd rather not damage it when the inevitable accidental knock occurs.

I also ordered a sage green P5 and a clear case. I usually end up with black or white phones, so this will be something a little different.

 

[Tig Bitties]

I'm a little surprised; I figured you'd wait a bit and get an iPhone 12 pro max.
BTW, I also have Pixel 5 on the way. Seems like a competent if not exciting sort of phone.
Reports on its battery life look good.

I'm not a big iOS fan, as much as the iPhone 12 Pro Max does look like a beast of a super phone, I'm starting to get sick of carrying these tablets that weigh like a brick on me. The 12 Pro Max will be a HEAVY phone, and pretty large. Honestly that's not comfortable to use when out and about.

Sure a large almost mini tablet phone is great when just lounging around the house, it's amazing for media consumption. But once on the go outside and doing stuff, I don't like these large phones as much anymore.

I want to get back to easily one handed texting, and not feeling this brick in my pants, Hey Now LOL. Just a simple phone to pull out, do a quick text, or send an e-mail, and put it back in my pocket and move on.

I'll have to see the iPhone 12 Pro Max with my own eyes and hands at the store, to see if I'd even consider it. But doubtful I'll get it, just getting annoyed with gigantic phones.

I don't like small phones either, I don't want a mini or anything, no way. I want a mid size phone 6.2" or so is near perfect, with a huge battery, which is rare, and why I am drawn to the Pixel 5. The Pixel 5 having a 4,100mAh battery, is the largest battery ever put in a Google Nexus or Pixel, and crazy that's it's one of the smaller Google phones they've released in years, yet has their biggest battery ever. I am happy they did that.

 

[bandrews]

People with the Pixel 5 now or getting one, few questions please;

- Naked or case?
- dBrand skin on a naked phone or with a clear case?
- Do you use a different launcher besides stock?

I've got a fabric Google case on mine for every day use as I'm always out on the farm and highly likely to drop it on concrete because I'm clumsy like that. Easy to slip in and out of the case though whenever I want.
If I wanted to use a different launcher I wouldn't have bought a Pixel! ?

 

[cuzo]

I'm not a big iOS fan, as much as the iPhone 12 Pro Max does look like a beast of a super phone, I'm starting to get sick of carrying these tablets that weigh like a brick on me. The 12 Pro Max will be a HEAVY phone, and pretty large. Honestly that's not comfortable to use when out and about.

Sure a large almost mini tablet phone is great when just lounging around the house, it's amazing for media consumption. But once on the go outside and doing stuff, I don't like these large phones as much anymore.

I want to get back to easily one handed texting, and not feeling this brick in my pants, Hey Now LOL. Just a simple phone to pull out, do a quick text, or send an e-mail, and put it back in my pocket and move on.

I'll have to see the iPhone 12 Pro Max with my own eyes and hands at the store, to see if I'd even consider it. But doubtful I'll get it, just getting annoyed with gigantic phones.

I don't like small phones either, I don't want a mini or anything, no way. I want a mid size phone 6.2" or so is near perfect, with a huge battery, which is rare, and why I am drawn to the Pixel 5. The Pixel 5 having a 4,100mAh battery, is the largest battery ever put in a Google Nexus or Pixel, and crazy that's it's one of the smaller Google phones they've released in years, yet has their biggest battery ever. I am happy they did that.

You read my mind completely, I'm getting to the point that I'm separating tablet from phone and the use is different on both. I got a 11 pro max and it's a great phone but it's heavy and I'm not that strong of a person and need to shed maybe 20 pounds. This phone literally is a brick in my pocket.

I don't want to deal with the selling and re-buying but I'm tired of the weight and size of the phone, it's not one handed friendly. Maybe I'm just getting old but I don't use much data anymore, i don't watch youtube like I used it and just mostly talk and text on the phone.

 

[chad.petree]

It’s a great phone and pretty much exactly how reviewers have stated. I don’t do any gaming on my phone and the only slight slowdowns come in processing low light photographs or editing video clips. Stills are fantastic although possibly getting a bit close to over processed at times - a little too much HDR and slight halo effect.

Screen is fantastic. The vibrate/haptic motor is better than the Pixel 3 but not a patch on iPhone. Can’t compare to P4.

I know I’ve mentioned it a few times but if you’re using the camera in some 3rd party apps you don’t always get the benefit of the Pixel image processing software and can end up with pretty bad pics/video you’d expect from a 3yo 12MP sensor.

I love the screen. Lack of face unlock doesn’t bother me. I do like using the fingerprint reader to bring down notifications but it is super easy to activate.

Battery is relentless!

For me the size and weight is spot on. Not the most inspiring design but the resin finish feels good to hold and feels more solid than plastic despite what some people might say.

Can’t comment on 5G as not in a 5G area.

Just want to reiterate, that the majority of the time, this phone is as smooth and fast as any flagship but you do notice it when you try to stretch it.

I have to agree with you on several points: The phone does feel fast enough, but the processing times of pictures sure is disappointing, I mean besides the clean software and updates it is the main thing that the pixel does better than most phones! It should work flawlessly! I can also tell the cpu is not that powerful while loading heavy websites, this website makes the pixel 5 CRAWL and get hot https://veganoflavors.de/

also it takes a second for the phone to load your contacts information/photo.

The screen is very nice but a little dim, I find myself constantly turning up the brightness, the default brightness should be higher, it is better than any pixel/nexus I've ever had but still!

The battery life is amazing, I've never had a phone with battery life like this! I think not even the iphone 7 plus had such great battery life.

The size is indeed amazing, I am mad, that more people aren't praising the design, the front looks SO clean, thin uniform bezels, sometimes I find myself looking at the display in awe.

I deactivated 5g the first day I got the phone, its not included in my carrier plan and I am not goig to pay extra for it, maybe in two years...

The 90 hz refresh rate is great, it makes the phone feels very snappy in most scenarios, but it is disappoiting that google deactivates it in some apps, it is specially jarring that it is deactivated in apps like google maps, that are laggy and stuttery a.f. , they could benefit from the higher screen refresh rate inmensely.

I really enjoy the software, I actually think stock android looks better than IOS, but there are some things that bother me quite a bit:

The sharing menu it's A MESS, you can NOT edit the apps that show up there so it is always cluttered, also the menu gets hijacked by so many google fotos options, in some apps the sharing menu is vertical in other horizontal... so inconsistent.

I ahve deactivated the sound and vibration of every notification (except for calls) but if I put the phone on mute then every notification makes the phone vibrate, hmmm why?

Google seems to not feel confident in its choices, the gestures work very well, but you also have the option to use on screen buttons, why? Choose one so more developers adapt to this system, the result is that you have some apps like facebook, that put a black bar on the lower part of the screen taking screen real state away from us.

Also Id like to get rid of the google search bar and the date and weather on the main screen and I can't do that, give me that screen real state google! That feels like something apple would do ugh! Just forcing stuff on us.

Those are my impressions of the phone so far

 

[chad.petree]

People with the Pixel 5 now or getting one, few questions please;

- Naked or case?
- dBrand skin on a naked phone or with a clear case?
- Do you use a different launcher besides stock?

Right now naked, it feels pretty grippy, but I am too paranoid, I want to get a case that matches the color of the just sage pixel 5, but android cases (except the ones for the galaxy line cases and the ones oneplus makes for their phones) are ugly a.f just hard plastic that only comes in black) , I ordered a cheap silicon case from amazon (https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B08KDGM7R3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) , because I was going to get this one https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B08D67D5WB/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=A1VXTSRX565TLZ&th=1 which doesn't blow my mind and it comes only in black, but spigen screwed up and the case has a cutout for a speaker that the pixel 5 does not have, I'm waiting for a redesign or a better case from another company :/

I use the pixel launcher, because you lose the navigation gestures if you use another launcher

 

[bandrews]

I have to agree with you on several points: The phone does feel fast enough, but the processing times of pictures sure is disappointing, I mean besides the clean software and updates it is the main thing that the pixel does better than most phones! It should work flawlessly! I can also tell the cpu is not that powerful while loading heavy websites, this website makes the pixel 5 CRAWL and get hot https://veganoflavors.de/

also it takes a second for the phone to load your contacts information/photo.

The screen is very nice but a little dim, I find myself constantly turning up the brightness, the default brightness should be higher, it is better than any pixel/nexus I've ever had but still!

The battery life is amazing, I've never had a phone with battery life like this! I think not even the iphone 7 plus had such great battery life.

The size is indeed amazing, I am mad, that more people aren't praising the design, the front looks SO clean, thin uniform bezels, sometimes I find myself looking at the display in awe.

I deactivated 5g the first day I got the phone, its not included in my carrier plan and I am not goig to pay extra for it, maybe in two years...

The 90 hz refresh rate is great, it makes the phone feels very snappy in most scenarios, but it is disappoiting that google deactivates it in some apps, it is specially jarring that it is deactivated in apps like google maps, that are laggy and stuttery a.f. , they could benefit from the higher screen refresh rate inmensely.

I really enjoy the software, I actually think stock android looks better than IOS, but there are some things that bother me quite a bit:

The sharing menu it's A MESS, you can NOT edit the apps that show up there so it is always cluttered, also the menu gets hijacked by so many google fotos options, in some apps the sharing menu is vertical in other horizontal... so inconsistent.

I ahve deactivated the sound and vibration of every notification (except for calls) but if I put the phone on mute then every notification makes the phone vibrate, hmmm why?

Google seems to not feel confident in its choices, the gestures work very well, but you also have the option to use on screen buttons, why? Choose one so more developers adapt to this system, the result is that you have some apps like facebook, that put a black bar on the lower part of the screen taking screen real state away from us.

Also Id like to get rid of the google search bar and the date and weather on the main screen and I can't do that, give me that screen real state google! That feels like something apple would do ugh! Just forcing stuff on us.

Those are my impressions of the phone so far

Yeah, I'd agree with all of that.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Also Id like to get rid of the google search bar and the date and weather on the main screen and I can't do that, give me that screen real state google! That feels like something apple would do ugh! Just forcing stuff on us.

Those are my impressions of the phone so far

Have you tried "Nova Launcher"? It's in the Play Store and there's a free version that should let you do that. I have Nova Launcher running on my Nexus 6. I bought the paid version because the team behind Nova continue to update and support the product which is rare.

 

[drinkingtea]

I have to agree with you on several points: The phone does feel fast enough, but the processing times of pictures sure is disappointing, I mean besides the clean software and updates it is the main thing that the pixel does better than most phones! It should work flawlessly! I can also tell the cpu is not that powerful while loading heavy websites, this website makes the pixel 5 CRAWL and get hot https://veganoflavors.de/

also it takes a second for the phone to load your contacts information/photo.

The screen is very nice but a little dim, I find myself constantly turning up the brightness, the default brightness should be higher, it is better than any pixel/nexus I've ever had but still!

The battery life is amazing, I've never had a phone with battery life like this! I think not even the iphone 7 plus had such great battery life.

The size is indeed amazing, I am mad, that more people aren't praising the design, the front looks SO clean, thin uniform bezels, sometimes I find myself looking at the display in awe.

I deactivated 5g the first day I got the phone, its not included in my carrier plan and I am not goig to pay extra for it, maybe in two years...

The 90 hz refresh rate is great, it makes the phone feels very snappy in most scenarios, but it is disappoiting that google deactivates it in some apps, it is specially jarring that it is deactivated in apps like google maps, that are laggy and stuttery a.f. , they could benefit from the higher screen refresh rate inmensely.

I really enjoy the software, I actually think stock android looks better than IOS, but there are some things that bother me quite a bit:

The sharing menu it's A MESS, you can NOT edit the apps that show up there so it is always cluttered, also the menu gets hijacked by so many google fotos options, in some apps the sharing menu is vertical in other horizontal... so inconsistent.

I ahve deactivated the sound and vibration of every notification (except for calls) but if I put the phone on mute then every notification makes the phone vibrate, hmmm why?

Google seems to not feel confident in its choices, the gestures work very well, but you also have the option to use on screen buttons, why? Choose one so more developers adapt to this system, the result is that you have some apps like facebook, that put a black bar on the lower part of the screen taking screen real state away from us.

Also Id like to get rid of the google search bar and the date and weather on the main screen and I can't do that, give me that screen real state google! That feels like something apple would do ugh! Just forcing stuff on us.

Those are my impressions of the phone so far

I’m on that vegan website on my iPhone XS and it’s buttery smooth. Yikes, Google.

I checked out the 4a a few weeks ago and the phone was a laggy, jittery mess, even when I tried taking pictures (what I was pointing at with the phone and what I saw on the screen was delayed and “crawled” when I moved the phone). It was insane and not something the iPhone or Samsung display units did. I read that someone on Reddit had a similarly bad experience when they played around with the Pixel 5 at Best Buy.

I think a better processor would have fixed these issues. It’s the one thing Google shouldn’t have cheapened out on.

 

[Tig Bitties]

Nova launcher is the way.

 

[michael9891]

I think a better processor would have fixed these issues. It’s the one thing Google shouldn’t have cheapened out on.

And then we'd have the usual complaints about price and battery. I've not found the Pixel 5 to be jittery at all, good call from Google.

The only complaints I have of the Pixel 5 (if you can even call it that) is the wide angle lens not being as wide as the competition. And no XL size.

 

[Tig Bitties]

You guys are scaring me about my Pixel 5 ordered this week.

Should I get the iPhone 12 Pro instead for smoothness? But I'm not a fan of iOS and battery life is king to me.

 

[michael9891]

You guys are scaring me about my Pixel 5 ordered this week.

Should I get the iPhone 12 Pro instead for smoothness? But I'm not a fan of iOS and battery life is king to me.

Give it a few days and I'm sure you'll be happy with the Pixel. I know one thing and it's certainly not a laggy, jittery mess. You might even enjoy it more if you use and notice 90hz (I have it off).

 

[Tig Bitties]

My main criteria for a new phone is in this order;

- Battery life # 1
- Smooth fast no lag UI #2
- Bright and vibrant display #3
- No bloatware # 4

 

[michael9891]

It's definitely bright, but I do sometimes find myself turning it up a little because it's set to auto brightness and can go a little lower than I'd like.

 

[michael9891]

Received my free headphones 15 days after receiving the Pixel. And already sold them for £150, making the cost of the phone even better.

 

[Jason2000]

My main criteria for a new phone is in this order;

- Battery life # 1
- Smooth fast no lag UI #2
- Bright and vibrant display #3
- No bloatware # 4

Sounds like you need an iPhone 12 Pro to me...lol. My Pixel 5 will be here Saturday. I am going to play with a Pixel this year instead of upgrading my iPhone 11 Pro which is still serving me just fine. Not enough improvements with the 12 Pro over my 11 Pro in my opinion plus I like to play with Android every so often.

 

[Tig Bitties]

Sounds like you need an iPhone 12 Pro to me...lol. My Pixel 5 will be here Saturday. I am going to play with a Pixel this year instead of upgrading my iPhone 11 Pro which is still serving me just fine. Not enough improvements with the 12 Pro over my 11 Pro in my opinion plus I like to play with Android every so often.

Good idea, everything I have read says if you have the 11 Pro there's pretty much zero reason to get the 12 Pro. It's a side grade. The cameras are very similar, the displays are very similar, the battery life actually worse on the 12 Pro in comparison.

I think having a Pixel 5 and iPhone 11 Pro is the best of both worlds.

Regarding me getting the 12 Pro? I don't know, yeah it ticks a few boxes as far as bright vibrant screen, and smooth UI, but battery life I read is so so. THe Pixel 5 has great battery life, and takes great portrait photos, and I would think is smooth and fast, but maybe not with the lower grade processor. Yes the build quality and display I'm sure are far superior on the 12 Pro next to the Pixel 5. And then there's iOS vs stock Android, and for me stock Android blows it out of the water. A jailbreaked iPhone 12 Pro would be cool.

 

[chad.petree]

Have you tried "Nova Launcher"? It's in the Play Store and there's a free version that should let you do that. I have Nova Launcher running on my Nexus 6. I bought the paid version because the team behind Nova continue to update and support the product which is rare.

I know I can, but if I install any other launcher then I lose the navigation gestures :/ it's not worth it

 

[Tig Bitties]

I thought 3rd party launchers fixed that issue with the gestures not working on them like stock?

 

[Awesomesince86]

I thought 3rd party launchers fixed that issue with the gestures not working on them like stock?

They did. But on my S20 theres a noticeable re-draw after going back to the home screen. What I mean is there's a second after going back to home where you can select an app or anything. Its not long, but its noticeable enough that it made me go back to the Samsung swipe back/home/recent method and using one handed gesture for side swipes.

 

[michael9891]

They did. But on my S20 theres a noticeable re-draw after going back to the home screen. What I mean is there's a second after going back to home where you can select an app or anything. Its not long, but its noticeable enough that it made me go back to the Samsung swipe back/home/recent method and using one handed gesture for side swipes.

Can adjusting the animations in developer options help with that?

 

[Awesomesince86]

Can adjusting the animations in developer options help with that?

I dont think so because its not an issue with the speed. Its the way the OS handles 3rd party launchers in that they have to re-draw. But I only tested with Nova.