Google Pixel 5 and Pixel 5 XL

[mjschabow]

A few reasons... Best Buy has 450 off right now for Black Friday. I like the flexibility of the cameras and the incredible screen. I also have this vision of incorporating the s pen into my workflow at work. Although, the non impulsive side of me thinks the non stock Android, large size, will turn me off. I also think I’ll use the s pen more to take selfie’s of me and my labradors than becoming some productivity monster at work.

The Pixel 5 has actually been my favorite Pixel ever, edging out the 2XL. With the lukewarm reviews, I was surprised how much I’ve liked it!

Forgot to mention that selfies with the S-Pen is really great. Single Take camera mode is awesome too!

 

[Carlo Aguilar Castrat]

Yeah the only Android phone that almost was the iPhone killer for me was the Note 20 Ultra. Such an amazing device. Just not really interested in any other Android phones that come out.

highly disagree. 1 month ago I had an 11 Pro Max, I had it for a year and was bored of iOS so I sold it and bought an S20+. had it for 3 weeks and realized samsungs UI is just clunky and doesnt feel slick. So today i bought a Pixel 5. My first Pixel ever. The UI is pretty amazing, iOS like slickness right there. Love it. Samsungs UI is unresponsive at times, especially in the camera app, shutter delay and stuff like that. It just feels clunky and not slick in comparison to the pixel in general

 

[Bkdodger]

I have a Pixel and Fold 2 and before Note 10 +... I do like Pixel experience but no way is this Samsung clunky for my usage.. It's smooth and buttery quick at everything I throw at it... This is my experience of course.. Yes plenty of good reasons to love Pixel different devices for sure... Both have positives..

 

[Aneres11]

I like stock Android a lot but you’d think with stock you’d have complete freedom, but you really don’t. It’s one of my biggest gripes with Pixels.

Can’t sort your apps in the app drawer out in any way. It’s just automatically alphabetical. Can’t remove the at a glance. Can’t make icons bigger in the app drawer or on the Home Screen unless you change your display size in settings. It’s very limiting. And very Apple.

I think I may have watched a YT vid recently though that showed you can now change app icon size in the latest Pixel update? Could be wrong though as it was kind of on in the background!

 

[hallux]

I like stock Android a lot but you’d think with stock you’d have complete freedom, but you really don’t.

That's because TECHNICALLY, it's not "stock". It's GOOGLE'S idea of how Android should work, AOSP is the REAL "stock" Android, much in the way Samsung's devices run Samsung's interpretation.

 

[Carlo Aguilar Castrat]

That's because TECHNICALLY, it's not "stock". It's GOOGLE'S idea of how Android should work, AOSP is the REAL "stock" Android, much in the way Samsung's devices run Samsung's interpretation.

I wouldn't call AOSP stock android. I would say Pixels have stock android. Googles idea of how android should work is what stock android is, because Google made android. AOSP is barebones android made for other OEMS to use for making their own ROMs. Like it doesn't even have google apps and it has outdated widget and icons. Its definitely not stock android, its just a open source barebones android for OEMS to make ROMs...

 

[Carlo Aguilar Castrat]

So its my first day of using the Pixel 5 fully charged. I bought it yesterday, and I've gotten 8 hours of screen on time with 19% battery left. Smooth 90hz enabled. That really surpasses my expectations. This matches my 11 pro max battery life with a higher refresh rate. Awesome

 

[MarkX]

I wouldn't call AOSP stock android. I would say Pixels have stock android. Googles idea of how android should work is what stock android is, because Google made android. AOSP is barebones android made for other OEMS to use for making their own ROMs. Like it doesn't even have google apps and it has outdated widget and icons. Its definitely not stock android, its just a open source barebones android for OEMS to make ROMs...

Android and Google are not the same thing. Android team members work on Android, Google hardware team work on Pixels. Google uses the Android software as a base just like everyone else.

 

[TPadden]

Android and Google are not the same thing. Android team members work on Android, Google hardware team work on Pixels. Google uses the Android software as a base just like everyone else.

Not quite accurate: "Android is developed by Google until the latest changes and updates are ready to be released, at which point the source code is made available to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) an open source initiative led by Google. The AOSP code can be found without modification on select devices, mainly the former Nexus and current Android One series of devices."

Android (operating system) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[MarkX]

Not quite accurate: "Android is developed by Google until the latest changes and updates are ready to be released, at which point the source code is made available to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) an open source initiative led by Google. The AOSP code can be found without modification on select devices, mainly the former Nexus and current Android One series of devices."

Android (operating system) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Thanks for the information.

My point was and is clarified by the article linked that the Pixel does have indeed have its own version of Android - a skin if you will.

 

[TPadden]

Thanks for the information.

My point was and is clarified by the article linked that the Pixel does have indeed have its own version of Android - a skin if you will.

My point is also clarified by the article: Android IS Google however you want to skin it .

Tom

 

[Carlo Aguilar Castrat]

Thanks for the information.

My point was and is clarified by the article linked that the Pixel does have indeed have its own version of Android - a skin if you will.

To say that Pixel's android is a skinned version of android is just flat out wrong. AOSP is not stock android, its a stripped down version of android. Stock android is made with google apps, thats what the entire OS is built around. Android is made by Google, it wouldnt even be possible for Android to be skinned by Google lmao... thats like saying iOS is Unix with Apple's skin... its just a stupid thing to say. Android is literally designed for tight integration with Google services, not the other way around. Google services are not something they add on top of AOSP Android, the entire android operating system is designed around Google services. AOSP is just a version Google strips down for other brands to make ROMs. Its not stock android by any means. Have you even seen what AOSP looks like? AOSP Android 11's search widget still looks like that of early Android days from years and years ago... and you think thats what Google wants modern android to look like? clearly they just havent updated it because they expect OEMs to skin this version of Android. Basically its an android version that looks like garbage because they expect other OEMs to skin it. So once again, this is not stock Android, its essentially the skeleton on which stock android, and skinned versions of android, are based on.

 

[hallux]

What is Stock Android?
The bottom line is this - it IS possible to have an Android device without Google stuff on it, just look at Huawei devices. Android on Pixel devices is GOOGLE'S take on Android, what Google envisions it should look like. In order to be certified to get the Play Store and other Google services the device does need to meet certain requirements that Google sets out, but that is only for getting access to Google stuff, the device could be released without that.

 

[MarkX]

To say that Pixel's android is a skinned version of android is just flat out wrong. AOSP is not stock android, its a stripped down version of android. Stock android is made with google apps, thats what the entire OS is built around. Android is made by Google, it wouldnt even be possible for Android to be skinned by Google lmao... thats like saying iOS is Unix with Apple's skin... its just a stupid thing to say. Android is literally designed for tight integration with Google services, not the other way around. Google services are not something they add on top of AOSP Android, the entire android operating system is designed around Google services. AOSP is just a version Google strips down for other brands to make ROMs. Its not stock android by any means. Have you even seen what AOSP looks like? AOSP Android 11's search widget still looks like that of early Android days from years and years ago... and you think thats what Google wants modern android to look like? clearly they just havent updated it because they expect OEMs to skin this version of Android. Basically its an android version that looks like garbage because they expect other OEMs to skin it. So once again, this is not stock Android, its essentially the skeleton on which stock android, and skinned versions of android, are based on.

I stopped reading after the part where you said stock android is made around Google apps etc.

 

[Carlo Aguilar Castrat]

What is Stock Android?
The bottom line is this - it IS possible to have an Android device without Google stuff on it, just look at Huawei devices. Android on Pixel devices is GOOGLE'S take on Android, what Google envisions it should look like. In order to be certified to get the Play Store and other Google services the device does need to meet certain requirements that Google sets out, but that is only for getting access to Google stuff, the device could be released without that.

Yes it is possible to have an android version without Google stuff on it, but that doesn't mean it's stock... It's a stripped down skeleton version of stock Android, with outdated icons, widgets, and more. This is because Google develops and maintains Pixel Android up to date and doesn't really bother developing AOSPs UI because it's literally a version of Android made for OEMs to skin.

And just because some guy made an article claiming Pixel android isn't stock Android doesn't mean he's right. You can find more articles staying the opposite. What does Stock mean? It means the manufacturers retail version. Google makes Android. Once again, AOSP is a barebones stripped down version of Android which has completely outdated icons, widgets, etc, because it's not stock Android, it's not retail Android, it's not an Android version google would ever ship out in any product, for many reasons. AOSP still has lots of fragments and leftovers that show it was initially designed for google services but they were removed. So clearly Google works on its Pixel Android first, and then strips it down and makes an AOSP version for other OEMS to use to make ROMs. So instead of believing an article, look at the evidence and think critically. The stock version of something is always the way it was intended to be used or sold. Google does not ship AOSP at all.

 

[Carlo Aguilar Castrat]

I stopped reading after the part where you said stock android is made around Google apps etc.

Pure ignorance. It absolutely is, if you were an Android developer and knew the ins and outs of Android development and its dependencies, you would know as well. In the meantime do your research.

 

[TPadden]

Battery life never ceases to amaze me, still loving this phone. Only comparing for my uses I get 3-4 days between charges when my iPhone SE2 barely got me through a day. Sometimes it didn’t without a charge. I’m still very happy with everything else concerning the Pixel 5.

Tom

 

[Bkdodger]

No P5 here but very happy with my 4a 5G... And also good great battery.. I might take it outside one day lmao

 

[Tig Bitties]

Nice skin and G logo 👍

 

[Bkdodger]

Nice skin and G logo

Thank you I wanted a darker orange though haha ..Dbrand sunset is pastel smh

 

[jdlindsey7]

Thank you I wanted a darker orange though haha ..Dbrand sunset is pastel smh

How’s the 4a 5G? Any troubling issues at all?

 

[Bkdodger]

How’s the 4a 5G? Any troubling issues at all?

I've yet to insert a sim so I can't speak on connections ..though I expect no issues when I finally swap sim and head out with it ..while on WiFi and handling daily stuff on WiFi it's been stellar ...handles everything easily ..I don't play games on any phones so can't speak on chip with that regard ...regular daily stuff and YouTube all good ...screen size is perfect and I prefer over the P5 ...

 

[mclld]

I just got a Pixel 5 new in box off Facebook marketplace for $300! I am heading home now, unbelievable deal. I had my doubts but they meet me at the police station. It was sealed, I opened it up. I will set it up at home, is this a noticable step up from the Pixel 3 in camera? Im happy with the 3 camera but for $300 if this is better it would be a no brainier, especially after selling my 3.



Edit:. I just got done copying stuff over and man the size might be a deal breaker, seems way smaller than my 5. Yes I knew it wasn't as big but I'm so used to the 3 XL size I might not be able to go back. Ill use it a bit and see, the battery life might be enough to persuade me over and if the camera is a noticable step up

 

[Bkdodger]

It's 3 days now I inserted sim on 4a 5G and all is well...as expected connections to bluetooth with car and reception around NY have been excellent...call quality and playback are good ...highly recommend phone especially if 6ou can get a good deal on one ...I bought mine on Swappa unlocked just phone for $399 ...

 

[mclld]

I did a little comparing between my 3 XL and the 5, sorry for the lame shots. The weather is cold and rainy here so just did stuff around the house. I'll be curious if y'all know which is which

https://imgur.com/a/RsPwicS

https://imgur.com/a/xPIVMz4