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Supersonicc

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2016
809
1,850
I may be late to this party, but whilst using the camera today, I was prompted for a camera update. Details below.

Screenshot_20231031-172934~2.png
 

Tig Bitties

macrumors 603
Sep 6, 2012
5,517
5,692
Yeah, I agree, finding the P8;Pro one of the best balanced phones I've ever owned. Weight is superb, especially one-handed and my hands are only medium sized. The official Google silicone case allows the index finger to fall into a natural position resting just below the camera bar. Flat screen is exactly what the Pixel needed.

In comparison, yes, my iPhone 15 PM does feel comfortable to hold but the extra weight makes a key difference here. My previous S23 Ultra felt unwieldy in the hand due to the height & width combined, extra weight and shaper edges that dug into the hand after long periods of use. My Z Fold 4 was a brick in comparison to the P8 Pro but that's a different beast!

Looking good, real good. Curious what the Coral case looks like too
 
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Supersonicc

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2016
809
1,850
Looking good, real good. Curious what the Coral case looks like too
Cheers, I’ll take some photos later this week when I use the Coral case.

One point to note, the Bay (& Coral) cases both have silver power & volume button controls to match the Bay 8 Pro whilst the Charcoal case has dark silver, to match the Obsidian 8 Pro. Google were thinking about case / colour design. I’m doing a bit of mix & match!
 
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Technerd108

macrumors 68040
Oct 24, 2021
3,062
4,313
Okay I don't know if I am crazy but I used adaptive battery for at least two weeks and at the end of that my battery life was suffering significantly. It is the craziest thing.

I thought to myself sometimes limiting or throttling to save battery actually works against you and can actually make battery life worse. Since Google says that adaptive battery will reduce frequency and limit background processes that maybe doing this is making things worse?

So yesterday I turned off adaptive battery and today battery life has significant improved. Obviously I need to use the phone like this for at least a week to get a better picture but the contrast in just one day is pretty jaw dropping.

Just thought I'd post what my experience is in case anyone has had a similar experience with battery life declining for no reason.
 
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Vegastouch

macrumors 603
Jul 12, 2008
6,185
992
Las Vegas, NV
Okay I don't know if I am crazy but I used adaptive battery for at least two weeks and at the end of that my battery life was suffering significantly. It is the craziest thing.

I thought to myself sometimes limiting or throttling to save battery actually works against you and can actually make battery life worse. Since Google says that adaptive battery will reduce frequency and limit background processes that maybe doing this is making things worse?

So yesterday I turned off adaptive battery and today battery life has significant improved. Obviously I need to use the phone like this for at least a week to get a better picture but the contrast in just one day is pretty jaw dropping.

Just thought I'd post what my experience is in case anyone has had a similar experience with battery life declining for no reason.
You mean, adaptive charging? I don't see adaptive "battery".

Edit....I did find adaptive battery. Turned it off to see if I notice a difference.
Do you also have battery saver/ standard battery saver on or off?
I've had it off.

1000002458.png
 
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Technerd108

macrumors 68040
Oct 24, 2021
3,062
4,313
They buried adaptive battery under battery saver vs last year when it was just under battery.

I never use battery saver ever.

The picture below shows the toggle switch.

Adaptive Battery and adaptive charging are two separate things just to clarify for anyone reading.

Adaptive charging charges the battery on fast charge to 80% then trickle charges to 100% when you have enabled an alarm from 10am and below.

Adaptive Battery will stop background processes that it thinks are unnecessary and limits CPU frequency to extend daily battery life.

One is meant to extend your battery life during usage and the other is to extend the battery's useful lifetime.

Completely different even though naming is similar.

In my experience using adaptive battery actually makes daily battery life worse than without it.

I also have full resolution turned on.
 

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Technerd108

macrumors 68040
Oct 24, 2021
3,062
4,313
So I have been using my Pixel 8 Pro exclusively since it came out in the 12th. I also have a s23 ultra.

The s23 ultra is just a faster phone, with great battery life and a bigger screen. But it just feels so much bigger, thicker and heavier than the Pixel 8 Pro that I enjoy using the Pixel more.

On top of that I prefer the screen on the Pixel 8 Pro. It just feels easier on my eyes. The color balance this year is no where near as good as the Pixel 7 Pro screen yet I still prefer this screen?

I don't know what it is but the Pixel 8 Pro has to be one of the most comfortable to use large bar phones I have ever used.

Kudos to Google's design team. The attention to detail really shows.
 

Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68030
Feb 23, 2016
2,939
3,827
Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro's brand new from a third party seller on Amazon is $115 white and a few bucks more for the black and purple. I love the sound quality of the Pixel Buds Pro's but they are not as loud as I want them to be. I have a pair of Galaxy Buds2 that were free part of a BF Samsung promotion. Those sound great and are loud but they get somewhat uncomfortable over time (itchy ears) and it's a known problem.

There's little risk in the purchase as it's fulfilled by Amazon and there's a 30 day return. The seller has an excellent rating.

 

Technerd108

macrumors 68040
Oct 24, 2021
3,062
4,313
Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro's brand new from a third party seller on Amazon is $115 white and a few bucks more for the black and purple. I love the sound quality of the Pixel Buds Pro's but they are not as loud as I want them to be. I have a pair of Galaxy Buds2 that were free part of a BF Samsung promotion. Those sound great and are loud but they get somewhat uncomfortable over time (itchy ears) and it's a known problem.

There's little risk in the purchase as it's fulfilled by Amazon and there's a 30 day return. The seller has an excellent rating.

I got mine on sale last year from Samsung directly, traded in a free pair of old galaxy buds and paid about the same, maybe a little less.

But I have been very impressed with them. The sound quality for an ear bud is really good. Battery life is decent. They sound better than my first gen airpods Pro.

Highly recommend these and the price above is great.
 

Ixon2001

macrumors regular
Mar 9, 2017
230
305
Wigan UK
So I have been using my Pixel 8 Pro exclusively since it came out in the 12th. I also have a s23 ultra.

The s23 ultra is just a faster phone, with great battery life and a bigger screen. But it just feels so much bigger, thicker and heavier than the Pixel 8 Pro that I enjoy using the Pixel more.

On top of that I prefer the screen on the Pixel 8 Pro. It just feels easier on my eyes. The color balance this year is no where near as good as the Pixel 7 Pro screen yet I still prefer this screen?

I don't know what it is but the Pixel 8 Pro has to be one of the most comfortable to use large bar phones I have ever used.

Kudos to Google's design team. The attention to detail really shows.
I got rid of my S23 Ultra for the Pixel 8 Pro kinda regretted it at first as i was having problems with my first 8 Pro, the replacement I've got has been solid no reboots thank God, so now i'm happy again & that regret has now completely gone.

The S23 Ultra is a better phone overall but i find the camera's on the Pixel 8 Pro to be so much better, I use to hate the over sharpened over saturated images i use to get from the S23 Ultra unless i messed about with the setting, which most of the time i couldn't be bothered with, with the Pixel 8 Pro out of the pocket take a picture & it looks great if your not viewing it on Google photo's that is, with that terrible Ultra HDR setting you can't turn off :/.
 

Ixon2001

macrumors regular
Mar 9, 2017
230
305
Wigan UK
I got mine on sale last year from Samsung directly, traded in a free pair of old galaxy buds and paid about the same, maybe a little less.

But I have been very impressed with them. The sound quality for an ear bud is really good. Battery life is decent. They sound better than my first gen airpods Pro.

Highly recommend these and the price above is great.
I can't use Samsung buds I have a bad reaction to them and i'm not alone on this neither, so I use Sony's WF-1000XM5 & I absolutely love these buds, as they are the first buds from Sony that actually fit my ear's, also the best bit is the Pixel 8 Pro show both the buds & case battery level on it's battery widget. :)
 
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Fried_Gold

macrumors 68040
Feb 6, 2013
3,832
3,709
United Kingdom
Congrats, are you switching back to Apple permanently?
Not permanently, I do still like the Pixel but honestly not getting on with the size. I've always been the smaller Pro guy with iPhone so hopefully if Google release a smaller Pro for the 9 I'll be back.

Given it's staying in the family I may well end up with it back at some point. I'll be having my wife's Pixel 7a to play with so not totally going iOS only.
 

Supersonicc

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2016
809
1,850
Not permanently, I do still like the Pixel but honestly not getting on with the size. I've always been the smaller Pro guy with iPhone so hopefully if Google release a smaller Pro for the 9 I'll be back.

Given it's staying in the family I may well end up with it back at some point. I'll be having my wife's Pixel 7a to play with so not totally going iOS only.
Yeah, I get you, Google have missed a trick this year not offering the standard 8 as a Pro model. I understand they're differentiating between the two with full features & price, but so many people would like to have a smaller Pro version, it would sell like hot cakes.

I rock an iPad Pro as my easy goto device for big screen usage. Whilst I really like the balance & feel of the 8 Pro, I could easily use a smaller Pixel Pro myself for daily use out and about.
 
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Fried_Gold

macrumors 68040
Feb 6, 2013
3,832
3,709
United Kingdom
Yeah, I get you, Google have missed a trick this year not offering the standard 8 as a Pro model. I understand they're differentiating between the two with full features & price, but so many people would like to have a smaller Pro version, it would sell like hot cakes.

I rock an iPad Pro as my easy goto device for big screen usage. Whilst I really like the balance & feel of the 8 Pro, I could easily use a smaller Pixel Pro myself for daily use out and about.
I have a MBA that I use most of the time so a smaller phone really is all I need but I do like to have the "Pro" features. Hopefully Google will give us a smaller Pro next year.
 
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Bkdodger

macrumors 68040
Jun 6, 2019
3,624
6,055
Okay I don't know if I am crazy but I used adaptive battery for at least two weeks and at the end of that my battery life was suffering significantly. It is the craziest thing.

I thought to myself sometimes limiting or throttling to save battery actually works against you and can actually make battery life worse. Since Google says that adaptive battery will reduce frequency and limit background processes that maybe doing this is making things worse?

So yesterday I turned off adaptive battery and today battery life has significant improved. Obviously I need to use the phone like this for at least a week to get a better picture but the contrast in just one day is pretty jaw dropping.

Just thought I'd post what my experience is in case anyone has had a similar experience with battery life declining for no reason.
I've tested this before and didn't really see any battery difference with it turned off.. I think I saw a little bit less battery on my previous phones... I will test it again..
 
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Tig Bitties

macrumors 603
Sep 6, 2012
5,517
5,692
I cannot recommend this case enough, got it for the smaller Pixel 8, and my goodness it feels so good in the hand, with the smooth wood back, and there's little dimples / bumps on the rubbery sides for AMAZING grip and feel, plus it looks super cool.

It's been out-of-stock for the 8 Pro and just came back in-stock. For a $9.99 priced case, this feels every bit as good as those $60 wood cases. Ships from Germany.

Size wise this case is thicker than the super thin Mous case, but thinner than the official Google silicone case. I'd say it's on the thinner size, but not a super thin case, more mid range thickness, but way smaller than like an Otterbox.

 
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Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68030
Feb 23, 2016
2,939
3,827
My PW2 arrived today. I was excited about trying it as it has been 40 years since i've worn a watch. I remember as a kid growing up in the 60's watch Dick Tracy, talking into his watch and now seeing how technology has progressed. Well my first impression just in the setup was a huge letdown and it is why people gravitate towards Apple products. They easily without effort connect to one another. It doesn't require any technological gymnastics to get two Apple products talking to each other. They do it effortlessly.

So it took over 15 tries to get my Pixel phone to communicate with my PW2. I tried everything and was annoyed to read comments left on a Google support page that it might require a phone reset. Nice! :rolleyes:

The PW2 would connect via BT and I thought that was it. So I did a restart and the phone does a reset by erasing itself, again real nice after a 65 year old with fading eyes has to input the WiFi password. 🤓

Finally I had to go to the router and start it all over again and they finally connected. I was informed to install Fitbit which I did and was careful to back out by not starting the premium subscription. Next it wanted to do an update but the battery dropped from 67% to less around 50% in less than a half hour because the screen was pretty bright and the watch was getting uncomfortably warm. I put on the larger band and it's in the process of updating but it needs the watch to charge first.

The instructions are not really very helpful which required hitting up the internet even trying to figure out how to charge the watch. Unless I missed something does the PW2 have a menu back button because I can't find it? A long press will take you to the power off, restart and settings screen.
 
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Technerd108

macrumors 68040
Oct 24, 2021
3,062
4,313
My PW2 arrived today. I was excited about trying it as it has been 40 years since i've worn a watch. I remember as a kid growing up in the 60's watch Dick Tracy, talking into his watch and now seeing how technology has progressed. Well my first impression just in the setup was a huge letdown and it is why people gravitate towards Apple products. They easily without effort connect to one another. It doesn't require any technological gymnastics to get two Apple products talking to each other. They do it effortlessly.

So it took over 15 tries to get my Pixel phone to communicate with my PW2. I tried everything and was annoyed to read comments left on a Google support page that it might require a phone reset. Nice! :rolleyes:

The PW2 would connect via BT and I thought that was it. So I did a restart and the phone does a reset by erasing itself, again real nice after a 65 year old with fading eyes has to input the WiFi password. 🤓

Finally I had to go to the router and start it all over again and they finally connected. I was informed to install Fitbit which I did and was careful to back out by not starting the premium subscription. Next it wanted to do an update but the battery dropped from 67% to less around 50% in less than a half hour because the screen was pretty bright and the watch was getting uncomfortably warm. I put on the larger band and it's in the process of updating but it needs the watch to charge first.

The instructions are not really very helpful which required hitting up the internet even trying to figure out how to charge the watch. Unless I missed something does the PW2 have a menu back button because I can't find it? A long press will take you to the power off, restart and settings screen.
I am sorry for your experience. That certainly sucks.

However, it is in complete contrast to my experience. I basically turned the watch on after I setup my phone and it instantly connected to the watch app and setup from there. Fitbit is optional and you can ignore prompts to setup a subscription.

However, the subscription is free for 6 months and they will notify you a week in advance before you are billed and can cancel. I hate these types of things but the extra features are nice. I just hope Google gets rid of the subscription because it is just a bad business decision and adds to the cost of the watch.

To your issue I would charge the watch and then reset it. Since your phone already reset then all you need to do is finish setting it up. Then make sure Bluetooth is on. Then turn your watch back on after reset and follow the prompts.

I think the problem you had is you used both the watch and phone before you completely setup your phone. Setup the phone first, connect to WiFi, etc. Then setup the watch and you should be good to go.
 

Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68030
Feb 23, 2016
2,939
3,827
I am sorry for your experience. That certainly sucks.

However, it is in complete contrast to my experience. I basically turned the watch on after I setup my phone and it instantly connected to the watch app and setup from there. Fitbit is optional and you can ignore prompts to setup a subscription.

However, the subscription is free for 6 months and they will notify you a week in advance before you are billed and can cancel. I hate these types of things but the extra features are nice. I just hope Google gets rid of the subscription because it is just a bad business decision and adds to the cost of the watch.

To your issue I would charge the watch and then reset it. Since your phone already reset then all you need to do is finish setting it up. Then make sure Bluetooth is on. Then turn your watch back on after reset and follow the prompts.

I think the problem you had is you used both the watch and phone before you completely setup your phone. Setup the phone first, connect to WiFi, etc. Then setup the watch and you should be good to go.
Yeah, sorry for the confusion. After so many tries the two finally connected. There was no need to reset the phone. Although every time I went to restart the watch it did a reset which includes an erasure. What's up with that? A restart/reboot equals a device reset?
 

Technerd108

macrumors 68040
Oct 24, 2021
3,062
4,313
Yeah, sorry for the confusion. After so many tries the two finally connected. There was no need to reset the phone. Although every time I went to restart the watch it did a reset which includes an erasure. What's up with that? A restart/reboot equals a device reset?
I just tested mine and rebooted.

Generally I just turn it off and then back on again.

However it doesn't reset the watch doing either. If your watch continues to reset if you reboot then I would call Google or the retailer you bought it from and see what they can do to get you a new unit.

Good luck!
 

nospleen

macrumors 68030
Dec 8, 2002
2,726
1,591
Texas
My PW2 arrived today. I was excited about trying it as it has been 40 years since i've worn a watch. I remember as a kid growing up in the 60's watch Dick Tracy, talking into his watch and now seeing how technology has progressed. Well my first impression just in the setup was a huge letdown and it is why people gravitate towards Apple products. They easily without effort connect to one another. It doesn't require any technological gymnastics to get two Apple products talking to each other. They do it effortlessly.

So it took over 15 tries to get my Pixel phone to communicate with my PW2. I tried everything and was annoyed to read comments left on a Google support page that it might require a phone reset. Nice! :rolleyes:

The PW2 would connect via BT and I thought that was it. So I did a restart and the phone does a reset by erasing itself, again real nice after a 65 year old with fading eyes has to input the WiFi password. 🤓

Finally I had to go to the router and start it all over again and they finally connected. I was informed to install Fitbit which I did and was careful to back out by not starting the premium subscription. Next it wanted to do an update but the battery dropped from 67% to less around 50% in less than a half hour because the screen was pretty bright and the watch was getting uncomfortably warm. I put on the larger band and it's in the process of updating but it needs the watch to charge first.

The instructions are not really very helpful which required hitting up the internet even trying to figure out how to charge the watch. Unless I missed something does the PW2 have a menu back button because I can't find it? A long press will take you to the power off, restart and settings screen.


I haven’t used one in a while, but does a swipe starting from the left side and moving your finger to right side of the watch go back a screen? If not, maybe the more flush top button?
 
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