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Google Pixel 9 Series (9/9a/9 Pro/9 Pro XL/9 Pro Fold)

mjschabow said:
Alright, had a good early start to the morning and got right to it with the Pixel, so I'm about 4 hours in of using it exclusively other than text messages and calls.

Verdict - It's going back today.

Overall I actually really like it, and I can see why people absolutely love Pixels. It's just not for me. And what I mean is that it's not the right Android for me. After a couple hours, I was already bored with it. Gemini was cool but I don't really feel like I HAVE to have it in my life. I can easily Google search the same stuff.

The deal breaker still for me is Live Activities/Dynamic Island on iOS. There's nothing that compares to it on the Android side. If Android could come up with an equivalent that has more customization options, now we're talking. But that is the one feature I can't live without...and having it on the Apple Watch makes it even better.
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Agree about the Live Activities. Now that it’s been well over two years since introduced, I see them popping up quite frequently daily now. Same as you, sports is big one and I love how they show up on my Apple Watch too. I use ‘em for ride apps, food orders, lots of sports scores and notifications, parking timers, workout tracking, weather/rain updates and a handful of other items less frequently. Still can’t believe though that ESPN hasn’t gotten their **** together to implement them yet.

I use my Pixel 9 Pro Fold daily as well but mostly for content consumption (video and reading), web browsing, looking up stuff on Google Maps, and checking email. I was a great upgrade over the original Fold but not gonna lie, wish it was even a little bigger.
 
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Reading the last few posts about how much people love their MacBooks. I have the latest gen 15 MBA and love it. Light and great design and aesthetics. But I have $500 HP convertible with a touchscreen as well
I use them side by side I don’t see any difference except the HP has more features like touchscreen. I don’t use the touchscreen when it is on my desk. But when sitting on the sofa surfing while watching TV is is a great feature
 
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jamezr said:
Reading the last few posts about how much people love their MacBooks. I have the latest gen 15 MBA and love it. Light and great design and aesthetics. But I have $500 HP convertible with a touchscreen as well
I use them side by side I don’t see any difference except the HP has more features like touchscreen. I don’t use the touchscreen when it is on my desk. But when sitting on the sofa surfing while watching TV is is a great feature
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I have a Dell XPS with a touchscreen as well. I just prefer MacOS and my MBP just flies whereas that's not always the case with my windows machine. And the battery life....so good, especially the standby time. Much prefer the UI on MacOS over Windows. Nothing against Windows laptops, there are some great ones, but I'll take a MacBook Pro any day as my computer of choice. As with all Apple products, ecosystem comes up, and that's another added value. The connection between iPhone, iPad, MBP, Apple TV, Homepod, etc. Seamless messaging between devices. I've bought almost my entire movie collection thru iTunes/Apple and have over a hundred or so, so having them at my fingertips anytime I want to access when traveling or whatever is a good thing. I know there are ways to do this on non Apple devices, but nowhere near as seamless. At the end of the day I'm an Android guy who is mostly Apple with my other devices and those other devices (along with iMessage/Facetime) keep me tied to the iPhone whereas I hold my Pixel or Samsung in my hand and that is the phone that I love.
 
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aggie99 said:
I have a Dell XPS with a touchscreen as well. I just prefer MacOS and my MBP just flies whereas that's not always the case with my windows machine. And the battery life....so good, especially the standby time. Much prefer the UI on MacOS over Windows. Nothing against Windows laptops, there are some great ones, but I'll take a MacBook Pro any day as my computer of choice. As with all Apple products, ecosystem comes up, and that's another added value. The connection between iPhone, iPad, MBP, Apple TV, Homepod, etc. Seamless messaging between devices. I've bought almost my entire movie collection thru iTunes/Apple and have over a hundred or so, so having them at my fingertips anytime I want to access when traveling or whatever is a good thing. I know there are ways to do this on non Apple devices, but nowhere near as seamless. At the end of the day I'm an Android guy who is mostly Apple with my other devices and those other devices (along with iMessage/Facetime) keep me tied to the iPhone whereas I hold my Pixel or Samsung in my hand and that is the phone that I love.
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Great points about how seamless all Apple products work together. That integration just can't be replicated anywhere else. Apple really has designed their products to work together so well. Then throw in an Apple watch into the mix and its even better!
But sometimes....i feel trapped into settling for Apple versions of things that others do better. But I am trapped because of the walled garden so to speak. Like the iPhone and AI, Google/Samsung does AI so much better than Apple does (even though the iphone was built with AI from the ground up says Tim Cook).
But my Android phones offer features that my iPhone doesn't have or doesn't do as well.
 
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If anyone is looking to purchase hit me up

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Dave245 said:
Oh I love my MacBook, it’s one of the areas I think Apple is still the best. I hate Windows, in my opinion it’s trash compared to the Mac. I also love my Apple Watch Ultra, although I would like to try a Pixel Watch at some point and see how it compares in things like fitness, I run marathons and so I need a watch that can keep up and track accurately. So far that has been the Apple Watch Ultra.

The Pixel 9 lineup is the most improved, I’ve even seen a few YouTube videos that mention this. Google really worked hard to improve the Pixel lineup with the Pixel 9. Sales have even improved with Google taking more market share.
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Any of the $200 Coros or Garmin watches excel tenfold beyond the Apple Watch Ultra/2 when it comes to battery life, running metrics and training regimines. I had an Apple Watch Ultra which I used partly through a marathon training block, it was mostly fine. It exceled at the smartwatch stuff but it lacked proper training implementation and progression tracking. You're not able to promptly track laps/intervals, or add a targeted workout, etc. The battery life is lack luster for being a $700 watch, but... it is the best smart watch. Being able to leave my phone behind and have all the apple apps (music, strava, find my (location tracking for family), etc.) is really nice. One day Apple will release a watch with 3-4 day battery life and better workout amenities (training plan uploads/editing, website interface health stuff, like Garmin Connect and Coros Training Hub). When that happens I'll go back to an Apple Watch.
 
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lpolarityl said:
Any of the $200 Coros or Garmin watches excel tenfold beyond the Apple Watch Ultra/2 when it comes to battery life, running metrics and training regimines. I had an Apple Watch Ultra which I used partly through a marathon training block, it was mostly fine. It exceled at the smartwatch stuff but it lacked proper training implementation and progression tracking. You're not able to promptly track laps/intervals, or add a targeted workout, etc. The battery life is lack luster for being a $700 watch, but... it is the best smart watch. Being able to leave my phone behind and have all the apple apps (music, strava, find my (location tracking for family), etc.) is really nice. One day Apple will release a watch with 3-4 day battery life and better workout amenities (training plan uploads/editing, website interface health stuff, like Garmin Connect and Coros Training Hub). When that happens I'll go back to an Apple Watch.
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I need to check out those watches!
 
Dave245 said:
I’m guessing it’s US only?
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You are correct

Google Store public offers of $150 off Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and $300 off Pixel 9 Pro Fold will be automatically applied. YouTube Premium members will receive the additional $100 discount at checkout with the code included in this email.

‌

Available only to US residents aged 18 years or older with US delivery addresses. Recipients must have Google Pay profiles registered to the country where the purchase was made in order for the promotional code to be used.
 
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I found battery life was so rough on my iPhone 16 pro that I hopped over to a Pixel 9. Enjoying it quite a bit although I wish Google had a little more horsepower in their chips. Sold some HomePods, switched away from Apple Music. Using a Pixel Watch. Feels nice to be outside the Apple ecosystem.
 
mg51015bb said:
I found battery life was so rough on my iPhone 16 pro that I hopped over to a Pixel 9. Enjoying it quite a bit although I wish Google had a little more horsepower in their chips. Sold some HomePods, switched away from Apple Music. Using a Pixel Watch. Feels nice to be outside the Apple ecosystem.
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What music service are you using?
 
mg51015bb said:
I found battery life was so rough on my iPhone 16 pro that I hopped over to a Pixel 9. Enjoying it quite a bit although I wish Google had a little more horsepower in their chips. Sold some HomePods, switched away from Apple Music. Using a Pixel Watch. Feels nice to be outside the Apple ecosystem.
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I love Apple Music, I have Apple One and think it’s good value for what we get. Apple Music can be used on Pixel if I’m correct?

I have an Apple TV so I could still use my Apple TV+ if I jumped over to a Pixel (from my S24 Ultra).
 
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Does anyone have the Pixel Buds Pro 2? what are they like, is the ANC better than on AirPods Pro 2?
 
Dave245 said:
Does anyone have the Pixel Buds Pro 2? what are they like, is the ANC better than on AirPods Pro 2?
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I have both along with Samsung's latest I find the Airpods better at noise cancelling overall, The others are good but think also the fit for my ears also prefers the Airpods.
 
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Bkdodger said:
I have both along with Samsung's latest I find the Airpods better at noise cancelling overall, The others are good but think also the fit for my ears also prefers the Airpods.
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Thank you, I think Apple are suppose to be updating the AirPods Pro later this year.
 
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Bkdodger said:
I have both along with Samsung's latest I find the Airpods better at noise cancelling overall, The others are good but think also the fit for my ears also prefers the Airpods.
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That’s one of the things that might keep me on Apple. Their damn accessories are so good.
 
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Dave245 said:
I love Apple Music, I have Apple One and think it’s good value for what we get. Apple Music can be used on Pixel if I’m correct?

I have an Apple TV so I could still use my Apple TV+ if I jumped over to a Pixel (from my S24 Ultra).
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You can use it on the Pixel. Issue I have is that if I play music on HomePods, I can’t control it on my Pixel easily. Same with playing music on a nest audio. With Spotify I can start playing music via voice command and easily control from my phone.
 
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Bkdodger said:
I have both along with Samsung's latest I find the Airpods better at noise cancelling overall, The others are good but think also the fit for my ears also prefers the Airpods.
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Agree the AirPods are the best at noise cancellation but the Pixel Buds Pro2 sound fantastic and the noise cancellation is very good. They also tend to fit my ears better when I’m running. I do slightly prefer my AirPods Pro 2 but definitely don’t feel like I’m downgrading by using the Pixel Buds Pro 2
 
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mg51015bb said:
I hopped over to Spotify. I don’t mind Apple Music, but it doesn’t play as well outside the Apple ecosystem. Spotify connect works nicely with Nest Audio and pretty easy to have the family involved.
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I much prefer Spotify as well. The algorithms seem much more tailored to my musical preferences and it seems to play more nicely with all my other systems (Control 4 mainly).
 
aggie99 said:
Agree the AirPods are the best at noise cancellation but the Pixel Buds Pro2 sound fantastic and the noise cancellation is very good. They also tend to fit my ears better when I’m running. I do slightly prefer my AirPods Pro 2 but definitely don’t feel like I’m downgrading by using the Pixel Buds Pro 2
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Do you know if they are good when running? I run marathons, which includes a lot of training so I would need them to stay in my ears when running.
 
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