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Nexus-N/Pixel XL ( 2016 )
- Thread starter Tig Bitties
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One mobile dept rep at BB told me online only and the store will not carry the Pixels for walk in sales.
I was told incorrectly unless it is store by store availability. I went to a BB mobile store in a mall a short time ago and they had two white Pixels for sale, no need to order one to get it from that location.
I am not sure if each store will have a display model on a kiosk, we'll see I guess.
I am not sure if each store will have a display model on a kiosk, we'll see I guess.
Well of course they have the Samsung area in the store, which that has been there for several years. But every single display that was not an Apple one, had a Samsung phone on it. There were at least 3 displays of the S7 (which is more then iPhones in the store), but also almost all the different carriers at least had one S7 on it. It was kind of weird.
Sorry for the delay guys.
This thing absolutely flies through everything. It is as smooth as the iPhone 6s (not used the 7).
Spotify - an app that always seems to perform worse on Android than iOS in my experience - is smooth as butter on the Pixel.
Feels good in the hand, the only issue is the volume buttons: the up and down feel very different and nothing like the satisfying click of the power button. May be my unit only.
Camera is just ridiculously fast to open and to use.
Mightily impressed. Just need to find a screen protector that covers the whole screen (the Spigen glass one does not).
This thing absolutely flies through everything. It is as smooth as the iPhone 6s (not used the 7).
Spotify - an app that always seems to perform worse on Android than iOS in my experience - is smooth as butter on the Pixel.
Feels good in the hand, the only issue is the volume buttons: the up and down feel very different and nothing like the satisfying click of the power button. May be my unit only.
Camera is just ridiculously fast to open and to use.
Mightily impressed. Just need to find a screen protector that covers the whole screen (the Spigen glass one does not).
Here are my impressions after a second day with the XL (first full day having set up everything and messing around with it).
The battery: Damn good. I have a Vivosmart HR on Bluetooth, brightness at 50% and went out for the day with the family. 100 minutes of navigation on Google maps with music via Bluetooth for the duration. Snapped around 60 pics and took 4 minutes with of 4k video. All on 4g or H/H+ depending on coverage. Back at the hotel on wi-fi, all these got uploaded via Google photos. I also spent a couple of hours on emails, the news, reddit, etc.
Upshot is 4h 29 SoT with 18% left. That is a good result given what I did - it was a heavy day for me. Typically I'm on wi-fi most of the day so anticipate a good 5-6 hours SoT over two days.
Aside from everything already said, the camera is brilliant. Forget the eyeballing close crops and pixel peeping on a 30-inch monitor against other flagships - just use it and see. It is so quick, easy, reliable, and produces pleasing results that it makes me takes more photos - a true sign of a good shooter. Of the 60 snapped, I deleted 2 shots and kept the other 58. This is the killer feature - a rapid camera that performs in any situation - finally on a Nex....ahem Pixel.
There rest we know. It looks conservative/understated/boring/whatever. I like it the more I use it. No angled edges, no protruding lenses, just a solid well-built, easy to handle slab.
I'll finish up with this - after jumping around 12 phones this year, from 6S to Mi5, OP3 to SE, S7 to 6P, I've finally got a phone that ticks there most important boxes for me (and one of those is a headphone jack far above front facing speakers).
So, humble pie eaten. It's won me over... if only for giving me nice photos of my kids growing up over the next year or so and always having the battery to make that happen - I can say for me the Pixel XL is value for money. And something of a saviour given the Note 7 fail, V20 UK no-show, and the butchered iPhone 7 headphone jack.
However, if I didn't need the camera, or took photos of static subjects and scenes, the 6P modded with Assistant and Pixel launcher is still a mighty proposition.
The battery: Damn good. I have a Vivosmart HR on Bluetooth, brightness at 50% and went out for the day with the family. 100 minutes of navigation on Google maps with music via Bluetooth for the duration. Snapped around 60 pics and took 4 minutes with of 4k video. All on 4g or H/H+ depending on coverage. Back at the hotel on wi-fi, all these got uploaded via Google photos. I also spent a couple of hours on emails, the news, reddit, etc.
Upshot is 4h 29 SoT with 18% left. That is a good result given what I did - it was a heavy day for me. Typically I'm on wi-fi most of the day so anticipate a good 5-6 hours SoT over two days.
Aside from everything already said, the camera is brilliant. Forget the eyeballing close crops and pixel peeping on a 30-inch monitor against other flagships - just use it and see. It is so quick, easy, reliable, and produces pleasing results that it makes me takes more photos - a true sign of a good shooter. Of the 60 snapped, I deleted 2 shots and kept the other 58. This is the killer feature - a rapid camera that performs in any situation - finally on a Nex....ahem Pixel.
There rest we know. It looks conservative/understated/boring/whatever. I like it the more I use it. No angled edges, no protruding lenses, just a solid well-built, easy to handle slab.
I'll finish up with this - after jumping around 12 phones this year, from 6S to Mi5, OP3 to SE, S7 to 6P, I've finally got a phone that ticks there most important boxes for me (and one of those is a headphone jack far above front facing speakers).
So, humble pie eaten. It's won me over... if only for giving me nice photos of my kids growing up over the next year or so and always having the battery to make that happen - I can say for me the Pixel XL is value for money. And something of a saviour given the Note 7 fail, V20 UK no-show, and the butchered iPhone 7 headphone jack.
However, if I didn't need the camera, or took photos of static subjects and scenes, the 6P modded with Assistant and Pixel launcher is still a mighty proposition.
Was in the EE store at Cribbs Causway, Bristol today and they had both a black Pixel and white Pixel XL on display.
Anyone know what wallpaper that is?I had a chance to play with the Pixel XL and I left with mixed opinions about it. The overall build is premium feeling and the construction is well built but the overall design has yet to grow on me. I will admit that it looks a lot better in person than it does in online rendered images but the design is still relatively "safe" and not exactly eye catching.
In terms of performance, the Pixel is easily the fastest android device I have used and it easily bests my S7E in UI Speed and app launching. The only concern I have is that the demo device I was able to play with for 10 minutes was warm to the touch and that was with what I would consider basic use. It could be that the phone itself is still indexing or completing set up in the background as they did mention they only received the demo device today and removed it from the box this morning.
I'm actually able to comment on battery life but since this would be the first charge on that specific Pixel XL I am not certain with what charge the battery came with. The battery history shows approximately ~90% as the start of the graph. When I handed the phone back it was at 56% battery with 2 hours and 14 minutes of screen on time. This is without an active SIM card and only WiFI connected but that is about what I could get with my S7E when it was brand new.
I did take a few pictures inside the store and the capture speed is quick but I noticed that if I take an image and quickly tap the image icon in the lower corner to view the image I just took. The gallery would still show "Processing HDR+" and a sort of foggy glass effect over the image almost as if the image is not yet loaded. This was relatively hit or miss as sometimes it took a few seconds for the image to finally appear while other times it didn't show the processing message. It's not a big deal but it's something I don't really like especially after being used to the rapid fire image capture on the S7E and the 7 Plus.
I also feel I should mention that white balance tended to a slightly yellowish hue while taking images in store. The lights are very bright and harsh so I can't draw any concrete conclusions but it seems like the 7 Plus I'm using presently did a better job selecting white balance. Overall, the camera app is a major improvement in usability over the Nexus 6P which was frankly embarrassingly slow.
With all of the above said, I'm not sure where my final standing is on the Pixel XL but I am extremely happy Google is putting pressure on the other Android device manufacturers to produce better devices. Hopefully this pushes Samsung to actually optimize and bug test there software before releasing it to the world. As frankly there is no reason Samsung can't produce a device as quick and fluid to use as the Pixel especially considering the manpower they have.
Live Earth > Your world, solar system.
Rotates/changes as time passes. Probably uses a bit more battery but it's fairly stunning.
Yeah, I found quite a few on display in the middle of the store I went to (CPW Manchester) - regular and XL in black and white along with some Daydream headsets, all around a Pixel-themed stand. They even had an assistant wearing a Google 'G' outfit exclusively for the Pixels who then passed me on to CPW staff to talk tariffs.
At least they've had a go at getting it into people's hands as well as having a person to answer questions.
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I've preordered. The latest water tests put me at better ease. I won't be washing my pixel as I wash s7 edge, but at least accidents and rain is relatively covered. And the wireless chargers will be stowed away for another day.
I'm ready for a Google phone.
I also really hope they announce a Pixel 7" tablet soon. I'm ready to go Android for my tablet needs too. The iPad is the last stronghold for iOS for me. I'm ready for better.
Now to figure out how to get out of my jump on demand...
I'm ready for a Google phone.
I also really hope they announce a Pixel 7" tablet soon. I'm ready to go Android for my tablet needs too. The iPad is the last stronghold for iOS for me. I'm ready for better.
Now to figure out how to get out of my jump on demand...
So I worked in CPW today which I don't normally do on a Sunday but they were short so I offered.
Had some hands on time with the Pixel (we have the normal sized and XL models as demos, in every colour).
I really like it.
The XL definitely looks / feels better to me than the normal size, and I'm a huuuuge fan of stock Android / Pixel launcher. Everything looks sharp.
It flows wonderfully through apps, everything is smooth, easy, snappy. Just what you want from a flag ship.
Got my Lumia 950 XL yesterday and had that with me today, so did some camera tests side by side. Pixel was good, and slightly quicker in taking, but the Lumia is again the better in quality. Even a girl I work with who hates the Lumia phones had to agree on that one!
Also tried with the 7 Plus and the Pixel was comparable but better in colours. iPhones are definitely truer to life, but appear washed out in comparison.
In other news the 'Google guy' for our area was in and he is amazing haha. Really great guy who was very enthusiastic about the Pixel and us selling it, but also listened to me slag it off for the lack waterproofing, wireless charging, memory card slot etc.
I just said I know it'll come next year with Pixel 2, so I'll wait till then!
He did give me these though...
Which I'm guessing he needs to get rid of, hence dishing out a load of boxes for us!
But yeah, Pixel is impressive, and if it had a memory card slot then the 7 Plus might be in trouble. But it's ok for now...
Had some hands on time with the Pixel (we have the normal sized and XL models as demos, in every colour).
I really like it.
The XL definitely looks / feels better to me than the normal size, and I'm a huuuuge fan of stock Android / Pixel launcher. Everything looks sharp.
It flows wonderfully through apps, everything is smooth, easy, snappy. Just what you want from a flag ship.
Got my Lumia 950 XL yesterday and had that with me today, so did some camera tests side by side. Pixel was good, and slightly quicker in taking, but the Lumia is again the better in quality. Even a girl I work with who hates the Lumia phones had to agree on that one!
Also tried with the 7 Plus and the Pixel was comparable but better in colours. iPhones are definitely truer to life, but appear washed out in comparison.
In other news the 'Google guy' for our area was in and he is amazing haha. Really great guy who was very enthusiastic about the Pixel and us selling it, but also listened to me slag it off for the lack waterproofing, wireless charging, memory card slot etc.
I just said I know it'll come next year with Pixel 2, so I'll wait till then!
He did give me these though...
Which I'm guessing he needs to get rid of, hence dishing out a load of boxes for us!
But yeah, Pixel is impressive, and if it had a memory card slot then the 7 Plus might be in trouble. But it's ok for now...
been watching videos today - I'm impressed too. Even more excited about future pixels too. They didn't make every choice the way I would agree with, but the overall package looks like a thumbs up
I want a pixel 7" -8" tablet too epicrayban!
I want a pixel 7" -8" tablet too epicrayban!
Best Buy's site makes it seem like the only carry regular Pixels, but I ordered the $799 retail one for in-store pickup and it turned out to actually be the XL (as I expected). Upon pickup I asked if they could price match Verizon/Google and they had no issues whatsoever. Easiest transaction ever.
I wasn't interested AT ALL in this phone, until I started seeing all the glowing reviews popping up this week. And they're not lying. This thing may look bland, but there's MUCH more to it than meets the eye.
I wasn't interested AT ALL in this phone, until I started seeing all the glowing reviews popping up this week. And they're not lying. This thing may look bland, but there's MUCH more to it than meets the eye.
For those wondering: http://www.phonearena.com/news/Pixe...rproof-because-Google-ran-out-of-time_id86938
Pixel and Pixel XL reportedly not waterproof, because Google "ran out of time"
Pixel and Pixel XL reportedly not waterproof, because Google "ran out of time"
Well, if that's the reason I guess we can expect the next Pixel to be water resistant. The S7 Edge I got just few days ago should serve me fine until that