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Pixel 3/Pixel 3 XL
- Thread starter nviz22
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I've said this for years that the Nexus program and even the higher-end Pixel program it's just a pet project made in Google's basement, that they throw a small amount of cash to the nerds working down there, and don't really care what they come up with, as long as it's a cool smartphone.
But those nerds are probably handcuffed with what they can do on a small budget their given, working out of Alphabet's basement, to design and program these phones themselves.
Google doesn't care, they don't make their big money off selling phones. Unlike Apple and Samsung which absolutely do.
The Pixel phones to Google is just a side project, just something to do for fun, not super serious.
The Verizon carrier exclusive, a third year in a row means they aren't serious. At this point the Pixel 3 should be available on Verizon, ATT, T-Mobile, and Sprint, just like the iPhone X is and Galaxy S9 are. That's how you sell a **** ton of phones. And this being the third year for Pixel now, Google should be prepared for that. But they don't care.
The Pixel 3 is still very much a fine looking phone based on the leaks. It's not bezel-less by modern standards but whatever, it'll have a great camera and the same chipset as the XL. It'll have a bigger screen than the Pixel 2 as well. I know most people are moving towards the biggest phone they can get but size/portability/comfort is my number one priority these days so I'm still interested in seeing it, and potentially buying it. I just hope it comes with some interesting color variations as well.
Can't wait to see some more leaks of the regular 3.
With wireless charging, usb-c earbuds, finally, and hopefully more improvements to the camera, I can see myself pre ordering.
I don't mind going back to a more one-handed phone from my S9+. Google hardware won't be as good as Samsung's, but it'll be good enough. I've given Samsung my money for the past four years. I'm ready to embrace Google. I just wish they'd make it easier to.
Hope there's a really nice gold or dark blue variant. Otherwise, I think this year is black to help hide the thick bezels.
Wonder what the prices will be...
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I wonder if AI is going to help some form of face unlock feature with those dual front cameras.
I hope so.
Remember, just like wireless charging, Google had face unlock years ago in the Nexus days. It really wasn't bad for the time.
I bought my Pixel 2 XL direct through Google, but my point is, if Google truly is serious about phone sales, they would put them on all 4 major U.S. carriers. Verizon has like 90 million customers or so, but ATT, T-Mobile, and Sprint would be another 175 million customers for them to attract.
Imagine if Samsung only sold their Galaxy S9 through Verizon only, and every one else had to pay the $1,000 price tag out of pocket ? Their sales would plummet and they would lose billions.
Imagine if Samsung only sold their Galaxy S9 through Verizon only, and every one else had to pay the $1,000 price tag out of pocket ? Their sales would plummet and they would lose billions.
I agree with that. I'd imagine that most people (average users, not us nerds
) still go into a brick and mortar store to purchase their phones. Having those devices readily available for testing and general playing around would be much more ideal. I'd bet that whatever revenue Google gets in the VZW exclusive deal could easily be earned through promotion in each store. Even going into Best Buy, you can't buy the Pixel truly unlocked; It's the VZW version only. I'm on AT&T so I have no clue on this, but does VZW even do extensive promotions of the Pixel?I'd also think that if Google ever decided to sell across all major carriers and not be exclusive, targeting an earlier release date, like late July or early August could help to since they'd be getting ahead of the typical Note/iPhone release schedules and it could coincide with the released of new major OS updates.
At the end of the day though, I just don't think selling a ton of phones is in Google's interest. They seem to be rather comfortable in the niche market, but I think if you're going to accept being in the niche market, you cannot be priced like a major flagship. OnePlus is having major success in that market for what they are aiming to be. Come to think of it, I'd love to see how OnePlus could do in the carrier environment.
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I agree with everything you said. But the reason they are sticking with just one carrier goes back to another post you made about the Nexus and Pixel lines just being an after thought for Google. They are really not serious about hardware. I don't they want or could meet the demand if they had their phones on all carriers.
I really don't think they buy the capacity from the manufacturing plants to produce the Pixel lines. They have a certain number of phones to make in their budget/manufacturing plans and that is all they really want to make.
Google isn't remotely interested in making the Pixel sell like the Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy phone, that's just not there game plan here.
Google just isn't serious about phone hardware sales, that's just not their thing. To be honest we're lucky we even get the Pixel still I could just see them pulling the plug on it saying yeah we spend a lot of money on this division and don't sell a lot of them so yeah it's a wash we're just going to bow out of it.
[doublepost=1533827678][/doublepost]I don't buy into the idea that Google can't manufacture enough phones like Apple or Samsung? Of course not that manyI I understand that, but at this point three years into the Pixel line and like 6 years after Nexus phones. Google isn't a mom and pop shop, they are a billion-dollar Corporation, I'm sure they could figure out a way to produce 10 or 20 million phones instead of just a couple million .
This isn't Google's first rodeo, they've been involved with smartphone production since the Nexus One, I know small that was, but they have real world experience in being in the hardware manufacturing business relationship. And they are a gigantic company, I'm sure after all this time with Nexus and now Pixel they could make it happen if they wanted. I don't think they care to.
I'm done giving Google excuses, no more cutting them slack. They are big boys, in this market.
Google just isn't serious about phone hardware sales, that's just not their thing. To be honest we're lucky we even get the Pixel still I could just see them pulling the plug on it saying yeah we spend a lot of money on this division and don't sell a lot of them so yeah it's a wash we're just going to bow out of it.
[doublepost=1533827678][/doublepost]I don't buy into the idea that Google can't manufacture enough phones like Apple or Samsung? Of course not that manyI I understand that, but at this point three years into the Pixel line and like 6 years after Nexus phones. Google isn't a mom and pop shop, they are a billion-dollar Corporation, I'm sure they could figure out a way to produce 10 or 20 million phones instead of just a couple million .
This isn't Google's first rodeo, they've been involved with smartphone production since the Nexus One, I know small that was, but they have real world experience in being in the hardware manufacturing business relationship. And they are a gigantic company, I'm sure after all this time with Nexus and now Pixel they could make it happen if they wanted. I don't think they care to.
I'm done giving Google excuses, no more cutting them slack. They are big boys, in this market.
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I am not sure about that. Google spent over a billion dollars hiring 2,000 workers from HTC to work on their Pixel phones, while small to them, that is still a significant investment.
Ok...let's see what happens. But so far it seems like the same old, same old again with Google phones. Verizon exclusives, copycat notches, poorly thought out gesture system.
I think HTC's U12 last year would've been a great Pixel 2 XL.
I expect this year's launch to be just like last year's sold out almost right away back orders for 3 to 5 weeks and Verizon is the only carrier to purchase them from
Google did say that it would take them five years to really get their hardware to where they want it to be. I believe it was Sundar that said this himself.
This is year three.
This is year three.
Which is fair, maybe. I mean, you'd expect a company on equal footing with Apple (in terms of sheer size and resources) would be able to do this easily, but Google is very new to the hardware game for any product category. Granted this is a tiny company compared to Google and may not be a good example, but look at how OnePlus has nailed hardware in this being their fifth generation. I think what folks really want to see though is continued progression if you are trying to prop yourself up with a "five-year plan", and most of us are looking at the Pixel 3 XL as a potentially big step back. Even the smaller Pixel 3 just feels like a natural step but not a real progression forward.
The unfortunate part is the Apple comparison will always be there, and it did not take them five years to get a great design. Arguably, it took them four if you consider the 4S the best design to that point. But the three generations before that felt like good progression that piloted the smartphone frenzy.
You nailed it. Even for a 5-year plan, I'm not sure Google is heading in the right direction if they continue with this course of confusing and baffling hardware design decisions.
What will smartphones be and look like in 2020...? That'll be when the 5th gen Pixel lands.
Uh, ok... we'll see.
I'm no Apple fan but in year 3 they release the iPhone 3GS and that was one of their best phone releases and it was the best smartphone at the time and they sold tens of millions of them and that was just their third year and a smartphone market.
Google released 7 Nexus phones and this will be their third pixel phone so you could say in a way they've had 10 years experience but let's cut him slack let's just say this is their third year they're nowhere near what Apple was when they have the iPhone 3GS released
I agree. A 5-year plan is no excuse for the poor decision making we are witnessing now.
[doublepost=1533833867][/doublepost]BTW, anyone wanting to see what premium flagship specs and features look like, please refer to the Note 9.
This is a good time to remind people that the 2 XL at 128GB is $950, and that's with less RAM, no headphone jack, lower waterproof rating, no wireless charging, no stylus, etc.
What will the 128GB 3 XL price be this time, I wonder.
Yeah, even I was pretty impressed by what the Note 9 is offering. It really is the most fully functional offering in the smartphone market. Push came to shove and I’d easily take a Note 9 over any Pixel.
I wish we had a true third option in the market now, besides iPhone and Android.
Too bad Microsoft couldn't pull it together and really hit a home run. Or someone else ?
But for me as far as Android goes, it's Pixel or OnePlus phones only. I can't go back to manufactured UI's like Touchwiz or Sense anymore.
And iPhone if JB only. The iPhone XS Plus if there's a stable untethered Jailbreakrelease would tempt me back to iPhone
Too bad Microsoft couldn't pull it together and really hit a home run. Or someone else ?
But for me as far as Android goes, it's Pixel or OnePlus phones only. I can't go back to manufactured UI's like Touchwiz or Sense anymore.
And iPhone if JB only. The iPhone XS Plus if there's a stable untethered Jailbreakrelease would tempt me back to iPhone
I agree with absolutley everything you said in that post. While the Samsungs are stunning in design and hardware they don't feel snappy once you have used a OnePlus or Pixel.
I actually had an Lumia 900 many years ago. The software was great and Microsoft really gave Windows Mobile a big push. Unfortunately it never got enough developer support and had to die.
OnePlus could put higher spec components in their phone but run the risk of selling them at a loss as the average consumer keep it safe with brands they know or recognise.
Where are the Pixel 3 leaks? We've seen great leaks of the XL but nothing of the smaller one, other than the screen protector in May.
We generally always get leaks about the bigger sized versions way ahead of announcemen because of hype. Probably get some leaks on the smaller one in September I'd guess.
Google Pixel 3 XL leak reveals 6.7-inch display, confirms battery and camera specs [Video]
That phone is going to be too big for pretty much everyone. Battery size seems small for a screen that big, dual cameras would be better in the rear vs the front. Also, the teal power button and all white back is a downgrade from last years Panda model imo. Not to mention the meganotch, which seems even larger now knowing it's on a 6.7" display.
Assuming the Pixel 3 leaks we've barely seen are right... 5.4" display, slimmer bezels, 845 chip, 4GB RAM and the same GPU should make the Pixel 3 a pretty good option. They've just completely botched the XL this year, but I'm okay with it knowing the phone is going to be out of my comfortability range anyways. They will need a lot of software tricks and specialties to make it remotely appealing.
That phone is going to be too big for pretty much everyone. Battery size seems small for a screen that big, dual cameras would be better in the rear vs the front. Also, the teal power button and all white back is a downgrade from last years Panda model imo. Not to mention the meganotch, which seems even larger now knowing it's on a 6.7" display.
Assuming the Pixel 3 leaks we've barely seen are right... 5.4" display, slimmer bezels, 845 chip, 4GB RAM and the same GPU should make the Pixel 3 a pretty good option. They've just completely botched the XL this year, but I'm okay with it knowing the phone is going to be out of my comfortability range anyways. They will need a lot of software tricks and specialties to make it remotely appealing.
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I rooted for Windows phone so hard. I thought it was going to be the perfect hybrid between Android an iOS. Microsoft could have made it happen, too. People blame lack of app support, but a lot of that was due to MS not really engaging devs, and the public, on the platform. And they should have produced a goddamn Surface phone. A Pixel-like showcase for the glories of Windows phones but with a higher spec'd, flasier device. Just think of all the machines running windows in the world right now and what a slam dunk it would have been for a huge percentage to prefer using a Windows mobile device.
Also, I friggin' LOVED tiles. The screen could look too clogged sometimes but whatever. Cool concept that could have been the next evolution of widgets.
When you look at the Note 9, it makes the Pixel 3 XL's 4GB of RAM and 64GB of starting storage look downright cheap.
What will the Pixel 3 XL be priced at? If it's the same as last year's, it'll cost $950 to bump it up to 128GB to match the Note 9's default storage at $999.
I don't foresee the 3 XL being cheaper than last year's. If anything, it might be more expensive. If you factor in all goodies that the Note 9 has, including the S-Pen, headphone jack, dual cameras (both with OIS and one with dual aperture), larger battery, more RAM, more storage (with expandable storage, too)... the Pixel 3 XL is going to feel like a ripoff.
I don't know why Google is being so frugal about their specs.
What will the Pixel 3 XL be priced at? If it's the same as last year's, it'll cost $950 to bump it up to 128GB to match the Note 9's default storage at $999.
I don't foresee the 3 XL being cheaper than last year's. If anything, it might be more expensive. If you factor in all goodies that the Note 9 has, including the S-Pen, headphone jack, dual cameras (both with OIS and one with dual aperture), larger battery, more RAM, more storage (with expandable storage, too)... the Pixel 3 XL is going to feel like a ripoff.
I don't know why Google is being so frugal about their specs.