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Pixel 3/Pixel 3 XL
- Thread starter nviz22
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Marques is so good. We all know he's a Pixel guy, but he's not afraid to point out any and all of the negatives. If anyone in the same YouTube/reviewer landscape can actually use his or her voice to facilitate change and improvement, it's him.
Overall he seems to be pleased with the phone, and that's wonderful, but if the RAM does become a long-term issue, that could be a deal-breaker.
Overall these early reviews don't make me any more, or any less hyped about the Pixel 3. It looks like they still have work to do in the hardware space, which should have been expected after last year, but it just feels like it's exactly what we expected. Improvements across the board, but still some issues that need to be addressed. They'll (likely) figure it out in time. For now though, it looks like the upcoming 6t is what the Pixel should have been.
Overall he seems to be pleased with the phone, and that's wonderful, but if the RAM does become a long-term issue, that could be a deal-breaker.
Overall these early reviews don't make me any more, or any less hyped about the Pixel 3. It looks like they still have work to do in the hardware space, which should have been expected after last year, but it just feels like it's exactly what we expected. Improvements across the board, but still some issues that need to be addressed. They'll (likely) figure it out in time. For now though, it looks like the upcoming 6t is what the Pixel should have been.
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Agreed. Agree with him or not, that was the most well rounded coverage of the the Pixel 3 XL yet. He hit on all key areas in only 15 minutes, good and bad. It’s quite clearly the best still camera available in a smartphone so far (before I get all the Mate 20 fans tearing me a new one
. And FWIW, I think it will still be the best after thorough reviews of the Mate 20 models). But it’s also got some glaring weak points which he focused on.Overall, I’m personally a bit disappointed with this outing. Regardless of price, I think the design is subpar (worst front display on a phone and the back looks like it’s REALLY susceptible to scratching), the video and audio recording is behind the competition, battery performance seems unremarkable and 4GB of RAM is really looking like a significant shortcoming (MKBHD even demonstrated the music playback issue when using the camera). These are all areas it falls well short of the iPhone XS and Note9, and camera performance, while exceptional, isn’t that far ahead to offset all of these other shortcomings. And I’m a Google phone guy when it comes to Android.
All that being said, I didn’t post just to bash the Pixel—just feel like I’ve seen/watched enough to come to some final conclusions. If I was considering another phone purchase at the moment, I’m quite certain it wouldn’t be a Pixel 3 of either size. I do genuinely hope all of you Pixel 3 owners enjoy your phones and they hit all of your personal preferences in a smartphone.
Per a Reddit user, Google is artificially altering the top corner radius via software. What an absolutely strange decision.
https://gfycat.com/WelltodoBlackHydra
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixe...t_seen_this_mentioned_google_is_artificially/
https://gfycat.com/WelltodoBlackHydra
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixe...t_seen_this_mentioned_google_is_artificially/
Probably to mirror the curvature of the physical rounded corners of the phone. Take a look at the curve before and after in comparison to the top corner in the frame. The second curve appears the same as the phone’s curve.
Well, I've been playing with the Pixel 3 XL, as has my wife, and we will both be returning them. The audio seems to be missing treble, while the bass overcompensates. The audio on the video is extremely bad. The video itself isn't very good. The brightness is def not bright enough on the display for me (compared to the iPhone X). I knew about these issues before I got the phone, but I wanted to see for myself. I can't live with this for the next year or more. Plus, Verizon only gets .02mbps download speed at my house, whereas T-Mobile gets 20+ mpbs. That is the biggest issue!
And I never thought I would say this, but I much prefer the way Apple utilizes notifications, as well as the widget page when you swipe left from the main screen.
I gave it a go, but the Pixel 3 XL has too many issues for me to deal with for the next year. Love the camera and the Duplex Google AI call feature, but those 2 things alone aren't enough.
And I never thought I would say this, but I much prefer the way Apple utilizes notifications, as well as the widget page when you swipe left from the main screen.
I gave it a go, but the Pixel 3 XL has too many issues for me to deal with for the next year. Love the camera and the Duplex Google AI call feature, but those 2 things alone aren't enough.
Slowly falling for this device. There's no question there were mistakes in some of Google's decisions this generation, but man, is it a hell of an upgrade from the Pixel 2. The screen alone... So much better.
Well my wife texted that my phone arrived. But, she didn’t hear fedex drop it off. (Apparently the dog did) She let our lab out and he got a hold of the box, opened it and bit a corner out of the box! I’m not sure what to do. I was hesitant on the color and the phone itself. Ugh!
Pics of the box and the perp!!
Pics of the box and the perp!!
Attachments
lol...he looks pretty content with what he has done!
I think Google would take it back in that shape. They only care that the device is undamaged and all the accessories are included. The box probably cost pennies to mass produce.
Isn’t it Fedex fault for just leaving a thousand dollar device outside without a signature? Surely they can’t just leave things where anything could happen.
They don't know what's inside. If a signature is not required, then they are not obligated to wait around for someone to answer the door. FedEx typically always leaves my packages by the front door unannounced unless they require my signature.
My box was left right in the edge of my porch very noticeable I was a little upset they could have at least pushed it back towards the house and the corner kind of hidden away but it was sitting right out in the open on the edge of the step
Love how he did 18:9, EXACTLY as I said in another, Content Creators are now moving to this very Aspect Ratio our phones are getting, so this nonsense of "you'll have black bars just live with it and the notch" is BS. Things were neve going to stay 16:9 forever
Anyway, very thorough review by MKBHD, I simply couldn't get through Flossy one, lol, White Shoes messing around in the beginning and all the rambling got to me
Man oh man Google will need to do a lot better with the Pixel 4 XL. The wasted space of the notch, the poor RAM management with dropping Music apps (THIS SHOULD NOT BE AN ISSUE IN A 2018 DEVICE), the average battery life and the paltry must be dealt with.
Kudos to Google on once again smashing the Camera, maybe they should just make cameras for other OEMs and call it a day on the rest of the Pixel, lol.
This part shocked me, the size of that Chin and the size of that notch are just too much to take in at once. Incredibly poor design
I called google and explained what happened. They said no biggie and offered to send out a replacement unit, so all is well.
I love my lab, but I am looking forward to him getting older. The boy runs on rocket fuel!
It does look awful. Worst of all, it looks like a double chin since Google refuses to allow users to hide that ridiculous, obtrusive navigation bar.Love how he did 18:9, EXACTLY as I said in another, Content Creators are now moving to this very Aspect Ratio our phones are getting, so this nonsense of "you'll have black bars just live with it and the notch" is BS. Things were neve going to stay 16:9 forever
Anyway, very thorough review by MKBHD, I simply couldn't get through Flossy one, lol, White Shoes messing around in the beginning and all the rambling got to me
Man oh man Google will need to do a lot better with the Pixel 4 XL. The wasted space of the notch, the poor RAM management with dropping Music apps (THIS SHOULD NOT BE AN ISSUE IN A 2018 DEVICE), the average battery life and the paltry must be dealt with.
Kudos to Google on once again smashing the Camera, maybe they should just make cameras for other OEMs and call it a day on the rest of the Pixel, lol.
This part shocked me, the size of that Chin and the size of that notch are just too much to take in at once. Incredibly poor design
Same with my Pixel 2, you can only keep about 5 or 6 apps opened and ready to go in the RAM with the Pixel 3. Anything beyond that it refreshes.
Say whatever you want about Google's optimization or how unused RAM is wasted RAM or whatever else you think suffices as an excuse, 4GB of RAM is a mistake. It's a mistake alone, but especially so with the $799 price, especially so in a late 2018 flagship, and especially so considering the half-baked gestures forces you through the app switcher menu. How neat to roll by all these apps that aren't ready for you.
It's cheap and sad.
EDIT: Wow, I'm catching up on the news that some music and podcast apps just shut down unexpectedly due to the device needing to free up RAM. Where are all those apologists who said 4Gb of RAM is more than enough?
Say whatever you want about Google's optimization or how unused RAM is wasted RAM or whatever else you think suffices as an excuse, 4GB of RAM is a mistake. It's a mistake alone, but especially so with the $799 price, especially so in a late 2018 flagship, and especially so considering the half-baked gestures forces you through the app switcher menu. How neat to roll by all these apps that aren't ready for you.
It's cheap and sad.
EDIT: Wow, I'm catching up on the news that some music and podcast apps just shut down unexpectedly due to the device needing to free up RAM. Where are all those apologists who said 4Gb of RAM is more than enough?
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The OP6 already beats the Pixel 2 in speed and RAM management. This should be embarrassing for Google, but nope, they've gone full Apple with the cheap RAM, high price.
my lab is 6 and still crazy... at least she doesn't chew up things but still drives us crazy from time to time. I don't think labs ever age
Zack digs in...
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I seriously wonder if Google handed some sales to OnePlus this year. A lot of people don't seem to be too thrilled about the 3 release. It's definitely hard to justify updating from last year's model.
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I seriously wonder if Google handed some sales to OnePlus this year. A lot of people don't seem to be too thrilled about the 3 release. It's definitely hard to justify updating from last year's model.
Just saw MKBHD's video. Hope Google really is listening to him and pushes out an update that fixes the RAM management and video microphone recording (I believe they pushed out an update last year to the Pixel 2s to address video microphone recording, too).
Solid review by MKBHD. I agree with a lot of what he said.
I'll be honest, I'm liking my Pixel 3 and will likely keep it. My Pixel 2 is being passed to my mom, and as I've said before, I'm ready to separate from Samsung. My S9+ fetches a pretty decent amount on Swappa. I wager I could even get a little more on Craigslist if I want to go through the trouble. That along with my $50 Google credit that I had laying around + my iPhone 7 trade in value, it almost makes the Pixel 3 "free." And I can put the $50 promo credit toward a Pixel Stand down the line.
As I've been saying for the past few pages, the Pixel 3 hardware is good enough. I have to reiterate how amazing it feels in the hand (especially versus the Pixel 2). It's nice to return to a smaller more manageable device. The soft-touch back is actually really cool -- I can understand how in early hands-on, people mistaken it for plastic or non-glass. It's pretty remarkable what Google has done here. It looks great in person in white. And the bezels, while they aren't the smallest, they're such a vast improvement over the Pixel 2 that the device feels like a Samsung phone, like a next-gen phone. I never felt that way about the Pixel 2. In person and in use, the bezels effectively disappear. It really feels like the regular sized S8 I had a while back. I've yet to really test the front firing speakers, but so far, they seemed loud and good, and again, a giant improvement over the Pixel 2 (which I've always argued were terrible despite high-praises from other people).
And what can I say about the software? Aside from the gestures, the software is still overall a phenomenal experience -- the real advanced mobile operating system.
I'm going to spend the weekend with the Pixel 3 before my final decision, but all in all, I think it's a keeper. The improvements over the Pixel 2 are staggering (seriously, it's safe to now say the Pixel 2 hardware basically sucked in nearly every area besides camera). And when compared to my S9+, there are less compromises now than ever. Enough to the point where the tradeoffs that I gain with the Pixel camera, stock Android, updates, and Google's ecosystem (e.g., Photos) are worthwhile.
Solid review by MKBHD. I agree with a lot of what he said.
I'll be honest, I'm liking my Pixel 3 and will likely keep it. My Pixel 2 is being passed to my mom, and as I've said before, I'm ready to separate from Samsung. My S9+ fetches a pretty decent amount on Swappa. I wager I could even get a little more on Craigslist if I want to go through the trouble. That along with my $50 Google credit that I had laying around + my iPhone 7 trade in value, it almost makes the Pixel 3 "free." And I can put the $50 promo credit toward a Pixel Stand down the line.
As I've been saying for the past few pages, the Pixel 3 hardware is good enough. I have to reiterate how amazing it feels in the hand (especially versus the Pixel 2). It's nice to return to a smaller more manageable device. The soft-touch back is actually really cool -- I can understand how in early hands-on, people mistaken it for plastic or non-glass. It's pretty remarkable what Google has done here. It looks great in person in white. And the bezels, while they aren't the smallest, they're such a vast improvement over the Pixel 2 that the device feels like a Samsung phone, like a next-gen phone. I never felt that way about the Pixel 2. In person and in use, the bezels effectively disappear. It really feels like the regular sized S8 I had a while back. I've yet to really test the front firing speakers, but so far, they seemed loud and good, and again, a giant improvement over the Pixel 2 (which I've always argued were terrible despite high-praises from other people).
And what can I say about the software? Aside from the gestures, the software is still overall a phenomenal experience -- the real advanced mobile operating system.
I'm going to spend the weekend with the Pixel 3 before my final decision, but all in all, I think it's a keeper. The improvements over the Pixel 2 are staggering (seriously, it's safe to now say the Pixel 2 hardware basically sucked in nearly every area besides camera). And when compared to my S9+, there are less compromises now than ever. Enough to the point where the tradeoffs that I gain with the Pixel camera, stock Android, updates, and Google's ecosystem (e.g., Photos) are worthwhile.
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Mine is nearly 5 and he still behaves like he runs on rocket fuel. Even after 3 walks a day (all lasting over an hour).
So good luck.
Still, you can get some great photos of him now, so there is that!
The speakers on my 3XL are terrible. They sound muffled and not enough trebble. My iPhone X sound way better. They also vibrate the chassis similar to how one older version of the iPad. I can't remember which...
The screen and camera are fantastic, but the speakers are shockingly bad. It seemed most reviewers liked them. Phone is slippery, definitely needs a skin. (I use my X careless)
The screen and camera are fantastic, but the speakers are shockingly bad. It seemed most reviewers liked them. Phone is slippery, definitely needs a skin. (I use my X careless)
He has a point, stock android is pretty boring and the pixel doesn't have face unlock or anything, it's a pretty bare bones phones hardware wise with pretty simple software, you're basically paying for earlier software.
I wouldn't buy it for the price either, no offense to anyone who buys it but it's not that special nor looks really great.
Think it was the iPad Air 2.
Kind of glad I cancelled my order. The software is what’s intriguing but not for $1000. Plus I love wearables and there isn’t anything on wearOS that comes close to an Apple Watch or galaxy watch.