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One odd thing that has been a bit of a hidden feature, is using the front wide angle camera to take normal non selfie photos. I have been taking reasonably good pictures of establishments, applying a bit of 'pop' and posting them to maps.

My shots have taken over as 'profile pictires' at a few establishments using this method. While it lacks the quality of the front camera, it offers a good enough shot for maps.


View attachment 797585
Front facing camera at low light. 50% pop


Hand feel on the pixel 2 is slightly better than my favorite felling iPhone ever, the matte black iPhone 7. The pixel has nice balance, bigger screen, multi tasking , better camera, and is a bit faster than that older phone.

The 3 feels more premium without a case as compared to the 2, though I still enjoy the hand feel of the 2 as well.
The Pixel cameras are simply amazing, you really have to try hard to take a bad picture
 
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Which makes the shortcuts even more disappointing. 6GB of ram and improved speakers and the phone would be great.


The speakers have been a terrific upgrade. Louder, clearer, better quality overall. Phone calls have been so much better, too (not often talked about, but phone calls on the Pixel 2 sucked, both via earpiece and speaker call). The only knock on the speakers for me is the strong vibrations, but they sound so much better.

There's no excuse for the 4GB of RAM though. 100% with you there. As I said before, even if all these RAM management issues are software related, the 6GB of RAM would have helped mitigate it and help convince people this is not hardware. Google blew it on the RAM. It makes them look cheap, and makes Android look bad.
 
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The speakers have been a terrific upgrade. Louder, clearer, better quality overall. Phone calls have been so much better, too (not often talked about, but phone calls on the Pixel 2 sucked, both via earpiece and speaker call). The only knock on the speakers for me is the strong vibrations, but they sound so much better.

There's no excuse for the 4GB of RAM though. 100% with you there. As I said before, even if all these RAM management issues are software related, the 6GB of RAM would have helped mitigate it and help convince people this is not hardware. Google blew it on the RAM. It makes them look cheap, and makes Android look bad.

if my 1gb iphone 5S is still useable, and many 2gb iphones are still working great, there is no reason to call 4gb pixel 3 blowing it and making android look bad.

i can understand wanting 6gb to support better multi-tasking, but im also completely fine if google wants to be more aggressive with closing processes to improve battery life. in fact, pixel 3 xl's battery life is already inferior to note 9 and XS max, so that could be the reason for just 4gb of ram. or the battery life will be real bad.

or you can have a thicker device for a bigger battery. there are always compromises. if you really want more ram, just get oneplus or huawei. isnt the great thing about android having plenty of options?
 
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Yes, having more ram to cope with background apps would be nice. But if I owned a Pixel 3, the best camera on a smartphone would firmly put that to the back of my mind. Because the camera is the main reason most buy Pixels, not stock Android.

No point keep going on about it, what’s done is done. Plenty of other phones out there if you’re too concerned with apps reloading. I’m sure they’ll be further improvements to the Pixel next time.
 
Yes, having more ram to cope with background apps would be nice. But if I owned a Pixel 3, the best camera on a smartphone would firmly put that to the back of my mind. Because the camera is the main reason most buy Pixels, not stock Android.

No point keep going on about it, what’s done is done. Plenty of other phones out there if you’re too concerned with apps reloading. I’m sure they’ll be further improvements to the Pixel next time.

I buy Pixel phones, #1 for stock SMOOTH vanilla Android. And quick updates. And a phone that can easily be rooted and ROM

Having a great camera is just an extra, yeah that's great, but by no means does that factor into my buying decision.
 
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I buy Pixel phones, #1 for stock SMOOTH vanilla Android. And quick updates. And a phone that can easily be rooted and ROM

Having a great camera is just an extra, yeah that's great, but by no means does that factor into my buying decision.

But you are also nothing like most consumers. ;) None of us here are.
 
I buy Pixel phones, #1 for stock SMOOTH vanilla Android. And quick updates. And a phone that can easily be rooted and ROM

Having a great camera is just an extra, yeah that's great, but by no means does that factor into my buying decision.

The majority of people buying phones aren’t as tech savvy as people who frequent forums. The Pixel is marketed mostly around the camera. So when looking at phones on the high street, that will be the biggest reason for buying that particular Android phone.
 
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The point is, Google should be aiming to make the best smartphone, not just best smartphone camera. They shouldn't be falling short on easy decisions, like choosing between 4GB of RAM versus 6GB in a late-2018 premium flagship.
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No point keep going on about it, what’s done is done.

Yep, nothing can be done about the hardware.

But the RAM management issue is real. As I said, even if it ends up being entirely software-related, this doesn't make Google -- and by that extension, the Pixel line and Android -- look good. It flies in the face of the argument that Google's optimization saves their poor hardware decisions.

Hopefully they push an update out soon to address this, but if the hardware is limiting them and they have to choose between aggressive RAM or battery life, well... then it all goes back to:

Hardware matters.
 
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If most/all of Pixel 3's flaws are fixed within a month of release, then they should've just postponed it...the initial negative reviews/take-outs of the device will harm its sales, long-term imo, as people may've purchased another of the many devices due out around this time of year.

That said, I hope software fixes turn it into a much better all-round device. No one wants to see development of this phone stopped due to poor sales etc. It's still the one Android phone i'm most interested in.
 
The speakers have been a terrific upgrade. Louder, clearer, better quality overall. Phone calls have been so much better, too (not often talked about, but phone calls on the Pixel 2 sucked, both via earpiece and speaker call). The only knock on the speakers for me is the strong vibrations, but they sound so much better.

There's no excuse for the 4GB of RAM though. 100% with you there. As I said before, even if all these RAM management issues are software related, the 6GB of RAM would have helped mitigate it and help convince people this is not hardware. Google blew it on the RAM. It makes them look cheap, and makes Android look bad.

Saying those speakers are an upgrade is a relative term. Better than last Pixel? Sure. Better than other front facing speaker phones or even iPhones? I would say no. The imbalance between top and bottom and the distortion in the bottom speaker is a joke. And even worse is the vibration. That's just poor design work. No excuses.
 
If most/all of Pixel 3's flaws are fixed within a month of release, then they should've just postponed it...the initial negative reviews/take-outs of the device will harm its sales, long-term imo, as people may've purchased another of the many devices due out around this time of year.

Precisely this. That's why I said the RAM issue makes them look bad. Same thing happened with the Pixel 2 XL and the screen debacle.


That said, I hope software fixes turn it into a much better all-round device. No one wants to see development of this phone stopped due to poor sales etc. It's still the one Android phone i'm most interested in.

Me too.

And that's why Google needs to do better. I've always said, one knock against the Pixel line and it's immediate updates is that it can feel like you're the beta customer for first round bugs. Google needs to prove this wrong as best as they can.
 
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Is it me or does it almost seems that every new device need pretty much a patch or update immediately upon release. Be it iPhone or Android. Maybe if they stopped money grabbing by getting a new device out the door as fast as possible things would be more stable and pleasant to use out of the box.

Why not make the release cycle 18 months? I mean it's a year between hardware "updates" then probably another 6 months worth of software patches and updates before things get stable and then, wow, another shiny new device on the horizon!

Now it appears we are all volunteering upwards of 1200 dollars just to be beta testers :(

Remember when Android users could spend half of this on a Nexus device (that had similar issues, or at least for me) to be beta testers?

Just rambling outloud again o_O
 
Is it me or does it almost seems that every new device need pretty much a patch or update immediately upon release. Be it iPhone or Android. Maybe if they stopped money grabbing by getting a new device out the door as fast as possible things would be more stable and pleasant to use out of the box.

Why not make the release cycle 18 months? I mean it's a year between hardware "updates" then probably another 6 months worth of software patches and updates before things get stable and then, wow, another shiny new device on the horizon!

Now it appears we are all volunteering upwards of 1200 dollars just to be beta testers :(

Remember when Android users could spend half of this on a Nexus device (that had similar issues, or at least for me) to be beta testers?

Just rambling outloud again o_O
No, you're raising a good point.

18 month cycles make sense on the one hand, but many of the initial teething issues are due to developers 'catching up' & optimising their Apps to suit new hardware, more often when a new form factor is released (ie, Apple's iPhone X took longer than prior iPhone 6/7/8 generations to be optimised, as the screen size had 'standadised' during those years).

I expect the same optimisation delays with the XS Max/XR, as they're the first of that screen size.

But the Pixel has App + it's own device software woes to deal with, so the delays may be longer...
 
Is it just me or is it funny that everyone on here hypes up Google’s Android for the software prowess, but the Pixel 3 line seems full of software problems that we wouldn’t be so nice to Samsung about?

haha it sounds so contradicting. but google has issues with some of the most basic feature, but also the best smart features. personally, i think it's easier to iron out basic issues than trying to develop good smart features. not saying that it's ok for phone from a company like google to have so much basic issues though.
 
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Is it just me or is it funny that everyone on here hypes up Google’s Android for the software prowess, but the Pixel 3 line seems full of software problems that we wouldn’t be so nice to Samsung about?
May be due to Google being in the smartphone game for 'only' 3 years, as compared to Samsung who've been going for much longer.

Then again, my theory doesn't hold up when you see the criticism Apple gets (even for minor issues) & they've been in the game as long as anyone...but this may be (arguably) more due to people targeting the tall poppy who are on their own in terms of Software.
 
Is it just me or is it funny that everyone on here hypes up Google’s Android for the software prowess, but the Pixel 3 line seems full of software problems that we wouldn't be so nice to Samsung about?

Google has a large nerd community behind but like I stated from the first pixel I always leaving the Nexus brand was a mistake.

At least Nexus had a purpose, cheap hardware with a solid stock software experience, when the pixel came and they slowly jumped the pricing they didn't really address the software with a huge difference from the nexus. If you really look at what google is doing the screen call is great but the software alone isn't really a defining experience. Most of us use maybe 5 to 10 apps a day and as long as the open/close we good. The pixel while the camera is great imo it's a development phone targeted to google fanboys who do apple/google wars all day online, the price simply put isn't worth the money.

After a few years the phone is done and while that's just androids in general, google hardware may enable you to keep the phone for a few extra years after expiration from updates. Plenty people still have a s6 due to SD card or amoled screen or just like the fact that the phone is pocketable, looks cool and still works. Nothing in the pixel that justifies a longer period of keeping the phone, it's ugly and looks like a stone, no sd, nothing really says it's a looker or has a purpose.

Oneplus literally took Google's seat with the Nexus and expanded it to make a better phone at a similar pricepoint to the Nexus, but bigger, much better looking.

Google having the ability to figure out what song is playing is great but shazam is a free android app and while googles app is integrated into the OS shazam for being free isn't that bad at all. Google needs to do more than a great camera and some software gimmicks, most those gimmicks will be in the app store soon regardless.

Forgive the typing lol
 
yeah...in a lot of ways...Samsung does Android smartphones better than Google.

I think that is because, to me, Google is focusing more on being Apple and Samsung is focusing on you know, the actual phone (and various other consumer electronics). Google also wants to sell you ads. Of course I had a coworker mention his s8 upon a recent software update has started serving him up some push notification ads (could be a downloaded app also but I don't know) :confused:


---

I think if OnePlus could cram the major USA bands on both gsm and CDMA, well, it'd probably be the next Nexus device and I suspect a lot of people would turn away from the pixel line
 
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