Pixel 3/Pixel 3 XL

[slitherjef]

@Tig Bitties I agree, it is a MAJOR hassle trying to stay updated and rooted with these pixels. Heck even my OnePlus 6 is easier to keep updated and rooted as it will automatically detect root and just download the whole image and flash it, it's a couple minutes to root after though the pie update, I had to jump through hoops. But still easier to maintain then the care and feeding of a rooted pixel.

But ads are so annoying and obtrusive at times

 

[Tig Bitties]

Blokada ad blocker works fantastically well. Especially if you download additional hosts.

I'm running Blokada right now, bone stock clean OS install after soft bricking my phone earlier. And you know what ? No ads so far in Samsung Beta Browser.

Think I'll stay stock now.

 

[MarkX]

I used to root all my android phones but as you are experiencing it can become a bit of a ballache.

For adblocking I use Adguard and pay for premium. It cost a few quid but at least it blocks ads in other apps and not just the browser. For the most part it does its job well.

What Ad Blocker are you guys using on your Pixel 3s ?
[doublepost=1543100029][/doublepost]I just bricked my Pixel 3 XL trying to install TWRP Recovery. Was rooted all this time, just fine. I get so frustrated with rooting, etc... Wasted a couple hours figuring it out how to get it back up and running. Think I'm done doing that from now on.

First stock Google phone I bought was the Nexus-One, and I waited in line first day the Nexus-S came out. Since have owned the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 6, Nexus 6P, the Pixel 2 XL, and now Pixel 3 XL.

Used to root and ROM them all, except stopped with the Pixel 2 XL as I found stock to be really good for once. I did root it at first, but found the monthly updates to be a pain in the ass to install when rooted. So I went back to stock for most the time having that phone, and honestly could barely tell the difference, as stock was that good.

Saying that, maybe best I just remain stock now again. Really don't have the time to to waste tinkering away on my phone. I just want smooth stock vanilla Android running smooth as butter with the latest updates and zero hassle.

Only reason I rooted it was for ad blocking and the themes that was pretty good ad blocking now being on stock and it's a lot easier and hassle-free getting the monthly updates when you're not rooted

 

[Tig Bitties]

The old Nexus phones were a lot easier to manage with Root and ROMs and updates. But ever since the Pixel phone and this duel partition stuff, it became a lot more complicated and longer process t root and ROM, and doing the monthly updates nowhere near as easy and fast like the old Nexus or even OnePlus phones.

For now I'm happy to be back on stock and no hassle, just for the ease of the monthly updates, but I do terribly miss the themes, I wish they would get Andromeda to work for Android pie to allow Substratum theme.

 

[Lava Lamp Freak]

I also use Samsung Internet. My only complaint is that I don't like the scrollbar. I accidentally hit it all of the time and end up jumping around on the page.

 

[Tsepz]

What Ad Blocker are you guys using on your Pixel 3s ?
[doublepost=1543100029][/doublepost]I just bricked my Pixel 3 XL trying to install TWRP Recovery. Was rooted all this time, just fine. I get so frustrated with rooting, etc... Wasted a couple hours figuring it out how to get it back up and running. Think I'm done doing that from now on.

First stock Google phone I bought was the Nexus-One, and I waited in line first day the Nexus-S came out. Since have owned the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 6, Nexus 6P, the Pixel 2 XL, and now Pixel 3 XL.

Used to root and ROM them all, except stopped with the Pixel 2 XL as I found stock to be really good for once. I did root it at first, but found the monthly updates to be a pain in the ass to install when rooted. So I went back to stock for most the time having that phone, and honestly could barely tell the difference, as stock was that good.

Saying that, maybe best I just remain stock now again. Really don't have the time to to waste tinkering away on my phone. I just want smooth stock vanilla Android running smooth as butter with the latest updates and zero hassle.

Only reason I rooted it was for ad blocking and the themes that was pretty good ad blocking now being on stock and it's a lot easier and hassle-free getting the monthly updates when you're not rooted

Havent rooted in years, think the last device I ever Rooted was my Galaxy S4 back in 2013 and found that it was just not worth it back then anymore, so I can imagine it's an absolute headache to do so these days.

 

[Cnasty]

I am sure you get guys dropping in and out asking these items before but what better way to get real world feedback from the pros around here then this thread

History: Purely iOS device user the past 3 years but before that back and forth between Samsung devices and Apple.

Current: I am using my wife's old iPhone 7 and between the iPhone XR. I sold my XS Max as I had buyers remorse for the price of what it was even though it was a great phone.

Now I want to buy a completely unlocked phone, no contracts, and not happy with Apple's itineration this year and price hikes so I am leaning the purest of the pure Android experience in a Pixel 3XL...or 3 if its near the iPhone X body style.

Needs: great camera as i have kids and take a ton of photos, least painful transition from iOS (i have a google smart house with minis and hubs everywhere) and the best price for an experiment until we see what Apple throws out next year.

I see the current sale for the XL is the best price lately, i want to make the jump before its over.

Thanks for anyone that has made the switch recently and any other feedback!

 

[Neverbepeace]

I am sure you get guys dropping in and out asking these items before but what better way to get real world feedback from the pros around here then this thread

History: Purely iOS device user the past 3 years but before that back and forth between Samsung devices and Apple.

Current: I am using my wife's old iPhone 7 and between the iPhone XR. I sold my XS Max as I had buyers remorse for the price of what it was even though it was a great phone.

Now I want to buy a completely unlocked phone, no contracts, and not happy with Apple's itineration this year and price hikes so I am leaning the purest of the pure Android experience in a Pixel 3XL...or 3 if its near the iPhone X body style.

Needs: great camera as i have kids and take a ton of photos, least painful transition from iOS (i have a google smart house with minis and hubs everywhere) and the best price for an experiment until we see what Apple throws out next year.

I see the current sale for the XL is the best price lately, i want to make the jump before its over.

Thanks for anyone that has made the switch recently and any other feedback!

I am in the same boat. I was going back and forth between the One Plus 6T and the XS Max. I was at the T-Mobile store comparing the 2. I really like the OnePlus 6T. Needless to say I went to the apple store and bought the XS Max. After owning it for 24 hours, I'm definitely having buyers remorse lol. I love the phone but the cost I don't. Looked at the pixel 3XL briefly but it doesn't do it for me. I will give it a few more days to see if it grows on me but if not, Im definitely looking at that 6T.

 

[Tig Bitties]

I am in the same boat. I was going back and forth between the One Plus 6T and the XS Max. I was at the T-Mobile store comparing the 2. I really like the OnePlus 6T. Needless to say I went to the apple store and bought the XS Max. After owning it for 24 hours, I'm definitely having buyers remorse lol. I love the phone but the cost I don't. Looked at the pixel 3XL briefly but it doesn't do it for me. I will give it a few more days to see if it grows on me but if not, Im definitely looking at that 6T.

I am no iOS fan, but will admit the iPhone XS Max is a stunning phone, absolutely beautiful design, and full screen looks super cool.

But then you turn it on, and hear the Atari sounds "pew pew pew" when I see that dated iOS home screen, that hasn't changed in a decade, and the dated iOS looks so out of place on such a modern looking phone.

Is the Pixel 3 XL a boring phone ? I suppose that could be said, but "it just works" and is so smooth and no lag or hiccups, and the whole package just works so well together. I'll take a "boring" stock Android phone over all gimmicky stuff Samsung Galaxy phones come with, which I'd disable 90% of the BS and your still stuck with Lagwiz. The Pixel 3 XL strong points;

- Camera is out of this world amazing, and Night Site is some black magic wizardry
- Display on the 3 XL is a Samsung A+ screen
- Google Assistant baked into the phone works so frigging well, blows away Siri LOL
- Monthly security updates like clockwork, the first Monday of each month. No long waits or months for updates, this phone is directly supported by Google.

Right now in 2018 the best smartphone FOR ME, would be the Google Pixel 3 XL. Second would be the OnePlus 6T, third would be the small Pixel 3. Other than that no other phones I'd get

 

[Blaze4G]

I've been hard to the Pixel 3s / XL. Time to eat crow, I was at bestbuy today and the Pixel 3 felt so good in the hand. I love the textured back, the size and the screen! Really tempted to get it over the 6T now.

 

[Fernandez21]

I am no iOS fan, but will admit the iPhone XS Max is a stunning phone, absolutely beautiful design, and full screen looks super cool.

But then you turn it on, and hear the Atari sounds "pew pew pew" when I see that dated iOS home screen, that hasn't changed in a decade, and the dated iOS looks so out of place on such a modern looking phone.

Is the Pixel 3 XL a boring phone ? I suppose that could be said, but "it just works" and is so smooth and no lag or hiccups, and the whole package just works so well together. I'll take a "boring" stock Android phone over all gimmicky stuff Samsung Galaxy phones come with, which I'd disable 90% of the BS and your still stuck with Lagwiz. The Pixel 3 XL strong points;

- Camera is out of this world amazing, and Night Site is some black magic wizardry
- Display on the 3 XL is a Samsung A+ screen
- Google Assistant baked into the phone works so frigging well, blows away Siri LOL
- Monthly security updates like clockwork, the first Monday of each month. No long waits or months for updates, this phone is directly supported by Google.

Right now in 2018 the best smartphone FOR ME, would be the Google Pixel 3 XL. Second would be the OnePlus 6T, third would be the small Pixel 3. Other than that no other phones I'd get

I’m really hoping that next year Google just completely copies the iPhone design, the smaller iPhone XS is almost the perfect phone design, just fill in the notch with screen, shrink the bezels a little more, make it a little thinner and no camera bump.

And dude, an iPhone XS Max running Android with true multitasking abilities would be awesome.

 

[Michael Goff]

I’m really hoping that next year Google just completely copies the iPhone design, the smaller iPhone XS is almost the perfect phone design, just fill in the notch with screen, shrink the bezels a little more, make it a little thinner and no camera bump.

And dude, an iPhone XS Max running Android with true multitasking abilities would be awesome.

Has there been an Android phone that has been able to do exactly like Apple did with the forehead and chin?

 

[Fernandez21]

Has there been an Android phone that has been able to do exactly like Apple did with the forehead and chin?

Not yet, but at Best Buy there are some budget phones that come close.

 

[Tig Bitties]

It's funny since I bricked my phone over the weekend and just went back to official stock, no root. I have to say bone stock this phone is amazing there's not a ton of tweaks or crazy things I need to do to get it working the way I like .

other non vanilla Android phones I'm always spending a weekend tweaking this changing that to make it like a Nexus or Pixel phone and I'm never quite satisfied with it always disabling system apps and ****ing around with too many options to make it smoother.

On this Pixel 3 XL, just set it up once, download my few prefered apps, install Blokada ad blocker and that's it. Phone works like a champ. Heck I can barely tell the difference between this stock vs. rooted, it's that good . Except those excellent themes I miss

 

[torana355]

Has there been an Android phone that has been able to do exactly like Apple did with the forehead and chin?

No but i believe the Samsung S10 will be the first to do it and improve on it as it will only have a small circular cutout for the camera making any notched phone look very dated.

 

[Saturn1217]

Got my Pixel 3 XL 64gb Clearly White yesterday. Been playing with it basically non-stop since (I really need to stop...). I got this with the $200 black friday discount on the Google store. So glad I waited.

Thought I would share some first impressions.

The Good Stuff:

- The screen is my number one favorite feature of this phone. It is just so crisp, even and the white balance seems pretty good. Reds are a little less vibrant than I'm used to even on adaptive mode, but that is probably just me being used to reds being really oversaturated on my old OG Pixel XL. I also really appreciate the larger screen. Perfect phone size for me.
- General build - Great. It feels really good in the hand. I'm really happy with the Clearly White color.
- speakers - they seem fine to me. I was able to listen to youtube and google play music just fine. I didn't notice this horrible imbalance in the top and bottom speaker than others referred to. They get pretty loud too.
- Camera - seems good so far but I haven't really had a chance to test thoroughly.
- Battery life - I was REALLY worried about this. I don't think it is going to have stunning battery life but it is definitely not worse than my Pixel XL when it was new. I did feel the need to turn off Always on display though. The constant drain in standby just didn't seem worth it. 6hr SOT in a typical day (think 12-15hrs) is my estimate right now.
- General performance - I know others have mentioned performance hiccups. There are some animation bugs that I've encountered but in general the phone runs very smooth and RAM management hasn't been too much of an issue (I'm not a gamer though so your mileage may vary)
- Signal quality - My husband and I were in the back of a liquor store trying to look up beers and wines on our phones. He has a iPhone 6s and had no signal. I had H+ signal with no bars but was able to do a google search. So it is at least better than the iPhone 6s (on T-mobile)
- Call quality - too early to tell for sure but nothing seems amiss so far.
- GPS - I did a lot of navigation yesterday and the GPS lock was pretty fast. Compass seems a little wonky but I skipped calibrating it because I needed the phone for navigation at the time that the prompt came up.

The Not So Good: (Spoiler - basically everything not good about this phone is in software).

- the Notch - I don't dislike the notch itself (Or at least I could get over it). But the Notch + software is just...there are so many little things that are not right. Certain apps are not compatible with the notch yet (not Google's fault but still annoying). When the notch is blacked out in full screen mode you have a screen where 2 corners are rounded and 2 are not. Youtube videos are off center. Notification and status icons are unnecessarily limited. So within half a day I just turned the notch off in developer settings. Yes I lose some screen space but still better than the Pixel XL. And I no longer have to deal with any notch annoyances. When the notch is hidden it is basically not there at all. Looks great.
- Notifications - I was having some weird issues with notifications for some apps not coming in, especially when I was using the phone. I had to turn off battery optimization for basically any app I wanted to get notifications on. Things seem to be working now but I never had these problems on the Pixel XL running the same Android Pie version.
- Vibration inconsistency - the haptic engine is fantastic. But Google doesn't allow the wonderful tight touch vibrations to be used everywhere. You are still stuck with the more muddy vibrations on the keyboard for example. Sometimes when I swipe up to get to recent apps I get the wonderful tight vibration, occasionally the muddy vibration. Doing the exact same action. This seems to me to be clearly a software rather than hardware issue. But it is so stupid.
- Adaptive brightness doesn't work as well as it does on my Pixel XL. It keeps going too bright and I have to turn it down or turn it off.
- the super small side bezels look great but in combination with a case make it VERY difficult to use the swipe from the side gesture to open side menus in apps. It makes using one of my favorite apps (reddit sync) a lot more difficult. They really need to tweak the edge detection to make this gesture easier to trigger.

That is about it. So far very happy with my purchase although I still think the regular price is too high.

 

[epicrayban]

Got my Pixel 3 XL 64gb Clearly White yesterday. Been playing with it basically non-stop since (I really need to stop...). I got this with the $200 black friday discount on the Google store. So glad I waited.

Thought I would share some first impressions.

The Good Stuff:

- The screen is my number one favorite feature of this phone. It is just so crisp, even and the white balance seems pretty good. Reds are a little less vibrant than I'm used to even on adaptive mode, but that is probably just me being used to reds being really oversaturated on my old OG Pixel XL. I also really appreciate the larger screen. Perfect phone size for me.
- General build - Great. It feels really good in the hand. I'm really happy with the Clearly White color.
- speakers - they seem fine to me. I was able to listen to youtube and google play music just fine. I didn't notice this horrible imbalance in the top and bottom speaker than others referred to. They get pretty loud too.
- Camera - seems good so far but I haven't really had a chance to test thoroughly.
- Battery life - I was REALLY worried about this. I don't think it is going to have stunning battery life but it is definitely not worse than my Pixel XL when it was new. I did feel the need to turn off Always on display though. The constant drain in standby just didn't seem worth it. 6hr SOT in a typical day (think 12-15hrs) is my estimate right now.
- General performance - I know others have mentioned performance hiccups. There are some animation bugs that I've encountered but in general the phone runs very smooth and RAM management hasn't been too much of an issue (I'm not a gamer though so your mileage may vary)
- Signal quality - My husband and I were in the back of a liquor store trying to look up beers and wines on our phones. He has a iPhone 6s and had no signal. I had H+ signal with no bars but was able to do a google search. So it is at least better than the iPhone 6s (on T-mobile)
- Call quality - too early to tell for sure but nothing seems amiss so far.
- GPS - I did a lot of navigation yesterday and the GPS lock was pretty fast. Compass seems a little wonky but I skipped calibrating it because I needed the phone for navigation at the time that the prompt came up.

The Not So Good: (Spoiler - basically everything not good about this phone is in software).

- the Notch - I don't dislike the notch itself (Or at least I could get over it). But the Notch + software is just...there are so many little things that are not right. Certain apps are not compatible with the notch yet (not Google's fault but still annoying). When the notch is blacked out in full screen mode you have a screen where 2 corners are rounded and 2 are not. Youtube videos are off center. Notification and status icons are unnecessarily limited. So within half a day I just turned the notch off in developer settings. Yes I lose some screen space but still better than the Pixel XL. And I no longer have to deal with any notch annoyances. When the notch is hidden it is basically not there at all. Looks great.
- Notifications - I was having some weird issues with notifications for some apps not coming in, especially when I was using the phone. I had to turn off battery optimization for basically any app I wanted to get notifications on. Things seem to be working now but I never had these problems on the Pixel XL running the same Android Pie version.
- Vibration inconsistency - the haptic engine is fantastic. But Google doesn't allow the wonderful tight touch vibrations to be used everywhere. You are still stuck with the more muddy vibrations on the keyboard for example. Sometimes when I swipe up to get to recent apps I get the wonderful tight vibration, occasionally the muddy vibration. Doing the exact same action. This seems to me to be clearly a software rather than hardware issue. But it is so stupid.
- Adaptive brightness doesn't work as well as it does on my Pixel XL. It keeps going too bright and I have to turn it down or turn it off.
- the super small side bezels look great but in combination with a case make it VERY difficult to use the swipe from the side gesture to open side menus in apps. It makes using one of my favorite apps (reddit sync) a lot more difficult. They really need to tweak the edge detection to make this gesture easier to trigger.

That is about it. So far very happy with my purchase although I still think the regular price is too high.

Just FYI you can adjust the vibration setting in your keyboard.

 

[noobinator]

FYI some cyber monday deals.

You can get pixel 3 cases from target.com today for 15% off (20% if using red card). The whole site is 15% off. I got a 3 XL fabric case.

The pixel stand is on sale again for $39.99 at Best Buy. I got 2 last week during the sale.

 

[AustinIllini]

FYI some cyber monday deals.

You can get pixel 3 cases from target.com today for 15% off (20% if using red card). The whole site is 15% off. I got a 3 XL fabric case.

The pixel stand is on sale again for $39.99 at Best Buy. I got 2 last week during the sale.

thanks. Ordered the pixel 3 case

 

[5105973]

FYI some cyber monday deals.

You can get pixel 3 cases from target.com today for 15% off (20% if using red card). The whole site is 15% off. I got a 3 XL fabric case.

The pixel stand is on sale again for $39.99 at Best Buy. I got 2 last week during the sale.

The stand is sold out now on BB. Shame. That was a great price...well actually it’s what it should be priced at. Google is getting like Apple with its pricing.

I didn’t really read much about it. Did anyone talk about it in this thread? Is it good? Is it true regular Qi chargers like the many I have in my house by Samsung won’t charge a Pixel 3?

 

[MarkX]

The stand is sold out now on BB. Shame. That was a great price...well actually it’s what it should be priced at. Google is getting like Apple with its pricing.

I didn’t really read much about it. Did anyone talk about it in this thread? Is it good? Is it true regular Qi chargers like the many I have in my house by Samsung won’t charge a Pixel 3?

From what I understand, regular wireless chargers will charge the Pixel 3 no problem but they're limited to 5 watts. Only the Pixel stand will fast charge it at max 10 Watts.

 

[epicrayban]

The stand is sold out now on BB. Shame. That was a great price...well actually it’s what it should be priced at. Google is getting like Apple with its pricing.

I didn’t really read much about it. Did anyone talk about it in this thread? Is it good? Is it true regular Qi chargers like the many I have in my house by Samsung won’t charge a Pixel 3?

It's a terrific wireless charger. Very comfortable to use, if that makes sense. Because it's designed so narrow, it's easier to put your device down onto it. Whereas I find with other wider charging stands, you have to put the bottom of your device down then lean your device back onto the stand.

As you said, it's terribly overpriced and I would not recommend it anywhere near full price. But at $40, highly recommended.

 

[5105973]

It's a terrific wireless charger. Very comfortable to use, if that makes sense. Because it's designed so narrow, it's easier to put your device down onto it. Whereas I find with other wider charging stands, you have to put the bottom of your device down then lean your device back onto the stand.

As you said, it's terribly overpriced and I would not recommend it anywhere near full price. But at $40, highly recommended.

Thank you. Hopefully other sales will come up.

 

[Awesomesince86]

The fabric case is really unique but I've stopped using it for now. It's just too slick and has no lip to protect the screen. I'm pretty careful with my phones but having that lip is a nice safety net.

 

[Ralfi]

Google is getting like Apple with its pricing.

They sure are. Here I was thinking competition brings prices down.

I am no iOS fan, but will admit the iPhone XS Max is a stunning phone, absolutely beautiful design, and full screen looks super cool.

But then you turn it on, and hear the Atari sounds "pew pew pew" when I see that dated iOS home screen, that hasn't changed in a decade, and the dated iOS looks so out of place on such a modern looking phone.

How many times are you going to repeat the same thing on such a subjective topic? We get it, you don't like IOS.......

It'd be just as annoying as someone in the iPhone section constantly saying they don't like Android....

Is the Pixel 3 XL a boring phone ? I suppose that could be said, but "it just works" and is so smooth and no lag or hiccups, and the whole package just works so well together.

How is this different to the iPhone? There are no bells & whistles. It just works.

But for some, stock Android is good enough, & others, stock IOS is good enough....subjective & no need to state your view ad nauseam.

It seems like you really really really want an iPhone, but can't get over the operating system....just jailbreak the thing & crack that tension.