Short Experience with Pixel coming from a 6s+

[BigMcGuire]

Online, I reserved a Pixel at a local Verizon store. Spent 3 minutes in store before walking out with a Pixel. Drove home, plugged everything in, was pretty happy with the size and feel of the device out of box at first. Swapped sim cards and gave it a run for 4 hours.

Note this is me comparing this to the 6s+:

Positives of Pixel: A LOT lighter than the 6s+ (weight). Speakerphone works much better than my 6s+ (clarity). Fingerprint reader is a bit faster. Love slightly pressing finger on fingerprint reader and have it instantly turn on screen (unlocked). Camera is acceptably fast.

Negatives: I had no reception in several locations where I had 1-2 bars with the iPhone. At default screen/font size, the viewing space was noticeably less than the 6s+ - at first this didn't bother me, but later on (because I read a lot) it was getting unbearable. Small font setting helped but made reading uncomfortable. The phone gets hot just browsing Chrome - Chrome is noticeably laggier than 6s+ (jumps all over as it's loading). Pixel said I had 4 hours of battery life expected when browsing Chrome for an hour (Chrome being the only significant battery use).

So, I returned it. Couldn't stand the screen being smaller. The price ($34/mo) ... vs iPhone $44/mo... if this phone was $300-$450 I'd live with the negatives.

Surprises of Pixel Experience: Found typing on the Pixel to be comfortable and highly accurate. Found photos to be VERY VERY good. Was not happy with new USB C cables (cancelled a $40+ order of USB C cables from Amazon). Build quality is close to the iPhone.

Just my opinion. Yes, Pixel XL vs iPhone 6s+ would have been a much fair'er compare. I like Google way more than Apple and was very excited to go back to Google but couldn't do it this time, yet. I would have no problem recommending the Pixel, though. It is a great Android phone - I just wish it was a lot cheaper.

 

[44267547]

Thanks for providing your feedback on the Pixel. I'm not familiar with it and was curious to hear More personal feedback. Even though I am an Apple fanatic, I think the Pixel will be a contender in the long run. But it's new for now and customers are testing the waters if you will.

 

[Fried_Gold]

Maybe you should have gone for the Pixel XL if you are used to a 5.5" 6S Plus.

 

[44267547]

Maybe you should have gone for the Pixel XL if you are used to a 5.5" 6S Plus.

It still wouldn't have changed his review on the features he listed. He pointed out the main differences between both Phones. And @BigMcGuire already stated it would have been a More fair comparison between the two larger variants.

 

[jamezr]

Maybe you should have gone for the Pixel XL if you are used to a 5.5" 6S Plus.

My thoughts too. Battery life would have been better. I also think you have to let any new phone settle for at least 24 hours to let it get on the network and download all the apps and updates it needs. Right from the start just about every app will connect to the internet and see if it has a update available.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Maybe you should have gone for the Pixel XL if you are used to a 5.5" 6S Plus.

Agreed, I wish I could have gotten an XL but Verizon showed that it wouldn't ship till mid January.

My thoughts too. Battery life would have been better. I also think you have to let any new phone settle for at least 24 hours to let it get on the network and download all the apps and updates it needs. Right from the start just about every app will connect to the internet and see if it has a update available.

Agreed - I tried to be fair by doing all my setup (opening every app) THEN charging it to full, then taking it out - but yeah that's why I wasn't too harsh on the battery - I also agree that the battery needs a few cycles to get its full potential.

It still wouldn't have changed his review on the features he listed. He pointed out the main differences between both Phones. And @BigMcGuire already stated it would have been a More fair comparison between the two larger variants.

Makes me think if I had access to the XL, I think I might have kept a Pixel XL over the 6s+. My biggest gripe was screen size and text visible on the screen. Oh well, when the Pixel 2 comes out, I see myself moving over.


Side note:

The reason for haste was because my little brother's phone died (Note 3) and he had no upgrade, so I rushed to get a phone so he could take over payments on my 6s+ (which he wanted to do). Well, I couldn't stick with the Pixel (non XL) so he ended up using an older phone from a family member. (He is on a different Verizon plan).

 

[jamezr]

Agreed - I tried to be fair by doing all my setup (opening every app) THEN charging it to full, then taking it out - but yeah that's why I wasn't too harsh on the battery - I also agree that the battery needs a few cycles to get its full potential.

My point was that while it is settling in performance will suffer. Not just battery life....Apps are updating and there is a ton of activity. Phones need at least 24 hours to settle before anyone can get a good feel on how they will perform.

 

[timeconsumer]

Online, I reserved a Pixel at a local Verizon store. Spent 3 minutes in store before walking out with a Pixel. Drove home, plugged everything in, was pretty happy with the size and feel of the device out of box at first. Swapped sim cards and gave it a run for 4 hours.

Note this is me comparing this to the 6s+:

Positives of Pixel: A LOT lighter than the 6s+ (weight). Speakerphone works much better than my 6s+ (clarity). Fingerprint reader is a bit faster. Love slightly pressing finger on fingerprint reader and have it instantly turn on screen (unlocked). Camera is acceptably fast.

Negatives: I had no reception in several locations where I had 1-2 bars with the iPhone. At default screen/font size, the viewing space was noticeably less than the 6s+ - at first this didn't bother me, but later on (because I read a lot) it was getting unbearable. Small font setting helped but made reading uncomfortable. The phone gets hot just browsing Chrome - Chrome is noticeably laggier than 6s+ (jumps all over as it's loading). Pixel said I had 4 hours of battery life expected when browsing Chrome for an hour (Chrome being the only significant battery use).

So, I returned it. Couldn't stand the screen being smaller. The price ($34/mo) ... vs iPhone $44/mo... if this phone was $300-$450 I'd live with the negatives.

Surprises of Pixel Experience: Found typing on the Pixel to be comfortable and highly accurate. Found photos to be VERY VERY good. Was not happy with new USB C cables (cancelled a $40+ order of USB C cables from Amazon). Build quality is close to the iPhone.

Just my opinion. Yes, Pixel XL vs iPhone 6s+ would have been a much fair'er compare. I like Google way more than Apple and was very excited to go back to Google but couldn't do it this time, yet. I would have no problem recommending the Pixel, though. It is a great Android phone - I just wish it was a lot cheaper.

Interesting read here. I went from an iPhone 7 (not plus) to a Pixel.

Some comments based on your review:
The fingerprint reader is nice because I can have it pulled out of my pocket and screen unlocked by the time it's within reading distance due to the placement and speed of it. I could also do this on the iPhone but it required me to press down on the home button to wake the screen first. Not a major issue. I do like how the iPhone has the fingerprint reader on the front for unlocking while charging on a desk, but since Google kept the swipe up to unlock, it's fine for me to just unlock using PIN when charging on a desk/table. I really wish Apple would bring back swipe to unlock though!

Reception: For whatever reason my reception seems to be similar or slightly improved. It could just be how Android shows the bars, but no issues here for me.

Chrome: I used to hate how Android handled scrolling and I thought it was a mess. Now I prefer how Android does scrolling and when using an iPhone I feel like it takes much longer to scroll down on a website.

Heat: I noticed the first day or two it would randomly heat up. I've had it for 3 weeks now and it seems to run pretty cool. I don't play any games or do any VR stuff on it, but that would probably cause heat. I think the phone just had a lot to do the first couple of days and after that it's fine.

I think you made some reasonable points and in the end the phone just didn't work out for you. I absolutely love this phone and I've been an iPhone user since the 3G days. It's too bad you weren't able to test out a Pixel XL as I think you may have wanted to keep that since it seems the reason you chose to return it was due to the smaller screen size and less battery life. I do think the phone is a little expensive but I didn't pay full price for it since Verizon has a lot of deals going right now.