Pixel 3XL : Will google ever get decent at design?

[sze5003]

Sure give it a notch, everyone has a notch these days but holy crap they go overboard. Hmm what do we do? Throw in headphones!

I feel like they are always a year behind in design. They made fun of the iPhone last year due to the notch and they give the 3XL a thicker notch.

You could open a beer with that notch.

https://amp.businessinsider.com/google-pixel-3-photos-leak-2018-8

 

[Zaap]

Yuck.
That can't be for real. I looks like the bastard child of a Galaxy s8 and an iPhoneX and something went terribly wrong at birth.

Notches blow. All it does is make the top info bar less useful. They actually waste screen real estate in landscape as media either has to get chopped in line with the notch or suffer missing areas.

I despise Google sometimes in their shameless persuit of all the WORST things about wanting to be Apple.

 

[sze5003]

I don't know what's happened. They used to be the innovative type. I guess they hired all these designers that htc fired and came up with this concept.

I have to give my 2XL to a family member soon so I have no idea what I'll do. I'm definitely not spending $1k on something that looks like that.

I've always stayed with Google devices due to the updates and smooth stock Android experience. If they are to copy someone's design, at least copy Samsung's.

This is like the third leak I've seen and they all look like this. I'm curious what they will say October 4th about their reasoning behind this. It also doesn't have dual cameras so that can't be used as an excuse for a thicker notch.

 

[sweenish]

Everything I've seen did say that the front had dual cameras, likely for something like Apple's FaceID. Has that been debunked? I haven't been following this year's rumor mill very closely since it's not a buy-year for me.

 

[sze5003]

The ars Technica says it looks like there are dual front facing cameras. Not sure if this will involve some face id tech later. Still they could have done it better. Not sure if the iPhone x has dual front cameras but if it does, they did it right even if they had to put a notch and the reason they put it is due to all the face id tech they had to cram in there.

 

[mxnerd]

It's a fashion!

 

[gorcorps]

There's so many notches out there now that I've almost become used to them (even though I don't care for them), but that bottom bezel is too big compared to pretty much everything on the market. Looks like it'd be even harder to use one handed than these large phones already are.

 

[sze5003]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordon...xel-3xl-release-date-specs-cost-price-pixel3/

Another link from Forbes mentions the authenticity of the device. They believe this is what it will be because if you look at the bottom row of icons you see the google camera with a paw print which is part of Google's dogfooding tests.

Basically, the devices that have certain features which are given out to people in the company for massive testing and use before releasing to the public.

As for the bottom bezel, that doesn't bother me. I have a pixel 2XL now and that bottom bezel is the same size. It looks like they just took a pixel 2XL, gave it a notch, dual front cameras and wireless charging.

I may just have to go with a one plus phone this year. My 2XL will be handed down to my younger brother as he's going back to college soon. I've never owned a Samsung because I've always hated their UI and the updates don't come in as fast as the Google phones. Overall I'm sure many people that skipped last year's gen thinking they will get the next one, will be dissapointed.

 

[gorcorps]

As for the bottom bezel, that doesn't bother me. I have a pixel 2XL now and that bottom bezel is the same size. It looks like they just took a pixel 2XL, gave it a notch, dual front cameras and wireless charging.

Huh, now that I look at pics side by side... you're right. It's like they just extended the top of the screen upwards to make the notch and didn't do a thing to the bottom. It just looks unbalanced to me. If that's really all they did then the design is even lazier than I realized.

Anyway, I dabbled with google phones with the Nexus 6P. While I thought the phone was well made, I had horrible battery life issues not long after getting it, and frankly even with having immediate updates I'm just not a fan of vanilla android. I moved back to Samsung with an S8 after that and really like it, despite recently dealing with battery issues as it gets older. Not all of samsung's features are well thought out or useful, but enough of them are that they fill gaps that I had with vanilla android.

 

[sze5003]

I agree with the 6p battery issues. I exchanged it through Google 2 years ago and got a new one which did a bit better. My brother has it now and he just replaced the battery on it and installed a custom rom which he says, he loves the way its much smoother now. Granted I had that 6p for two years because I skipped the original pixel phones. He always gets my hand me down phones and I will say the battery isn't in thebbest shape when i hand it over.

While I haven't used the Samsung series much, my sister was a fan of them every year and I got enough experience tinkering with her phones because she was always having lag/battery issues within a year of having the 5, 6, and s7.

Last year for Christmas I got her the OnePlus 5T and she loves that phone. I haven't gotten one phone call from her about "please take a look at my phone, it's running badly". The 6gb of ram I'm sure is helping with that.

This may make me look closer at the s9 though. I haven't been keeping up with them if they are planning to release another version around the same time the pixel 3 will launch. At least there are plenty of options to choose from so we have that going.

 

[gorcorps]

I agree with the 6p battery issues. I exchanged it through Google 2 years ago and got a new one which did a bit better. My brother has it now and he just replaced the battery on it and installed a custom rom which he says, he loves the way its much smoother now. Granted I had that 6p for two years because I skipped the original pixel phones. He always gets my hand me down phones and I will say the battery isn't in thebbest shape when i hand it over.

While I haven't used the Samsung series much, my sister was a fan of them every year and I got enough experience tinkering with her phones because she was always having lag/battery issues within a year of having the 5, 6, and s7.

Last year for Christmas I got her the OnePlus 5T and she loves that phone. I haven't gotten one phone call from her about "please take a look at my phone, it's running badly". The 6gb of ram I'm sure is helping with that.

This may make me look closer at the s9 though. I haven't been keeping up with them if they are planning to release another version around the same time the pixel 3 will launch. At least there are plenty of options to choose from so we have that going.

Samsung will be announcing the new Note 9 today, which I'm sure is going to be crazy expensive, but it's their most premium device.

I never really took a serious look at the oneplus phones because I remember the oneplus one release to be kind of poor, but it looks like they've worked through a lot of issues and it may be worth looking at down the road. I'm still hesitant to jump on any phone without a headphone jack, which is a big reason I've been going with samsung again.

 

[Red Storm]

Yeah the design is very ugly. It's very unfortunate because the software side of the Pixel is obviously fantastic, but their hardware design is so bad that I can't seriously consider getting one.

 

[thilanliyan]

For everyone who hates the notch, there's always the non-XL Pixel 3. Admittedly it has a smaller screen but at least the screen is bigger than it was on the Pixel 2 (non-XL). The Pixel 2 screen was too small for my use and the bezels were way too big, but I'm going to look hard at the Pixel 3, which appears to have shrink those bezels.

 

[sze5003]

The issue with the non xl is I'm so used to the big screen. I've always wanted to check out a note though. Will be looking at the release for that today.

5.5 may not be as bad as 5.9 to get used to but I've really been used to the size of the 2xl by now. Also the biggest concern with the non xl is the battery.

I still think google will show us an ultra pixel since apple is releasing 3 versions this year. I would hope if they do reveal another pixel that it does not have a crazy thick notch. I don't mind a notch, just not done like that.

 

[Oyeve]

Its really sad that google came out with this crap. Last years Pixels were a joke. This year they continue the hilarity.

 

[MrSquished]

The pixel 2 a joke? Not the copy I got. The PIxel 2 XL has served me so well I am probably going to skip updating this generation and keep this phone for two seasons vs just one. Pixel 2 XL it just works so smooth and the camera is unreal.

 

[Oyeve]

The pixel 2 a joke? Not the copy I got. The PIxel 2 XL has served me so well I am probably going to skip updating this generation and keep this phone for two seasons vs just one. Pixel 2 XL it just works so smooth and the camera is unreal.

Um, ok. Weren't you the same guy waxing on about the V20?

 

[MrSquished]

Um, ok. Weren't you the same guy waxing on about the V20?

Decent phone now in retrospect, good phone for it's time period though. I was just so in love with that audio DAC. Still miss it.

The Pixel 2XL is just a superior phone though. It's buttery smooth and the camera is insanely good. It's not a perfect phone, but it's definitely one of the best out there now. It doesn't get in my way in daily usage. It just works, which is my new criteria for what makes up the phone I want to have. What are your gripes with the Pixel 2XL exactly?

 

[Oyeve]

Decent phone now in retrospect, good phone for it's time period though. I was just so in love with that audio DAC. Still miss it.

The Pixel 2XL is just a superior phone though. It's buttery smooth and the camera is insanely good. It's not a perfect phone, but it's definitely one of the best out there now. It doesn't get in my way in daily usage. It just works, which is my new criteria for what makes up the phone I want to have. What are your gripes with the Pixel 2XL exactly?

They did nothing new at all. In fact they too away stuff. The camera, while good was far from the best.

 

[MrSquished]

They did nothing new at all. In fact they too away stuff. The camera, while good was far from the best.

like microUSB and wireless charging?

 

[MarkizSchnitzel]

It's very unfortunate because the software side of the Pixel is obviously fantastic

How so? There are numerous reports, and I know second-hand experience that Pixels suffer from slowdowns.
I also don't see anything special software wise compared to something like OnePlus?

 

[gorcorps]

How so? There are numerous reports, and I know second-hand experience that Pixels suffer from slowdowns.
I also don't see anything special software wise compared to something like OnePlus?

After having both iphones, samsungs, and google products... there's not a device out there that doesn't show age after 1 year of being used. For years people blamed samsung bloat for slowdowns, but I saw the same shit in my nexus phone which supposedly had no bloat at all. The pixels no longer seem to have much of a cost advantage over other brands, and they've been behind the times with hardware design lately. I just don't understand what the perk of the pixels are anymore.

 

[sze5003]

The 2Xl camera is great. I've always had a crappy camera on other phones and I never really owned a Samsung but I always get asked to take pics with my phone when I'm out with friends.

I also agree that all phones will exhibit some form of slowness after a year or two. I noticed it with the 6p after 2 years. I put that phone through hell, reloading roms, unlocking the bootloader and locking it again. Resetting it, but after year 2 you could tell it was a tiny bit slower than before.

Funny because the article I have posted here got taken down from the Google pixel subreddit. Either the rumors are false or someone from Google didn't like people's reaction.

I'll be taking a look at note 9 reviews if indeed pixel 3xl has that thick notch. Even with two cameras they could have made it thinner and still have the top speaker in there. Just seems like lazy design.

 

[MarkizSchnitzel]

After having both iphones, samsungs, and google products... there's not a device out there that doesn't show age after 1 year of being used. For years people blamed samsung bloat for slowdowns, but I saw the same shit in my nexus phone which supposedly had no bloat at all. The pixels no longer seem to have much of a cost advantage over other brands, and they've been behind the times with hardware design lately. I just don't understand what the perk of the pixels are anymore.

My OnePlus 3 begs to differ.
With 99% of storage full, right now, side by side, it more smooth and faster then new gs9.

 

[sze5003]

Here's a video of it too:

https://youtu.be/9iByJDWqn0I