[UPDATE 10/4/16] It is official! Pixel and Pixel XL (formerly Nexus 2016)

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beginner99

Diamond Member
Jun 2, 2009
5,208
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Amazing thing to me, of all those, the Huawei just blows the others so far away as far as design, it's not funny. The Google phone just isn't even trying- that design is embarrassing alongside the others. It sure as hell shouldn't cost as much, let alone more.

I take back what I've said in doubt of a brand like Huawei. Since other makes don't even seem to be trying any more, maybe it's time for one company that does seem to be trying hard to rise to the top. The P9 is seriously interesting- especially alongside that line up of backward looking, hack BS. (And yeah, even the S7 is a bit roundy-round boring)

But Huawei messed it all up with their EMUI crap. It's stolen from MIUI (Xiaomi) which itself jsut copied iOS design...
 

VashHT

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2007
3,058
865
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Some guy in Australia got his Pixel a week early, he's been posting a bunch of stuff about it on reddit. Looks pretty nice, one interesting thing he mentioned was that his 32Gb phone has something like 29.17Gb free, so either Google added extra storage for the OS or something isn't being reported right.
 

Kapav

Member
Oct 7, 2016
27
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The stabilization abilities from that thread are definitely interesting. I'm a little more intrigued by this phone now than before.
 

Kazukian

Platinum Member
Aug 8, 2016
2,034
650
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Yeah, every time a new iPhone comes out I have the same thought pattern. "Maybe I should go back to iOS.". Then I use my iPad for a bit and realize I just wouldn't be any happier, and probably more irritated, going back to an iPhone.

Every time my tablet rings with a phone call or it gets an SMS/iMessage, I realize how screwed I am in the Apple ecosystem.

With TMobile, it lets my tablet do WiFi calling.
 

Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
34,547
651
126
Been on the waiting list for a Black Pixel XL 128gb and just received an email that it was back in stock but they only have the silver one in stock. I wish the front was also silver and not white. Decisions...
 

o306

Member
Mar 23, 2015
52
10
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One thing I would be concerned about with the Pixel phones is the sensitivity of the laser autofocus sensor.

On the HTC 10, the laser autofocus sensor must be really really clean or the camera's focus will be off resulting in soft pictures lacking detail that would not occur with a clean sensor.

When using a phone camera, you just want it to work as it is supposed to, not have to clean it perfectly before it can take a proper picture.

Hopefully HTC did something different with the sensor on the HTC 10 so it isn't super-sensitive anymore.
 

thecoolnessrune

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2005
9,670
571
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I was looking forward to the Ars review, but it feels rushed, and the performance section is amateur hour.

Now the Snapdragon 821 has arrived, but Google isn't running it at the maximum clock rate. Instead it's back to 2.15GHz, just like the Snapdragon 820. What gives?

The Pixel's 2.15GHz "Snapdragon 821" performs as well as the typical Snapdragon 820. We saw no benefit from the extra "+1" on the end of the model number, though perhaps that should be expected. The Snapdragon 821 has the same internal designation as the Snapdragon 820: "msm8996." Maybe Google got a higher-binned SoC from Qualcomm, but there's not much more to it than that.

The 821 has two variants, and Google is using the AB variant in their phones, which uses the same clock speed at the 820, but is roughly 5% more efficient throughout the clock range.

This would have been easily discovered by asking Qualcomm (or reading from one of the many other places that have already asked Qualcomm), but instead they just decided to say "meh, not really any different".
 

Kazukian

Platinum Member
Aug 8, 2016
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One thing ARS touched on was removeable storage, it would be nice if Google would finally give up and include it.

This generation is a soft pass for me, we'll see what the second gen brings.
 

dainthomas

Lifer
Dec 7, 2004
14,572
3,401
136
One thing ARS touched on was removeable storage, it would be nice if Google would finally give up and include it.

This generation is a soft pass for me, we'll see what the second gen brings.

If it included that and wireless charging I may have gone for it over the S7E.
 

Zaap

Diamond Member
Jun 12, 2008
7,162
424
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One thing ARS touched on was removeable storage, it would be nice if Google would finally give up and include it.
That would be nice, but Google seems just as stubborn than Apple on this.
Not having an SD slot when now you can get 256GB of super-cheap storage is just backward to me, but that's the way too much of the industry likes it.

I get that there are some ways certain users can misuse SD-storage on thier phones and Google wants to avoid it- but really, Android being yet another platform that has to "save users from themselves by being half-crippled to start with" should never be what Android is all about.
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
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its why i will only buy cheap phones from now on. They took what could have been great and made it stupid. Every other forced update breaks something else. Quality control is horrendous on both sides, and on top of it they take away features so they can monetize on lesser options. We've been hoodwinked and people gobble it up every year while we get taken by the manufacturers AND the cell providers.
 
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Crono

Lifer
Aug 8, 2001
23,720
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I'm curious to see how these phones hold up over a few months. The issues with the Nexus 5X (and, to a lesser extent, the 6P) didn't manifest in a short enough time period to be raised in reviews.
 

Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
34,547
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I'm curious to see how these phones hold up over a few months. The issues with the Nexus 5X (and, to a lesser extent, the 6P) didn't manifest in a short enough time period to be raised in reviews.

What problems are you talking about? As one of the first owners of the 5X, I had performance issues with it that very first day.
 

Crono

Lifer
Aug 8, 2001
23,720
1,501
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What problems are you talking about? As one of the first owners of the 5X, I had performance issues with it that very first day.

You might have had issues from day 1, but most of the early/launch day reviews from major sites and press were rosier. At least that's what I remember - I could be wrong.
 
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lothar

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2000
6,674
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You might have had issues from day 1, but most of the early/launch day reviews from major sites and press were rosier. At least that's what I remember - I could be wrong.
Most people had issues on early on AFAIK.
Those issues have been fixed with software updates however.
 

lothar

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2000
6,674
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Been on the waiting list for a Black Pixel XL 128gb and just received an email that it was back in stock but they only have the silver one in stock. I wish the front was also silver and not white. Decisions...
Cancel your order until you get the color that you want. You're spending this much on a phone, why not?

Quite frankly the white color in front is a stupid idea IMO.
If the front was Black and the back was Silver, that would have been an excellent choice. However, because only the Black color has the Black front, that is the only color worth getting.
 
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Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
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You might have had issues from day 1, but most of the early/launch day reviews from major sites and press were rosier. At least that's what I remember - I could be wrong.

Yeah, I had issues with severe lag with the camera while running other apps in the background. I don't think they test this kind of scenarios in reviews. But Lothar is correct, a number of these issues did get better with updates.
 

Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
34,547
651
126
Cancel your order until you get the color that you want. You're spending this much on a phone, why not?

Quite frankly the white color in front is a stupid idea IMO.
If the front was Black and the back was Silver, that would have been an excellent choice. However, because only the Black color has the Black front, that is the only color worth getting.
\I agree. I have and like the silver 6P that has a black front. I wish that was available but will wait til the black Pixel XL becomes available again. I hope the VR kit is still included for free. Excited for the fast performing camera.
 

you2

Diamond Member
Apr 2, 2002
5,678
917
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If it had a sd slot I would probably get one now that the note 7 is official doa; but without an sd slot it is just junk.
 

Megatomic

Lifer
Nov 9, 2000
20,128
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Yeah, I had issues with severe lag with the camera while running other apps in the background. I don't think they test this kind of scenarios in reviews. But Lothar is correct, a number of these issues did get better with updates.
This is way off topic but I HAVE to ask. What is the state of the 5X right now in your opinion? With Nougat is it a good phone? All I knew prior to your post was that it was a laggy POS. If it's much improved I may have to reconsider my position and future upgrade options.
 

lothar

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2000
6,674
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This is way off topic but I HAVE to ask. What is the state of the 5X right now in your opinion? With Nougat is it a good phone? All I knew prior to your post was that it was a laggy POS. If it's much improved I may have to reconsider my position and future upgrade options.
I think he returned his 5X to get a 6P so he may no longer have access to that.
I've owned a 5X for almost a week and I don't see what the problem is. But then again, I'm coming in after the phone has been patched several times and running on the latest update 7.0 Nougat which I'm sure may have fixed the legitimate issues people were initially having with the phone from between launch day to 6 months after release.

Besides the slow camera UI performance(but then again every Nexus phone including the 6P has that same issue).
 
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