Previously on Lemmy:
Past Discussions:
Sorry for the delay for the weekly. Server’s not that stable right now, maybe we should start the thread on Sundays instead.
I always like to switch things up once in a while because it’s fun. So, let’s get back to the brand discussion this week for the Google Pixel. We’ll do a discussion on repairability next week. Again, ideas are always welcome here.
I’ve never used a Pixel, but people around here should know that I’ve been very critical of Google’s product decisions over the years, and the Pixel is no exception. In my point of view, discontinuing the Nexus series, buying out the talents from the remains of HTC and starting an official “made by Google” phone is the equivalent of reddit buying out Alien Blue to make the official reddit app. I think it’s the event that scared big Android manufacturers like Samsung enough to start making their own ecosystem away from Google, as they are concerned that Google may start locking software features to their own phones instead of improving Android overall (rightfully so, I might add).
It really makes no business sense at all to turn your manufacturing partners into your competitors, but then again, it’s Google.
With that being said, the first years of the Pixels has been marred with growing pains. Whereas the Nexus line has always been barebones, no frills development devices, it seemed to me that the people who made Pixels don’t even use Android and are insistent on turning Pixel into iPhones, removing the headphone jack on the Pixel 2 despite the antagonistic ad from the original Pixel, Pixel exclusive software features like Google camera that necessitating the need of rom mods, as well as the quality issues that seems to be inherited from the Nexus days just really soured me from considering Pixels, as I think it’s against the spirit of openness that made Android great.
But it seems like in recent years, they finally figured out that a large percentage of people who bought Androids not because they can’t afford iPhones, but because they like Android, and I see the introduction of the “a” series as progress. The recent Pixel ad campaign also made me think that they finally figuring it out: people want different things, trying to turn Android into worse versions of iPhones was not going to work, so they should be trying to make the best Android for Android users instead.
(It’s also the reason I think all the previous reddit clones failed, but Lemmy will be the one that finally succeeds.)
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Quite happy user of Pixel 6a. The only few annoying things are:
- Under-the-screen fingerprint sensor works less than half of the time. At night and in bed, it blinds me.
- Battery, despite adaptive battery, still feels surprisingly draining fast from time to time. The battery merely just hold for the day whereas I don’t even have that much screen time or background running apps.
Pixel 6a user here, the fingerprint reader works 9/10 for me, only rarely refuses to unlock because of a misalignment or something, wondering how people who complain about it actually use it.
I’ve managed to get in the habit of pointing the screen away from my eye sockets in bed when it’s dark. 60% of the time, it works every time
At night and in bed, it blinds me. You can add a setting to the quick settings drop down, that makes the screen go even dimmer.
I really liked the Nexus Line of Google phones and from what I’ve seen the Pixels are great phones, but the price puts them outside of what I want to pay.
The 3a, and the 6a might be the only ones I considered, but the rest are just “Flagship priced phones” and yeah they may have the hardware to back them up, but paying 600+ dollars for a phone is ridiculous. With them reaching for a thousand dollars is a hard no.
It’s not only the price. I simply don’t want to have iOS devices. I like their technology and the iOS implementation, don’t misunderstand me. But I won’t accept a walled garden in my pocket. I have so much software installed from different sources and I like to write apps by myself, too.
Many people are only happy with unlimited possibilities. If you are restricted and not trusted as a power user, your phone is not worth to be called “smart”.
When I used iOS it turned out that it was f-droid and the dead simple availability of Foss apps that was actually the killer apps for me than whatever polished app version iOS might. Something I didn’t appreciate fully until I entered the nightmare of trying to find no subscription and non ad filled apps.
I personally like the diversity and freedom of Android. Sometimes I do wish I like iPhones better though.
I’ve got a 4a (bought on release) and it has been my favorite phone. Not a huge power user so it’s a good small device that has the features I want (fingerprint, 3.5 Jack). My biggest gripe is something I think Google changed sometime before the 4a, and that’s their is no HDMI over USB possible with Pixel devices. From what I can tell the only reason they did this was to sell Chromecasts. The main issue is I watch horror movies on a projector with some friends while camping(no Wi-Fi or data so Chromecast doesn’t work). The software on the projector has poor support for different codecs so ideally I’d use VLC on my phone and have no issue, but I cant. Pretty niche scenario there but I think it’s a sign of how modern phones have slowly been taking away useful features for seemingly no reason. Makes me not want to get a Google phone again.
I have one with grapheneos for privacy, and it’s good.
Same. No better alternative with a balance of features and privacy/security. So pretty much locked into Pixels. Progression for me was nexus (stock) to 1+ (close to stock) to pixel (graphene).
I’ve had a couple Samsungs but I think my next phone will be a Pixel for exactly this reason. Installing GrapheneOS is exactly what I need
Initially i bought nexus/pixel phones for clean android experience and no bloat.
Staying with pixel mainly for camera quality and free storage on Google Photos.
Its not ideal, but I’m used to it. They never try to do something too gimmicky and it feels like phone made by Google will work best with the os made by google so my experience will be most consistent, but i haven’t tried other phones in a while.
Using pixel 6 pro. It’s fine. I’m happy not to have all the bloated janky apps that come on other phones.
Also on a P6P. Only complaint is the sluggish fingerprint reader, but I’m used to it by now.
Really hope that Google will eventually start offering more than 2yrs of updates though. Otherwise, happy with the phone.
I’ve got a Pixel 4a, which is definitely older than two years, and I still get security- and feature-updates.
In the first winter, the shipped camera app crashed the phone. That was fun. Also, battery life is still… Only okayish. Would buy again though, awesome otherwise.
Same here.
Bonus is I can root it and replace the firmware if I want to without blowing an eFuse and it useless work work or pay if I flash it back
I got a Pixel 6 Pro second hand from the US recently for GrapheneOS.
Here’s what I like:
- Fingerprint sensor is fast and reliable
- Phone is buttery smooth, no weird slowdowns, I’ve been very satisfied
- Excellent hardware: beautiful, premium, unqiue. It feels heavy but in a well - balanced, premium way .The curved back, screen and sides makes it so comfortable to hold. And I love the camera bar which because the phone doesn’t rock back and forth on the table.
- No parallel for customization, well maintained custom ROMs (I came from a Xiaomi, I swear Google Pixels are way better in this regard.), GrapheneOS is awesome.
What I don’t like:
- Phone gets hot on cellular, probably an inefficient Exynos modem
- Battery is just okay. Charging is not an issue, takes about an hour to reach 80%, which is what I usually keep my phone at anyway for better battery health.
- Screen not quite bright enough on brutal summer days.
So yeah overall I’m a happy camper. When this one loses support for GrapheneOS, I’ll be upgrading to another Pixel.
I’ve been with Pixel since it started, Nexus before that, and a Palm Pre before that.
There is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS some random hardware bug with Pixels that most people seem to not have but if you have it, it absolutely sucks. The speaker buzz. The display gap. The fingerprint sensor. The camera glass shattering for no reason at all. I’ve had them all and I finally went to Sammy with an S22, which I hate.
I wish Google had never bought HTC and brought hardware in house. I think they would be much better able to strongarm hardware partners if they weren’t competing against them with their own hardware.
I’ve been using a Pixel 3 for about 5 years and I love it. I actually got a pixel 7 for work earlier this year and honestly prefer the pixel 3 lol. I’ve had some charging issues because lint gets stuck in the charge port, but I’ve been able to mostly solve those by cleaning out the port with a toothpick.
I currently use a Pixel 6. Before that, I had the 4XL, 3, and 1XL.
I like:
The camera and camera software, having the option of using Beta versions of Android before they are fully released, being able to unlock the bootloader, and relatively quick security and OS updates.
I don’t like:
How the camera section of the back of the phone protrudes. Makes holding the phone unpleasant ergonomically. I also don’t like how Google isn’t including Android version updates and only security patch updates near the end of life of the phone. They should do both.
In the process of deGoogling, but the phone is something that I’m saving for another year or three. My 6 Pro is doing just fine.
I’m on my first non Google phone, starting with the Nexus 5. I currently have the Z Fold 3, bought used for about half MSRP. It has so many good things that Google failed to do, while also missing a lot of things I loved about the Google phones. The Pixel folder may bring me back if it gets cheap enough.
I love Pixels, they’re easily my favorite option. I’m currently on a Pixel Fold (yes I’m an idiot, but that’s beside the point), and I also enjoy my Pixel Watch and Buds Pro and A series.
I carried an iPhone for work for 3 years and just don’t care for iOS in a personal daily carry capacity. It’s fine for a work phone though, but I also enjoy the way that Android handles work profiles. I do own an iPad though, and that’s fine. I would consider replacing it with a Pixel tablet someday when it’s time though, especially if there’s a 120hz display option by then.
I’m not a big fan of Samsung’s design choices or bloatware tendencies. The kitchen sink approach isn’t for me when the majority of it is stuff that I won’t use, and it feels sloppy to me switching between apps and one uses Samsung’s design language, and then the other uses Material You. I like the consistency you get on a Pixel.
I use my camera a ton, so Pixel is an obvious choice there. Software features like call screening are indispensable for me too. I have been seeing daily spam calls again recently, and watching my phone silently discard them is always enjoyable. I also enjoy getting updates as soon as they are released, which is something that always bothered me with other manufacturers. I have made quite a few people happy by recommending the A-series to them. Wonderful budget-midrange value options.
Where would I go if Pixel went away? Tough question. The Nothing phone seems alright, I could see that working. The Zenphone 10 looks nice as well. I think I would explore one of those options before considering Samsung or Apple again.
I have a 165hz monitor for gaming but in a mobile device I don’t see the point. Low latency and accurate colors seems more important. High hz phone displays just seem like a waste of battery (and probably build cost) for the sake of needlessly pumping numbers.
You are correct that it isn’t really an essential feature, but it gives a nice boost in fluidity that I really enjoy, and directly ties into latency, which you mentioned as being important, which I agree with. Color accuracy still seems to be very good on modern flagships regardless of HZ, according to those who test those things.
The battery impact isn’t as bad as you probably expect actually, most newer high hz phone displays are LTPO, which allows them to scale down to I believe as low as 10hz, such as when you are reading or the AOD is on. I believe it will also scale down to match the frame rate of a full screen video too, which can also help.
As far as cost, I’m sure it’s not “free”, but now that OEMs like Apple, Samsung, and Google are all ordering them in bulk, I imagine it’s kind of just built into the category of display spec that they are ordering. For what it’s worth, the $300 Galaxy A23 features a 120hz display. Of course, Samsung makes the display, but that cost still has to be accounted for somewhere, especially as their profits are currently down 95%.
But yeah, overall I just enjoy a high refresh rate. My monitor, TV, iPad, and phone all support it, so I enjoy the consistency. I recommend trying a high HZ phone in person sometime if you haven’t. I find that it adds a lot to the fluidity of the UI both visually, and in terms of feel, as it feels like it follows my finger more closely when scrolling, for example. Of course, you can always turn it off and cap it at 60hz as well.
Still on a pixel 2, it’s really starting to show it’s age. It’s been a solid phone. I think I will upgrade to the Pixel 8 this fall… But I will miss the rear finger print scanner.
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