Google Pixel 2 Live Event
- Thread starter Poke
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 21
- Views 3K
I tried to watch the live stream, but after the Google Home Max intro, I couldn't take it anymore. These keynotes or whatever the corporate world tries to call them are so over the top, it's sickening.
Here's a 15 minute recap.
I ordered the Pixel 2 XL, but saw nothing on how to get the free Home Mini.
While I knew there probably wouldn't be one announced, I was hoping for a new tablet, or at least a significant price drop on the Pixel C
Here's a 15 minute recap.
I ordered the Pixel 2 XL, but saw nothing on how to get the free Home Mini.
While I knew there probably wouldn't be one announced, I was hoping for a new tablet, or at least a significant price drop on the Pixel C
I don't know why Google has to get into the hardware business, especially a nobody cell phone or camera. Neither of these devices lends itself to it's key expertise- search and advertising. They have a clear winner with Android on a Samsung phone and should just continue to work with the hardware companies to improve the OS. If Google wanted to expand that, they could develop a competing OS to run on ipads, Macs, and iphones. But for it to get legs it would have to be much better than iOS and for the business figure out a way to monetize it. They would be competing with FREE which isn't an easy thing to do especially with Apple.
I use Google software like Chrome, and Calendar, and You Tube on my iphone and that works well. Maybe they could just improve upon that with the Pixel budget. But the hardware is a waste of time, IMO.
I did watch the full video, I mean, I watched segments because I kept falling asleep through half the presentations.
Sorry to be a Donnie Downer on this but it's the way I see it as a Google fan boy.
I use Google software like Chrome, and Calendar, and You Tube on my iphone and that works well. Maybe they could just improve upon that with the Pixel budget. But the hardware is a waste of time, IMO.
I did watch the full video, I mean, I watched segments because I kept falling asleep through half the presentations.
Sorry to be a Donnie Downer on this but it's the way I see it as a Google fan boy.
DXO just rated the Pixel 2's camera higher than the cameras in the Samsung Galaxy S8 and iPhone 8 Plus. One of the most stunning camera pictures I saw from last year came from the 1st Gen Pixel. Say what you will about Google's form factor or two-tone design, but they found the secret sauce in the optics and image software.
You must have had the volume down while you were watching the presentation. They whole lot of toys is a giant experiment in Machine Learning.
Google seems to be going the route of learning what their customers do and driving their product development based on real-world usage rather than making business decisions based on focus groups and ivory tower designers. Amazon is another company that has chosen this path and they too have advanced very quickly as compared to the old school survey and adapt process that has rewarded Apple with a two-models-sorta-fits-all product line.
You can't improve what you don't measure.
I heard the second part, but missed that their entry into these phones and cameras is to make the customer a lab rat for AI development. I hope the people buying these products understand what their purpose is. If that is the case, then it's probably a good thing for the future.
I don't mind being a lab rat as long as that is made clear up front. I like to volunteer for these things as long as I feel my input to development is taken seriously. I participated in a product test last summer only because I had direct input to the development team. Back in the early 90's I also had direct input into Autodesk's dev team. Most of these programs are poorly managed and result in nothing more than a free advertising through media leaks.
As a Google stock holder I want the focus to be on earnings.
Machine Learning was one of the most oft-used buzz phrases in the presentation. Pretty much every product's use of and contribution to ML was highlighted.
For me the Pixel is all about not having to put up with OEMs and the carrier bloat and getting updates within seconds of them hitting the stream, not months or years. The vast majority of my smartphones have been from HTC since they have been the first or the first manufactures to lead the way in various hardware advancements and they made the very first Android phone. I don’t need nor want three versions of basic apps, like Navigation, Photo Viewers and Media Players on my phone, that can’t be removed. A Google one, a manufacture one and a carrier one.
I can’t imagine Google is very happy about all of the improvements in each version of Android only to have the manufactures and carriers drag their feet, so why shouldn’t they do it themselves? I fail to see how the Pixel phones are different then the Nexus phones, besides price. Both lines involved contracted out OEMs to build phones to Google’s specifications without any software bloat. So Google has mildly been in the hardware game for years. Just like Apple, do they actually make anything? Design it in Cupertino, source components from other companies and have the child slaves at Foxconn build it. Is that really any different then what Google is doing? I wish they would have stuck with the Nexus line. A decent priced phone, with moderate to higher end specs, pure Android for developers and geeks, and absolutely no advertising or marketing. The Nexus had a nice niche following.
As someone who is looking to switch to T-Mobile once I get the Pixel 2 XL, this looks interesting...
Best Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL Deals
Best Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL Deals
After visiting three T-Mobile corporate owned stores I finally got the answer I was looking for. The $325 prepaid card is valid on up to four lines per account. I was planning on giving my original Pixel XL to my wife, but Google is offering a $400 trade in for it. Add in the $325 and I am being paid to upgrade to the Pixel 2. My wife doesn’t care about the screen size so much, but I’d rather her have the newer phone with longer guaranteed updates. Figured while the trade in value was so high, I might as well take advantage of it.
Should have the Pixel 2 XL on the 19th or 20th, and the Pixel 2 the 24th or 25th.
Total after tax for the two phones is just shy of $1,620. Minus the trade in and T-Mobile money that brings the cost down to around $570 for the two phones. I’m planning on selling both Google Home Mini’s for around $40 each so when it’s all said and done the two Google phones will cost me under $500. Switching to T-Mobile is about a $75/month savings over Sprint. By the time next Spring rolls around, my Pixel 2’s will have paid for themselves.
I understand that Google wants to get their eavesdropping speaker into as many homes as possible, since it’s being beaten by Amazon currently, and the ‘free’ Home Mini is a great way to build up market share and hope people use the thing so they can data mine that many more people, I just wish I could decline the Home Mini and get a $50 credit for the Home Max when it comes out. Had I known a year ago there would be a Home Max, I would have never got the Home.
Should have the Pixel 2 XL on the 19th or 20th, and the Pixel 2 the 24th or 25th.
Total after tax for the two phones is just shy of $1,620. Minus the trade in and T-Mobile money that brings the cost down to around $570 for the two phones. I’m planning on selling both Google Home Mini’s for around $40 each so when it’s all said and done the two Google phones will cost me under $500. Switching to T-Mobile is about a $75/month savings over Sprint. By the time next Spring rolls around, my Pixel 2’s will have paid for themselves.
I understand that Google wants to get their eavesdropping speaker into as many homes as possible, since it’s being beaten by Amazon currently, and the ‘free’ Home Mini is a great way to build up market share and hope people use the thing so they can data mine that many more people, I just wish I could decline the Home Mini and get a $50 credit for the Home Max when it comes out. Had I known a year ago there would be a Home Max, I would have never got the Home.
Let us know what you think, especially as a Pixel owner. Plus, I'm curious if you'll find the Pixel 2's improved camera good enough to pick it over your Sony for more than casual use.
Hopefully the lack of the headphone jack won't be an issue (I haven't used mine for over a year, but I'm sure that's just me...) Most of my music consumption is via Bluetooth.
The lack of a headphone jack won't be an issue at all. I cannot stand anything on or in my ears. Aside from seeing how crappy Beats headphones sound, I haven't worn headphones since my original Walkman (the cassette tape one) in the mid 90s. Earbuds are even worse. Never could understand how people find little plastic bulbs with a thin layer of foam wedged in their earhole comfortable. Looking at my eBay history, the last time I used a headphone jack on any device was in the Summer of 2012. That's when I bought my Big Jambox bluetooth speaker. The only thing I used the headphone jack for was to output audio from my phone or MP3 player to a cheap pair of computer speakers when doing yard work or cleaning my car.
In my car I have my music loaded on a flash drive, at home my music is played over the network to my DLNA enabled A/V Receiver or directly on my PC. Dual front facing speakers on a phone mean more to me then a headphone jack anyday..
In my car I have my music loaded on a flash drive, at home my music is played over the network to my DLNA enabled A/V Receiver or directly on my PC. Dual front facing speakers on a phone mean more to me then a headphone jack anyday..
The P2XL interests me, but the price is too close to Apple. So I'll wait a year to see if Apple starts supporting band 71 as well as 25 (my 6+ supports neither. My wife's SE supports 25).
Interesting article over at The Verge about the screen on the Pixel 2 XL: The Pixel 2 XL would be the best phone in the world if its screen wasn’t so weird
Picked up the pixel 2 to replace my regular pixel on Verizon today. Was looking at the xl 2, but seeing as I already had the xl (1) on attending, I decided to stick with the smaller device.
I have said many times how I was super impressed with the smoothness if the pixel versus other Android devices, and even iPhones, and Google has only improved on this aspect.
The thing is lighting fast.
I don't get into benchmarks, I go by real world usage, and based on that, and using it and my wife's iPhone 8. It's at least the equal of it in usage speed, if not faster.
I have said many times how I was super impressed with the smoothness if the pixel versus other Android devices, and even iPhones, and Google has only improved on this aspect.
The thing is lighting fast.
I don't get into benchmarks, I go by real world usage, and based on that, and using it and my wife's iPhone 8. It's at least the equal of it in usage speed, if not faster.
I received the Pixel 2 XL a couple of weeks ago and the Pixel 2 last Thursday. Both sat unopened in their boxes until Monday, when the screen protectors and cases started to come it. Yesterday I powered both Pixel phones on for the first time and made the trip to the T-Mobile store after work.
In my limited time of playing with them both the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are great phones. Both are very fast and have great quality cameras. I thought I’d complain about and have problems adjusting to the 18 x 9 screen of the XL, but to my surprise no issues at all. It feels very comfortable in the hand. On the XL, I don’t have an issue with the blue hue when looking at the phone off angle, as I don’t typically look at the phone off angle. To clarify, yes I see the blue tint, but no it doesn’t bother me. The display does not seem as vibrant as the original XL and that is okay with me. Colors seems more natural and realistic then those Samsung’s oversaturated super duper QXSFHD-AMOLED displays. While my original Pixel XL had better color saturation, the Pixel 2 XL just seems to be better at showing detail. What I am not a fan of is the rounded corners of the screen. I don’t understand why that was necessary to change, nothing wrong with 90 degree corners.
The worst part about the phones is the carrier. Wow, T-Mobile SUUUUUUUUKS! After seeing their coked up CEO on the commercials telling me how great they are, and checking out their fake coverage maps I was expecting better. Apparently, they have no 3G network to fall back on. While I didn’t get much in the way of LTE reception with Sprint at home unless I was in the bathroom I at least had minimal 3G reception for phone calls and text messaging. I have zero reception with T-Mobile inside my house, outside my house, down the road from my house. Last night on my way home from the T-Mobile store, as I got about 2 miles from home I glanced at both phones and they had No Service, at that moment I kinda figured what I’d be in store for. Had a blip when I pulled in my drive way, but go to do anything and it goes back to No Service. I forced the phone into 3G, but after 5 minutes the signal strength meter came back with an E, which I assume is the old ancient Edge network, and as soon as I tried to make a call it failed, and went to no signal again.
Wifi Calling is an absolute joke. Made about 20-30 test phone calls using wifi last night between the two cell phones and the landline. Had maybe about a 40% success rate. Call would either fail right away or if it went through, the other phone would never ring and eventually go to voice mail. Text messaging was even worse. First text message on wifi went through fast. After that they messages kept failing or would take upwards of an hour to receive. That really got me is I have two factor authentication turned on for my banking and my Google account and never got the authorization codes. I wanted to wipe my original Pixel XL, but already signed out of my Google account but wanted to check something, so I signed back in and I just never got the two factor authentication code. I had to drive a few minutes up the road to get service in order to receive the messages. Some of the messages that I should have received when I was on wifi did come in when I got in range of a tower, but some didn’t. If it wasn’t 10 o clock at night I probably would have driven back to the T-Mobile store and tell them to shove their nonexistent service up their ass.
I actually get some reception at work, ~-115 to -117 dbm, about 5Mb down by 5Mb up when I’m near a window. Far cry from my 80+ down on Sprint. I have no reception period in most of our manufacturing plant or server room, two areas I spend a decent amount of time in. Two areas where I had LTE with Sprint. Again, according their lying fake coverage maps, I should have awesome coverage.
Thank God for no more contacts and BYOD. I know it will be a while, but as soon as my two $325 prepaid Master Cards come in, I’ll be back with Sprint. I only have two requirements for cell phone service. Great reception at work, and something, anything at home. Little Magenta fails at both. And I absolutely love the ‘uncarrier’ move of charging for SIM cards. $25 each for a SIM card.
In my limited time of playing with them both the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are great phones. Both are very fast and have great quality cameras. I thought I’d complain about and have problems adjusting to the 18 x 9 screen of the XL, but to my surprise no issues at all. It feels very comfortable in the hand. On the XL, I don’t have an issue with the blue hue when looking at the phone off angle, as I don’t typically look at the phone off angle. To clarify, yes I see the blue tint, but no it doesn’t bother me. The display does not seem as vibrant as the original XL and that is okay with me. Colors seems more natural and realistic then those Samsung’s oversaturated super duper QXSFHD-AMOLED displays. While my original Pixel XL had better color saturation, the Pixel 2 XL just seems to be better at showing detail. What I am not a fan of is the rounded corners of the screen. I don’t understand why that was necessary to change, nothing wrong with 90 degree corners.
The worst part about the phones is the carrier. Wow, T-Mobile SUUUUUUUUKS! After seeing their coked up CEO on the commercials telling me how great they are, and checking out their fake coverage maps I was expecting better. Apparently, they have no 3G network to fall back on. While I didn’t get much in the way of LTE reception with Sprint at home unless I was in the bathroom I at least had minimal 3G reception for phone calls and text messaging. I have zero reception with T-Mobile inside my house, outside my house, down the road from my house. Last night on my way home from the T-Mobile store, as I got about 2 miles from home I glanced at both phones and they had No Service, at that moment I kinda figured what I’d be in store for. Had a blip when I pulled in my drive way, but go to do anything and it goes back to No Service. I forced the phone into 3G, but after 5 minutes the signal strength meter came back with an E, which I assume is the old ancient Edge network, and as soon as I tried to make a call it failed, and went to no signal again.
Wifi Calling is an absolute joke. Made about 20-30 test phone calls using wifi last night between the two cell phones and the landline. Had maybe about a 40% success rate. Call would either fail right away or if it went through, the other phone would never ring and eventually go to voice mail. Text messaging was even worse. First text message on wifi went through fast. After that they messages kept failing or would take upwards of an hour to receive. That really got me is I have two factor authentication turned on for my banking and my Google account and never got the authorization codes. I wanted to wipe my original Pixel XL, but already signed out of my Google account but wanted to check something, so I signed back in and I just never got the two factor authentication code. I had to drive a few minutes up the road to get service in order to receive the messages. Some of the messages that I should have received when I was on wifi did come in when I got in range of a tower, but some didn’t. If it wasn’t 10 o clock at night I probably would have driven back to the T-Mobile store and tell them to shove their nonexistent service up their ass.
I actually get some reception at work, ~-115 to -117 dbm, about 5Mb down by 5Mb up when I’m near a window. Far cry from my 80+ down on Sprint. I have no reception period in most of our manufacturing plant or server room, two areas I spend a decent amount of time in. Two areas where I had LTE with Sprint. Again, according their lying fake coverage maps, I should have awesome coverage.
Thank God for no more contacts and BYOD. I know it will be a while, but as soon as my two $325 prepaid Master Cards come in, I’ll be back with Sprint. I only have two requirements for cell phone service. Great reception at work, and something, anything at home. Little Magenta fails at both. And I absolutely love the ‘uncarrier’ move of charging for SIM cards. $25 each for a SIM card.
Pixel 2 has band 25 but does not have band 71. By the end of next year, assuming no Sprint deal to screw things up, coverage should dramatically improve for phones with band 71 coverage.
They have greatly improved coverage over the past year, but still have quite a ways to go, especially if your phone does not pick up 25 or 71, like mine.
They have greatly improved coverage over the past year, but still have quite a ways to go, especially if your phone does not pick up 25 or 71, like mine.
What they need is more real towers, relying on low frequency spectrum is a bandaid.
I'm disappointed to see the Sprint-Douche Telekom US merger fall though, but if this means that cokehead Legere doesn't get control over anything more other then his own subpar sucky network then that's a good thing I guess.
I'm disappointed to see the Sprint-Douche Telekom US merger fall though, but if this means that cokehead Legere doesn't get control over anything more other then his own subpar sucky network then that's a good thing I guess.
