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Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

theverge.com

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Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#61

Post by endorphone »

Akujin wrote: post #48
endorphone wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had every Nexus through to the 6P, and then moved to a Galaxy S8. With the Pixel Google has been overcome with profound me-tooism trying to ape every choice of Apple. It's humorous that the new iPhone offers wireless charging. Coincidentally I just caught their cringe-inducing intro of the new Google Clips that captures live photos. Groan.

I can't bring myself to buy a Samsung device. The bloatware is cringy as fuck. Maaaybe if it was unlocked right away and someone on XDA put together a Google only rom but short of that I'll never willingly buy a Samsung device.

For sure, Samsung's desperate attempt to fork off users is annoying. From Bixby to their own little app store, to duplicate versions of all of the basics like the clock and the calculator. But overall my experience has been extremely positive.

And it's only fair to note that what we know as the pure Android was Google essentially sweeping in all of the cool things from Samsung, HTC and others.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#63

Post by codq »

ggreer wrote: post #31
wnevets wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If my 1st generation Pixel were to break today, I'd buy another 1st generation Pixel. Yup, no way I'm buying new a car just to listen to music while driving.

Instead of buying a new car, you could just use the adaptor that comes with the phone.

So you can arrive to your destination with 50% battery.

There's really no argument that paints headphone jack removal as a net positive. Samsung has proved you can waterproof a phone with one (and an SD card!).

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#64

Post by bhups »

lopespm wrote: post #45

Honest question: for those of you who own a mobile device without a headphone jack, do you find it to be an encuberment? Personally I still find it a bit hostile to not have the jack available, since often times I find myself charging the phone and using the headphones (when watching videos for example), so having an adapter dongle for such a frequent task seems counterintuitive to me. I believe that if a device is c…

I have the iPhone 7. I've been using Bluetooth headphones since about 2014 (started with the JayBirds, but use the AirPods now). I use my headphones pretty much all day.

Not once have I noticed the absence of the headphone jack, nor have I felt the need for it.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#65

Post by JosephLark »

Edit up top: The identification is done on-device. The Verge article didn't mention this.

> And this year’s Pixel will take advantage of the phone’s always-on microphones to listen for music (not just the phrase “OK Google”) and display what you’re listening to on the screen, even if it’s something on the radio.

This sounds creepy. So now when excessive microphone data is seen to be going out to the cloud, they can just say "Oh, the phone thought there was music playing and was trying to identify it. Simple misunderstanding, nothing nefarious!".

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#66

Post by eropple »

robterrell wrote: post #49
legohead wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love my Pixel, but they just lost me as a customer for this reason. I'm not totally against removing the headphone jack, but it's not time yet -- the transition has been done poorly.

Why is it not time yet? When I lost my Pixel on a trip, I switched to an iPhone 7 + airpods and it's been great. I don't want to go back to wired headphones. Apple certainly seems to have nailed it. I can't imagine Google + HTC can't too.

It's great that they work well for you, but AirPods and the like don't work well for me at all. The audio quality drop is noticeable to me; interference is a perpetual problem even when I'm just walking down the street or walking through my apartment. Bluetooth on both Android and iOS is clunky and annoying (and it's not totally their fault, the devices and the protocol have something to say about that) that the physical act of jacking headphones into a device makes unambiguous and easy. I very much want to be able to take the headphones I use on my computer and just go rather than play the pairing/reconnect dance or whatever.

If I don't care about what I'm listening to that much (podcasts etc.), wireless headphones are fine, don't get me wrong, but the usability across-the-board still sucks, while not in any way or at any level improving the experience for me. It is a strictly worse experience.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#67

Post by I_am_someone »

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #27
codq wrote: post #3

As an audio engineer, the headphone jack removal trend is an absolute travesty in an industry that utilizes AUX IN audio capabilities night after night. I'm often using iPods or other local-music devices to pump sound into concert venues between acts. Taking away 1/8" audio standards in favor of USB-C or Lightning non-standardized ports causes chaos when needing to fill in music in a pinch. In my industry, I simply c…

I'm not against removing the Aux port on principal or anything, but I just don't understand why we're going toward removing seemingly core hardware. Even on desktops/laptops 3.5mm audio is still used. Why do we need dongles to use core features? Especially since we're removing an "out" port, now we're reliant on a single port to manage all in and out. I don't want to carry dongles to be able to use my phone normally.

I wonder what they'll remove next? Volume buttons? "Oh you can just turn it down with software already on the phone!" Well I could, but damn would that be inconvenient...

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#68

Post by irrational »

I'm very disappointed they didn't drop the price of the 1st generation Pixels more. There was a 1 day sale on the Pixels earlier this year (that included a free Google Home device) that was much lower than what they have dropped them to today. My wife's Nexus 5 recently died. I had hoped to get her the 1st generation Pixel to replace it, but I'll probably get her the iPhone SE instead.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#69

Post by mcjiggerlog »

jamesrcole wrote: post #42
mcjiggerlog wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how many customers they will lose because of this decision? What I don't actually understand is what exactly is gained by its removal? It doesn't seem to be a limiting factor in either thinness or waterproofing, which are the only two I can think of. I know I for one will never buy a phone with no headphone jack.

I think (good implementations of) wireless headphones are the way of the future. What did they gain by removing floppy disk drives from laptops? Well, nothing per se, but it allowed them to make smaller laptops. Removing the jack will allow them to make phones thinner - if not now, in future iterations. And the thing with keeping features around is that it's not just a question of that one feature. It's cumulative ov…

I mostly use my headphone jack to connect to stereo systems at home and in the car, so wireless headphones don't really help (nevermind how much more expensive they are and issues with sound).

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#70

Post by dmayle »

JosephLark wrote: post #65

Edit up top: The identification is done on-device. The Verge article didn't mention this. > And this year’s Pixel will take advantage of the phone’s always-on microphones to listen for music (not just the phrase “OK Google”) and display what you’re listening to on the screen, even if it’s something on the radio. This sounds creepy. So now when excessive microphone data is seen to be going out to the cloud, they can j…

Except it doesn't send any data to the cloud. They mentioned that explicitly. There's an on-phone database of songs that it is matching against.
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