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Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

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Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#251

$649/$849 it looks like a nice phone, but i have a hard time understanding how it's 5-7x better than my xiaomi.

I paid $200 for my Nexus 5x. Not looking forward to paying 2.5x to retain the same phone-utility in the future.

My Nexus 5x runs like crap, very slow and closes apps when I do 2-3 things at a time (music, gym app, browser for example). I tried everything, reinstalled 7.X system, installed 8.0 on launch, removed most of the apps... Btw, removing facebook and messenger apps helped very much. Now I use messenger lite and don`t use facebook on the phone (thanks, Google :) ). Was waiting for new phone releases, but maybe for the first time I will try an iPhone, I just hope iOS is not that limited and bad any more.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Desktops and laptops have different constraints than phones. Bluetooth uses less power (from the device), makes waterproofing easier, and frees up space for battery. I personally would prefer having a headphone jack on the phone (even though I've never used mine), but I understand why they did what they did.

Bluetooth uses less power... than what? Than a headphone jack?

Yes. It uses less power than driving headphones.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#253

I witnessed my girlfriend's Nexus 6p support experience with Google and it was not pretty. I would never buy a Google phone after that. The phone, just barely out of warranty, goes into a bootloop and becomes a paperweight. Google helpfully shrugs the problem off on Huawei, and Huawei will of course not support the product since it's out of warranty. There is no repair option. I tried Android early on, had similarly…

FYI people may have negative customer support experiences because they insist on the phone with the operator. If someone is not solving your problem, hang up and call again. Eventually you will reach someone who will help. Once I learned this it saved me countless hours, thousands of dollars possibly and a lot of unnecessary frustration.

Expecting someone to need to call again until they find an amenable representative is the antithesis of good customer service. You may have found a method that is effective for you; that's great. One should not need to go to such lengths.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to make a big difference whether or not you buy it from Google. I've seen lots of complaints from Nexus 6P owners who didn't being shoved off to Huawei and their terrible support. But I bought mine from Google, who twice offered me RMAs after the warranty period was over with no resistance. Most recently they replaced it with a new Pixel XL, instead (due to stock issues, I assume). That being said, Google ne…

It's also worth noting that Nexus line was more of a budget phone, whereas Pixel is a premium flagship. The extra cost is exactly for things such as better costumers support. I don't understand people comparing a 350$ Nexus 5 phone to a 700$ Pixel phone, and saying that they're both by Google, and anything that applies to the first also must apply to the second. It's also like people blindly hating on support for pai…

Nexus 6p was definitely not a budget phone

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#255
post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The floppy disk stopped being good at moving files between computers and making backups because single files of popular types regularly exceeded its capacity at the time it stopped being a standard feature. Modems and CD drives had fallen into disuse in favor of alternatives by the time they started getting left out. There were still people who had stuff on floppies who wanted floppy drives. There was a big fuss wh…

> Many people find headphone cables a big pain in the ass. But they don't also find having to charge headphones, and eventually to throw them out and purchase new ones, to be 'a big pain in the ass'? > At least part of that is that wireless headphones tend to be expensive and many of them aren't the best at pairing and staying connected. Those things aren't inherent to wireless technology and will change over time. I…

> But they don't also find having to charge headphones, and eventually to throw them out and purchase new ones, to be 'a big pain in the ass'?

you have to buy at least one pair of wireless headphones (and eventually they'll be bundled with phones), but you wouldn't need to replace them any more frequently than other headphones. This is the way with all changes. When wifi first became available we had to buy new modems.

As for charging them, that doesn't seem like a big pain to me. I charge my phone and laptop each day, this is just one other thing. For me the benefits -- no cables to get tangled (and have to untangle) or get caught on things -- outweigh the costs.

> I'm pretty sure that expense and complexity are inherent to wireless. No wireless connexion is going to be as cheap and reliable as an equivalent wired connexion, if only because the wireless connexion terminates in … a wire.

I hear the air pods are very reliable.

Regarding expense, if economies of scale get going, which I believe will happen, and manufacturers get more experience making them, then this will make the prices come down.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, for a device that is basically the primary device for the vast majority of people to conduct their lives, that are expected to have useful lives of about 2 years, i.e. ~750 days, $400-$500 more may absolutely be worth even a slight improvement, as long as you can afford it.

> $400-$500 more may absolutely be worth even a slight improvement, as long as you can afford it. The problem is, the Nexus series showed us that Google can release a high quality phone at 1/2 the price of the rest of the market, and keep it updated and running fast for years. There is obviously more money in selling phones at market rate.

Nexus phones were probably subsidized to promote Android ecosystem.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#257
post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

If the jack removal allows to make thinner phones, then I hope that it will never be removed. What is advantage of thinner phones? They are uncomfortable for hands and have probably smaller battery. They must be also easier to bend.

Underrated question. How thin do they need to be? Lots of other components need to catch up first

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#258
post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I owned iPhone 8+ for a week and didn't notice any differences than iPhone 6 with jack for the sound quality. Only one bad thing, you can't be charging while listening to music.

I am considering switching from an iPhone 6 to an 8 Plus. Do you regret going for a bigger iPhone or not? I tried the 8 Plus in a store and it was much faster! But also much heavier, that's why I haven't made the jump yet.

I can't even use the smaller phones now, and will never go back.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#259

I witnessed my girlfriend's Nexus 6p support experience with Google and it was not pretty. I would never buy a Google phone after that. The phone, just barely out of warranty, goes into a bootloop and becomes a paperweight. Google helpfully shrugs the problem off on Huawei, and Huawei will of course not support the product since it's out of warranty. There is no repair option. I tried Android early on, had similarly…

I think you're identifying why the Pixel program is better than the Nexus program. Google's completely responsible for the design and support now.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to make a big difference whether or not you buy it from Google. I've seen lots of complaints from Nexus 6P owners who didn't being shoved off to Huawei and their terrible support. But I bought mine from Google, who twice offered me RMAs after the warranty period was over with no resistance. Most recently they replaced it with a new Pixel XL, instead (due to stock issues, I assume). That being said, Google ne…

It's also worth noting that Nexus line was more of a budget phone, whereas Pixel is a premium flagship. The extra cost is exactly for things such as better costumers support. I don't understand people comparing a 350$ Nexus 5 phone to a 700$ Pixel phone, and saying that they're both by Google, and anything that applies to the first also must apply to the second. It's also like people blindly hating on support for pai…

> It's also worth noting that Nexus line was more of a budget phone

She paid over $600 for it, I wouldn't exactly call it a bargain bin device.

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