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Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

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Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#591

Post by Zak »

jetpacktuxedo wrote: post #442
jamesrcole wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 modem…

> but you wouldn't need to replace them any more frequently than other headphones Except that the batteries will eventually stop holding a charge. This is not a problem with wired headphones. I can plug a 40 year old pair of headphones my Dad got in college into my phone and they work the same now as they did then. You can't do that with wireless headphones.

This is an argument against non-removable batteries more than against wireless headphones in general. There's no reason headphones can't have both onboard charging and removable batteries in standardized sizes. It's fairly common in higher-end flashlights, for example.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#592

Post by abustamam »

staticelf wrote: post #577
Grazester wrote: post #575

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I urge people to do the same." I am just fine with my Google service thank you. If I don't like something I disable it. Most of it I can and I appreciate the convenience of some of the stuff. The iphone without any of the doodads feels like a dumb phone. This is a great way though to discourage constant phone use though.

On my phone at least, Google spams me for data input whenever I use maps and it seems at least to do that even if I simply have location on without actually using any app. Ï cannot disable this, it also sends me ads from built in apps (not really Google here) that I cannot disable. I am done with all of that. For years I have been an android enthusiast, thinking it was so much better than iPhone. How times change.

Don't know how you feel about ad blockers, but I installed an off-market app called BlockThis (Google it) to get rid of ads on my browser, and it had the added benefit of disabling ads within apps. Many Android apps are very obstructive with their ads (not androids fault) so now I just always have BlockThis enabled.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#593

Post by j45 »

jpgvm wrote: post #514
j45 wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 6P had it's issues (I experienced some too). Pixel was much better, except the XL 128gb had memory speed issues. Google has gone back to LG to build the Pixel 2 XL, (similar to the Nexus 5) which was great. For that reason I'm probably going to get it - my dad still has and loves his LG made nexus 5.

I love my Nexus 5 and would probably love a Pixel 2 but it has no headphone jack. :( I do an insane amount of long-haul flying and really rely on the 3.5mm jack for my noise cancelling headphones. I could get bluetooth headphones but they wouldn't work with in-flight entertainment when it's available. I hope this whole no-headphone jack trend doesn't continue, I know the 3.5mm TNC isn't the best jack but if you don't…

I know of a few options depending on the desired setup:

- There are USB-C to 3.5mm jacks. Probably the simplest. There are also Y cables that put out a USB-C charging port and 3.5mm. - I own a Sony SBH54. Converts bluetooth into 3.5mm. Awesome to pair to my phone and laptop, hoping improved specs of Bluetooth 5 shoe up in a new device soon. I have been on Bluetooth audio with their SBH50 and MW600 - the audio quality has improved greatly. I wonder if there's a wireless external DAC.

I heard of an intriguing option yesterday - USB C Digital headphones where the signal remains purely digital.

LG has put dacs into the v20 and a variant of the g6, I kind of wish I had gotten a model with one.

I sense the no headphone jack is here to stay if the reason for it is true (allowing thinner phones).

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#594

Post by markmarrk »

microtonal wrote: post #525
mrb wrote: post #511

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Had a similar experience but better opinion of Google's sorry. My wife's 6P entered a bootloop 5 or 7 days after the 1-year warranty expired. Google and Huawei said "sorry—your warranty expired." But I don't fault them. An expired warranty is, after all, expired. I ended up reselling the phone on eBay for $120. At least it's recycled: people use them for parts. On the other hand, I actually loved Google's support. Re…

My wife's 6P entered a bootloop 5 or 7 days after the 1-year warranty expired. Google and Huawei said "sorry—your warranty expired." But I don't fault them. An expired warranty is, after all, expired. How is this acceptable? The boot loop is most likely caused by a software bug that was not introduced by your wife (unless she was installing custom ROMs). Moreover, it is probably easy for Huawei/Google to repair the p…

100% terrible customer service. The bootloop was caused by flaws in the Snapdragon chip. The OSS fix is to basically disable half of the cores and run the phone in a crippled state.

https://www.xda-developers.com/nexus-6p-bootloop-fix/

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#595

Post by criddell »

btym wrote: post #413
criddell wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. It uses less power than driving headphones.

No, overall, you'll be using more power (DAC vs encoding + decoding + DAC). It's just split across two devices you have to charge independently.

Sure, but battery power in the phone is valuable. Modern Bluetooth headphones can play 30-40 hours of music per charge.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#596

Post by pier25 »

willtim wrote: post #546
rtpg wrote: post #434

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone with an S7 , while many improvements are nice, they are cobbled by being buggy as hell. If I just turn on power saving then turn it back off , I have to hard reset my phone because the resolution gets all messed up.

My android experience has been tarnished more by Google bugs than Samsung ones. Android 5 was a very buggy release, so much infrastructural change with little user benefit. IMHO Samsung should have skipped it entirely. I guess they bowed down to user and media pressure to always ship the latest android (although the media criticised them anyway for poor battery life, caused by Android 5).

I had a Moto G at the time with almost stock and Android 5 worked perfectly for me.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#597

Post by if_by_whisky »

mullingitover wrote: post #273
nataz wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard this story a number of times, but it doesn't match at all with my experience. Did she buy it from google? I bought mine direct from google and the service was fantastic when I had an issue with my phone. I called them up, explained my problem, and 5 mins later they were sending me a replacement in the mail with a pre-stamped shipping package to send the old one back. I'm not sure what else I could ask for.

> Did she buy it from google? It's a Google product. So yes, she bought it from Google. Which store sold this Google product shouldn't be a factor in whether Google is willing to support it to the best of their ability, should it?

Google designed the phone, but they weren't the manufacturer or the retailer

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#598

Post by bipson »

pja wrote: post #552
x0x0 wrote: post #549

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google cut support relatively early for plenty of phones, including my Nexus 5. There were endless stupid excuses about chipsets, but the fact remains: nothing past 6.0.1. They barely supported it for two years.

IIRC Google cut support for the Nexus 4 whilst maintaining support for their tablet that used exactly the same chipset. One of Google’s Android engineers even did their own cut+paste builds for the Nexus 4 from the new Android release at the time. Dropping support at that particular point in time was purely a marketing / management decision that wasn't driven by any technical considerations whatsoever. When you do th…

Never heard these claims. Source?

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#599

Post by pja »

bipson wrote: post #598
pja wrote: post #552

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IIRC Google cut support for the Nexus 4 whilst maintaining support for their tablet that used exactly the same chipset. One of Google’s Android engineers even did their own cut+paste builds for the Nexus 4 from the new Android release at the time. Dropping support at that particular point in time was purely a marketing / management decision that wasn't driven by any technical considerations whatsoever. When you do th…

Never heard these claims. Source?

Here’s a blog post by the programmer in question: http://dmitry.gr/index.php?r=06.+Thoughts&proj=02.%20Android...

I think that covers most of the main points.

Of course, it may be that it all came down to support contracts internally between Google and the Nexus device suppliers (the Nexus 7 blobs come via Asus, the Nexus 4 was an LG device that used the same Qualcomm chipset IIRC.) but that’s the kind of detail that end users really don’t care about: both were Google devices that Google sold & from the point of view of the end user Google dropped support for one device for no obvious reason as far as the end user can see.

Re: Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL announced

#600

Post by x0x0 »

caf wrote: post #567
x0x0 wrote: post #549

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google cut support relatively early for plenty of phones, including my Nexus 5. There were endless stupid excuses about chipsets, but the fact remains: nothing past 6.0.1. They barely supported it for two years.

Sure. The point here is that the promised "3 year minimum OS updates" for the Pixel 2 is a significant improvement on that.

My point is that

1 - Google has a history of living up to the absolute bare minimum promised. Apple does not. Per history, one can assume that when Google says they'll support for 3 years they mean 3 years and one day, and Apple means about 5.

2 - Google has a history of whining as if they are absolutely powerless, broke, and incapable of affecting what Qualcomm or others do. At least when it suits Google.

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