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Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

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Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#71
post #8

Especially with the Pixel lineup, there is a historical quality control issue with Google's phones that I'm worried hasn't been solved yet. I owned: - Pixel 3: Past few months, volume buttons and power buttons gradually stopped working. USB port works for charging, but when connected to a computer, port connects and disconnects in an infinite loop. Bluetooth connection with car always skips/stutters during Maps usage…

I am going to get a Linux phone next as well, they look solidly built and I can handle the occasional hassle, I have a s21 ultra and it's ultra disappointing, I got it because they stopped making notes, had note 10 super duper or whatever but it died. Samsung and all the big phone makers have been getting less and less desirable, I am rooting my s21 ultra to see if they did anything interesting in hardware nobody is using, but I doubt it besides the massive camera. They even removed expandable storage, after making it possible to take a 104mp picture... so dumb.

Linux phone ftw

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#72
Huhn. My wife's Pixel 3 broke just days before the 5a was released (this happened just a few weeks ago). Her LTE radio seemed to be having problems. It wouldn't connect to the cell tower, even after a factory reset. Sometimes, removing the SIM card and reinserting it would cause the phone to magically start working, but it quickly would lose it's connection again. We tried different SIMs, and finally it was totally dead and she used my old iPhone 6 for a few days while we waited for the 5a to arrive.

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#73
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what got me to switch to iPhone. Ewaste is a big problem with Google phones. My wife has always bought iPhones and has gone through half as many phones as me.

How do you deal with lack of uBlock Origin? It's Android's killer feature: you can have real browsers with extensions.

They have supported ad blocking extensions for literally years. Though, these days, I'm 100% Wireguarded to my house when away and everything goes through Pihole anyways.

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#74

Crap. I’m now considering buying a new Pixel phone - I need to switch from iPhone to Android for certain reasons, and I hate pre-installed crap of Samsung. (Samsung Internet? Really?) But I also don’t want to deal with HW issues and my family never had any HW problems with Samsung… so I guess Samsung it is?

Samsung phone are the worst phone I have ever used. They are even hard to root because they have some shitty knox trip button.

I used xiomi and they are also bad due to adverts/data collection but I flashed other roms and my device is working flawlessly.

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#75

Pixel 3 is EOL anyways as of October 2021. No more software updates and no security patch. Makes sense the hardware is EOL as well. Meanwhile an iPhone SE from 2016 can upgrade to the latest iOS. It just works.

> No more software updates and no security patch. Makes sense the hardware is EOL as well.

No more official updates from the vendor. It does not make sense that hardware should die when aftermarket ROMs are perfectly serviceable.

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#76

Pixel 3 is EOL anyways as of October 2021. No more software updates and no security patch. Makes sense the hardware is EOL as well. Meanwhile an iPhone SE from 2016 can upgrade to the latest iOS. It just works.

An iPhone SE from 2016 has about 2 hours of battery life left and is slow as molasses to eke even that little out of it. I know because we have one that my toddler gets to play with once in a while. That's the only thing it's useful for.

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#77
post #8

Especially with the Pixel lineup, there is a historical quality control issue with Google's phones that I'm worried hasn't been solved yet. I owned: - Pixel 3: Past few months, volume buttons and power buttons gradually stopped working. USB port works for charging, but when connected to a computer, port connects and disconnects in an infinite loop. Bluetooth connection with car always skips/stutters during Maps usage…

I had 3 different Nexus 5Xs. Bought the first one, it ended up crashing multiple times a day. Got the second one advance-replaced under Google Fi's "device protection plan" (for something like $70 + $100 deposit), it did the same thing even before I had done more than set up my Google accounts on it. And then I had to fight and cold-email a VP off of LinkedIn in order to get them to replace that one without another f…

Yep. For all the problems I've had with apple products, knowing I can call or visit apple to get the problems fixed is fantastic.

Since owning my 2016 macbook, the screen died due to the flex cable issue (while travelling - which was super annoying). And one key on the keyboard got sticky. They offered a free battery replacement while they fixed the keyboard (since battery life was dropping faster than it should). The tech broke another key on the keyboard while they were fixing the first one, so they ended up replacing the whole keyboard & trackpad. And when I got the machine back from being serviced, it started crashing due to a RAM issue. So it went back in for a motherboard replacement.

This machine is the worst apple product I've ever owned. But, despite all these problems showing up outside the warranty period, the repair work was all done for free. They have basically replaced the entire computer at this point. (I think the only original part is the backplate).

I think it makes sense for this work to be free, because these were all design problems. But good luck getting this sort of service out of Google or Dell or HP or something. Dell used to have an excellent service program, but those days have long passed. Just reaching a human at google who can help is like getting blood from a stone.

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#78
post #8

Especially with the Pixel lineup, there is a historical quality control issue with Google's phones that I'm worried hasn't been solved yet. I owned: - Pixel 3: Past few months, volume buttons and power buttons gradually stopped working. USB port works for charging, but when connected to a computer, port connects and disconnects in an infinite loop. Bluetooth connection with car always skips/stutters during Maps usage…

I used to have a 2XL and now a 5. To be honest I've never had a single issue. I did sign up for the android 12 beta and while there are some minor hiccups(completely normal phenomenon for any beta), things work pretty smoothly.

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#79

Pixel 3 is EOL anyways as of October 2021. No more software updates and no security patch. Makes sense the hardware is EOL as well. Meanwhile an iPhone SE from 2016 can upgrade to the latest iOS. It just works.

Planned obsolescence by bricking old hardware?

Really? You're going to suggest that Google is the worse perpetrator of planned obsolescence when Apple still slows down phones and uses their flawed design as a scapegoat (and originally did it secretly and lied about it)? Okiedoke. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51413724

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#80
Googling EDL mode, apparently one way to enable it is to "short the test points on your device’s mainboard." Maybe Pixel 3s are getting these test points bridged by something inside the case, possibly due to e.g. thermal battery expansion pushing something against the mainboard?
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