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Pixel 8 Pro

store.google.com

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Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#221

Post by awill »

karolist wrote: post #187
kimbernator wrote: post #178

It's starting to feel silly, having a yearly release cycle for smartphones. So much of this product page is focused on new software functions that may have some vague relationship with the slightly upgraded hardware, but that could mostly be released to existing phones. Every new iPhone, Pixel, or Samsung phone basically claims the camera is marginally better and hey, look at these software features that have very li…

Not everyone lives on the same upgrade cycle, you can, but you're not supposed to change your phone every year. With iPhone 15, the majority of people upgrading would be 12 and older device owners.

I agree. I find upgrading less frequently makes the upgrade so much more significant. Upgrading yearly would leave you complaining and wondering what's new.

I know people who lease a new car every 3 years. And often, if there's no redesign, they're getting a nearly identical vehicle. It's strange. Whereas, I upgrade my car every 10 years, and am thrilled with all the improvements.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#222

Post by kelnos »

thefz wrote: post #194
vetinari wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am at my third Pixel phone in six years and I never had an issue. Don't you think that three phones in six years is the issue? I'm still on 2019 Galaxy S10, i.e. fourth year, single phone. The hardware is still in great condition, no malfunction of anything.

> Don't you think that three phones in six years is the issue? One (P3) ended with me having it in the back pocket of my jeans and literally jumping in the backseat... yeah, not smart. Another (P4a), I tried to open to swap a new battery in and it did not end well. I'd still happily be with the 4a if it was not for my dumb self. It's perfectly working and I use it to listen to some music while biking or at the gym. I…

Would you still be with it, though? Someone upthread claims the phones just don't last. Maybe if you hadn't broken your phones, they still wouldn't've lasted much longer anyway.

Having said that, I'm still using my 4-year-old Pixel 4, and it's in great shape. I'll probably get a new phone this year since it's no longer receiving security updates. Which is stupid, because I'm otherwise perfectly happy with the phone. And hate that they get physically larger every year.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#223

Post by awill »

nneonneo wrote: post #157

Cool, maybe they can fix emergency calling sometime in that seven year window? https://www.androidauthority.com/psa-google-pixel-911-emerge...

that was incredible embarrassing. I remember it was the end of December, and they said "it won't be in the January update. Just wait until February"

I cannot imagine Apple doing that.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#224

Post by mrinterweb »

kimbernator wrote: post #178

It's starting to feel silly, having a yearly release cycle for smartphones. So much of this product page is focused on new software functions that may have some vague relationship with the slightly upgraded hardware, but that could mostly be released to existing phones. Every new iPhone, Pixel, or Samsung phone basically claims the camera is marginally better and hey, look at these software features that have very li…

Obviously, companies that sell phones want to sell more phones as frequently as possible. I'm just glad that Google is aware that people value having longer term feature and security support for their products. The new 7 years of feature and security support is pretty fantastic.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#225

Post by kcb »

grepLeigh wrote: post #173

This is a meta comment, but I think it's extraordinary that we're only 15ish years from the first smartphone release and we've already reached the "boring" incremental improvement phase for these tiny pocket supercomputers. Consider how long it took PCs to reach the same stage (with a fraction of the adoption). It was like 20 years from Kenbak-1 to the 90s PC era.

Windows Mobile and Palm phones were around int the early 2000s. I think they would absolutely need to be included if considering the history of smartphones.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#226

Post by kelnos »

thesuitonym wrote: post #49
andrewstuart2 wrote: post #3

I'm really glad to see both the partnership with iFixit and the 7 years of support. Because everything else seems mostly meh to me, and while I'm upgrading this year from a Pixel 6 Pro, the continued diminished returns make it seem likely that 2-3 years from now I won't have as much reason to.

>I'm really glad to see both the partnership with iFixit and the 7 years of support. Damn, it may be time for me to move back to Android. Do Pixels require the updates to be sent by your carrier, or do they allow direct download?

While the downloads do come directly from Google, they work with the carriers, who can delay the updates until they have a chance to look at it and ensure they're happy with it... whatever that means.

IIRC you can download the images from Google via web browser and flash manually, but not sure if you can still do that, and I've never tried it myself.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#227

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

daft_pink wrote: post #116

Snoozer like the iPhone 15 release. No real innovation, just a new chip, improved cameras, and a bunch of waxing and waning about premium materials that I will never see again after I slap a case on it.

If you want something innovative there's always the foldables, one of which is Google's. I'm not sure what other form factor you're looking for in a phone, turns out that "glass slab that's nearly 100% screen" is a pretty decent design choice.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#228

Post by kelnos »

awill wrote: post #223
nneonneo wrote: post #157

Cool, maybe they can fix emergency calling sometime in that seven year window? https://www.androidauthority.com/psa-google-pixel-911-emerge...

that was incredible embarrassing. I remember it was the end of December, and they said "it won't be in the January update. Just wait until February" I cannot imagine Apple doing that.

"Was"? You mean "is". The issue is still ongoing for many people.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#229

Post by kimbernator »

sanswork wrote: post #215
TaylorAlexander wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny because if they did not release a new phone every year, the old phones would be useful for longer. I recently had to replace my iPhone 7s plus because it was getting so slow I sometimes could not get the camera to open as it loaded the system down too much. This was despite the fact that the system said my battery was not degraded (it had been replaced with Apple Care a couple of times). Of course when it…

I don't update my phone every year but I also don't really want the progress of software or tech in general determined by the laggards.

I think that a new phone release should just be warranted. The trigger should be "we made significant improvements that couldn't be applied in software to the old device" instead of "it's October"

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#230

Post by kcb »

Tade0 wrote: post #55
ForkMeOnTinder wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly the non-Pro pixels have been trending in the right direction for size. The Pixel 6 is 6.4" The Pixel 7 is 6.3" The Pixel 8 is 6.2" If the trend continues we only have to wait 3 more years for a < 6" phone

I remember when such phones were in a different size category named "phablets".

The aspect ratio makes a huge difference. Back then phones were still mostly 16:9. My Nexus 6 still feels massive compared to modern phones.
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