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Pixel 8 Pro

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Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#471
post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And then Apple made their OS more heavy weight every year until my phone slowed to a crawl. I mean, it is a bit unfair against Apple - some of the reason behind the OS getting more heavyweight is actually backporting new features in 7 year’s distance, many which actually has dedicated hardware in case of the more modern lineup. Also, there is a big aspect which is independent of Apple: every app is getting more and…

If Apple just let people hang out on the last nicely-working version of iOS, where their camera still opens fast, then that’d be fine. But they don’t. They bully you into always being on the latest Also, I remember a while back they did a specific optimised speed-up release of iOS with barely any new features and it _really_ worked. My iPhone 6S went from being basically garbage I was going to replace to like a brand…

I also have an iPhone 12 Pro and it’s just as snappy as ever on iOS 17.

Sounds like you might have some buggy / bad app interactions going on? There’s really no reason for a 12 Pro to be slow at this point even if the OS was getting “heavier.” The 12 Pros have 6GB of RAM, which is now pretty standard across the iPhone lineup even years later. And the A14 SoC in the 12 Pro is effectively the same tech as the M1 processors that are still rock-solid at running full blown macOS, albeit with fewer cores running at somewhat lower clocks.

I can’t really think of much reason for you to be having a slow experience aside from the usual bugs that can accompany any new major release, and usually get ironed out over the course of a month or two.

FWIW you also don’t have to update. Of course they bully you to update. You don’t have to.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#472

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's your choice but it's not safe.

Is there any way to make it safe? I've bought newer pixels and they are a downgrade all around for me. I just want security updates and the ability to browse on-device files/do file management (newer Androids keep restricting further and further)

LineageOS is not the answer. Check out the DivestOS, it is known for supporting 'out of support' devices. but I would strongly suggest you to change your device, that is too old. There is new vunrebility each month.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#473
post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't think the iPhone (or even Android) was the equivalent of the Kenbak-1 in terms of smartphones. There were "smartphones" before the iPhone. IMO the iPhone was the 90s PC era where these things got a lot better and more ubiquitous and less fragmented. And (also in my opinion) coincidentally 90s led into an the era where overly dominant OS vendor(s) were crushing the fun and freedom out of computing. Phon…

I'd argue the equivalent of iPhone/Android on the PC side would have been Windows 95, when things really became consumer focused and had their revolutionary explosion take off. That was "only" 28 years ago now

Agreed on the Win95 timeframe for the start of the take off phase the iPhone kicked off - just that PCs peaked, stagnated and got boring much less than 28yrs later (eg around 2010ish?).

I was disagreeing with the claim that PCs took longer than smartphones did to reach that plateau. They did take longer to reach the initial (Win95/iPhone) take off point though. Smartphones spent less time in the primordial phase - probably more a case of better internet availability though.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#474

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…

no no, you should just separate your papers and plastics and keep buying the pocket super computer every year.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#475
post #283

The depreciation between Pixels and iPhones is staggering. Trade-in in Germany on Google Store page: - Pixel 6 Pro 256gb ($999 on release) - 235€ - iPhone 13 Pro 256gb ($1099 on release) - 730€ While I am partial to Googles line of phones (had pretty much every Google phone since the nexus one), the loss of value is something I cannot really ignore any more when deciding to buy a phone.

This means best way to buy a pixel is few years after release, and even better if it's a used one. I recently got Pixel 4a and believe i can easily keep using this for at least 2 3 years.

The 4A doesn't get security updates anymore though, right? The language on the website says "guaranteed until at least August 2023" so I guess it's up to Google's good will.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#476
post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Because it is still massive. The 6" Nexus 6 is 3.3in wide whereas the 6.7" Pixel 8 Pro is only 3" wide. Even omitting the bezels, the Nexus 6 has a screen width of 2.94" vs. the 8 Pro's 2.75"

It's the biggest one in lineup so that's big. Don't blame for existence of biggest lineup.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#477

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This means best way to buy a pixel is few years after release, and even better if it's a used one. I recently got Pixel 4a and believe i can easily keep using this for at least 2 3 years.

The 4A doesn't get security updates anymore though, right? The language on the website says "guaranteed until at least August 2023" so I guess it's up to Google's good will.

Do security updates really matter that much? May be they do depending on your usage patterns. I think anyone will be fine without most of those security updates. Also most of the slowdowns are caused by automatically updating apps which keep gaining weight with every update.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#478

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…

>functions that may have some vague relationship with the slightly upgraded hardware

But never scaling up the damned battery above and sometimes even at demand. It's ultimately my number one request, and I'm sure that of many others.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#479

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…

I'm currently using Pixel 4a (just recently EOL), and I'll probably upgrade my phone this or next year. Maybe Pixel has a yearly release cycle, but it doesn't mean I have to upgrade every year, that would be crazy. And they can iterate more often to try some ideas more often than once every 5 years.

I'm using a Pixel 3 (my first Pixel) that I bought new (in original sealed box) on eBay one year ago, for a bit under AUD$300, still works fine, all the apps keep upgrading (the OS won't upgrade as it's EOL, hasn't been an issue for me so far), the camera AI is impressive enough for me, I'm planning to keep on using it for at least another year. That's as close as I get to having a bleeding edge smartphone. No need to waste $1k+ on the latest and greatest hyped-up kool-aid.

Re: Pixel 8 Pro

#480
post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd guess you aren't seeing the build quality issues as frequently because you replace your phone more often. Three phones on six years sounds like a lot to me

See above comment as to why.

Why doesn't really matter for OP's observation, the point is that your phones don't last long enough to manifest the possible problems. It'd be like if you were in the habit of totaling each car you own at about 50k miles. You might have really enjoyed it for those 50k miles, but you're not qualified to comment on how durable the car is in the long run.
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