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The $499 Google Pixel 8a is official, with 120 Hz display, 7 years of updates

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Re: The $499 Google Pixel 8a is official, with 120 Hz display, 7 years of updates

#41

Post by throwworhtthrow »

digital_sawzall wrote: post #5

I purchased a Pixel 7a for work related testing a few weeks ago. It's a nice phone and rooting was very easy. I was impressed overall. But those damn ads they deliver as notifications! WTF. Why would they do that. It just reaffirmed my allegiance to Apple.

I wish Apple's ads were delivered as notifications. Then I could disable them. But Apple allows me to disable notifications for everyone but themselves.

I get emails, popups, and banners on my iPhone. They're on my lock screen, in the Music app nav bar, and draped across the top of Settings. They repeatedly nag me to upgrade my iCloud storage, try Apple Music, see what's new in Apple TV, and check out their financial services. They hassle me on macOS too.

Windows 10 is tame in comparison. I just got a Pixel phone and it pesters me more than my iPhone did, but not by much.

Re: The $499 Google Pixel 8a is official, with 120 Hz display, 7 years of updates

#42

Post by Grazester »

digital_sawzall wrote: post #5

I purchased a Pixel 7a for work related testing a few weeks ago. It's a nice phone and rooting was very easy. I was impressed overall. But those damn ads they deliver as notifications! WTF. Why would they do that. It just reaffirmed my allegiance to Apple.

I don't know what the hell you managed to install on your phone but there certainly aren't any ads outside of free ad supported apps on any pixel phone.

Re: The $499 Google Pixel 8a is official, with 120 Hz display, 7 years of updates

#43

Post by hwbunny »

LeafItAlone wrote: post #24
Spunkie wrote: post #16

I was really hoping they would go back to having a headphone jack on the 'a' series of pixels. I picked up a 7a pixel and fooled myself into thinking it "can't be that bad". But bluetooth is the worst technology to ever grace our airways, dongles fucking suck, and it's been a constant source of annoyance since I got it. I guess I'll be picking up something other than a pixel when it comes time to upgrade. But there i…

> But bluetooth is the worst technology to ever grace our airways, dongles fucking suck, and it's been a constant source of annoyance since I got it. Can you expand on your issues with it? It has been very reliable for me.

Have you ever been to a crowded area and it just crashes.....

Re: The $499 Google Pixel 8a is official, with 120 Hz display, 7 years of updates

#45

Post by [deleted] »

pauby wrote: post #26
Rinzler89 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you seen how much an iPhone Pro Max or Galaxy Ultra costs? Also factor in how many years of SW updates are you getting on those cheap Motorolas and also the quality of the software. Hardware bang for the buck ain't everything. If the software is full of ads on those cheap phones or is buggy(like it was on my OnePlus), then your $250 phone ain't worth shit in terms of frustration it's gonna cause you long term.

My recent purchase of Samsung S23 Ultra at almost £800 is full of Samsung crud and spying that I can't remove. Cost is no guide on a crud-free experience.

[deleted]

Re: The $499 Google Pixel 8a is official, with 120 Hz display, 7 years of updates

#46

Post by hwbunny »

still the ugliest, mud crawling looking phone in the arena. I mean, it's such a disgusting looking stare that I don't wanna touch it with a 10 feet pole. Get an industrial designer, preferably someone who lives near beautiful landmarks, like an italian person and don't let the engineers tell the individual what can and can't be done.

I'm not paying a cent for it, until they sort this design mess out. Also, the android opsys' looks also needs some love.

Re: The $499 Google Pixel 8a is official, with 120 Hz display, 7 years of updates

#47

Post by jerlam »

hwbunny wrote: post #44
ortusdux wrote: post #15

Marques' review - "Google Pixel 8A Impressions: Just Get The 8!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3szaVzQx0o

He needs some refreshing, because his reviews have become utterly boring nowadays.

At least in this case, the product being reviewed is utterly boring.

There hasn't been anything interesting in the field of smartphones in a very, very long time. Barely incremental progress.

Re: The $499 Google Pixel 8a is official, with 120 Hz display, 7 years of updates

#48

Post by codalan »

Already had my fill of Pixel 7 Pro problems. The screen failed to register any touches on it, twice. Once within warranty, once outside it. Best I could do is file a claim with my credit card company for a measly $300.

For a $1200 phone.

Had a bizarrely similar experience with the Pixel Watch.

The screen just failed to respond to touch. Wasted an hour figuring out how to get into fast boot mode. After a factory reset, it started working, but it doesn't get much more than 12-16 hours of battery time before needing a charge.

After losing a lot of money, time, and patience, I'm done with Google anything. Their hardware is garbage and they seem to have failed to address these issues with newer Pixel releases. Not sure what the point is of having 7 years of updates when the phone's hardware will barely last one of those years. And good luck with support.

Switched to a Samsung A54, and although it is slower and laggier in some aspects, the hardware is solid and I've been impressed at how clean OneUI is.

Tip: When your Pixel screen fails to respond to touch, you can at least plug in a USB mouse and recover what you can before tossing it into the dead gadget drawer.

Re: The $499 Google Pixel 8a is official, with 120 Hz display, 7 years of updates

#49

Post by codalan »

throwworhtthrow wrote: post #41
digital_sawzall wrote: post #5

I purchased a Pixel 7a for work related testing a few weeks ago. It's a nice phone and rooting was very easy. I was impressed overall. But those damn ads they deliver as notifications! WTF. Why would they do that. It just reaffirmed my allegiance to Apple.

I wish Apple's ads were delivered as notifications. Then I could disable them. But Apple allows me to disable notifications for everyone but themselves. I get emails, popups, and banners on my iPhone. They're on my lock screen, in the Music app nav bar, and draped across the top of Settings. They repeatedly nag me to upgrade my iCloud storage, try Apple Music, see what's new in Apple TV, and check out their financial…

The worst are the apps that will constantly bother you with an in-app popup to enable notifications, e.g. Goat. They make it come up randomly so you'll accidentally click on it.

Or apps that you pay for (Spotify Premium, Tidal) that will constantly bombard you with marketing in-app popups at random times. So instead of listening and enjoying my music, I can accidentally click on one of these landmines and get redirected to something I do not want.

I cancelled Spotify because of this. Will also cancel Tidal after my trial because they just copying the same ugly tactics as Spotify.

Re: The $499 Google Pixel 8a is official, with 120 Hz display, 7 years of updates

#50

Post by palata »

abdullahkhalids wrote: post #35
LeafItAlone wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess this is were Apple does things well within ecosystem. I have: personal MacBook, work MacBook, personal iPad, personal iPhone, and an old personal iPhone I use as a lower-distraction music player. I also often connect to my Fire TV stick to listen to TV without disturbing others in the house. With my AirPods, this is all pretty seamless these days. I never have to turn Bluetooth off on them.

Yes, apple fixed this by appending to the protocol. The Bluetooth standard should consider doing something similar.

I feel like Bluetooth has improved a lot. Maybe it just takes time to propagate everywhere...
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