I understand if something works, people copy it, but this is ridiculous. The pixel showcase page might as well be apple's. It's literally an ad for apple's brand and design and marketing, etc. So tired of this laziness.
Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro
441–450 of 851 posts
Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro
#442Hot take: I haven't seen a compelling new phone feature from any manufacturer in as long as I can remember. I spend 99% of my tapping time sending texts, using a browser and taking pictures with the rear camera. Same as I did on my Droid X which was my first smart phone circa 2011.
Quality of the basics matters. Folks like to say they don’t need a fast processor, because all they do is browse the web.
If you open the messages app and browser 50x per day (which seems like a conservative estimate) and load the maps app a few times a week, the speed differential between devices adds up. Personally, I find the annoyance factor more bothersome than the raw hours of wasted human lifetime.
Side by side, my iPhone 12 takes several seconds less to open Firefox than pixel 4. 1.5 seconds faster to open Slack. 5s faster to launch Sonos. 5s faster launching The Economist. 0.5s faster launching phone. 4s faster launching Spotify. This is with iPhone running several other apps, android idling with no background apps.
Recent phone launches look boring, but getting the basics right absolutely matters. I was hoping Tensor would bring iPhone level performance, but we may have to wait a few years, since they’re only focusing on AI, which iPhone already does quite well.
Personally, I think it is totally valid to count performance and quality as features. Imagine if instead of performance, there was a feature where the phone cut your need for sleep by 5 minutes a day, or cut 5 minutes off your commute, or dropped your cortisol levels x%. Or shortened your wait for the elevator/grocery store by 5 minutes. That’s ultimately what performance means - time saved from the pure waste of waiting for apps and content to load.
Edit: to clarify, this isn’t iPhone elitism. I absolutely believe android users deserve best in class hardware. It is a shame that the vast majority of phone users are having their time stolen from them by Android and Qualcomm. I really wish I had the option of switching to android but I’m just not willing to tolerate it anymore; I have these devices side by side because I just gave up on my post-CSAM scanning switch after two months.
Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro
#443Earlier quoted context omitted.
Each major release of Android has an explicitly stable kernel internal ABI, meaning that shipping binary drivers is much more viable than it was before.
Doesn't matter how easy it is if it is still illegal to do so.
How is shipping binary kernel mods illegal? DKIM is pretty standard...
Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro
#444Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about security updates or new HTML features? Chrome or Firefox on Android get security updates for many years after official system updates end. The same is not true for Apple.
Don't think most users know or care about security or HTML features so while certainly it's a difference it's unlikely to be important for most users. Think of Safari as a skin that's unbundled from the engine. While Chrome or Firefox are reliant on Apple to update the engine, so is Safari, but neither are reliant on Apple for other functionality that they want to implement that users can take advantage of. IMO it's…
User might not care about web engine updates, but it's definitely important, especially because of security.
Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro
#445This is the first time I'm buying an Android phone in over a decade. My last Android phone was a Motorola Droid X from Verizon. I'm excited to spice up my life a little bit after being so locked into the Apple ecosystem.
Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro
#446Tensor SOC seems pretty impressive on paper, will be curious about how it benchmarks and performs in real-life. The Pixel 5 with its "mid-tier" SOC (Snapdragon 765G) was actually pretty good thanks to the software optimizations. Bigger news is Qualcomm being left out. Will they go the way of Intel by incentivizing their customers build their own SOCs?
> Will they go the way of Intel by incentivizing their customers build their own SOCs?
Intel still only have one legitimate competitor in the x86 space and they can at least get a bit of the business they're losing back through their emergent FAB outsourcing division. They also seem to be throwing a bunch of stuff at the wall and some of it might stick!
Qualcomm seems to be keeping their head just above water. I suspect that's going to change quite rapidly though.
Every generation the gap between Snapdragon, Dimensity, and Exynos gets narrower and narrower. However, this coming generation might finally do them in. The Dimensity 2000 looks like it's going to be a monster and the next generation Exynos is about to pick up some RDNA 2 IP, so who knows what that crazy thing is going to do.
Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro
#447Thanks Google. Think I’ll be buying this. I want as little to do with Google’s services as possible in my life, but they really deserve credits for making a modern usable smartphone that is reasonably open. There is just one single feature I will be buying this for - the 5 years of software updates. While good image processing is definitely a pro, all of these software you’re presenting features I really don’t give a…
One doesn't have to dream. Flashing a rom on google-branded phones is so simple, a non-tech person can follow a 5min youtube video to do it. The Nexus 6 from 2014 can have the latest android running on it - not just security updates. And unlike an iphone, it has a build that disables some eyecandy that keeps it actually usable and fast. As I understand it if you run the last supported ios on an iphone 5s, with all th…
Yeah I am running CalyxOS on my pixels, works splendid
Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro
#448I'm never buying another Google device after the customer support horror I went through for my Pixel C tablet.
I guess the customer support horror I went through when they canceled my phone number out of the blue in Google Fi is also factored into that decision (took two months to get my phone number back), but to be fair, that wasn't an issue with their hardware.
Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro
#449That camera band - sand bar, whatever the hell it is - is one of the most atrocious smartphone designs I've ever seen. Extraordinarly stupid on the part of the designers. Phone designs should be pursuing a flush camera segment design, not an approach of how obnoxiously can we make that part of the phone stick out from the rest.
Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro
#450Pixel 6 207g weight is horrible. Pixel 5 is just 151g so this is huge jump. I wish smartphone manufacturers stop adding unnecessary weights for premium (like glass back). Pixel 6 Pro 210g is fine compared to non-Pro.
Agree, but a lot of people seem to not care. The iPhone 13 pro is 204g. The max is 240g.
I’m not sure if it’s people don’t care or don’t have much of an option, especially if they lock into an ecosystem. There’s just a lot more choice on Android devices and the various trade offs.