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Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro

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491–500 of 851 posts

Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro

#491

How do folks evaluate upgrading their phone? I'm using an iPhone 6s still that was a hand-me-down and wanting to upgrade the camera - not sure what I ought to be looking for. Dropping 1k CAD seems exorbitant for this purpose.

6s is next on the chopping block, that's usually when I call it necessary if nothing fun has come along to snatch up in-between. As far as the price 1000 every 6 years doesn't seem exorbitant, it's about the price of something like Netflix over the same period but you likely spend a lot more time with it.

If you want lifespan you can't go wrong with another iPhone plus that comes with the added bonus of not having to worry about every technical detail of the phone to make sure it's actually a good deal. If you want to hyper optimize on the Android side of things look at signal bands (even for some higher end devices) and make sure your carrier of choice is well covered with them. Also look for either reputable brands or bootloader unlocked phones (or both) so you can load your own OS updates more than a year after buying the device.

Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro

#492
post #442
post #128

Hot 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 sid…

It's kind of sad too, because any phone built in the last 5 years should be able to launch apps nearly instantly. As always, software gets slower and then hardware has to improve to bring latencies back to where we started.

Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro

#493

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

This sounds brilliant. If you were to start fresh today, what device would you use? My aged iPhone is on its last legs, and I’m looking for something on the small side (preferably Nexus 5 sized at most) that I can degoogle and use for telegram, HN, reddit, music, and podcasts. It seems like every older phone has a gotcha, like nonfunctional cameras or missing wireless bands. 7 days of battery sounds magnificent.

For 5 years of real support you will need to just get the pixel 6 when the roms you are interested in are ready. Graphene, Calyx, and Lineage will support it, but it might take a few months for their teams to get up and running. They are all very fast though.

Graphene and Calyx only support the devices as long as google is putting out the security updates, so all the phones before the 6 will only get the ~2/3 years that Qualcomm limits updates to. I am not sure how lineage is able to support devices for so long after vendors stop supporting it themselves. They are a super dedicated community of volunteers, though. [Here](https://grapheneos.org/faq#legacy-devices) is where Graphene talks about why they drop support after vendors don't officially support the device anymore

Of these projects Calyx and Graphene are the easiest to install. Graphene you only need a chromium browser and to allow unlocking your bootloader in the developer part settings, and over webusb the whole wipe, install, and flashing of their key so you can re-lock it. Calyx has a script you download to do the same. Lineage is a hair more involved.

Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro

#494

How do folks evaluate upgrading their phone? I'm using an iPhone 6s still that was a hand-me-down and wanting to upgrade the camera - not sure what I ought to be looking for. Dropping 1k CAD seems exorbitant for this purpose.

I also used a 6s for years and years. Has a great form factor. I bought a 2nd hand Mate 20 Pro from a friend as replacement. It has a much larger, AMOLED screen, bigger battery, faster charging and better cameras. So many features!

A refurbished iPhone x or similar may surprise you and they're not too expensive

Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro

#495
post #224

I hate the trend that the "pro" versions of all these flagship phones need to be an XL Phablet monstrosity. Human hands haven't gotten any bigger. I have owned most of the Nexus & Pixel phones throughout the years. After having the Nexus 6 as my daily driver for 2 years, I have always opted for the smaller option ever since. I would totally pay flagship prices for a regular ~5.5-6" phone with flagship specs, and I'm…

As long as I can hold it in one hand to my ear, and put it in a pocket, bigger is better. With much longer wireless earphone battery life, the former constraint might not apply.

Ultimately, the main use (by time spent) I have for my phone is reading and watching, and therefore the main complaint I have with phones is that they don't have enough screen, and the next biggest is UI lag. The recent folders like the Surface Duo and others have been interesting to watch, but they have so far sacrificed too much in other specs for that gimmick.

Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro

#496
post #274

Google seems to have for some reason requested a very/overly broad embargo from reviewers which does not let them show any photos taken with the device or software features for now. MKBHD mentions this (and shows nothing from the phone really) @ https://youtu.be/roWxo6jWoYw?t=140 And Mrwhosetheboss said he refused to cover these phones due to the embargo. The Tech Chap mentions he can't show anything apart from the h…

I'm curious how exactly this is any different from any "hands on" embargo? I guess the software feature one is a bit weird, especially since they kinda announced most of them today, but generally you can never show photos before the full review embargo. It could be that they are a bit late on the software update and want that before reviews start? The fact that android 12 only came out today kinda points towards that…

If it were the case that they were late with the software update, it would make more sense to impose the embargo along with an explanation so that everyone could better understand why it's there.

Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro

#498

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I love the openness of android, and the explicit permission to root your phone. But iphones have amazing longevity. The iphone 5s you mentioned came out in 2013 - which is 8 years ago now. Back then Obama was still in his first term. Maybe it is way too slow to handle the most recent version of iOS, but I'd rather a phone vendor that releases operating system updates for 8 years than a vendor who releases updates for…

Obama was in his first term for 20 days of 2013, not overlapping with the release of the iPhone 5s.

Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro

#499
post #20

Thanks 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…

> Apple’s stated intents to actively incriminate you by scanning your photos on a personal device More accurately put, their intent is to scan cloud photos for exact matches with known child pornography material (like every other cloud provider, including Google), and then have the case reviewed by a human only after multiple positives, and only then forwarding the case to law enforcement (based on photos you chose t…

The difference is that if you don't want your photos scanned by anybody but you still want your photos uploaded in the background, you can do that on Android, but you can't do that on Android. People who value privacy do not use iOS devices.

Re: Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro

#500
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> their intent is to scan cloud photos corrected: their intent is to scan all photos in your photo library, on your device, including images automatically pulled in from from various sources such as messages, if you have iCloud Photo enabled.

Apple does not scan on device photos at all. It's something they announced they might do to images you upload to iCloud Photos some day in the future. Google, on the other hand, has been scanning the entire contents of your account for the past decade. >a man [was] arrested on child pornography charges, after Google tipped off authorities about illegal images found in the Houston suspect’s Gmail account. https://tech…

I dont think you can verify that.

Apple claims to not scan your pictures, but that's unrelated to whether they scan your pictures

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