Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–79 of 79 posts

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

#71

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

palata wrote: post #69
yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also GrapheneOS supports almost exclusively Pixels, so I would think that they aren't that bad. I don't think that necessarily follows; GrapheneOS uses the Pixel line because it lets you install a custom ROM and relock the bootloader, and they're a security-focused ROM so that's a big deal to them.

Hmm I think it's not only that: "We strongly recommend only purchasing one of the following devices [those are exclusively Pixels] for GrapheneOS due to better security and a long minimum support guarantee from launch for full security updates and other improvements": https://grapheneos.org/faq#recommended-devices This is the list of requirements: https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices

That's fair; it's not just the bootloader, but I would still argue that all those are security-centric and not a general quality thing.

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

#72

Post by palata »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #71
palata wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm I think it's not only that: "We strongly recommend only purchasing one of the following devices [those are exclusively Pixels] for GrapheneOS due to better security and a long minimum support guarantee from launch for full security updates and other improvements": https://grapheneos.org/faq#recommended-devices This is the list of requirements: https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices

That's fair; it's not just the bootloader, but I would still argue that all those are security-centric and not a general quality thing.

Sure. My point was just that there is value for those who care about security.

Also I have quite a few friends (many Android devs) who have had Pixels for years, and seem happy. My point was that I don't think Pixels are particularly bad. In fact, they are pretty good in some metrics. And very far from being "pieces of shit" like the original comment is saying.

I personally have a Fairphone, which I believe is very good in what it does. But very different from e.g. a Samsung flagship, of course.

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

#73

Post by palata »

sonicanatidae wrote: post #70
palata wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have heard really good things about the Pixels. Also GrapheneOS supports almost exclusively Pixels, so I would think that they aren't that bad.

I sincerely hope your experience is different from mine. My experience was, "overpriced garbage".

Sure, that can happen I guess. I just wanted to say that I have seen happy users of Pixels for years :-).

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

#74

Post by sonicanatidae »

palata wrote: post #73
sonicanatidae wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sincerely hope your experience is different from mine. My experience was, "overpriced garbage".

Sure, that can happen I guess. I just wanted to say that I have seen happy users of Pixels for years :-).

I swap between Androids and iPhones every 18-24 months, so I can stay current on both. I use both equally well, and find both to be fine, generally.

I've used a lot of Androids over the years, but the Pixels, in my case, all had substantial issues that never should have been, which really is garbage, considering the price.

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

#75

Post by kenmacd »

sonicanatidae wrote: post #27

I cannot wait to read the reviews about which core piece of smartphones they fucked up with this one. After 3 Pixels, ALL with issues that never should have been present, I decided Google can shove it's Pixel phones. I prefer AOSP, rather than all the shitty overlays, so I went with Pixels and just FML. Complete pieces of shit. What kind of fucking clowns make a smartphone with a shitty, barely functional fingerprint…

> After 3 Pixels, ALL with issues that never should have been present, I decided Google can shove it's Pixel phones.

I can understand issues, but what I can't forgive is Google not taking responsibility for those issues.

My mother had a Pixel 3 that died an EDL-death at around 3 years old. She wasn't a heavy phone user, and this was obviously a defect, but yet Google would do nothing (Case ID [9-9224000032592] Google). They suggested paying $411 for a repair when second-hand phones were selling for $300.

My mom was planning on trading it in when the Pixel 6 was released, but it failed about a month before and as it wasn't working Google also wouldn't accept it towards an upgrade.

7-year software upgrades are great and all, but by not standing behind their hardware I really can't recommend buying them.

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

#76

Post by tacotime »

mmontagna9 wrote: post #25
LeafItAlone wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Managing one pair of headphones that connects to more than one device is a nightmare, everything always auto connects/disconnects when you don't want. Many devices don't have a temporarily disable connection attempts toggle.

Depending on the client device, you can often put it into pairing mode immediately upon turning it on to prevent auto-connect, then click connect from the desired host device. Still annoying but slightly less so than having to disable bluetooth on every other nearby host.

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

#77

Post by fragmede »

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.

did you miss the whole humane pin thing?

also the month of yes review was fun

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

#78

Post by DreamFlasher »

throwaway81523 wrote: post #13

I'm terrified: > One challenge for the future, and those seven years of updates, will be the 8GB of RAM. Google is already calling devices with 8GB of RAM "hardware limited" when it comes to future AI features, so be prepared for that. It's a budget phone, though, so you have to make some trade-offs. 1) 8GB ram is hardware limited, 2) $499 is a budget phone??? I'm very happy with my recently acquired Moto G Stylus 5G…

500$/7y So yeah, seen on the expected life time, it's a budget phone.

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

#79

Post by ikekkdcjkfke »

legitster wrote: post #14
ikekkdcjkfke wrote: post #9

Really attractive, but i want to know if Google 'sells' your data in the ad-bidding process

Google doesn't sell your data. Why would they? It's their entire business. They spend so much time and money to collect it, just to hand it over to a competitor? Google makes money selling access to you/figments of your data.

In that case I would like to know their commitment to not share data that could potentially, down the pipeline be bought by unknown parties / criminals, and, that they have a commitment to not display malicous ads, that elders click on and get scammed
Post reply on HN