I have been using my Pixel for a week now, and I have to say I cannot get over what seems to be a tech media take down of this phone.
Screen -
when i turned it on, i did immediately notice that the colors were much more dull than my Note 8. I downloaded the Nov patch, and problem solved. Putting the display into Saturate mode completely covers that.
The whole "blue tint" thing is unbelievably blown out of porportion. Yes, when you turn it at an angle on a white screen, she color will shift to a cooler tone. Guess what, my note 8 does the same thing. My coworkers iphones also say theirs does that as well. Why is this an issue all of a sudden? Screen burn-in? I havent experienced that myself, but we will see over time.
If you decided to not get this phone because of complaints about the display, I'm here to tell you that its a great screen. Is it better than a samsung panel? No, but niether is any other screen.
Battery Life -
Let me start by saying i am a POWER USER. Im in sales and i'm getting a barrage of texts and emails everyday. over a hundred easily. Usually around 13,000 texts a month or more. I'm on the phone replying to messages constantly. I dont play games much on my phone, but i listen to music (mostly downloaded, rarely streamed) a lot, and a lot reading news stories from my feed. I do leave everything on, wifi, bluetooth (gear s3), sync etc...
My normal battery with any top of the line phone is around 7-8 hours of battery, with 3 hours of SOT. I cannot, literally cannot, believe the battery life i'm getting on the Pixel 2 XL. i'm consistently getting 6+ hours of screen on time, and 13+ hours total usage time. Last weekend it survived me from 10am until i went to sleep at 3am without having to charge it once. I have NEVER had a phone last as long as this, not even close. My note 8, i was having to charge twice during the day, same as my OG Pixel XL.
Camera -
I own a DSLR camera and do some serious photography. Just like all the reviews say, the camera is amazing. No other phone can touch the dynamic range of this camera, and that is really what makes it stand out. also, pair this with Google Photos and you are in camera heaven. If you're into shooting a lot of pictures, this is the phone for you. ---side note, my Note 8 camera is extremely good as well. But again, I almost always take the Pixel photo over the Note due to the dynamic range factor.
The Bad -
BLUETOOTH. IT. IS. AWFUL.
it constantly disconnects from my car (2017 Infiniti Q60) and my bluetooth speaker (jawbone). The music in the car will skip or cutout briefly every so often, consistently. I had the same issue with my OG Pixel. This morning while getting ready for work, it woul not connect to my jawbone speaker. when it did, the sound would not play, and it would eventually disconnect. I eventually just gave up this morning
I havent experienced any issues with my bluetooth headsets.
Hopefully this can be fixed with a software update. but, i had all of these same isues with my Pixel XL of last year. The Bluetooth experience on my note 8 is flawless. none of these issues
All in all, this is an amazing phone. If you're looking for a phone with amazing battery life, amazing camera and amazing software experience....you cannot go wrong with this phone.
Screen -
when i turned it on, i did immediately notice that the colors were much more dull than my Note 8. I downloaded the Nov patch, and problem solved. Putting the display into Saturate mode completely covers that.
The whole "blue tint" thing is unbelievably blown out of porportion. Yes, when you turn it at an angle on a white screen, she color will shift to a cooler tone. Guess what, my note 8 does the same thing. My coworkers iphones also say theirs does that as well. Why is this an issue all of a sudden? Screen burn-in? I havent experienced that myself, but we will see over time.
If you decided to not get this phone because of complaints about the display, I'm here to tell you that its a great screen. Is it better than a samsung panel? No, but niether is any other screen.
Battery Life -
Let me start by saying i am a POWER USER. Im in sales and i'm getting a barrage of texts and emails everyday. over a hundred easily. Usually around 13,000 texts a month or more. I'm on the phone replying to messages constantly. I dont play games much on my phone, but i listen to music (mostly downloaded, rarely streamed) a lot, and a lot reading news stories from my feed. I do leave everything on, wifi, bluetooth (gear s3), sync etc...
My normal battery with any top of the line phone is around 7-8 hours of battery, with 3 hours of SOT. I cannot, literally cannot, believe the battery life i'm getting on the Pixel 2 XL. i'm consistently getting 6+ hours of screen on time, and 13+ hours total usage time. Last weekend it survived me from 10am until i went to sleep at 3am without having to charge it once. I have NEVER had a phone last as long as this, not even close. My note 8, i was having to charge twice during the day, same as my OG Pixel XL.
Camera -
I own a DSLR camera and do some serious photography. Just like all the reviews say, the camera is amazing. No other phone can touch the dynamic range of this camera, and that is really what makes it stand out. also, pair this with Google Photos and you are in camera heaven. If you're into shooting a lot of pictures, this is the phone for you. ---side note, my Note 8 camera is extremely good as well. But again, I almost always take the Pixel photo over the Note due to the dynamic range factor.
The Bad -
BLUETOOTH. IT. IS. AWFUL.
it constantly disconnects from my car (2017 Infiniti Q60) and my bluetooth speaker (jawbone). The music in the car will skip or cutout briefly every so often, consistently. I had the same issue with my OG Pixel. This morning while getting ready for work, it woul not connect to my jawbone speaker. when it did, the sound would not play, and it would eventually disconnect. I eventually just gave up this morning
I havent experienced any issues with my bluetooth headsets.
Hopefully this can be fixed with a software update. but, i had all of these same isues with my Pixel XL of last year. The Bluetooth experience on my note 8 is flawless. none of these issues
All in all, this is an amazing phone. If you're looking for a phone with amazing battery life, amazing camera and amazing software experience....you cannot go wrong with this phone.
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