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Are big bezels a big deal?

If they had used the 2 XL design for both devices I'd probably have pre-ordered before they finished the presentation. And as I keep my phones longer than most here the idea of having an "old" design for several years does give me pause.

But against that I don't find devices with similar bezels intrinsically unattractive, and a proper black colour to the bezel rather than the rather meh grey of the first generation, plus having a speaker on it rather than just a blank space, does improve it. And the handling is good (based on first gen Pixel), and the bezels actually make it a little easier because the navigation buttons are a little higher - reaching my thumb across puts no strain on it, whereas across and down does.

So on balance, although I'd prefer a 2:1 display and smaller bezels, it's still a very practical design, and usability is the most important thing in a phone for me, which is the reason I'm not going to buy a 2XL (much as I like the panda version) because I know the best I can hope for with that size is that I'll find a way to tolerate it, whereas the smaller one will just fit my hands.

I admit I did have to think about that, and even try out a first gen XL and an iPhone 7+ to convince myself that I really couldn't handle the 2 XL, but the contrast between stretching across those vs the "just right" feel of the first gen Pixel was enough to convince me of that.
 
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Ah, to hell with it: for the first time in my life I've pre-ordered a phone (black, 128GB, smaller model). Maybe rash, but if it means I can stop thinking about what I'm going to replace my aging phone with then that will be worthwhile in itself ;)

I've kept my current one going for 4.5 years, so the promise of 3 years' updates is attractive to me.
 
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Ah, to hell with it: for the first time in my life I've pre-ordered a phone (black, 128GB, smaller model). Maybe rash, but if it means I can stop thinking about what I'm going to replace my aging phone with then that will be worthwhile in itself ;)

I've kept my current one going for 4.5 years, so the promise of 3 years' updates is attractive to me.


You'll love the Pixel (2) it's really all about the experience.
 
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Ah, to hell with it: for the first time in my life I've pre-ordered a phone (black, 128GB, smaller model). Maybe rash, but if it means I can stop thinking about what I'm going to replace my aging phone with then that will be worthwhile in itself
wink.png


I've kept my current one going for 4.5 years, so the promise of 3 years' updates is attractive to me.

Congrats!
 

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I'm so sick of the current obsession with "omg but the bezels" (just like "omg but the thickness" before it). How does an edge-to-edge screen (or paper-thin phone, for that matter) actually improve the experience? From my experience, the only meaningful impact is a phone that's hard to hold because you don't have anywhere to grip without registering touches on the digitizer.

I'll take a functional design with features I want over a design blindly chasing the latest trends any day.

I can't wait for my black 64GB Pixel 2 Shmedium to get here.
 
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I'm so sick of the current obsession with "omg but the bezels" (just like "omg but the thickness" before it). How does an edge-to-edge screen (or paper-thin phone, for that matter) actually improve the experience? From my experience, the only meaningful impact is a phone that's hard to hold because you don't have anywhere to grip without registering touches on the digitizer.

I'll take a functional design with features I want over a design blindly chasing the latest trends any day.

I can't wait for my black 64GB Pixel 2 Shmedium to get here.

Sadly, regarding the bolded, it seems that most reviews these days are based only on trends.
 
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I have the Pixel 2. Coming from a Samsung Galaxy S8 the bezels did look pretty big initially, but you soon get used to them and they become a non-issue. The way I look at it is to think of a car. Would you prefer a car which looks really cool but doesn't perform so well, or one that looks a bit dated but works like a dream? The pixel 2 is the latter - the software is just superb as is the camera - and the screen is actually better than the XL. The whole package is so much better than my S8.
 
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Some thoughts after having the device for a little while. I came from the LG V30, so at first, the bezels seemed obnoxiously big. I was actually shocked by how much bigger they seemed in person. But the more I use the phone the less I notice the bezels. I still wish the display was bigger, but the phone is definitely growing on me.
 
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At some point the fashion police decided bezals were bad, for no ergonomically sound reason. At the end of the day, the large pieces of glass you see people carry are often not compatible with the aspect ratio we watch our content on, so you end up with digital bezals anyway. It's really a non issue, but you can criticize how the space is used. IE, are there front facing speakers, or a headphone jack? For the pixel 2, yes and no for the latter, there should be room as the phone isn't really that thin.
 
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I came from the S7 so bezels didn't even affect decision to buy the phone. Would it have been nicer if the 2 XL's thinner bezels were utilized for the 2? For sure, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. Plus it's nice to hold onto the phone where I know I won't accidentally hit a button. Even the S7 had capacitive buttons on the bezels and I would occasionally hit a button accidentally.
 
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