Is the Pixel 3 XL a downgrade from an S8+?

cosmokenney · Nov 2, 2018

I'm really, really tired of AT&T and Samsung bloatware. I mean it really pisses me off that I cannot get rid of it and use pure android on MY phone that I paid for!
As such, I was considering buying the Pixel 3 XL outright, and activating it on AT&T. But what am I getting for $1,000? If you look at a side-by-side comparison of the two phones, it seems like the S8+ is actually more powerful (by a tiny bit, maybe)? Is it worth it?

Hadron · Nov 2, 2018

Why do you think the S8+ is more powerful? Or rather, what do you mean by "more powerful"? You obviously are not talking about processing power, because the Pixel 3XL has a more powerful SoC, so what do you mean?

The reason you'd buy a Pixel is the software, at the end of the day. Fewer bells and whistles than the Samsung, but less bloat, faster updates, longer support. Also probably the best camera algorithms available. If those things matter less than the S8's design, screen or some of the S8's features then go with the Samsung. Either way go and play with one first, decide whether you like it: that, rather than what anyone else says about it, is what matters most.

cosmokenney · Nov 2, 2018

Hadron said:
Why do you think the S8+ is more powerful? Or rather, what do you mean by "more powerful"? You obviously are not talking about processing power, because the Pixel 3XL has a more powerful SoC, so what do you mean?

The reason you'd buy a Pixel is the software, at the end of the day. Fewer bells and whistles than the Samsung, but less bloat, faster updates, longer support. Also probably the best camera algorithms available. If those things matter less than the S8's design, screen or some of the S8's features then go with the Samsung. Either way go and play with one first, decide whether you like it: that, rather than what anyone else says about it, is what matters most.

Hi, Hadron, thanks for the reply! Looks like I misread the specs on the processor when I was reading this page: https://www.gadgetsnow.com/compare-mobile-phones/Google-Pixel-3-XL-vs-Samsung-Galaxy-S8-Plus
The 3 XL does not show as having a compass. And the 3XL is IPX8 vs. IP68 on the S8+. Water resistance is a huge factor for me since I do a lot of fly fishing and find myself wading in the river and forgetting that my phone is in my pocket. ;-)
The 3 XL could be a winner, however, just based on the processor, OS and lack of bloat. I just have to figure out how to get the most money I can for my S8+ so I can afford the 3 XL.

If I had any idea what I was doing I'd probably root my current phone (or whatever it's called) and try to find a pure Android image for it. But I think that would lead to me bricking my phone due to my lack of understanding.

Jfalls63 · Nov 2, 2018

Have you looked at OnePlus 6T? Camera might not be as good as S8 or Pixel, but lots of raw horsepower for half the price.

https://www.oneplus.com

mikedt · Nov 2, 2018

Don't buy US carrier customised version Samsungs, which I've heard can be notoriously bloated, instead buy the unlocked generic variants?

cosmokenney · Nov 3, 2018

Jfalls63 said:
Have you looked at OnePlus 6T? Camera might not be as good as S8 or Pixel, but lots of raw horsepower for half the price.

https://www.oneplus.com

Man, that looks like a great phone, but with very little water resistance and a lower res screen, it's kind of off my radar.

cosmokenney · Nov 3, 2018

mikedt said:
Don't buy US carrier customised version Samsungs, which I've heard can be notoriously bloated, instead buy the unlocked generic variants?

Yea, I got myself into paying the carrier monthly payments so I wouldn't have to spend $800 all at once. But I'm starting to see that is a bad idea now. And it just pisses me off to no end that the carrier and phone mfgr make it so you cannot install a different OS/version of android.

My phone has bloat from both Samsung and AT&T.
I mean at this point I have 4 clouds on my phone Google Drive (which I want), Samsung, AT&T and Microsoft OneDrive (for work, but I never use it on my phone so I'm taking it off). How many clouds do I need? I also have multiple dialers/phone apps. Multiple email clients. I have 4 ways to make credit card payments. Three different text messaging apps. And the list goes on and on and on. All of these are just there and forced onto the phone by AT&T or Samsung or whatever. Cant delete them. And if I disable them, they come back to life after an OS update. If I set defaults, the get overridden when the next update gets installed or some bloat app gets updated. It's maddening. I cant even keep the same notification tones for more than a few weeks before some samsung or at&t update overrides them.
Sorry for the rant.

Luvi_THA DREAM · Nov 3, 2018

cosmokenney said:
I'm really, really tired of AT&T and Samsung bloatware. I mean it really pisses me off that I cannot get rid of it and use pure android on MY phone that I paid for!
As such, I was considering buying the Pixel 3 XL outright, and activating it on AT&T. But what am I getting for $1,000? If you look at a side-by-side comparison of the two phones, it seems like the S8+ is actually more powerful (by a tiny bit, maybe)? Is it worth it?

Hey if anybody wants to compare the top phones with one another or other phone as well..then try phone arena.com

Hadron · Nov 3, 2018

I've never heard of notifications changing on an update. Maybe that's a carrier thing.

It's not the manufacturer or carrier that technically stops you from installing a different Android build. The problem is that the system software has to be built for the specific hardware, and so a Samsung phone's software is built by Samsung. If the tools didn't stop you from flashing a Pixel system image on an S8 someone would do it and then discover that they no longer had a phone (because it would fail so badly you'd not be able to undo it).

Of course the community does have solutions: build a different Android for that specific model. This is called a custom ROM. Of course it does require hacking the software to let you install it (a process commonly called "rooting", though that word actually has a more specific meaning). And this is where manufacturer and carrier do get involved. Some manufacturers make their phones easy to unlock and hence install a rom (as long as someone has built one). Some make it harder, including Samsung. And US carriers usually insist on making it very hard indeed. There may be a way for an ATT S8+, I don't know that model well. Of course if you do this stuff it's at your own risk.

Jfalls63 · Nov 3, 2018

If you want to keep the S8, have you looked at disabling all the bloat by using Package Disabler Pro
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.powermanager.batteryaddon
Or using ADB

https://www.xda-developers.com/uninstall-carrier-oem-bloatware-without-root-access/

After it is disabled, you no longer see it in your app drawer or will be bugged to update it. Disabling and hiding is the next best thing to complete removal.

eudeferrer · Nov 4, 2018

cosmokenney said:
I'm really, really tired of AT&amp;amp;T and Samsung bloatware. I mean it really pisses me off that I cannot get rid of it and use pure android on MY phone that I paid for!
As such, I was considering buying the Pixel 3 XL outright, and activating it on AT&amp;amp;T. But what am I getting for $1,000? If you look at a side-by-side comparison of the two phones, it seems like the S8+ is actually more powerful (by a tiny bit, maybe)? Is it worth it?

It is never about the side by side comparison. I used to think this way. But, oh boy.... Was I wrong! As a traditional Samsung fan (I've literally owned almost every Samsung Note since the Note 3) I too got tied of the bloatware in its phones and the increasingly ever growing locked down environment. This year I decided to go against my instincts and did not get the Note 9 due to its outrageous price. I got the Pixel 3Xl instead and couldn't be happier. The previous person was right. It's all about the software. Although the specs are not comparable on paper and the Pixel 3Xl looks a little bit basic compared to the beautiful colors and icons of the Samsung phones, the performance aspect more than makes up for it. For once, my phone has not frozen up not even once since I got it. I have over 300 apps installed and my Samsung Note 8 used to lag all the time. I also have the latest in software, don't have to wait almost a year for new OS upgrades to arrive like I used to with Samsung and also get three year support. Also with an unlocked bootloader I easily rooted my phone and now can use Magisk, TWRP and Titanium to keep backups.... And all without voiding my warrantee or without having to buy an international version of a phone that doesn't fully support my carrier (TMO). The camera is phenomenal and takes awesome pics even with almost total darkness. I strongly recommend that the Pixel 3Xl over any other phone or there right now.

eudeferrer · Nov 4, 2018

Jfalls63 said:
If you want to keep the S8, have you looked at disabling all the bloat by using Package Disabler Pro
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.powermanager.batteryaddon
Or using ADB

https://www.xda-developers.com/uninstall-carrier-oem-bloatware-without-root-access/

After it is disabled, you no longer see it in your app drawer or will be bugged to update it. Disabling and hiding is the next best thing to complete removal.

Disabled doesn't mean it's gone for good. It's just not active on the phone. It still takes up some room in your phone.

Hadron · Nov 4, 2018

eudeferrer said:
Disabled doesn't mean it's gone for good. It's just not active on the phone. It still takes up some room in your phone.

Technically yes, but not room you can use.
When you disable an app it removes the app's data and any updates to it. So all that's left is the (now inactive) copy in the system partition. Since that is in a different partition, it's not using any of the space that is accessible to the user for their own apps and data (so if you used root to remove a disabled app from the ROM you would not gain any space as a result of doing that).

Of course that's talking about disabling via the system settings. I've not used one of these Samsung-specific package disablers, so can't comment there. But the merit of disabling from the point of most users is that it is easily reversible if you need it, and since it doesn't modify the system software it doesn't prevent you from installing future system updates (since manufacturers are increasingly checking that the system software is unmodified before they will install an update: which given that the updates are patches rather than full firmware builds, and so could produce unpredictable results if applied to a modified system, is not as unreasonable as it might sound).

WeeWilly · Nov 7, 2018

I was a Samsung Note user for many years. My most recent Note was the Note 9 and, at almost 80 years of age, I discovered that the Note was too much phone for me. I sold the Note and purchased a Pixel 3. So far I'm very happy with the smaller phone and the pure Android experience.

badcatz · Dec 16, 2018

I have both an unlocked S8+ and a Pixel 3. The Samsung is a great device overall with an awesome display and camera being it's primary positive attributes. The two main negatives for me are the software experience (Samsung bloat) and the hit or miss security patching. The Pixel 3 is a bit smaller, has a nice display, a good camera and gets monthly security updates.
I've discovered that I prefer a more stripped down version of Android and value the monthly patches. Some people may prefer the fact that Samsung's UI has a lot more options built in. All in all it's a tough call but I'm using the Pixel as my daily driver and keeping the S8+ as a backup. I just can't get enough money for it to make it worth selling.

I'm using my Pixel on AT&T and it works really well so far.

I should also mention that I feel that the S8+'s camera is better than the Pixel 3's. At least so far. Just in case the camera is important to you.

cosmokenney · Dec 16, 2018

badcatz said:
I should also mention that I feel that the S8+'s camera is better than the Pixel 3's. At least so far. Just in case the camera is important to you.

Thanks for the post. I'm not a big Sunset picture taker, nor do I take pictures of my food or kids playing soccer so I can post on social media. ;-)

Is the Pixel 3 XL a downgrade from an S8+?

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