This Essential is real nice. ;) Got Oreo beta the other day and it’s great.
I’ve been running Oreo on my 6p for… I dunno… months?
That’s the other thing about nexus phones… getting updates immediately has been very nice.
Just saying you have options is all. ;)
Speaking of Oreo, I finally got to try Picture-in-Picture since Google Maps supports it now. I have to admit, it’s a nice implementation. You can move around that little PiP portion of Google Maps anywhere on the screen while you’re working on something else.
I mostly agree on Essential, although the camera is a big negative. It’s improved a lot in decent conditions but is still garbage in low light.
If Pixel has a bezel-less option next year I’ll definitely switch back to that line, as the camera is unbeatable and the OS experience/updates the best available on Android IMO.
See I’ve not experienced many problems with the camera. Only issue is it sometimes saves a green file rather than the image I took, but that’s rare. It takes really nice shots.
Not in the UK they don’t. As mentioned above, you can pick up the 2XL for £629 (64GB model) from one retailer. The S9+ sells for £869. Even at MSRP, and with equal storage, they don’t cost the same.
I’m a fan of the Nexus / Pixel series but I think I’m going to go for the S9+ over the 2XL.
Processor - lets face it Android phones do not age as well as they should - the extra horespower will be very noticeable in 2 years. This is a fairly significant advantage.
Camera - about the same (which is great). DXO puts the photos ahead. I like the slow motion of the S9+ too, even if you get tired of it and it is a gimmick. With small kids the 50mm equivalent minor telephoto and bokeh effect is a differentiator.
Bloatware - to me you can relegate apps you don’t like to the drawer. With expandable 64Gb compared to my existing non-expandable 32Gb, plus 6GB ram, I’m less worried about it. Also, some of the Samsung apps really aren’t that bad.
Bixby - turn it off, I’m ok with that, not a huge user of Google Assistant anyways.
But, I am waiting to see price. My corporate plan has a decent price for the 2XL.
See… that’s whacked out.
Because the MSRP for the S9+ is $839 unlocked.
The Pixel 2 XL is $849 with 64GB of storage (which also cannot be expanded, while the S9+ can take a micro sd card)
The big thing for me is that Nexus devices are lean in terms of garbage software, and they get updates super fast.
I haven’t minded the Samsung bloat. The one exception is that they don’t support remapping the Bixby button without installing third party software (they do support turning it off). But that’s the main thing that drives me nuts. A lot of their little custom features are useful, like the built in hearing test that tunes an equalizer for the phone to make up for any deficits. Really cool!
Bixby is still a massive pain in the arse. It’s way too slow to start up and display anything, slow to use, and half the time it fails to connect. By comparison Google Assistant is flawless - but Samsung stops you voice activating it from lock screen. :P
I have an S8 and miss my Nexus.
What is Bixby? Is that their version of Cirie/Cortana/Google?
Correct.
I’ve heard Bixby is decent at controlling the phone with your voice, and can do a lot more there than Ok Google on that specific axis, but I’ve never bothered setting it up myself.
Example:
Yeah I should use that aspect more I suppose. The slow response time still puts me off.
Initial battery test results pretty positive, though not amazing. Left the house at 8.30 with 96%, came back after a day of reasonably intensive use (and no attempt at battery optimisation at all) at 6.45 with 57%. My old phone would be at around 20% (though when I first got it it would probably be 40%).
what phone?
Pixel 2XL
As of midnight, with only podcast playing and minimal browsing since arriving home, it’s at 37%
I’m still at 70% at 930pm with my Moto G5 Plus. Of course my usage probably hasn’t been as extensive. And I don’t think we’re EVER going to get Oreo, never mind P.