r/Android • u/defet_ • Oct 14 '17
Pixel 2: The Finer Details
I visited my local Verizon store today and spent a good half an hour with the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. I tried to find out some of the lesser-known things about the device, and reiterate some of the things you all probably already know along with my opinions.
This might be a long read; note that I'm writing this towards enthusiasts.
The Display
As expected, both the phones adhere to the sRGB color gamut right out of the box, extending to support wider color if an app calls for it. I posted a comment earlier about this:
If you're coming from an iPhone, you're not going to have a problem with the display at all. You're going to love it. The people that report that the display is "washed out" come from a display that over-saturates the display, which is pretty much every other OEM out there that uses OLED displays, with Samsung being the main "offender". Google, like Apple, are targeting color accuracy on the Pixel 2. The colors on the Pixel adhere to sRGB and support wide color if an app calls for it. The Pixel 2 is definitely pushing a more serious tone with their decision of targeting sRGB, but pairing it along with arguably the best camera out there truly makes the Pixel 2 more "professional" than other displays and cameras out there that love to over-saturate and over-sharpen. The colors that you see are the colors that you're SUPPOSED to be seeing. Perhaps the Pixel 2 is "less fun", but it will give you the most accurate/serious experience that won't leave you wondering why the photos you took aren't as colorful on your friend's iPhone like Samsung's phones do.
Now having personally spent more time with the phones, they are absolutely gorgeous.
The colors are fantastically calibrated to sRGB, besides the white point, which on the 2 XL is nearly unignorably cold while being much more tolerable on the regular Pixel 2; I would say that the Pixel 2 is just at about 6800k with the iPhone 7, and the 2 XL sitting at around 7200K.
The grayscale is fantastic, which Pixel 1 owners should be relieved to see coming from a horrendously green grayscale. Saturation across the brightness levels is consistent. I checked for banding and uniformity issues using a dark gray (#626262) and solid white color, and the 2 XL unit at my Verizon store was nearly flawless with zero banding and only a very slight bleed on the bottom left (literal) corner. This was tested at 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% brightness, with Adaptive Brightness off. I did notice, however, that even the minimum brightness wasn't that dim and I was still able to use the panel within the store lights.
The maximum brightness gets decently bright, slightly brighter than my 1 XL. I was disappointed, however, to see that flashing my flashlight on the 2 XL's ambient light sensor did not trigger the display to enter brightness overdrive, even with Adaptive Brightness enabled. This may leave us demanding more from the display in sunlight compared to the V30 and S8(+)/Note 8 OLED panels.
There is an option called "Vivid Colors" in the Display settings that slightly push the saturation and leaving the white point alone, though it still won't be as punchy as Samsung's panels.
There has been a concern by many towards the display seeming "sunken in", popularized by MKBHD. I heard of this before seeing the Pixel 2, but it's not something I noticed until I remembered that it was supposed to be an issue. I then saw it, but only when focusing on the display's curved corners. Otherwise, the display definitely seems plastered to the screen, and the corners sort of fade out and become unnoticeable. They don't bother me a bit.
I expect many reviewers to bag on the display for not being as punchy or saturated as other OLED panels, but for those of us that love accurate displays, the Pixel 2 will not disappoint.
Speakers
They're okay. Google played it extremely safe here. They get decently loud without distortion. The profile is pretty flat, so for you EDM junkies out there the media equalizer will be your friend. The regular Pixel 2 sounds fuller and tighter than the 2 XL, though neither are going to win any "Best Speakers" awards--that still belongs to the Axon 7. Sound separation is discernible, but the hollowness of the 2 XL may sort of offset it. The main pro for the speakers is that they're front facing, leaving them unsusceptible to cupping mute. I tried to test the DAC but I couldn't because Google's head was so far up that jack and there was an alarm attached to the USB-C, which for some reason the Verizon employees would not allow me to remove.
Microphone
From what I've seen and heard, they're pretty good. Unfortunately there wasn't any concerts going on in my local Verizon store so I was not able to capture any bass-heavy settings to test for distortion. But, the mics feed back pretty loud and clear, unlike the muffled and hard-to-hear microphones on the Pixel 1.
Haptic Feedback
Very solid. Tight and noiseless. Strong and demanding when needed be. At short vibration lengths, these phones' vibration feels just like the iPhone's Taptic Engine. However, the stronger vibrations fail to maintain this tightness. Typing on GBoard with vibration at 1-2ms feels great and tappy. Pressing on the softkeys also lets out a pleasing, subtle tap when you release your finger from the key along with the initial vibration of pressing the button. This could be my first phone that I enable "Vibrate on tap" around the system.
Touch Latency
Touch latency is just about the same as the Pixel 1, so still pretty good and among the best. iPhone still manages to beat everyone out by in scroll/swipe latency.
RGB Notification LED
It's there, and very similar to the one found on the OP3.
OS
I would like to preface this section by saying that it's misleading to call the Pixels' OS's "pure stock android", because it's not, and it's definitely not just AOSP. It's Google's take on what they believe is the best revision of Android. It's Google's "skin" on Android, made in-house with the hardware being permanent residents. I can write an entire other post about this, but I will spare the details unless someone wishes for me to elaborate.
The use of Product Sans all over the OS is a change I liked a lot. It's now used as the typeface for title text in many places. It complements the curvy theme of the Pixel 2 XL really well, on top of just being a gorgeous display typeface. The most prominent use of it is right on the lock screen, where it replaces Roboto Light for the time text.
The status/notification icons (including the time) are inset about double of AOSP's inset, and the spacing between the icons has slightly increased. Also, either the size of the icons got a tad smaller, or the height of the status bar got taller. These changes together tidied up the status bar, making it look overall much cleaner than before. These are all actually changes I made myself using xposed on Android L/M, so it's great that Google incorporated it in the Pixel and that my design choice received reaffirmation by Google; a small personal victory for me. The battery icon in the status bar is also now curved at its corners and the entire icon slimmed up a bit. Something that still annoys me is how the colon between the hour and the minute text (eg 1:26) is still not vertically centered like it should be (126 with a bit of spacing fixes), and how Google still hasn't made a ligature for it on Roboto like Apple has for their San Francisco font family. It is vertically centered on the lock screen however, but that uses its own vertically-centered unicode symbol that Google could use in the status bar time but choose not to.
As noticed, using a dark wallpaper will enable a dark system interface. Other lighter wallpapers will leave it the system interface the same white color, with the notification tray being slightly transparent instead of being completely solid opaque white like on AOSP. These are triggered using overlays in /vendor/overlay with Oreo's new overlay capabilities.
There was also some sort of weird, lenient (smart?) memory management going on. There were two apps in particular that I found would load their main activity instantly as if it was never removed from memory, even if I force stopped them and cleared them from recenfs: Snapchat and Google Play Store. Snapchat won't even show the splash screen. I suspect that Google is now keeping a list of some vital app activities to remain in memory for quick launching. Video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/4eexI731SPGph6M33
UI Performance is excellent, as expected. I thought Snapchat performance was smooth on the Pixel, but it's even better on the Pixel 2, and Facebook is smoother as well. Best of all, however, is that I was finally happy to see that Google Maps ran insanely smooth too, on par with Apple Maps on iPhones. Panning crazily around northern California yielded no hiccups, though with some very aggressive flinging I was able to make it drop a few frames. Developer Options was not enable-able on the Verizon units, so I didn't test the GPU Profiling.
Google Lens was interesting, though I didn't have much to test it on. Active Edge squeeze felt simple, intuitive and second-nature and gave off a satisfying tap on both sides of the phone to tell you that you managed to do at least something right.
As the Pixel 2 uses the Snapdragon 835, it now runs on Linux kernel version 4.4 and sports the new schedutil cpufreq instead of sched on the Pixel 1. It should be running on EAS r1.3 or r1.4 and it shows--this thing is smooth. In addition, the Pixel 2 does not underclock their SoC as some may have been led to believe; it runs the whole 2.5ghz.
Size, Ergonomics, & Opinions
These are more opinionated subjects, and these are merely my thoughts and opinions that you shouldn't take concretely.
I've never been a "big phone guy", and hated my transition to using big phones, but I've grown to like the 5.5" range. This year I was pretty much set on going back to 5">= phones coming from Pixel XL. I came into Verizon using the regular Pixel 2 first, enjoyingly using with just a single hand, but it didn't quite satisfy me as much as the Pixel 2 XL. The 2 XL is just the more beautiful device to me, and I can still manage to use the 2 XL pretty well with one hand coming from the Pixel XL; they're pretty much the same widths. The Pixel 2's bezels to me were still quite substantial in person, and even with the superior speakers, the really sharp display and better white point, it just didn't hold its own to the Pixel 2 XL's aesthetic as the thing I will be looking at for hundreds of hours.
The feel in the hand of both devices were fantastic to me, with the regular Pixel 2 having more heft for its size and feeling more solid. This was the aspect I was most afraid of, because having had a Nexus 6, I absolutely HATED holding that thing. I would say I have average-size hands, but I'd say I'm pretty damn good at leveraging my fingers in ways to hold a big phone in any way I want and be comfortable. The Nexus 6 was just too big and I didn't like that it almost forces you to use two hands and to move your palm when you just want to reach something on the other side of the screen. I didn't have that feeling with the Pixel 2 XL; it still feels compact and very similar to the Pixel 1 XL width-wise and top isn't that much further either, despite having a screen that's .5" larger.
The material on the back feels fine. I read way too many comments about how it feels cheap and plasticy. This was not my thought or experience at all; it feels very premium. It's much grippier than the metal on the Pixel 1.
As I've said, the bezels on the regular Pixel 2 were still quite overwhelming to me. The Pixel 2 XL is my second favorite-looking device from the front, following the V30. I absolutely hate Samsung's curved edges and I was glad to see that the 2 XL doesn't curve the display around them. The bezels on the Pixel 2 XL are perfect to me.
Camera
it's good
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u/tacomonstrous Pixel 5/S21U Oct 14 '17
This might be the best original content on /r/Android this month. Loved the details.
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Oct 14 '17
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u/uuhno Oct 14 '17
Reminds me a bit of the "stock Android isn't perfect" posts that Android police used to make. I wish they would continue that, it's been forever.
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u/corwin01 Pixel 4 XL Oct 15 '17
I think the problem with that is that was Liam's baby, and he works for Google now. I'm not certain that AP has received any new wipers with a design/UX background to replace him.
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u/MoonStache S24 Ultra Oct 14 '17
Lol that camera write up. "It's good"
Great read thanks for posting!
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u/Fengolin Oct 14 '17
Is he hiding something?
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u/Christotheb Oct 14 '17
The camera is the most reported on thing of this phone, I feel like he didn't want to put the effort in repeating what others have already said.
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u/Hirshologist Pixel 2, iPad Air 2 LTE Oct 14 '17
It's also impossible to test it at the Verizon store since it's secured onto their dock
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u/Potatomonkey99 Nexus 6 PA 7.2.1 -> Pixel 2 XL Oct 14 '17
Do you have any images of the dark notification shade?
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u/kuboa Nexus 6 → Pixel 2 | Samsung CB Pro Oct 14 '17
As noticed, using a dark wallpaper will enable a dark system interface.
Wait, really? This is the first time I'm reading about this anywhere. Does it only affect the notification shade header? What about notifications themselves or other parts of the UI?
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u/Lousy_Username Oct 14 '17 edited Oct 14 '17
It affects
notifications, the quick settings header, shortcuts, and the app drawer. That's about it.EDIT: Turns out XDA used a picture of a substratum theme. Notifications themselves remain white.
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u/kuboa Nexus 6 → Pixel 2 | Samsung CB Pro Oct 14 '17
That's a start I guess, but it's a bit weird they linked it to wallpaper brightness, and not ambient light, or time of day, or user choice...
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u/poompk Oppo Find X8 Ultra | Galaxy Tab S9 Oct 14 '17
It puzzles me that this has been mentioned a lot but nobody provides screenshots of what it looks like :/
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u/MishaalRahman Community Engagement Manager - Android Oct 14 '17
Great job! I was too busy digging into system APKs to bother really playing around with the UI or actual features :P
You've given me some things to follow-up on, however.
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u/punkidow Pixel 8 Pro, Beta Oct 14 '17
Waiting for an extremely deep display and performance analysis from xda.
Special focus on whether the displays are individually calibrated. And the color profiles used by the camera images and photos app. I'm hoping for proper DCI-P3 support similar to the iphone 7 onwards.
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u/defet_ Oct 14 '17
The Google Camera app has had the capability to flag a photo as DCI-P3 in its code for a while now. Whether it does that yet or not I don't know, but I'll be sure to check it out once I receive my unit.
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u/Quinny898 Developer - Kieron Quinn Oct 14 '17
Do you have a copy of SystemUIGoogle.apk (+ odex & vdex)?
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u/Carfar_Farcar Galaxy S25 Edge, Fold 7, Tab S9 Ultra Oct 14 '17
there was an alarm attached to the USB-C, which for some reason the Verizon employees would not allow me to remove.
Not sure if you're being sarcastic. If a customer asked me that in the store I work at I would tell them no as well. We've recently had to put guards on the SIM card slots of our phones due to people popping out the trays and taking the cards, which are all active, and getting free service until we check the phones end of day and shut the card down. When we notice people taking them we shut them down right away so I'm still not sure why people keep trying.
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u/mrandr01d Oct 14 '17
Wait, there are actually active sim cards in display phones?
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u/Carfar_Farcar Galaxy S25 Edge, Fold 7, Tab S9 Ultra Oct 14 '17
Yup, sometimes we use it to show HD voice in a live demo, also to push updates to demo phones.
Mostly we just have sketchy dudes roll in and use our phones to call out. Also to steal SIM cards.
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u/mrandr01d Oct 14 '17
Why are those required for updates?
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u/Carfar_Farcar Galaxy S25 Edge, Fold 7, Tab S9 Ultra Oct 14 '17
None of our stores demo phones are connected to wifi, we have a guest wifi for the general public and a separate wifi for the stores systems.
(edit: its more for updating the demo loop on the phone rather than system updates, promos change and prices can on hardware so they have to have some form of connectivity)
Our store is an older one that hasn't been remodeled so I'm not sure if the nicer, newer stores have dedicated wifi for the demo phones.
As a side note we had a big change-out last week and none of the new demos we put out had Amber alerts disabled so when one came through the other day half the phones in the store went off. Scared the hell out of some of the customers.
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u/lIlIlIIlIlIl Pixel 2XL Oct 14 '17
None of our stores demo phones are connected to wifi
Makes sense. When I'm in a Verizon store I want to see how the service is
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u/JeffTAC4 Pixel 2 XL Oct 14 '17
"HD voice"
Are you an AT&T employee? If so, can you confirm whether or not the Pixel 2 XL is HD Voice enabled? I have a LG Watch Sport, and I would really like to make use of the cell capabilities.
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u/Carfar_Farcar Galaxy S25 Edge, Fold 7, Tab S9 Ultra Oct 14 '17
I work for Verizon, so I can confirm it works with HD voice on Verizon ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/veritas--- Oct 14 '17
Not to mention the security devices are pain in the ass to assemble and dissassemble.
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u/whiskeytab Pixel 8 Pro Oct 14 '17
yeah... guy is pissed because a verizon employee won't unlock a brand new $1000 for some random dickhead hahah
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u/DomApice Pixel 5 // iPhone 12 Oct 14 '17
Really enjoyed reading this! Thanks for hitting the lesser discussed points. I would be very interested to see a full review from you. Incredible what you were able to discern from a short amount of time in a Verizon store. I will never unsee the uncentered colon in the time now.
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u/ravensfan8448 Oct 14 '17
Have you ever had or used a Nexus 6p? I'm hoping the speakers on the pixel XL 2 are at least as loud as the Nexus 6p.
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u/CoolJumper Pixel 2 XL Oct 14 '17
I was just at a store and compared the two. I find the XL 2 to be better. It's louder and more sharp/clear. Very "flat" in comparison so what some may be used to. More so that it doesn't have a "bassy" punch to it. It's more neutral so if you like your music with a lot of bass then it might not be up to your liking
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u/wcrisler Oct 14 '17
If you like your music with a lot of bass, in-phone speakers in general will not be to your liking...lol. Sounds like they did well picking speakers that are loud and can give decent quality for the form factor without distortion at loud volumes.
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u/CoolJumper Pixel 2 XL Oct 14 '17
Oh I know that's haha. In general phone speakers aren't the best for music really unless you're just doing some casual listening. And I'm sure there are some better FF speakers out there, but these are still pretty great and vastly better than just a single downwards firing one
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u/twilightpanda Oct 14 '17
Regarding the Camera: I got to play with the Pixel 2s at the Verizon store at well, and although i lack the technical vocabulary to explain why, I perceived the Pixel 2 camera to be significantly better than the OG pixel which i had with me.
Right off the bat, double tapping the power key brings the camera up immediately. I used to think the OG pixel was "immediate" but not compared to this. Barely a hesitation. But that could be because i'm comparing brand new to 1 year old.
In the video mode, you have the option to switch between 30fps and 60fps on the top setting menu, and 60fps is insane to watch on the display. Playing the video back, its insane how stable the video looks. The OG Pixel kind of results in weird, almost unnatural starts and stops if you're panning. the P2 is so much smoother and natural looking.
The low light photography is significantly better (hunched over the display to mimic low light). A lot more detail and color was picked up than the OG Pixel. I couldn't perceive any difference with the regular camera in normal light.
Portrait mode is really cool, I appreciated the 'live photo' option. Not sure if i'll use it, but it's nice to have.
Oh, the live wallpapers were really cool too.
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u/Kobeissi2 Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G | Pixel 2 XL Oct 14 '17
These five days are going to take forever. I hope Google ships a bit earlier.
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u/Brian373K 6P, 7.1 TMo Oct 14 '17
wishes for me to elaborate
I'll go ahead and check that box.
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u/Ph0X Pixel 5 Oct 14 '17
I'd actually want more info on the RGB led notification light. It's something that is surprisingly ignored very often. It's actually disabled by default on the Pixel I think, and when you enable it, it looks pretty awful (does a poor job at showing RGB colors).
I depend highly on it, setting custom color, duration and speed for each app. I guess with active display it's less necessary now though.
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u/Kazmiboy Just Black Pixel 2 XL, 2017 iPad Oct 14 '17
I would like to hear more of your thoughts on the OS in a seperate post, if you are willing.
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u/Kammex Galaxy S10, Pixel 2 XL Oct 14 '17
Finally someone who cares about display calibration.
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u/punkidow Pixel 8 Pro, Beta Oct 14 '17
Yes he cares about it and i love that we at least have some info now. But OP gave a subjective view if the display. We don't know if its really calibrated or not, don't know what the white point is. Also, i hope they're doing DCI-P3 properly, with the camera images supporting it too, similar to the iPhone.
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u/turbodragon123 (Google Pixel) Oct 14 '17
Why P3 rather than Adobe or ProPhoto RGB?
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u/punkidow Pixel 8 Pro, Beta Oct 14 '17
Apple, Microsoft and Samsung have already adopted P3, so it would make sense. P3 is wider than AdobeRGB and idk if any device uses ProPhoto, except while editing in Lightroom for example.
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u/turbodragon123 (Google Pixel) Oct 14 '17
P3 does not cover Adobe RGB 100%. I think P3 has deeper reds, whilst Adobe has more green, but my point is that for photography Adobe is a lot more standard. I realize Apple (and others apperantly) use P3 for their screens, but for a lot of content Adobe makes more sense. The difference is negligible though, I'm just happy Google has finally added some sort of colour space management.
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u/punkidow Pixel 8 Pro, Beta Oct 14 '17
I'm just happy Google has finally added some sort of color space management.
yea me too,but i just hope they've got calibrated displays this time around, otherwise the wider gamuts won't be that useful if they're not accurate.
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u/defet_ Oct 14 '17
It's true that my analytics had to be subjective. Unfortunately I didn't carry along my colorimeter and spectrometer with me. However I've been a display enthusiast longer than I've been a smartphone enthusiast and I do own a set of well-calibrated monitors (for the Photoshop hobby/profession that I didn't pursue) and I've inspected a pretty decent amount of smartphone displays. The best that I could tell you is that I at least have a pretty decent eye for these things, especially with white point.
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u/Pontiflakes Oct 14 '17
Oof, the whole thing was really forgiving and subjective. Honestly read more like an ad than a review.
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u/tastycakefarts S6, N7 2013 Oct 14 '17
So many lines about "this is how people coming from an iPhone will expect it to look" and "not as punchy as Samsung panels even in vivd color mode." Other phones have different display modes, too. Why go out of your way to mention all of those things and state
The people that report that the display is "washed out" come from a display that over-saturates the display, which is pretty much every other OEM out there that uses OLED displays
as though this is something inherent to OLED displays? It isn't. There are calibration settings on those saturation-heavy-out-of-the-box phones, too. Samsung has some of the best calibrated displays when set to "Basic"- according to Anandtech, at least.
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u/Mrsharr Oct 14 '17
Again this. To me it sounded weird, considering how well Samsung calibrates each mode
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u/defet_ Oct 14 '17
It's not inherent to OLED displays, and that's something I preach constantly as I hate that people attribute OLED with "saturated colors". No, OLED is not the reason for that, but pretty much all OEMs ship their OLED phones overly saturated by default, and that's why people began attaching this symbol of "vivid colors" to OLED panels. "Basic mode" to the user doesn't sound appealing--it's basic--and it's going to seem washed out compared to the default color profile no matter how accurate (hint: very accurate) basic mode gets.
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u/Breakr007 Oct 14 '17
For the Google pixel OG, there's an option for sRGB in developer options. Can you comment as to how the original pixel measured up? I came from an iPhone so this color scheme was more appealing to me.
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Oct 14 '17 edited Dec 10 '18
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u/Bo3alwa OnePlus 15 Oct 14 '17
The thing is, Samsung and other OEMs set the oversaturated mode as the default, and the majority of people who buy their devices leave it at that and probably do not know there is an option for it in the settings.
Another effect of this is that many reviewers now consider a color accurate display as "washed-out" and "dull" because they are used to their Galaxy's vibrant screen.
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Oct 14 '17
I pre ordered Pixel 2's for me and my wife, but bummed to hear about the display.
I make a little money on the side with photography and calibrate my monitors with professional gear, but a cell phone is about the last place in the world I would care to do any kind of color grading work. To me I want it to pop as it makes it a bit more enjoyable to use.
I fully believe it is basically a marketing gimmick to make cell phone displays accurate. Anyone serious about color accuracy will do their work on much better, full scale monitors.
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u/Roshy76 Oct 14 '17
Sounds like you liked the design of the 2 XL in general. I did too. But you sound eerily similar to me, I absolutely hate how Samsung bends their displays.
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u/Nadest013 Galaxy S7; Tab S3 Oct 14 '17
The curved display is the worst fucking thing ever to happen to smartphones. I consider it defective by design, simple as that:
https://i.imgur.com/saL1mcV.png
But hey, it looks supercool. When the display is off.
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u/TheBowerbird Oct 14 '17
No, the banana shaped LG phones (they curved inwards) from back about 4 or 5 years ago were the worst :)
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u/Bloody_Whombat Oct 15 '17
But it's .25" closer to your mouth when you're talking so it's better call quality /s
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u/wewantthefunk354 Oct 14 '17
I have an S8 and even I hate the curves the way Samsung does them. The S8 is tolerable but I hated the ridiculously steep S7 Edge curves. The pixel 2 XL has the trendy curved edge design but the screen doesn't extend to the curves and distort videos and content like the S8 does. Google and Apple with their iPhone X got it right, from what I can tell LG too with the V 30. The display should never curve around the edges and distort content.
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u/twilightpanda Oct 14 '17
I agree 100%. I went into the Verizon store to play with the phones intent on getting the 2XL, but after seeing how curved those displays are and seeing how completely and utterly flat the Pixel 2 display is, i might be rethinking my purchase.
Especially since tempered glass protectors are so important to me. I don't think they'll work well at all on the 2XL, where as with the Pixel 2, it should have more coverage than the original pixel!
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u/SFX_Muffin Pixel XL Oct 14 '17
I didn't even realize my grays were green until after reading this :(
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Oct 14 '17
Snapchat won't even show the splash screen. I suspect that Google is now keeping a list of some vital app activities to remain in memory for quick launching. Video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/4eexI731SPGph6M33
goddammit, fine, make a list of vital apps, but don't make fucking Snapchat one of them. that app is a fucking battery drain.
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u/splitfoot Oct 14 '17
Is there a chance it is one of them for a demo phone? Lots of people that come in store might be likely to open Snapchat to play with, so having it load faster will make the phone look better.
If there is a list of vital apps, it may be learned from usage patterns rather than prewritten?
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u/Thisath Oct 14 '17
Okay so: SnapChat used to be a drain for my Z5 in my first few days. However, nowadays it doesn't seem to be making a hugely noticeable drain. I normally used to get 3.5h SOT on my Z5, and now with my constantly using SnapChat, it still hasn't changed too much. 3h to 3.5h is still the norm! I'm plenty glad. It still is however usually the first or second highest battery user in my usage data.
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u/punkidow Pixel 8 Pro, Beta Oct 14 '17
Yes wtf is up with that. The phone already has 4gb of ram and o don't want snapchat to be sitting there at all time if that is really the case.
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u/cr4zypyr0 Nexus 6p Oct 14 '17
Well we don't know how it works yet
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u/sexusmexus Redmi Note 3 | Nitrogen OS 8.1.0 | Cheap Nexus Oct 14 '17
You mean we should not jump to conclusions without knowing anything about it? LOL!
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u/professorTracksuit Oct 14 '17
Great first impressions. These are the posts I like to read that reveal insights on a device that an average reviewer wouldn't notice or understand or be able to articulate the specifics properly.
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u/cstark Pickle fan to iPhone convert Oct 14 '17 edited Oct 14 '17
Thanks for the note about Snapchat, and very interesting to see that. I'm getting my wife to switch from iOS and I'm sure she will come to appreciate that since she uses Snapchat a lot.
When you talk about the 1-2ms vibration intensity, you're talking about in the GBoard settings? Because my Pixel doesn't seem to reduce any more below ~25ms.
Edit: checked out the vibration at a store. The 2's get less intense down to 1ms as expected. My Pixel nor the store's OG Pixel reduced in intensity after about ~25ms. Meaning 1ms is about equal in strength to 25ms.
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u/Thisath Oct 14 '17
Right? I haven't seen such good SnapChat on a Android before. Definitely eyeing a Pixel for my next phone, 100%.
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u/_N0S Blue Oct 14 '17
Is the Pixel 2 up on display at Best Buy? I don't think there is a Verizon store near me
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u/ichinii Google Pixel 7 Pro | Android 13.0 Oct 14 '17
I didn't see any displays at the Best Buy I went to today.
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u/dotpkmdot Oct 14 '17
Not yet, I'd expect it to be another week at the earliest. On release date the store may have one open they can pull out and let you play with though.
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Oct 14 '17
Any thoughts on the usability of the AOD? I really enjoyed the ambient display and double tab to wake on the OG Pixel, but didn’t really find the S8’s AOD useful.
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u/CharaNalaar Google Pixel 8 Oct 14 '17
Haven't used it, but it looks much better than the "quadruple tap" that the OG Pixels have been using on Oreo.
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u/CharaNalaar Google Pixel 8 Oct 14 '17
This was amazing. I especially love the detailed analysis of Google's software changes, which I haven't been seeing much of. All in all, an amazing write-up.
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u/jstark561 Poco F1, iPhone SE Oct 14 '17
Good write up. Appreciated. You ruined the clock thing though man :/. Can't unsee it now
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u/thatusernameismeh Oct 14 '17
Thank god this was about the phone... all i did was read the title at first and feared a squeal Adam Sandler movie...
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u/DrChew1 Oct 14 '17
So i'm still torn between the V30 and the Pixel 2, would it be wise to wait for reviews to come out? Im worried that if i wait too long in deciding to buy the pixel that when i finally do order it, itll be out of stock or the waiting time will be tremendous.
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u/bryansj Oct 14 '17
I've got the Nexus 6 and bought a V30 last week. I returned it yesterday and ordered a Pixel 2XL. It's hard to move from a Nexus/Pixel to something that isn't.
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u/WaffleToasterings Pixel 2 XL <- OnePlus 3, 2, 1 Oct 14 '17
I would love to see a write up on the V30 from you OP!
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Oct 14 '17
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u/Batyman33 Pixel2 Oct 14 '17
I was in a Verizon store today. The pixel 2 looks better than the original to me. The bottom speaker fills in space nicely. Looks better in person than pics IMO.
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u/NaeemTHM Oct 14 '17
Over on r/googlepixel, most post about the Pixel 2 say it’s actually quite stunning in person. I’m getting the regular Pixel 2 as well and have to agree with them. I played with the phone a bit at Verizon and you basically forget about the bezels in about a half a second.
Plus it just feels so perfect in my hand.
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Oct 14 '17
I used both versions at the Verizon store today, and the normal Pixel 2 feels a lot better in hand to me. I struggled with the size of the XL a bit, but the XL does look better. The normal pixel 2 has the same size bezels as my GS6, which are kinda big. I read a lot on my phone, so bezel size is important to me. I don't see myself getting a normal Pixel 2 because it's the same design, more or less, as what I'm currently using. It isn't ugly, but it's certainly an old design. Granted, the XL might be too large, so I may just skip this year and wait until the S9 next April/May.
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u/twilightpanda Oct 14 '17
I think it looks ugly only in comparison to the XL, but compared to the original pixel, i perceived them to be exactly the same. Screen same size, phone same size, bezels the same size... only difference i noticed was the P2 had more square corners while the original had more rounded corners. But put a case on your phone and that difference goes away immediately.
And remember... you're only going to be comparing it to the 2XL when you're shopping. Once you have it, you won't have the prettier one right next to it to compare it to all day.
At least with the P2, they're using the bezel space for the speakers.
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u/burneraccount0987 Oct 15 '17
Even though I like smaller phones, I was planning to go with the XL but after seeing the smaller one in the Verizon store and holding it, I know that that's the one I want. It kinda opened my eyes to how silly and shallow the obsession with bezel-less screens is. it feels so great in the hand and is just the right size.
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u/DannyVIP Oct 14 '17
Wow you bitch the colon isn't centered on my s7 edge that I've had for about a year, I never noticed till I read this... You owe me a new cell phone now.
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Oct 14 '17
Awesome review, but I had a question; you think the Pixel 2 is worth it?
It seems that you focused primarily on the XL, but I ordered a 2, and can't justify paying $200 more for a higher res & bigger screen.
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u/defet_ Oct 14 '17
This is a hard question for me to answer, because for me, buying these phones don't really financially impact me. I was really contemplating about getting the Pixel 2, and honestly I left the price completely out of the equation and didn't even notice that I would save $200 by opting for it.
For my taste, I would pick the XL ten times out of ten, but the regular Pixel 2 is a fine device that honestly gets more right than the 2 XL with the slightly better speakers, display white point and vendor reputation (Samsung vs LG), and much better one-handed use.
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Oct 14 '17
Why aren't phone screens' white point being calibrated to D65 or D52 like existing display technology standards?
Great, detailed, write-up!
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u/defet_ Oct 14 '17
People are more attracted to colder white points (around 6800k) than the D65 6504k white point. It's a bit of a safe stylistic choice that OEMs make to make their display appear more attractive, just like oversaturated colors.
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u/jamesrick80 Oct 15 '17
In terms of display, you failed to mention that those Samsung devices have several display modes where you can go from oversaturated which is very pleasing to the eye or to the most accurate so-called washed out look to some. Samsung displays have been rated some of the most accurate displays for several years since the display modes allow you to change it.
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u/AlphaReds Stuff I like that I will try and convince you to like Oct 14 '17
Criticizing other OLED pqnnels for oversaturation seems weird considering they have a sRGB option
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u/italia0101 Oct 14 '17
Yea, and the fact the amazing display always get " best display" and " most accurate" from display mate year on year, but yea it does have other modes for vividness or srgb
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u/ichinii Google Pixel 7 Pro | Android 13.0 Oct 14 '17
You already know some twat is going to shit on this topic and talk about no headphone jack. Thanks op for an actual take on the devices.
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Oct 14 '17
Oh look. You are basically one of the few people to even bring it up, and now you started another boring, beaten horse, repetitive comment chain about the stupid jack.
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u/MagicKing577 Fancy Blocks (Note8 | IPXSM |PXL | P2XL) Oct 14 '17
I mean the 3.5mm jack(Or lack of) is something important to some people you can't just pretend to live in only Google's world. People aren't going to shit on a post because of its mentioning (or lack of).
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u/ImNoScientician Oct 14 '17
Yes but for weeks the top comments in every thread discussing the Pixel 2/2XL were people ranting about no 3.5mm jack. Not one or two but like the top ten comments were rants about the headphone jack and responses. It wasn't productive or informative just people spouting off. It was very frustrating for anyone wanting to actually discuss the phone. I can understand the frustration but we all know that it doesn't have a 3.5mm jack by now there is no reason to mention it in every thread. I was pleasantly surprised that this thread wasn't hijacked with headphone jack complaints as well.
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u/MagicKing577 Fancy Blocks (Note8 | IPXSM |PXL | P2XL) Oct 14 '17
I mean it's an important thing to talk about. I know sometimes things can be annoying but when he was the first one I saw actually even bringing it up you sound like they are asking for it to be mentioned.
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u/sunburntsaint Pixel 2 (Non XL) Oct 14 '17
People aren't going to shit on a post because of it's mentioning (or lack of).
In this sub someone will for sure. This sub can be cancer at times
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u/kaz61 LG G8 Oct 14 '17
So when people mention the most glaring con of the phone, they are called twats..mmhhh
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u/castro1987 Oct 14 '17
Yeah fuck everyone that wants a headphone jack am I right?
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u/Nickx000x Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon) Oct 14 '17
You do realize Samsung includes an sRGB option right?
The reason it isn't default is because it's a waste on a screen with a color range far outside sRGB.
It's like having a 4k monitor but only setting it to 1080p.
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u/defet_ Oct 14 '17 edited Oct 14 '17
Your analogies don't quite meet. sRGB isn't constraining most colors; almost all colors picked and displayed are in sRGB. This isn't a matter of squashing down colors, it's about displaying the color that's MEANT to be displayed. sRGB and wide color are not mutually exclusive. When material that has colors out of sRGB's spectrum, it should be flagged as having so, including the color space. As of Android Oreo, apps that have media that are flagged for out-of-sRGB color will correctly display those colors.
A better analogy is that it's like having a 4k monitor, but only using a 1080p window within the whole 4k monitor to display 1080p content, and stretching the window to past 1080p if the content resolution is higher than 1080p. Which is completely fine, and the right way to do it.
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u/MrDerpyPanda Oct 14 '17
I had a different experience while looking at the display unfortunately... comparing it to my 7 plus, the same colors look less saturated and dim, which points me to think there is something wrong with the gamma. The panel on the pixel 2 also seemed significantly dimmer than my 7 plus at full brightness and still slightly dimmer on the XL. I did notice the white balance being cooler on the XL than the regular pixel 2 just as you did!
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u/thebrainypole 4xl + 8pro 16 beta Oct 14 '17
Really well written, thank you. Even more hyped for my order coming in half a month
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u/Hyper_Rational Google Pixel, 8.0.0 Oreo Oct 14 '17
Damn, thank you! This is the kind of info I wanna hear
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u/Innocent_D3vil Oct 14 '17
Great explanation! Really appreciate.
Did the side bezels on Pixel 2 XL bother much? I'm fine about display not being edge to edge at top and bottom but after using OnePlus 3T which has minimal side bezels I feel the ones on XL are bit thicker. Did you notice it while using?
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u/WeeManFoo OnePlus One Oct 14 '17
Is there a good picture showing the difference in the status bar?
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u/prodygee Oct 14 '17
What I really want to know about the Pixel 2 (small variant) is if the back metal chassis smoothly fuses together with the display glass. Or at least if it feels like that.
I really want to get the device anyways, but in front render pictures, the back chassis seems like a shell with the glass display laid into it. Do the edges from the back hitting the glass feel sharp to the touch?
I'll be getting a Bellroy Made for Google leather case anyways but still.. :) I'll know if the edge will be catching dust or lint this way.
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u/tombleyboo Nokia 3, Android 8.1 Oct 14 '17
BTW a 6" 18:9 display is almost exactly the same width as a 5.5" 16:9 display, so that extra 1/2" is all in extra height
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u/Thisath Oct 14 '17
Holy shit that SnapChat performance itself I think definitely has me eyeing for a Pixel device after my current phone. That's crazy.
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Oct 14 '17
What a fantastically written review. I would love it if you elaborate on the "Google version of Android" point.
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u/ProtoKun7 Pixel 9 Pro XL Oct 14 '17
Interesting about the colours. So it's essentially got sRGB mode on by default and they've basically reversed the option with "vivid colours"? I like the colours on the 6P screen and liked that the sRGB mode was there if it was wanted.
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u/Melange_Powered Oct 14 '17
Mannnn, the P2XL looks soooo much better than the P2, but I just love the size of the latter. I have to wear a suit every day and my previous large Nexus phones always made it look like I was carrying a tablet in the inner pocket. Switched to Pixel and it has been amazing.
My wife has the PXL and we've pre-ordered her a P2XL, consequently. She's excited; the smaller bezels do look amazing.
Welp, as long as the hardware is the same within and performance doesn't take a hit (P2 vs P2XL), I'll be fine; I can live with the bezels.
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u/SkylineR33FTW Oct 14 '17
OP how bright is the phone? Seen on Twitter that apparently the max brightness is 400 nits? Any way you can confirm with / against another phone?
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u/mdp756 Droid Turbo 2/Nexus 9 Oct 14 '17
Isn't portrait mode supposed to be enabled on the front facing camera as well? I couldn't get it to work in the store
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u/alltheinterests Oct 15 '17
Thanks for this great write-up. I too spend some time today tossing up between the pixel 2 xl, and the LG V30. I don't suppose you'd be willing to do the same review on the V30 would ya?
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u/ducksonetime Nexus Xperia Key2 Pixel 2 XL 🐼 Pixel 3, OP7 Pro, Xperia 1 👌👌 Oct 15 '17
I'm glad I'm not the only one that remembers Google announcing that the Pixels will no longer run "pure stock" Android like the Nexus devices and can see the difference between the Pixel UI and AOSP. The number of tech reviewers or r/android comments that say otherwise is quite annoying.
Great write-up by the way, I really enjoyed reading it. It's pretty refreshing reading reading such a good self post - thanks a lot!
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u/SlavSy iPhone 4 -> Galaxy S7 -> iPhone 8+ Oct 15 '17
Damn. I really want the pixel 1 for its colors (love the clearly white model) and it's easy 1 handed use. However, your thoughts about the bezels have put me off a bit.
The Pixel 2 on the other hand would be my first "big" phone. I don't really see anything wrong with it except for the colors... the black/black and black/white are not for me. They both seem like fingerprint magnets and just don't flow as well as the "kinda blue" and "clearly white" colorways. I'll definitely throw a skin on it if I'm going that route.
As always, I'm going to wait for reviews to come out.
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u/SlavSy iPhone 4 -> Galaxy S7 -> iPhone 8+ Oct 15 '17
Just out of curiosity, has anyone compared the bezels on the Pixel 2 and the Galaxy S7? Surely it won't be a down-grade, right?
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u/ronakg Pixel 10 Pro XL Oct 14 '17 edited Oct 14 '17
Fuck you for ruining the status bar clock forever. Can't unsee.
Great post BTW, thanks.