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Pixel 2 | OT | The best Android phone gets better

Got the 2xl yesterday and it's been great!

But is it normal for the system OS to take up 9.2 Gb of storage?? This seems excessive
 

Plumbob

Member
Got the 2xl yesterday and it's been great!

But is it normal for the system OS to take up 9.2 Gb of storage?? This seems excessive

Something to keep in mind is compression.

With compression, you'll see a speed/space tradeoff (e.g. processor takes time decompressing/recompressing files but they take less space).

So it's possible they decided to leave more OS files uncompressed to make the experience zippier. But, that leads to a larger storage footprint.
 
Something to keep in mind is compression.

With compression, you'll see a speed/space tradeoff (e.g. processor takes time decompressing/recompressing files but they take less space).

So it's possible they decided to leave more OS files uncompressed to make the experience zippier. But, that leads to a larger storage footprint.

Pixel 1 with Oreo took up about 5.5 Gb of space and was pretty much just as snappy as the pixel 2, so not sure what's going on here.
 

e90Mark

Member
My 2 XL finally shipped on Friday and I should be getting it Tuesday. Pretty excited to see what I've been missing as I've been in iOS world since 2010.

My last Android phone was a Nexus S, so I'm going back in with Google.
 

Alpha_eX

Member
Loving my Pixel 2 but goddamn why does battery saver have to make the top and bottom of the screen bold red? I don't use it purely because of that, surely using red uses more battery too?

Is there a way to change this, it's my only gripe - other than having to swipe up to get to apps and not using an icon in the tray/dock.
 
Loving my Pixel 2 but goddamn why does battery saver have to make the top and bottom of the screen bold red? I don't use it purely because of that, surely using red uses more battery too?

Is there a way to change this, it's my only gripe - other than having to swipe up to get to apps and not using an icon in the tray/dock.
That's how it was on the OG Pixel.
 

LogicStep

Member
This battery is fantastic. I wonder how long it'll keep performing like this. I still have like 30% at the end of the day.

So snappy, so perfect. And again, screen looks so good outside. Actually usable unlike my old phone.
 

LogicStep

Member
I'm at 86%
3h 18m since last full charge.
1h screen on time

I need a screen protector and all the ones in Amazon are full of supposedly fake reviews. The one on the Google store is not available yet. 😒

I like the new emojis.
 

crazyprac

Member
I'm at 86%
3h 18m since last full charge.
1h screen on time

I need a screen protector and all the ones in Amazon are full of supposedly fake reviews. The one on the Google store is not available yet. 😒

I like the new emojis.

Yeah I actually like the new emojis 🤣🤗🙃🤭
 
On the OG or not, it's just wrong. Did anyone find a way to disable it, it's hideous to the point I won't use it purely because it's so darn distracting.
Come to think of it, it may be an Android thing in general. I think my old S7 did that too. Considering battery saver mode turns off/dials down a few things, I doubt the red will impact battery life even further.
 
I'm at 86%
3h 18m since last full charge.
1h screen on time

I need a screen protector and all the ones in Amazon are full of supposedly fake reviews. The one on the Google store is not available yet. 😒

I like the new emojis.

No fake review here. I'm getting a free replacement of this one because it really is awful. I hope it's improved when I get it. I left a bad review because it's an awful product. It doesn't stay still, and water can still get under the screen. I accidentally ordered non-glass screen protectors but I figured I'll give the replacement a shot before returning those.
 

animax

Member
it's hideous to the point I won't use it purely because it's so darn distracting.

I think that's entirely the point imo. Google doesn't want you to keep it in battery saver mode, so they make it garish on purpose. They want you fully connected to the ecosystem
 

Fledz

Member
My Pixel 2 arrived today after I cancelled the XL 2. Really happy with the decision! It's only slightly bigger than my old Galaxy S6 and the bezels aren't actually an issue at all.

Brilliant phone. Hooking up the old one with the included cable and transferring everything over was a breeze. Apart from Whatsapp because my last update was 2 weeks ago so I had to faff about with moving the SIM and authenticating like 4 times. So a hint for anyone else that might forget to do a final backup before porting over. Also signing back into everything was a pain but I guess it's nice to live in an age where you pretty much stay signed in all the time until you switch phones, so that's good.

The phone runs super smooth. Battery looks good but charges super fast anyway. Phone feels great and the camera. Oh laaaaaaaaaaaawd the camera. It is genuinely BRILLIANT.
 
Really tempted to get this phone, just wondering if I should wait and see if Google fix the xl screen issues and the panda might come back in stock. or I could just go for the normal pixel 2.
 

LogicStep

Member
29%
13h 45m since last full charge
5h sot

Not bad at all!

Does this phone display HDR? Any video I can test this with? On YouTube I don't see any options to enable it on supposed HDR videos.
 

Kevyt

Member
Getting a replacement phone.

My current Pixel 2 Xl fingerprint scanner doesn't work properly. It has gotten progressively worse and it's only been less than a week. Resetted the phone twice and installed Android 8.1 to see if it was a software issue, but it seems to be a hardware issue.

I also had an issue with the battery but I think it was a bug. The Quality Control seems to be lacking...

Never had any issues with my Nexus 6p! Going to be using it once again until I get my replacement phone. Supposed to be here this Friday.
 

Fledz

Member
hows the battery life on the non-xl pixel 2

49%
SOT - 1hr 43min

Last full charge - 11hours 27min
Estimated left - 13hr 45min

Not heavy use today but still very impressive for the three days I've had it.
ed- Oh, I was in a patchy coverage area so it's probably used up a lot of battery trying to lock on to a signal.
 

cube444

Member
Cancelled my XL 2 order and went with the Pixel 2. Zero regrets and loving the phone. Plan is to keep it for a year and to see if Google has their shit together with the Pixel XL 3 next year.
 

Kitoro

Member
I just bought a brand new Pixel XL, and I'm noticing that every time I restart it, whether it's to install a system update or otherwise, Wi-Fi is always turned off on startup, and I have to manually turn it on. Is this normal?

Also, as an aside, the charging port seems very loose. I can plug a USB-C cable into it no problem, and it'll stay in and charge, but one slight wiggle, and it's about ready to fall out.

Thanks so much for any insight on these matters!
 
I just bought a brand new Pixel XL, and I'm noticing that every time I restart it, whether it's to install a system update or otherwise, Wi-Fi is always turned off on startup, and I have to manually turn it on. Is this normal?

Also, as an aside, the charging port seems very loose. I can plug a USB-C cable into it no problem, and it'll stay in and charge, but one slight wiggle, and it's about ready to fall out.

Thanks so much for any insight on these matters!
You mean the first generation Pixel XL? Mine never did that wifi thing, that I remember. And like the above poster said, a loose USB port isn't normal.
 

LogicStep

Member
Anyone else's P2XL screen flash when the phone locks? Mine doesn't always do it but it happens. Whole screen flashes white for an instant.

Also, I've had a couple of random reboots between yesterday and today. Good thing the phone boots up in no time but still a little annoying and concerning.
 
I don't think I touched any settings but now my notification bar is black. Anyone got a guess at why?

Edit: Dark wallpapers, good to know.
 

Fledz

Member
Home Mini emails are being sent out. Apply the code and it will be sent free to your address.

Is anyone actually planning on using it? I might see if I can just sell it to someone in London.
 

superfly

Junior Member
I just ordered a white 2xl. Question are the fabric cases cosmetic enhancements only or do they provide ample protection? I own a 6p which has a nice fabric case but is also very protective. Was hoping the fabric cases would be the same for the XL as I ordered the midnight one 😀
 

NinjaBoiX

Member
I just upgraded to a Pixel 2 a week ago but I sent it back. Pretty phone with an amazing camera but it has some issues that were deal breakers:

- That "blue shift" is pretty annoying (yes, it's not as bad as the XL but still)
- For some reason Google Admin locked my out of using Assistant and I couldn't be arsed to mess about with with console thingy to sort it
- In fact, a lot of OS issues got on my nerves, it seems every second action asked for permission or an account to use, such a chore
- Android in general feeling about 3 years old (I can't use fingerprint recognition for banking? Wow...)
- On the subject of that, the scanner on the back is a bit annoying and nowhere near as convenient as on the home button
- But the biggest issue was the awful high pitched squealing on calls, apparently due to the NFC. I disabled it altogether and it still made the noise

Last straw, fuck that, I sent it back.

So it's got a nice design and an incredible camera, but that's about it for me. Going to upgrade to the iPhone 8. I can't go back to Android after iOS, it felt like stepping back in time, even the apps that worked well looked all squared off and a bit unpleasant. It's just not a nice experience.
 
I just upgraded to a Pixel 2 a week ago but I sent it back. Pretty phone with an amazing camera but it has some issues that were deal breakers:

- That "blue shift" is pretty annoying (yes, it's not as bad as the XL but still)
- For some reason Google Admin locked my out of using Assistant and I couldn't be arsed to mess about with with console thingy to sort it
- In fact, a lot of OS issues got on my nerves, it seems every second action asked for permission or an account to use, such a chore
- Android in general feeling about 3 years old (I can't use fingerprint recognition for banking? Wow...)
- On the subject of that, the scanner on the back is a bit annoying and nowhere near as convenient as on the home button
- But the biggest issue was the awful high pitched squealing on calls, apparently due to the NFC. I disabled it altogether and it still made the noise

Last straw, fuck that, I sent it back.

So it's got a nice design and an incredible camera, but that's about it for me. Going to upgrade to the iPhone 8. I can't go back to Android after iOS, it felt like stepping back in time, even the apps that worked well looked all squared off and a bit unpleasant. It's just not a nice experience.

Lol, that's the most absurd thing I've ever read.

Satire, right?

Android feels like a step back in time while stale iOS feels like the future, eh? Ok.gif
 
Lol, that's the most absurd thing I've ever read.

Satire, right?

Android feels like a step back in time while stale iOS feels like the future, eh? Ok.gif

That list reads a lot like the person didn't want to set up their phone and was already convinced they were gonna hate it.

Blue shift is literally the same across all panel types and I've not noticed a bit since getting my phone.

Setting up all your Google related programs takes some time but is worth it with how well the phone adjust and learns about your day and provided contextually pertinent information regularly.

I have fingerprint banking for my banks app. So not sure what they are talking about.

Fingerprint on the back of phones(especially pixel) is amazing as you can unlock your phone as you take it out of your pocket. Being able to slide down on the sensor to check notifications is amazing. iOS at this point is just too simple. So much shit you can't do on iOS and it feels like an operating system for toddlers.
 

h1nch

Member
I just upgraded to a Pixel 2 a week ago but I sent it back. Pretty phone with an amazing camera but it has some issues that were deal breakers:

- That "blue shift" is pretty annoying (yes, it's not as bad as the XL but still)
- For some reason Google Admin locked my out of using Assistant and I couldn't be arsed to mess about with with console thingy to sort it
- In fact, a lot of OS issues got on my nerves, it seems every second action asked for permission or an account to use, such a chore
- Android in general feeling about 3 years old (I can't use fingerprint recognition for banking? Wow...)
- On the subject of that, the scanner on the back is a bit annoying and nowhere near as convenient as on the home button
- But the biggest issue was the awful high pitched squealing on calls, apparently due to the NFC. I disabled it altogether and it still made the noise

Last straw, fuck that, I sent it back.

So it's got a nice design and an incredible camera, but that's about it for me. Going to upgrade to the iPhone 8. I can't go back to Android after iOS, it felt like stepping back in time, even the apps that worked well looked all squared off and a bit unpleasant. It's just not a nice experience.

I had mostly the opposite reaction.

Coming from IOS (almost exclusively) I've found Android 8.0 quite enjoyable. In particular:

- Better UI for notifications. In fact, I love the Android UI in general. It's clean, and functional, and I find it refreshing to use.
- Camera is indeed awesome
- I LOVE the design of the phone. The coating on the back makes the phone feel great in the hand. The shape and sharper edges make the phone much less slippery compared to my iPhone.
- Finger print scanner on the back means I can unlock my phone as I'm pulling it out of my pocket.
- Google Maps is still way better than Apple Maps. Even on IOS I always used Google Maps. Now it's my phone's default map app and I'm so happy
- The migration tool worked better than I expected. It successfully moved all my txt message convos, contacts, photos, and most of my apps.
- It did not move my WhatsApp history, which is lame. Warning to folks looking to jump ecosystems. I'm sure there's a way to migrate history, I just didn't plan for it.
- I do miss iMessage. But I was sick of IOS. Each major revision seemed to get worse, and none of their new features (faceID, animojis) feel relevant to me.
- I did have an issue where my screen would go black when my finger touched the top bezel, but a restart seems to have fixed that. Something to keep an eye on.
- Battery life is fine but doesn't seem to be noticeably better than my iPhone 6.

Overall I've been super happy with this phone. The camera is amazing and I'm totally loving the Android UI design language. I just hope the hardware quality holds up long term the way Apple devices have held up for me.
 

Ubername

Banned
Something to keep in mind is compression.

With compression, you'll see a speed/space tradeoff (e.g. processor takes time decompressing/recompressing files but they take less space).

So it's possible they decided to leave more OS files uncompressed to make the experience zippier. But, that leads to a larger storage footprint.

This has nothing to do with how bloated the OS is. If your uncompressed OS is 9 gigabytes there is a problem. Especially for a phone, that shit should be like 1-2 gigs max. What are you putting on a phone that takes 9 gigs just to run its basic utilities?
 
That list reads a lot like the person didn't want to set up their phone and was already convinced they were gonna hate it.

Blue shift is literally the same across all panel types and I've not noticed a bit since getting my phone.

Setting up all your Google related programs takes some time but is worth it with how well the phone adjust and learns about your day and provided contextually pertinent information regularly.

I have fingerprint banking for my banks app. So not sure what they are talking about.

Fingerprint on the back of phones(especially pixel) is amazing as you can unlock your phone as you take it out of your pocket. Being able to slide down on the sensor to check notifications is amazing. iOS at this point is just too simple. So much shit you can't do on iOS and it feels like an operating system for toddlers.

Yep. Agreed on everything you said.
 

NinjaBoiX

Member
Lol, that's the most absurd thing I've ever read.

Satire, right?

Android feels like a step back in time while stale iOS feels like the future, eh? Ok.gif
The most absurd thing you’ve ever read was that some doesn’t vibe off Android and thinks the widely reported problems with a phone were a dealbreaker?
That list reads a lot like the person didn't want to set up their phone and was already convinced they were gonna hate it.
This sounds like you didn’t even read the post. I clearly said I like the phone itself (despite the issues) but I dislike Android.
Blue shift is literally the same across all panel types and I've not noticed a bit since getting my phone.
Well that’s simply not true, it’s mainly an issue with OLED panels. As I said that was a minor point but irritating non the less.

Regardless, my iPhone doesn’t seem to suffer from it.
Setting up all your Google related programs takes some time but is worth it with how well the phone adjust and learns about your day and provided contextually pertinent information regularly.
I’m sure it is but it was very insistent at every step that I link accounts to this and that, and then somehow “my administrator has locked me out of Google Assistant, ask them for permission”. Like what?

It felt like I was being hassled far too often by the OS to do what it was asking, leave me alone!
I have fingerprint banking for my banks app. So not sure what they are talking about.
HSBC doesn’t offer it and as I run a business I need to check my personal and business banking (on separate apps) quite regularly. On Android I had to pull out my pin sentry device, type in the code, then my password, then type the password from the pin sentry, urgh.

It’s not just banking, even the apps that work just fine all felt a tiny bit wonky and unresponsive, YouTube would take ages to flip to landscape/sometimes not at all, on FB you can’t just swipe down to stop a video and it was all ugly and square looking, etc. [/quote]
Fingerprint on the back of phones(especially pixel) is amazing as you can unlock your phone as you take it out of your pocket. Being able to slide down on the sensor to check notifications is amazing.
I didn’t mind it too much, it’s just not as intuitive as simply on the home button. And I didn’t like having to pick it up off the desk to unlock it.

And let’s be honest, they’re instant these days, is unlocking it as you take it out of your pocket (which you can do with a front facing one anyway) really a thing to get excited about?
iOS at this point is just too simple. So much shit you can't do on iOS and it feels like an operating system for toddlers.
I haven’t found anything I can’t do on iOS quicker, slicker and easier than on Android. I’m a busy guy, I don’t have time to mess about with extra stuff, I just want my phone to carry out the simple tasks I ask of it without any hassle.

Edit: oh yeah, one more little point, the pixel just felt that little bit too big (I had it in the fabric case) to the point that I felt like I had to readjust it in my hand to use it properly. My iPhone feels like the ideal size, it just works.
 

mark1955

Neo Member
The most absurd thing you’ve ever read was that some doesn’t vibe off Android and thinks the widely reported problems with a phone were a dealbreaker?

Edit: oh yeah, one more little point, the pixel just felt that little bit too big (I had it in the fabric case) to the point that I felt like I had to readjust it in my hand to use it properly. My iPhone feels like the ideal size, it just works.

This last point is absurd. That's like me buying the an iPhone 8 Plus and complaining about iPhones being difficult to handle when the iPhone 8 is available.

You should have bought the Pixel 2. Not the Pixel 2 XL.

I agree with the other posters. You never wanted to like the phone before you unboxed it.
 

NinjaBoiX

Member
This last point is absurd. That's like me buying the an iPhone 8 Plus and complaining about iPhones being difficult to handle when the iPhone 8 is available.

You should have bought the Pixel 2. Not the Pixel 2 XL.

I agree with the other posters. You never wanted to like the phone before you unboxed it.
It was the Pixel 2, you need to read stuff properly too. Once it was in the case it just felt that little bit too bulky compared to the iPhone.

And I did like the phone (again, read stuff properly), I just couldn’t deal with the massive fault of the electrical interference noise on calls and I hate android.

lol at the salty backlash because I’m being a big meanie about your beloved device. It’s just a phone guys, chill. Take some realistic feedback on the chin.
 
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