Google Unveils Pixel 2 Smartphone, Pixelbook, and Two New Google Home Speakers

[barkomatic]

I wouldn't blame a company for exclusivity. Look at apple watches. Those are exclusive to Iphones...so same thing.

Yeah, but I feel this is different since Android runs on many, many different handsets rather than iOS which only runs on Apple made phones. Apple's exclusivity makes sense they control and manufacture everything.

I feel like this feature should have been baked into Oreo/Nougat for any Android manufacturer to take advantage of if they wanted. If it works well, and is paired with a major manufacturer like Samsung it would have become a must have and highly publicized feature that Apple would need to catch up on.

As it stands, with exclusivity of this feature on a handset with a small market share--Apple has time to catch up. I'm sure the next version of AirPods will have this--which will bring it to the mainstream. I still think this is a blunder by Google unless they open this feature up to other devices very soon.

 

[symphara]

google's solution isn't that great. bluetooth pairing sucks. needs something smarter. right now my QC35 bluetooth headphones has trouble detecting which device i want to hear from and i have to launch their stupid app to prevent the headphones from pairing with my macbook. really annoying.

i can always switch devices with my airpods with one or two taps/clicks. absolutely a breeze to do.

I was obviously talking about sound quality, and from that point of view I'd take Google's solution any day over Apple's. Especially considering that I have two sets of BT headphones with aptX support.

I don't have pairing problems either. I just turn them on and they connect to my phone.

 

[montanaco]

The Pixel 2 objectively performs worse than the 8plus in a couple fields...so I'm not sure about where DXO pulled these scored from. Its a great camera no doubt, but in my opinion the 8+ is a better choice.

https://www.dxomark.com/google-pixel-2-reviewed-sets-new-record-smartphone-camera-quality/

Also for those excited about "unlimited cloud service for life" the fine prints states it wont store original quality content after 2020 and will instead compress any pictures higher than 16mp and any video higher than 1080p. Kinda defeats the purpose of cloud storage, no?

All in all the event was very lackluster in my opinion and I went into it hoping for an impressive showing from google. Also the their price points are worse than Apple....

 

[OneMike]

More like HTC haven’t figured it out yet when Google bought them, so Google is stuck with the old U11 design and tech.
And also maybe because LG charged too much money for theirs.

More like dual camera is overrated as I initially said.

Just because everybody is doing it. That doesn’t make it more useful.

For anyone with dual camera (including myself, iPhone 7 Plus since launch), what percentage of your pics are taken with the second lens including portrait. For me it’s been less than 1%

 

[manni]

I particularly liked how Google stressed the unlimited free cloud storage of photos - I hope this starts to put pressure on Apple.

I really like iCloud and cheerfully pay extra for more storage but Apple is shooting itself in the foot by being so niggardly with the free allowance. I know a couple of people who spent the money required to buy an iPhone, were impressed by the ease of setting up iCloud etc and then horrified when a few weeks into owning this great new device and using this great online service suddenly it pops up saying storage is full. It's a very un-Apple experience. I think they should either make it a service one must pay for before starting or expand the amount free to maybe 50GB, that would mean casual users get to experience the nice way it works and start putting their photos etc online (thus keeping them in the Apple ecosystem) without quickly running into a roadblock.

It's a real pity that finally with iCloud we have what the hope always was for, namely an intuitive, safe, fast online storage system that goes across multiple devices seamlessly yet many casual users only know it as "that annoying pop up that forced them to stop backing up on the cloud". Talk about grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory.

That google is betting heavily on it and giving so much storage for free suggests they feel the same way and I wish Apple would change.

 

[shk718]

They didn't do that during the presentation.

yes they did - here is how it works: You hold your finger down on your ear and say "help me speak French,” and speak a phrase. When you lift your finger, the Translate app speaks and displays your translation. Then the person you're speaking to holds a button down on your phone and says their reply, which you hear in your ear. Let's be honest - this has nothing to do with the earbuds.

 

[ValO]

Because you don't want to pay a $75 premium to get quick charge?

With the pixel you just have to buy your OWN headphones.
They won’ t be in the box, just like with the pixel 1.

 

[farewelwilliams]

I was obviously talking about sound quality, and from that point of view I'd take Google's solution any day over Apple's. Especially considering that I have two sets of BT headphones with aptX support.

I don't have pairing problems either. I just turn them on and they connect to my phone.

so...you're going to immediately think Google has superior audio quality without even hearing it first.
ok got it. look, no question that Airpods sound quality isn't the best, but if i were to be serious about listening to audio, I wouldn't use earbuds.

but for casual listening, wireless earbuds are great. but i switch devices multiple times a day and all bluetooth headphones suffer from this UX problem of switching devices.

try pairing your device on your iPad/iPhone/Macbook/iMac and see how that works out for you.

 

[dazz87]

apple fans = very salty........

 

[mi7chy]

Apple Watch red crown: hideous monstrosity
Pixel XL red power button: kinda nice, I guess...

We will see...

Pretty sure everyone is saying it's ugly but Google's software, services and AI more than makes up for it. Just throw a case on it to cover the back and button design aesthetics. Compared to iPhone 8 Plus that's ugly stale and iPhone X with ugly notch that a case can't hide and they're both Siri dumb.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SiriFail/

 

[roeiz]

https://www.dxomark.com/google-pixel-2-reviewed-sets-new-record-smartphone-camera-quality/

dxo camera review.

not bad.. quite impressive DR
https://cdn.dxomark.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Vegetation_GooglePixel2_DxOMark2015_P05_05-00.jpg

 

[symphara]

Also for those excited about "unlimited cloud service for life" the fine prints states it wont store original quality content after 2020 and will instead compress any pictures higher than 16mp and any video higher than 1080p. Kinda defeats the purpose of cloud storage, no?

You're wrong.

The fine print is: "Free, unlimited original-quality storage for photos and videos taken with Pixel through the end of 2020, and free, unlimited high-quality storage for photos taken with Pixel afterwards."

This means they'll keep the stuff you take until the end of 2020 in the original quality. They won't downgrade it.

Only photos and videos you take starting from 2021 is saved in their normal format, which I've been using and it's fine btw.

Sounds like an excellent deal to me. It's fair too - they let to store 3 years worth of original quality photos and videos after buying one phone. Obviously you can extend this by buying a new phone in 3 years.

 

[TwoBytes]

"A fast charging feature allows for 7 hours of charge in 15 minutes"

Is this a typo? I think it should read 2 hours. Not that you'll acknowledge this but you're welcome macrumors

 

[montanaco]

You're wrong.

The fine print is: "Free, unlimited original-quality storage for photos and videos taken with Pixel through the end of 2020, and free, unlimited high-quality storage for photos taken with Pixel afterwards."

This means they'll keep the stuff you take until the end of 2020 in the original quality. They won't downgrade it.

Only photos and videos you take starting from 2021 is saved in their normal format, which I've been using and it's fine btw.

Sounds like an excellent deal to me. It's fair too - they let to store 3 years worth of original quality photos and videos after buying one phone. Obviously you can extend this by buying a new phone in 3 years.

Well I never said they was going to downgrade anything, but I can see how I wasn't clear enough on the point that content captured post 2020 would be compressed.

And right, that good that it's fine for you. But personally I would never want anything I capture to be compressed.

 

[symphara]

so...you're going to immediately think Google has superior audio quality without even hearing it first.
ok got it. look, no question that Airpods sound quality isn't the best, but if i were to be serious about listening to audio, I wouldn't use earbuds.

I'm not talking about a specific product but the support of higher audio bitrate standards. Standard Bluetooth audio is pretty dire, I can immediately tell the difference if I use my own headphones in wired or wireless mode.

So yes I'll take aptX and LDAC any day over W1, since the former gives me a wealth of choice where it comes to choosing headphones. To illustrate it, I already have headphones with aptX support, but no headphones with W1 support.

I'm sorry I don't care about your pairing problems, I have no pairing problems since I use them with only one device. In any case, if I wanted improvements here I'd look to Bluetooth 5 instead of painting myself into corners by purchasing proprietary Apple solutions.

 

[frankgrimes]

As expected the XL 2 is the big dog here and boy are they expensive, sadly Google again dropped the ball on a micro sd card slot and no headphone jack? That's a real bummer otherwise I'm sure it's going to run as smooth as butter with all that power.

Personally the 18:9 ratio is just wierd.

 

[catportal]

The back of the phone is going to end up in a case five minutes after its opened for most people, so who cares.

I never put a phone in a case, defeats the whole point of having a thin/nice phone.

 

[symphara]

Well I never said they was going to downgrade anything, but I can see how I wasn't clear enough on the point that content captured post 2020 would be compressed.

And right, that good that it's fine for you. But personally I would never want anything I capture to be compressed.

I thought you implied it. It's all clear now.

To me the deal is fair - 3 years of original quality media stored forever. That's fair.

To demand the feature for free in perpetuity seems a bit much.

 

[fairuz]

iPhones don't come with real Android. Did you read in recent news that Google Assistant's IQ is twice that of Siri? Do you want a smart phone or a dumb one?

Siri does what it needs to do. Also have no idea what the "IQ" of a voice assistant means.

 

[DeepIn2U]

No dual camera!. The back looks ugly.

Although I’m still not sold on the dual cameras, I do see a benefit with Wide Angle camera as well as lighting like Ip8/X will offer. Strength the Pixel2 XL, a supposed high end phone doesn’t include dual cameras, very odd. Agreement between manufacturer and Google as not to affect sales of the manufacturers branded phones already in market? Hmmm.

Nice job on mocking the lack of a headphone jack on the iPhone 7 with the Pixel last year, eliminating it this year with the Pixel 2. It has a protruding camera too doesn't it?

Lack of headphone jack, home speakers with assisted AI and LED with microphones. The game of follow the leader!

 

[montanaco]

I thought you implied it. It's all clear now.

To me the deal is fair - 3 years of original quality media stored forever. That's fair.

To demand the feature for free in perpetuity seems a bit much.

Oh definitely I just think the some what misleading marketing is bleh. I think thats the biggest take away from todays event is Google's weird marketing. Misleading stuff like the cloud storage, or taking digs at Samsung and Apple instead of letting your product speak for itself just seems very childish.

 

[jonnysods]

Like their HomePod should be $399?

Phone pricing.

 

[symphara]

Lack of headphone jack, home speakers with assisted AI and LED with microphones. The game of follow the leader!

If you're implying that Apple is the leader here, I'll remind you they have no actual home speaker product on the market, just an announcement.

The leader used to be Amazon, but I think Google caught up with them.

The removal of the headphone jack is deplorable, I agree. At least they put in aptX and LDAC to sweeten the pill.

 

[roeiz]

who are they fooling?? lol
this is worse than bad.

https://cdn.dxomark.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/ref2_Bokeh-Outdoor_GooglePixel2.jpg

 

[Glideslope]

Bottom line, runs Android. Could never appeal to me.