Hands-On With Google's New Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL Smartphones

[willentrekin]

What do you do more often, run benchmarks or take photos?

It's been a lot of years since I last used Android, but my memory was of the former. Mainly because it seemed like every other weekend was spent rooting and installing new ROMs.

Which may now be a thing of the past, and is obviously moot for the Pixel line. But didn't I just see earlier this week that Samsung phones don't even have a firm date for Android P updates?

 

[tCdemon]

How adorable Google copying Apple in phone design and keynote events!

 

[Sleven11]

The ugliest phones I’ve ever seen.... that’s not a notch it’s a grave .... RIP.... at least it’s a happy notch, the notch can smile as the phone gets buried in mediocrity.

 

[Khedron]

It's been a lot of years since I last used Android, but my memory was of the former. Mainly because it seemed like every other weekend was spent rooting and installing new ROMs.

Which may now be a thing of the past, and is obviously moot for the Pixel line. But didn't I just see earlier this week that Samsung phones don't even have a firm date for Android P updates?

Do Apple phones have a firm date for being able to turn off the forced beauty mode?

 

[Marshall73]

Can someone translate this for me please?

Actually, don't bother.

Basically the paltry storage options are not negated by unlimited cloud storage as you suggested.

 

[840quadra]

Definitely the XL is all sorts of funky, design-wise. But the Pixel 3 itself, with the exaggerated chin and forehead (where the forehead looks slightly taller) isn't like every other smart phone out there. Google designed two phones, that are clearly connected together as a singular line offering, but they have disparate physical design languages, which makes zero sense. Again, it's as if different teams were designing both phones where the only consistencies were some chips and cameras used, and they didn't bother to look at what each was doing until the end.

Maybe what we're seeing is Google's machine learning in action - where their smart bot did the design work, not human teams?

They look the same to me in all images (chin and forehead size) on the Pixel 3.

Aside from clones of Samsung or Apple designs, There are many phones that have prominent top and bottom bezels from HTC, Huawei, LG, Motorola, Xiaomi, ETC. The problem with the standard Pixel 3, is that it doesn't differentiate itself from those devices.

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

This would be a mistake. The iPhone is not a utilitarian product. It is a premium one for the bourgeoisie. Leave the utitilitariam for the plebeians.

Imagine the embarrassment of being seen with a cheap phone like a Pixel! It is the ultimate social status killer. As bad as driving an economy American car.

If this is not sarcasm, it is just pathetically sad.
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One could deal with the notch. But the chin? Jeebus those are some homely phones.

Yeah that chin is sooooo huge compared to the iPhone 8 and below???? I wish my iPhone X had a chin so I could go back to my favorite case (UAG).

 

[joeblow7777]

Honestly, I don't get all the fuss about the "horrible" designs. At the end of the day, all smartphones are just rectangular pieces of glass and metal with touchscreen displays. Sure, some look sleeker than others, but usually the ugliest thing about most phones are the bulky cases that people stick them in.

 

[KJL3000]

An iPhone X with the dimensions of the Pixel 3 is all I want... and a lower price of course.

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

I honestly cannot see why anybody would chose the Pixel 3/XL over a Galaxy S9/+/Note. I am not a fan of android myself, because I believe it is solely a tool to suck personal data out of the phone to deliver to google. But I have trouble seeing why android fans would even want this detritus.

Because its pure Android and not Android with the Samsung/LG etc slathered all over it. It comes with the latest version as well (9) and will get the updates as soon as they come out, like the iPhone does. Also there is Google Fi, which I would use on my iPhone is it was supported over ATT.

I like my iPhone X but I could easily use this phone. I bet half or more of the people stating the privacy issues with Google, have not changed away from Google on their iPhone for Safari searches, or use Google Maps or have Gmail or worse have the FB app and a FB account.

I have a HomePod and no other Apple device will make you hate Siri more than the Home Pod. Google collects data but from that you get things like Google Assistant which is 10000x better than Siri and Google Maps which is > Apple Maps 8 days a week.

 

[Applemaniac7]

I see you are really concerned about google services , you realise google pays billions to Apple to be the default search engine . That does not sit well with me .

So Apple accepts a deal with the devil then!! And profits from them.. yet you don't think Apple has any blame in all of this data mining... Interesting....

 

[weckart]

How adorable Google copying Apple in phone design and keynote events!

The ugliest phones I’ve ever seen.... that’s not a notch it’s a grave .... RIP.... at least it’s a happy notch, the notch can smile as the phone gets buried in mediocrity.

I came to this thread for the insane comments and was not disappointed. These two posts followed each other. It seems that the Pixel is indistinguishable from an iPhone and the ugliest phone ever, so...

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

Honestly, I don't get all the fuss about the "horrible" designs. At the end of the day, all smartphones are just rectangular pieces of glass and metal with touchscreen displays. Sure, some look sleeker than others, but usually the ugliest thing about most phones are the bulky cases that people stick them in.

I could not agree more. I used to be excited about new Smartphones but no longer. Yes I have an iPhone X but I could easily use one of these pixels, the smaller one as I do not like the weight of my X. A smartphone to me these days is used for a specific set of tasks, and basically all of mid-high end phones could do those tasks for me. If I did go with Android the Pixel is the only choice for me as it is pure Android and more importantly gets all of the updates as they drop.
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So Apple accepts a deal with the devil then!! And profits from them.. yet you don't think Apple has any blame in all of this data mining... Interesting....

Apple bows down to China's requests more so than Google does. Not sure how Apple does not get more bad press over that, especially considering how crazy liberal Tim Cook is???

 

[DeepIn2U]

I like Android, it's good. I'd use it if it came in a hardware like iPhone X/XS. Samsung s9 with it's infinity display is out of question and this Pixel 3 XL looks like a cheap knock off .


Seriously, what the **** is wrong with Google lol.

the ONLY Google authorized or halo device worth getting was a long time ago = Nexus 4 built by LG ... that Glass Back was better than the IP4/4S.

 

[SteveJUAE]

From Quora,

https://www.quora.com/How-does-Google-make-money-from-Google-photos

Google is an advertising company so that’s how most of their revenue comes. In order to be the best they have to know everything about you so that they can show the relevant ads to you. They sell custom ads against your data for ex ads of jeans, shoes etc. because Google knows from search or web history that you looked at some yesterday, or from Gmail that you purchased jeans at the store last Sunday. The company uses this data to sell to advertisers, and advertisers in turn get a much closer look at you, your spending habits, and your daily activities.

Google can also scan your image's metadata: the location and other information your camera builds into the underlying code of your digital image. In this way it can recommend you to nearby stores based on your preferences.

When you agree to Google terms of service it gets licensed to host, store, reproduce, modify, publish, publicly perform, display and distribute these photos so basically they can do anything they want to. In this way they make money.

I am really at odds at time with claims on data privacy and I am sure unintentionally many iPhone owner do a disservice to their fellows

Whilst I agree Apple privacy policies are quite admirable many seem to fail to note that it only applies to mostly native apps and services on their servers and then not all.

With non native apps (3rd party) you are likely to be in the same boat of self awareness of that software supplier be you an IOS or Android user, of course both OS's give some measure of control and permissions etc but that's your choice and nothing to do with Apples privacy umbrella.

There are thankfully many good app developers but there are also bad ones that have been mining data for years as Apple only recommend developers only request for essential data for the app functionality

Even Apple have similar control to the ones noted above if you post or share data:

"Apple does not claim ownership of the materials and/or Content you submit or make available on the Service. However, by submitting or posting such Content on areas of the Service that are accessible by the public or other users with whom you consent to share such Content, you grant Apple a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content on the Service solely for the purpose for which such Content was submitted or made available, without any compensation or obligation to you"

Or when it comes to find my phone even Apple tells you to read the T&C's of 3rd parties:

"Apple and its partners and licensors may provide certain features or services (e.g., Find My iPhone, Find My Friends) that rely upon device-based location information using GPS (where available) and crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower locations. To provide such features or services, where available, Apple and its partners and licensors must collect, use, transmit, process and maintain your location data, including but not limited to the geographic location of your device and information related to your iCloud account (“Account”) and any devices registered thereunder, including but not limited to your Apple ID, device ID and name, and device type.

You may withdraw consent to Apple and its partners’ and licensors’ collection, use, transmission, processing and maintenance of location and Account data at any time by not using the location-based features and turning off the Find My iPhone, Find My Friends, or Location Services settings (as applicable) on your device. When using third party services that use or provide location data as part of the Service, you are subject to and should review such third party’s terms and privacy policy on use of location data by such third party services"

Whilst I'm sure most good apps are relatively safe lets not get confused with what is only applicable to Apple and what else you may use on your iPhone

 

[blackcrayon]

What do you do more often, run benchmarks or take photos?

What do you do with your videos more often, just keep them in your photo library? Or export them to things like instagram? That's where having the fastest processor available starts to make a difference. Yes if you only read email and browse the web on your phone, the CPU is less important (of course, if you have a heavy javascript webpage, the iPhone is going to fly through that compared to any Android phone's cpu).

 

[GoBrowns!]

Yep. It even loses to the Pixel 2/2 XL from last year.

Actually I think it varies almost photo by photo lighting conditions by lighting conditions. But others have ranked it second. It will likely drop to 3rd overall after software updates and testing of the Pixel 3. In real life. These phones are all competitive and unless you pixel peep it tends to be subjective. Hence the Jonathan Morrison selfie pic on YouTube.

 

[Nipommu]

It's kind of annoying that my $1500 phone has a worse camera than a $800 phone.

yea too bad its attached to the f*^%ing pixel which runs android which is even worse

 

[Swift]

All this fooferah over a phone tha will sell a million or so copies. Google could give them away for the price of being subjected to Google bloat of websites and privacy-invading ads and still make money on them. That’s why the give the basic system for “free,” though there is a heavy price. Facebook is “free” too.

 

[Jimmy James]

An Android phone is a data mining platform with an express view towards using that data for targeted advertising. Perhaps more. How anyone can move past that point alone is beyond me.

 

[pilotpat]

And only Full HD display

Only on the 3 and it's still OLED, the 3xl is QHD+ OLED. The 3 has a better screen than the XR at basically 720p and lcd.

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

I am really at odds at time with claims on data privacy and I am sure unintentionally many iPhone owner do a disservice to their fellows

Whilst I agree Apple privacy policies are quite admirable many seem to fail to note that it only applies to mostly native apps and services on their servers and then not all.

With non native apps (3rd party) you are likely to be in the same boat of self awareness of that software supplier be you an IOS or Android user, of course both OS's give some measure of control and permissions etc but that's your choice and nothing to do with Apples privacy umbrella.

There are thankfully many good app developers but there are also bad ones that have been mining data for years as Apple only recommend developers only request for essential data for the app functionality

Even Apple have similar control to the ones noted above if you post or share data:

"Apple does not claim ownership of the materials and/or Content you submit or make available on the Service. However, by submitting or posting such Content on areas of the Service that are accessible by the public or other users with whom you consent to share such Content, you grant Apple a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content on the Service solely for the purpose for which such Content was submitted or made available, without any compensation or obligation to you"

Or when it comes to find my phone even Apple tells you to read the T&C's of 3rd parties:

"Apple and its partners and licensors may provide certain features or services (e.g., Find My iPhone, Find My Friends) that rely upon device-based location information using GPS (where available) and crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower locations. To provide such features or services, where available, Apple and its partners and licensors must collect, use, transmit, process and maintain your location data, including but not limited to the geographic location of your device and information related to your iCloud account (“Account”) and any devices registered thereunder, including but not limited to your Apple ID, device ID and name, and device type.

You may withdraw consent to Apple and its partners’ and licensors’ collection, use, transmission, processing and maintenance of location and Account data at any time by not using the location-based features and turning off the Find My iPhone, Find My Friends, or Location Services settings (as applicable) on your device. When using third party services that use or provide location data as part of the Service, you are subject to and should review such third party’s terms and privacy policy on use of location data by such third party services"

Whilst I'm sure most good apps are relatively safe lets not get confused with what is only applicable to Apple and what else you may use on your iPhone

Never mind Google or Apple. Your cell phone ISP collects and sells data all the time. Think about this, your ISP/Cell provider knows every single DNS call you make while on Wireless so if you came to this site via Wireless they know it. They know when you did it. They know where you did it from (location). They know when you make a purchase using Apple Pay (traffic to/from Apple payment services). Every apps that uses the network makes network calls and your ISP knows it.

 

[pappy53]

Yep. It even loses to the Pixel 2/2 XL from last year.

You need to check DxOMark. XS and XS Max rated best cameras.

 

[Shiro_Simba]

So Apple accepts a deal with the devil then!! And profits from them.. yet you don't think Apple has any blame in all of this data mining... Interesting....

Of course they do . My opinion is that it’s hypocritical, and $$$ comes first

 

[RCJ]

The iOS homescreen is complete joke these days

Android is so far ahead with widgets allowing things like media controls and live information

Maybe a couple of years from now Apple will have the courage to add another column of icons

Right. Because everyone enjoys looking at media controls on their home screen when they aren't playing any media.

I'm happy to do without.