Pixel Phone Reviews: A 'Truly Great Camera' and a 'Home Run' for Google

[62tele]

iPhone is successful because Apple is a services company. We all like to think of Apple as a software/hardware company but the real invisible force that keeps the company going are services.

If that is true they are failing at being a services company. iCloud is inconsistent and it's pricing is not justifiable. I can't think of a single area where Apple delivers a great services product. Siri is also half-ass.
Apple makes money from its hardware and its software is a compelling hook. macOS/iOS is a driving force in keeping me an Apple customer. It just works and it's easy to navigate. It is really the most seamless ecosystem IMO and that appeals to me. Everyone can make nice hardware. If spend enough you can have a quality build, in a nice form factor from Windows based hardware.
I wish Apple would up it's services game but I think they are distracted by too many different things. The fragmentation and lack of focus is something that I think Jobs would have frowned upon. He was quoted as something like "it's important to be able to say no. There are lots of things you could do but should not do." (gross paraphrasing)

 

[christo747]

At least this review didn't hide actually being a giant ad. Or did it?

 

[djlythium]

A home run for the NSA, also.

 

[Iconoclysm]

If Apple made it even the slightest bit difficult for me to use Google as the default search engine I would strongly consider leaving the platform. Google is the best search engine by far, it's not even close, and search is such a basic and necessary function of modern computing. I'm not going to massively handicap my user experience just because Apple is in a spat with Google.

Not even close? I haven't used Google in almost 7 years now, and I'm not having problems finding what I'm looking for. So what makes it "by far" the best?

 

[oneMadRssn]

Its the first phone Google was supposedly involved in the design with. Previous phones were all spec'd internally by the manufacturer .

While the amount and degree of collaboration in the hardware between Google and its hardware partners is unknown with the Pixel, and with the former Nexus phones, there are a lot of statements from Google saying they were involved with the hardware of the prior Nexus phones.

For example, I just picked the Nexus 4 at random, and here is what they said in their press release:
"Nexus—Google’s hardware line for Android devices." "Nexus 4 is our latest smartphone, developed together with LG." https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/nexus-best-of-google-now-in-three-sizes.html Similar statements are in all the prior Google phone press releases, if I remember correctly.

So perhaps more Google-employed engineers worked on the hardware this time as compared to prior times. Either way, it's plainly wrong to allege this is Google's first phone. It's not like Google has no experience in designing smartphones and this is its first attempt that happens to be amazing. It should not be judged as a first attempt. It should be judged as a new design from a company very experienced in designing smartphones.

 

[ChrisCW11]

The Pixel XL is a Xiaomi mi5s Plus with a Google logo on it, and even the mi5s Plus has a dual sensor camera like iPhone 7. And the mi5s Plus is 1/2 the price with a more innovative fingerprint scanner and much better design.

I might be hard on Apple for a lack of innovation these days but Google's first phone is unforgivably forgettable on design, functionality, and its ridiculous assumption is should cost as much as an iPhone 7.

 

[merkinmuffley]

My wife has one of these arriving tomorrow. As a photographer, I am interested in playing around with the camera.

 

[macduke]

I've seen some of the review photos. It seems like the iPhone 7 Plus has a much better portrait mode, and the Pixel doesn't have OIS, and it doesn't seem like it can focus as closely and have as shallow a depth of field as the iPhone 7 for close up shots, but for 70% of most photos people would take, the Pixel camera seems to be better. It's especially impressive in low light, although some of the low light shots I've seen were with the Pixel and iPhone 7 mounted on tripods, which seems unfair since the iPhone 7 has OIS. Any camera can properly expose a scene on a tripod if the shutter remains open long enough—although that can add noise, especially if it's warm out.

I'd be interested to see the EXIF data for this shot below in particular, because as someone who has done a bit of professional photography work, the image below doesn't seem right. If the room is actually dark, you only get results like this when using a flash if you have a pretty long exposure combined with the flash using a diffuser, or have an off-camera fill flash. Either that or the Pixel has a magical high ISO imaging sensor similar to that found in Sony's $3000 a7SII. The only other scenario (and most likely in my opinion) is that the room itself actually isn't very dark, and the iPhone is horribly underexposing when using the flash, which is a viable possibility but should be easily fixable with a software update. Sometimes it also depends on how you use the camera. If you tap to focus on the white dress, the iPhone will expose for that making everything darker. But if you tap more on the model's face, near her dark hair or the background, then it will expose for that and make everything lighter. Back in college I used to do a ton of long exposures around town in the middle of the night. What gives away the Pixel shot for me are the starburst rays I see on the lights on the ceiling. I would see those a lot in longer exposures and they aren't apparent in the iPhone photo. So either Apple messed up or someone didn't lock exposure properly. If they didn't tap for exposure or focus at all, then the iPhone software messed up.

Something else I noticed in some of the photos is that the Pixel seems to do a better job cutting down UV haze in landscape photos. Either it has a better filter or is doing something in software, similar to the reduce haze feature found in Adobe Lightroom.

 

[ultravisitor]

I think I am not just because of how into the Apple ecosystem I am in and with things like continuity it's really hard to think about any other ecosystems.

I have a Watch, a MacBook Air, an iPad, and an iPhone. Clearly, I like Apple hardware. However, I don't think Apple's services are up to par with Google's services, so I can't be fully married to Apple.

Furthermore, I don't WANT to exclusively use Apple products and services. Above all, I'm a fan of technology and gadgets, and the world is full of possibility. To cut myself off from using Android or Windows means an overall lesser experience with technology. That's not something that I want.

 

[62tele]

Apple should be very worried about this. Apple is really good at hardware and the hardware/software combo, but they suck at services.

All in all, it seems that Apple is moving too slow. They are becoming the Microsoft of the 90's.

I am not sure Apple is worried. The iPhone is still an iconic product with broad mass marketing appeal.
They have to fix the services component. It is not a great product.
Apple moves slowly for a reason but, that said, they do seem slow footed with product refreshes.
Your last statement merits repeating. It is said that Microsoft got fat and happy. The leadership had their huge stock options and was reluctant to rock the boat when younger engineers and programmers suggested new ideas. Supposedly many of those talented young minds went elsewhere. More important, Microsoft sat on their hands while Apple and Google made an end run. Microsoft is certainly not hurting but they far from what they were in the tech world. The same could happen to Apple. Services should have it's own product champion and all the resources that Apple can bear to get this stuff right. They can afford to give away iCloud storage and should do so ASAP. Crap, I always wonder why sometimes my photos update from my iPhone and sometimes they don't. That's just crappy service.

 

[Iconoclysm]

It is cutting edge. But it's cutting edge with a lot of other phones. Waterproof is cool, it's been around a while. Touch ID is cool, now everyone has a fingerprint sensor. Camera is arguably matched by Samsung and now Pixel. As I said, edge to edge has been done and Samsung's iterating their version of it, Sharp did true edge to edge, so Apple doing it would bring it main stream because of the number of iPhone consumers, but it isn't truly cutting edge as in the first to ever do it. Isn't that what cutting edge is?

In my opinion the most cutting edge thing about all the recent iPhones is their processor. Just blows everyone out of the water. It's awesome. But the other features, Samsung and others have been experimenting more than Apple. Apple waited to introduce waterproof when they had "courage," I guess.

Cutting edge doesn't just mean the first to do it, but how they do it. No, waterproofing is no big deal but Touch ID is/was - and the competition still hasn't really caught up. Apple turned its eye to the payment processing market and the other guys really haven't caught up there yet, either. But they did try - Android Pay, Samsung Pay, etc. Homekit is obviously the current focus and requires Siri advancements to make the next step. Which is what I'm expecting to see over the next year. CarPlay is another area people ignore when discussing this stuff. Android Auto really hasn't taken off the same way and is starting to be late to the game with many manufacturers. Samsung has no answer of their own there, even though a partnership with Hyundai/Kia would be a no brainer. Force Touch is no big deal to me, but it's something.

What will be cutting edge, hardware wise, would be mLED screens in the next phone with TouchID sensors under the screen.

 

[ultravisitor]

Why is this thread full of people trying to prove how much better the iPhone is?

Seriously.

People, please show me on the doll where it hurts you that technology fans have another good option for a smartphone:

 

[Iconoclysm]

Seriously.

People, please show me on the doll where it hurts you that technology fans have another good option for a smartphone:

Can you show me where anyone seems upset by this? It seems to be a civilized conversation other than people throwing around terms like fanboy and shill for no reason.

 

[Ener Ji]

Yeah, the Times said meh. I agree that the fingerprint sensor on the back is silly. Pixel's fine if you're all in with Android and Google.

What's silly about the rear fingerprint reader? I've been using a phone with one for a while, and I find it *far* more comfortable and easy to use than a front-faced thumbprint reader.

Sometimes, people need to live with something for a while to adjust their habits and see things from a new perspective. I suspect many of these reviews haven't used the phone long enough (that goes both for the breathlessly excited and the skeptical) to really understand what the long-term experience will be like.

 

[ultravisitor]

Can you show me where anyone seems upset by this?

If you can't recognize the sarcasm and insults toward Android and figure out why they're being made, then I can't help you.

 

[Ener Ji]

Did they misplace the thumb sensor just because they could be different for no good? That's not exactly close to where you normally rest your thumb. I imagine it getting old fast.

The idea is to not use your thumb, you use your index finger while picking up the phone. You rest the phone on your fingers facing you and with some brief practice your index finger will very comfortably and naturally rest on the fingerprint sensor. Voila, your phone is unlocked and your thumb is positioned perfectly to swipe around. It sounds odd until you try it.

 

[5105973]

We'll see what happens when Apple's profits stop growing and there is pressure from investors, like what happened at Microsoft. Microsoft didn't use to mine user data either - now Windows 10 is pretty much the equivalent of spyware.

That is always a concern.

I'm at an interesting age. I remember when we had privacy and anonymity to a much greater degree than exists now. And through the connections I had with my grandparents and parents I have a view into a life that had even more privacy. In fact those generations valued privacy to such a degree that there was a huge difference between the face one put on in public, even among friends, and the one behind closed doors.

Contrast that to my generation which entered the workplace when surveillance cameras were starting to be deployed even over ordinary cubicles. Heck, when our company identified the need for a security system, I'm the one who wrote the report that determined where to best place them and cosigned the documents to deploy them, including over my own desk. I had to get used to working under conditions where every gesture and word were being recorded. And it's shocking even to me how fast I adjusted.

Now there are CCTVs all over the place. It's my understanding that large parts of the U.K. are covered in them. Is that correct?

And some people live their entire lives out on the internet via social media. My grandparents generation would be appalled at what their great grandchildren share on a regular basis. One of the popular sayings among the kids now is "Don't judge." That's not just a saying, it's something they have to live by or the consequences of their oversharing would be devastating otherwise. Instead, they shrug off things that would have sent my grandmother into hiding if she had done them and her friends knew.

My generation may be the last to remember what privacy was like. And as we die off, we will be left with an entire population of consumers who don't even have a concept of life without being tracked and data mined and who will go with whatever service caters to them the best. I'm 50 and even I'm giving it a whirl.

 

[ebatalha]

I can't agree about this being good for innovation, competition, etc.. Since the launch of the first iPhone nothing has changed besides addition of features. Apple didn't have any competitor to innovate the smartphone, of course some ideas here and there but if we look closer I would say that the iPhone is a mark in history, a standard, that everyone follows until this day.
For me Google is for mobile what Microsoft was for computers decades ago, an OS running differently on a bunch of hardwares. For me is trash.

 

[Adios Apple]

Well, this iPhone user (owned every single version since the original...until the 7) sure does and will be taking delivery of his XL next week.

same here
[doublepost=1476888709][/doublepost]Well after getting to spend a few weeks with a Note 7 before it was recalled, I came to learn that android is better than ios in just about every way. I should receive my Pixel XL tomorrow. Cant wait to throw my iPhone straight into the garbage.

 

[zone23]

Thats it i'm getting a Pixel iPhone 7 Plus up for sale.

 

[Ener Ji]

How is this different the Nexus? Google doesn't own factories now, do they?

And how many factories does Apple own, hmmm? "Owning the factory" != "owning the design".

 

[DaveN]

This reviewer lost all credibility with me when they wrote this: "This is Google's first phone, and for a first effort it is remarkably good. By almost every metric I can think of -- speed, power, camera, smart assistant, you name it -- it matches or exceeds the best phones available on the market today." Really? Google's first phone? You ignore their previous flops?

 

[Bigsk8r]

This is good. Competition is healthy and spurs companies onto greater things.

Apple and Samsung are being put on notice by Google and Huawei.

Us consumers will benefit.

I was about to post something similar. This is great news for us as Apple buying consumers.

Even fanboys like me have to admit that many Apple products are pricier than they need to be. I do not mind at all paying for the highest quality item, but a little price competition is nice to see. Hopefully, this turns into a healthy competition between two US based companies for some time to come.

If so, it's good for all of us.

 

[skellener]

Considering jumping ship for this one. iOS seems to be stagnating IMHO. Correction, Apple as a whole seems to be stagnating under Tim Cook.

 

[baller1308]

I guess a big forehead and chin are no longer "issues" now that the Pixel has it.