We typically like Pixel phones a lot, but we have some reservations about Google’s quality control
There have been some strange issues with my 8 pro that resemble hardware connection issues or even the start of bad memory chunks. (The display glitches are mentioned in the article, actually.)
The new screen capture feature is buggy as all hell and is prone to buffer issues after long periods of spot translation.
I’d argue that a luck of the draw issue is worse than a consistent, across the board QA issue.
Still can’t bring myself to bite the bullet and buy a Pixel because of these “horror stories”.
Yeah, I am biased to QA as well.
Some of the glitches are subtle enough to make me think it’s something crunchy in the physical hardware. Many people simply wouldn’t notice the issues, TBH.
Like all hardware bugs, it’ll likely take a bit of time to manifest fully. Being cynical, I would probably say the failures will fully manifest around the Pixel 10 release timeframe.
r/android comment section giving the expected behavior as usual. These news sites know how to be a puppet master, I’m telling ya.
Webite wants to push pro Pixel discussion:
Proceeds to drop a article with a sensationalist title that triggers said Pixel owners.
Comment section is immediately filled with folks declaring how great their Pixel is.
This tactic flip flops between OEMS. It’s generally in Samsungs favor but not always.
Disclaimer: Idgf what phone you own. I’m only speaking on what is painfully obvious to me.
Great point.
It’s so weird to me when people reply with “doesn’t happen to me”.
And?
That these things happen to people is a positive claim on their part. The idiots commentors saying it doesn’t happen to them don’t even realize their dispositive claim is meaningless.
I have a pixel 8 that doesn’t have any issues, but I can read the title that says Google’s quality control is shit. So I can understand my phone is okay and other people have problems. Even if I bought 100 pixels, my sample size would still be too small to dismiss other people’s claims.
Funnily enough, this is my first comment I’ve made about how my pixel is fine. So now I’m part of the problem :3
It’s certainly more than a bit annoying that THIS is the product that Google keeps alive, while constantly killing other, much more useful products.
I’ve literally never met anyone with a Google Pixel. It’s just not on anyone’s radar when buying a new phone. I’m sure some like it, but it’s not exactly setting the world on fire.
I think this is rather location dependent. Here in Aus a lot of people I know use them. Just some more anecdotal evidence.
Australia does have some quirks, as many Australians like to point out :D
According to marketshare figures, last year Google had 3 percent marketshare in Australia. IPhone was 43.8 percent, followed by Samsung with 31.8, followed by Oppo (4.5) Lenovo (3.6), HDM (3) and finally: there’s Google with 3 percent.
https://appleworld.today/apples-iphone-now-has-46-5-of-the-australian-smartphone-market/amp/
In the US, iPhone and Samsung have bigger shares and Google is at about 4 percent (was 2 in 2022)
So at least from the statistics, Google isn’t doing particularly well in Australia either. But you certainly might run with a particular group of people who prefer them over other brands. People do like to conform to a group.
Your experience is not universal. I think most people I know have a Pixel, even the non-nerds!
It really can depend on where you are. For example, in the US Google had a 4 percent marketshare in 2023. It actually doubled compared to 2022: that was 2 percent.
Buf if you happen to run with a group pf people who go against the grain and buy Pixels, it might very well feel like a dominant brand.
In our company for example, everyone has iPhones. So to me, they appear to have 100 percent marketshare, when reality is closer to 50-60 percent in most markets.
LOL like me and half my friends all have Pixels. We’re all FOSS nerds. I’ll also never consider another carrier other than Google Fi. I’ve yet to land in a foreign country and not have instant, unlimited cell service. Carrier bonding is also a blessing in the mountains.
I use Google Fi as well but I’ve questioned the purpose of carrier bonding/switching since T-Mobile and Sprint merged. As far as I know US cellular is the only other network that Fi uses. Correct me if I’m wrong.
My Motorola Edge 30 is fantastic and the best phone I’ve ever had. I think the massive focus on Samsung and Pixel phones are paid and bought for by ad companies.
Also super pleased with my Sony, after years of Samsung. Unbloated, battery lasts, good settings in all the right places.
That’s interesting, I use to use Sony phones during my time at uni and stopped due to all the software I couldn’t delete. Might have to give them a look next time I’m shopping around.
There’s very little bloatware preinstalled nowadays. Mostly the Google stuff. They come with a couple of extra apps (Netflix, LinkedIn, Facebook) but they can be disabled. Sony themselves have a couple of Xperia apps but same thing, easily disabled. It’s more than Pixel but nothing compared to the bloat on a Samsung.
Motorola seems to be back on track. I didn’t get the G84 because the CPU seems a bit slow, and I don’t like the curved screens from the Edge models, but it’s definitely on my radar for their next models.
I love that it’s default android and no crap installed. And it has fantastic battery time. I can easily see myself keeping this phone for a long time and maybe later put Lineage on it just to get rid of Googles tracking.
How long do you get updates? Also, is that for every component? What ARM version does it use?
They have said 3 years of software updates. It’s on Android 13 now and got it’s last security update in December 2023.
Not sure about arm version but probably you can find info about that online. It’s an Edge 30 Pro.
Okay so they are not good with Updates, because Android 14 is out since October, and at least Google ships full security patches every month, i.e. somewhere in Februrary.
GrapheneOS consumes the Google updates into its build system, so it is very fast. They had support for the Pixel Tablet in a day after release, which is crazy.
OEM manufacturers get early access to the codebase because they need to modify their kernels etc, so delaying an update that long is just bad.
I sometimes wonder how much Pixel hype is just inertia from when other manufacturers had terrible skins and Pixel was the only way for most to get a stock android experience.
Nowadays third party software has come a long way and from what I can see the pixel’s main selling point is it’s cameras.
