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Good morning all,
I created this thread in the Inspire forums and thought I'd bring it over here too. It's just my experiences as a daily carrier of both of these devices. It's aimed at people torn between the two handsets, and also to help me ultimately choose which I prefer to keep. Only one will survive.
I've included my running updates in the OP.
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Hello all!
I've had the daunting task to pick between these two phones for the last couple days. I went into the store to actually get the devices in my hand and fully expected to walk out with the Atrix. I've always had a soft spot for HTC, ever since their WoMo phones. I saw the Inspire and was super impressed at how solid the phone felt in my hand. The phone felt very responsive, and I already knew the XDA Inspire team was cranking out some awesome stuff.
I then grabbed the Atrix and was not nearly as wow'd as I had expected to be. I've been following the phone since it's announcement, and pretty much had made up my mind on the spot to pick it up. After spending a half hour goofing around with both phones, I decided the Inspire really won my heart.
Then it happened... The cold sweats... The tossing and turning in bed at night. Images of the Atrix's Tegra 2 laying waste to the earth and doing vile things to my Inspire. My horrid indecision had struck. I decided that I had obviously made the wrong choice, so the next morning I headed off to the store and bought an Atrix without returning my perfectly set up Inspire. I wanted to play with them both side by side and just return whichever one didn't make me happy.
That was a bit over 24 hours ago. After spending the last day with both of the handsets, I am closer to a decision, but it's damn tough. My overall thoughts and struggles follow:
Motorola Atrix:
-Pros:
- Bright, higher resolution screen
- Dual Core processor (even though I thought the experience was pretty weak)
- Battery (theoretical, as I haven't had it long enough to fully experience)
- This goes to the hardware again, but this phone is quite a bit more future proof.
- The handset is light enough to not remind you it's in your pocket at every step.
- GPS (This is the most rock solid phone GPS I've ever used)
- Incredibly loud speaker
- Tons of ram
- HDMI out
-Cons:
- Cheaper build quality (I feel like I need to qualify this. The phone feels solid, but the battery door is, for lack of a better word, brittle)
- Very poor color representation on the otherwise beautiful screen.
- MotoBlur - This is just a very inelegant, unrefined overlay...
- Strange compatibility issues with certain apps
- multiple force closes
- Weak social media integration
- Odd bouts of lag when least expected
- Locked Bootloader (most don't care about this, but it matters when you have a primary developer that has a history of slow patches, feature adds, and os releases.
- Chicklet keyboard is a touch small for me and requires some focus to not miss type.
**FOLLOW-UP**
- I've removed the call quality knock from the Atrix device. It turns out it was entirely my own fault, and while some people, including Motorola, are reporting issues with sound quality on some devices, mine isn't one of them.
HTC Inspire:
-Pros:
- Excellent build quality (the aluminum uni-body is a joy to hold, and has the extra added benefit of being able to be used to fend off an attacker)
- Beautiful 4.3" screen (Yes, it is big, but I'm a fan)
- Sense (I'm not a fan of these proprietary UI's, but Sense shows that HTC can offer up an experience that is easy to like, and provide an attractive interface for a phone OS that is sometimes described as clinical looking)
- The brilliant development community (currently running CoreDroid /drool)
- Very snappy performance from the second gen Snapdragon CPU
- Tons of ram (Not as much as the Atrix, but enough to be a "ton" in my eyes)
- Lovely camera (I used to not care, but I have a new son, so suddenly a camera climbed up the ladder of important features)
- Fantastic out of the box social media integration
- Has that "Just works like it should" feel to it.
- Very clear call quality
- Second best phone gps I've used
-Cons:
- The screen washes out to a grey slab in direct sunlight
- Stock battery life is horrid
- "Electric Razor" ear screen can have some jagged edges and chafe your ear
- Battery door was a ridiculous design decision
- Very current gen hardware (doesn't mean a whole lot if you're not going to be riding this phone for the next two years, but a new day has dawned and it's name is "Multi-core")
- Stock external speaker/notification volume super weak
- odd placement of the number button on the keyboard (thanks iPhone for etching that into my brain)
- recessed power and volume buttons can be a bit tough to find.
- No internal storage (this is just ridiculous)
- Relatively weak GPU
There you have it. That's what I've come up with so far. At the moment, I'm leaning toward the Inspire, as so many of those issues can be (and have been) corrected through roms. In the end, I just don't really get the warm fuzzies from the Atrix. I feel like it's a brilliant set of components tied together with a really sorry software suite, and a manufacturer that doesn't really understand the strengths of their chosen platform, or the customers that choose it.
I will continue carrying both of the devices for the next couple days, but at the moment, the winner is most definitely the Inspire in my eyes. It just feels like it's been polished to a wonderful android flavored candy shine, and with the community behind it, there's really nothing I feel the device won't be able to handle for quite some time.
**Update 1**
The inspire's build quality is top notch. The screen is perfectly alligned and allows no notable give for me. There is also no more light bleed than you expect from an lcd panel, and none to the touch. The battery cover is a pain. Its actually so well fitted that you have to break it in over multiple removals in order to confidently take it off without breaking it. The sim cover fits nicely, and doesn't pose the same pain that the battery cover does. There is a slight raised edge in the center of the sim cover that takes it just out of flush. Its nigh unnoticable. Viewing angles on the inspire's slcd are fantastic. I can see it clearly in a near complete 180 degree angle, with little to no noticable color bleed. It obviously dims as you move from dead center.
The atrix is in the same boat with build quality for the most part. The phone has a good weight, metal rails down the side, well alligned screen, and mostly tight fitting components. I do have some issues here, though. Mainly with the back cover. As noted in my initial post, its very brittle, thin plastic. If you think I broke a sweat taking the inspires battery cover off, you should have seen me trying to get the battery on the atrix. I pulled the top clip free, and almost bent the cover in half fighting the mid phone clips. Also, the back cover on my atrix doesn't line up flush on one side. The last couple issues are the "creakynesss" of the handset. When I grip the phone tightly I can feel the plastic components giving, and settling into place. Not terribly bad, but noticable. The last issue is the fingerprint scanner. It's been pointed out in some reviews, but the scanner is off center on some devices and just looks shoddily thrown together and misalligned.
The atrix beautiful qHD screen also washes out and tints yellow when viewed at extreme angles.
**Update 2**
I've been using the Atrix today as my primary carry handset, and I must say PROPS to Motorola on this battery... I've been beating on it for all I can muster and with almost two full hours of HSPA+ web surfing, Angry Birds while waiting for my food, poking around in the marketplace, and trying out apps, the phone has dropped 25% of the battery in 7 hours of heavy use. I'm pretty damn impressed with that. My focus would be on the charger right now. I'll be going through the exact same process on the Inspire tomorrow to see how everything shakes out.
**Update 3**
I've been carrying my Atrix for the last two days, and I have to admit... It's amazing... I don't mean to sound disappointed, quite the contrary, but I was coming closer to making my decision, and now I'm struggling again.
New Revelations/Findings:
- The little hitches you sometimes see in games like Angry Birds, when scrolling and pinch zooming are all gone... Like, completely gone. That goes for every game/app i've played that is relatively intensive with animation or processing. The Inspire is definitely no slouch, but the performance edge is fully in the Atrix's court.
- The external speaker of the Atrix is LEGEND-(Wait for it)-DARY! I hopped on a conference call last night and it was right on the edge of being as good as the dedicated conference speakers at my office. Really outstanding.
- The screen is also really pretty. I, once again, had to run from hospital to hospital yesterday and while outside was able to see every color, icon, and word on my screen. It made me secure in the fact that no matter where I took the device, i would be able to rely on it 100%, and it would perform as well as I could ever ask for.
I've been using the anti-glare/anti-fingerprint Case-Mate screen protectors on both of the devices since i've purchased them, and these things just destroy the fidelity of the screen. I will be getting my Realook protectors tomorrow, and will get to experience a bit more vibrance from both screens.
I'm still fairly disappointed with the color reproduction of the qHD screen. It's really in your face when you have the two devices sitting side by side. The SLCD screen of the Inspire is much more natural looking.
MotoBlur is still a disappointment, but after setting up LauncherPro Plus and getting Beautiful Widgets, and exploring LauncherPro's new facebook widget (think FriendStream). It's become nearly a non-issue. I've been using ADW as well, and it's great, but the Atrix seems to love LauncherPro, and I love LauncherPro... Guess that's a match made in Android heaven.
My experience, for most part mirrors yours. I went from the Captivate to the Inspire to the Atrix. I kept the Inspire for about a week and immediately missed the screen on the Captivate.
The Inspire's screen is definitely sharp, but I like the contrast on the captivate. The black text sharpness on the Atrix is really good and very comparable to the Inspire and both beat the pants off the Captivate.
I'd have to disagree with the build quality of the Inspire. Yes, aluminum feels solid compared to the plastic on the Atrix and does give you that solid quality feeling, but I had the same plastic alignment issues with two Inspires I went through. The plastic parts just doesn't line up evenly with the aluminum. The battery door was never a problem with me because of the gaps were plastic met aluminum. I was always able to get my finger nails in two places to pull the cover off easily and without destroying the soft touch cover.
Call quality on the Inspire's headset speaker always sounded tinny and lack the volume of the Atrix. The loudspeaker is really, really weak on the Inspire. The Atrix's loudspeaker has surprisingly good range, I hear a semblance of bass when playing media.
Security wise, the fingerprint scanner is a really good feature on the Atrix, makes me wonder why no one has done it before on a mobile phone. So much faster to unlock securely without a passcode or drawing.
The camera on the Inspire is better than the Atrix. The Inspire's pics come out with more contrast and better color. The Atrix has sharp images, but the color look a little washed out and there way more noise. Seems like Motorola wanted sharper images and turn down the noise reduction. Noise reduction is a big killer when it comes to image sharpness.
+1 just for referencing Barney Stinson.
Haha no, but really, this is a good comparison of the Inspire and the Atrix. I agree with most, if not all, of your pros and cons. I really can't help but emphasize the battery life though. I usually end up having to buy a spare battery and charger set for my smartphones, but it seems really unnecessary for the Atrix. If you're a power user, that's reason enough to pick the Atrix over the Inspire.
I agree almost 100%
I sit here with both phones still. I love the Inspire, and Gingerblur on the Atrix makes me love the Atrix.
The interwebz speed is what is forcing the Inspire as my daily driver at the moment.
I have gone through 3 atrix's already, when i have it, i want to sell it, as you can see in my signature, and when i sell it, i want one. thus #3....
I almost NEED to wait and see 4g... and this backhaul att speaks of....
And then there is the Samsung infuse/enfuse? idk... But they say when its dropped, it will most certainly have the capable speeds, as will the 2 other flagship "4g" phones.
I treat my phones with utmost care, as i usually am selling them for the new and next best thing, and want to ensure they can be purchased as a 10/10 quality. That being said, I will say the case-mate case i have on the inspire gives GREAT protection, but makes a big phone even bigger, the atrix with the bodyglove feels tiny in my hands after 2 weeks of driving the inspire... I recently sold another iphone4, and it reminded me of the atrix in my hands, not build quality, as you mentioned above, but size...
4.3 qHD would be a perfect mix for me, and I am sure is what is in store for future HTC devices... but for now, I am in the same dilemia many are.
to Inspire, or not Inspire and Atrix my way through the rough of it...
to the avg user, hdmi out is no biggie, but to the ub3r geek in me who likes to VPN home, CIFS mount shares, and stream, hdmi is a big deal....
oh woe is me.....
Today Inspire still drives me to and from.... CM7rc4 battery gets me through the day, even as an Exchange Admin with more email on touchdown then most people, including gmail push...
But that said, i come right back with the atrix could get me past a full day!
like the good old Blackberry days..
theres my 2 cents, thrown into the pot, both heads up...
~killster
I'm so sick of these threads.
Man_of_Leisure said:
I'm so sick of these threads.
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Then don't read 'em... Problem solved.
Divinedark said:
Then don't read 'em... Problem solved.
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Just like you have the right to create threads, I have the right to respond to them. If you don't like that, you want a blog, not a forum.
Man_of_Leisure said:
Just like you have the right to create threads, I have the right to respond to them. If you don't like that, you want a blog, not a forum.
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You are absolutely correct. I appreciate your need to contribute completely unrelated, and pointless reflections on your own worthless personal opinion in my thread. So many others that are trying to decide between these two devices will find your additions to the subject of this thread invaluable. I truly hope that you will continue to follow that urge to spout your own polished, self-important drivel in the rest of the threads on this forum. If you don't, you will effectively be robbing us of your wisdom.
I'm sorry that I wasted your time reading my relatively well researched and thought out comparison between two close competing devices on the same carrier. From this point forward I'll be sure to continue adding to the typical device war crap like "TEH ATRIX IS A$$" and what not. That should sate your thirst for informative and entertaining topics on this forum.
Again. I'm very sorry.
Man_of_Leisure said:
Just like you have the right to create threads, I have the right to respond to them. If you don't like that, you want a blog, not a forum.
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+1 I'm pretty sure there's already at least fifteen threads about Inspire vs Atrix. I thank you for taking the time to compare both and noting their strengths and weaknesses but like I said, there's already a ton of these threads and they just repeat the same opinions/info.
Clienterror said:
+1 I'm pretty sure there's already at least fifteen threads about Inspire vs Atrix. I thank you for taking the time to compare both and noting their strengths and weaknesses but like I said, there's already a ton of these threads and they just repeat the same opinions/info.
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It's true that there are a lot of posts that contribute this kind of information, but this one in particular was well thought out and written, and that helps provide a better reference for those interested. I also value those posts that say good things about devices. A lot of posts tend to complain about whatever device they're talking about. It's nice to have some good things to say in order to balance out the amount of user feedback.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
Yea... the majority of threads you see with this same general topic are basically just "The Atrix BLOWS!!!! I'm going back to my Inspire" blah blah blah. He was polite enough to explain his thoughts on the phone thoroughly, and go through his overall opinion on the phone over time, showing what has changed in his mind about each phone. Can kinda think of it more as a "phone review" than a "disgruntled customer".....
There are many Inspire / Atrix threads I've read but this one is a good, unbiased, well written everyday user experience. +1 for op.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Divinedark said:
I do have some issues here, though. Mainly with the back cover. As noted in my initial post, its very brittle, thin plastic. If you think I broke a sweat taking the inspires battery cover off, you should have seen me trying to get the battery on the atrix. I pulled the top clip free, and almost bent the cover in half fighting the mid phone clips. Also, the back cover on my atrix doesn't line up flush on one side. The last couple issues are the "creakynesss" of the handset. When I grip the phone tightly I can feel the plastic components giving, and settling into place. Not terribly bad, but noticable. The last issue is the fingerprint scanner. It's been pointed out in some reviews, but the scanner is off center on some devices and just looks shoddily thrown together and misalligned.
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The battery cover design is one of the things I really like about the Atrix. It is flexible on my phone, not brittle at all. It fits well and is a breeze to get on and off -- after the first time. The first time I was also a little scared and it caught at the middle a little. Since then, it is trivial to do. Of course, it spends most of its time covered by two layers of Otterbox Commuter in my case.
I have not noticed any creakiness -- seems very solid to me. It's reinforced by the Otterbox, so I might not ever notice anyway.
My fingerprint scanner doesn't seem to work at all. I get nothing but too short a swipe messages (works for me about 1 time out of 20). I have been assuming this is due it being placed down in a little hole by the Otterbox. I'm perfectly willing to give that up to get the extra protection and reduced slipperiness. My last unprotected phone (BB 9000) only made it a year before I dropped it many times including into 2 feet of water (don't ask, I need to be drinking to talk about it).
Yea.... i had the Defender for a day or so before i returned it for that one reason. Made it a bit more tricky to use the fingerprint reader. Found that too many times when i went to swipe (almost typed Swype in there... and no, not even on my phone. haha) my finger, it would wind up getting stuck with the outer soft casing of the Defender and either stop mid-swipe or skip part of my fingertip.
fingerprint scanner works great for me; when i first got it i thought it would be a useless novelty.
Slade8525 said:
fingerprint scanner works great for me; when i first got it i thought it would be a useless novelty.
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Not saying it doesn't work great. It works phenomenally. The issue is that some cases.... or mostly the OtterBox Defender, has quite a large hole where the fingerprint scanner resides.... and part of that hole is surrounded by the soft silicon/rubber of the outer shell of the case, which can make trying to get a solid swipe across the fingerprint reader a bit of a pain.
This is a pretty good review. I too left for an inspire and couldn't be happier, but I can see why people like their Atrix. Having cm7 was the deal breaker for me but if roms aren't a big deal the Atrix might be a better fit. I also had two phones with extremely bad call quality issues but I hear that's more of an isolated thing.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
I came from the captivate...to the atrix to the inspire and back to the atrix ...the only thing I miss from the inspire is htc sense
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
slimslim said:
There are many Inspire / Atrix threads I've read but this one is a good, unbiased, well written everyday user experience. +1 for op.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
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+1 great unbiased and amusing post. I was about to moan when I saw how long your post was, Divinedark but your well thought out/written comparison made me finish it without realizing it.
Well written OP. It's actually like two reviews of both phones and not just which beats which.
Thank you.
Tired of the chipping chrome paint and backplate of my still-works-fine S4, I decided it was time to try something new because I apparently have too much disposable income and an awful addiction to new phones. Here are some first impressions I've had with the device in the few hours I've been able to play with my shiny (literally) new factory unlocked gunmetal grey HTC One (M8).
Hot damn does it feel solid. Like I could use it as a weapon should someone ever try to mug me for it.
It's tall, son! Half an inch or so taller than the S4. Not a problem for me, but I can see where it would generate complaints from folks with smaller hands.
Wow that was a long first boot. Even the girls at the T-Mobile mall kiosk were shocked at this. Can't say I've ever had a phone take that long without me screwing up a flash.
Getting T-Mobile's LTE in Detroit on the thing it seems. 22Mbs down. I'm OK with this.
I forgot how much I hated having on screen buttons over the S4's capacitive ones. This really stands out to me since so much space is devoted to them. If feels like 1/5 or 1/6 of the screen is simply OS chrome elements. I can't wait to get Xposed and the immersion module on this (or better, a rom like PA).
The swipe gestures to unlock it sounded really cool at first, until I noticed that every time I tried to pocket the phone, I was unlocking it. a
Is it just me, or is the stock font just huge? I mean, I get the accessibility case here, but man...
Sense is a ton less annoying than TouchWiz (in the brief time I tried to roll with it). Specifically, I always hated the way Samsung perverted the notification shade with toggles. I can't, however, seem to find any compelling reasons to keep it outside of the swipe gestures, but I'm not sure how much I'm going to care about those anyhow. Time will tell, right?
Ok, the gestures thing where you can turn the device and hit the volume button to get into the camera without first unlocking your phone is awesome.
The camera isn't as bad as I've read. A few shots of my kids inside the mall I went to get a new sim card was poorly lit and the shots came out as expected for an Android device. Granted, I haven't printed them or shared them on Facebook, but that's why I have a 5D Mk III
God this thing feels great in my hand. I've read some say the gunmetal version is a little more "slick", but it doesn't seem any better or worse than the S4.
Someone was complaining that the metal from the case where the speakers go and the glass don't seem to be super flush. I can see what they're saying, but I can't say this bothers me outside of the gross abominations that groove will contain after a few months of use. I feel dirty just thinking about it.
Yeah, the sound is a lot better than the S4. No, it's a metric asston better. Since we're using metric, you know that's a scientific statement.
Blinkfeed is, um, cute? I mean, I already had Flipboard so I don't see what the fuss is about other than access from the homescreen, but it's not like I'm going to rock out a stock launcher anyhow.
The buttons are very subtle in the build. Not in a bad way, but it'll take time to get used to their positioning.
Bah! Why doesn't this have every rom ever for it yet! It's almost been two weeks, damnit! #fakerage
I think I'll give it another hour of play time before I void my warranty.
Thread closed,
I have closed this thread as it will very quickly become both a phone comparison and rom comparison thread, which are against forum rules.
Any issues please let me know,
Ghost
On the fence; convince me.
So, still rocking the nexus 5, but it's time to upgrade since the mic is giving out (my fault for being rough replacing the screen without a heat gun lol).
I know I want a nexus device but I'm not sure if I want to super-size my screen. I've never owned a "phablet", in fact I used to dislike them, but now that they're more common place I might reconsider. My hands are average if not on the larger side so I'm sure I'd get used to it, but do I want to? One handed use is nice when necessary, but is it ever absolutely necessary?
The beefier speakers, cpu, ram, battery, and screen (AMOLED) are all turn-on's. But I want to now how the transition was for all of you, be it to the nexus 6, Note, 6p, or whatever other device was your first big screen phone. Any regrets, big or small? Will you ever down size? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Stop worrying. Once you go phablet, you want want to go back. Plus, front facing mothereffing speakers! I rock the piss out of my nexus 6 and the speakers are just so, damn, good. Back on the size subject, you adapt to the size very fast and I hear the 6p is a narrower device than my N6, so I say go for the 6p.
Why not go with 5x
fingerprinted said:
Why not go with 5x
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It's between the 6p and the 5x for me, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for the jump in size.
mikehunt22 said:
I hear the 6p is a narrower device than my N6, so I say go for the 6p.
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Good to hear, I kinda thought the 6 was a little uncomfortable to handle with its size and design. Plus I prefer the more square design of the 6p over the roundness of the 6.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
I came from Galaxy S6, no regrets. I did own the Note 4 before that but after you make the adjustment you'll like having a larger screen.
I came from a Moto X 2014. The device feels huge but very premium and thin. The camera and screen are insanely good. I ended up returning it because when playing music through the aux it would stop randomly. Idk if it was hardware or software but it was annoying. The speakers are good as well but each sound a bit different. I assume it's what sits behind each speakers that gives it the effect that one is louder than the other. I also had weird stutters with apps like instagram, snapchat, and the settings menu. Ultimately I don't think I'll repurchase the device because of its size. I had it for a week and got used to making adjustments to handle a big device but it's so much easier for me to manage my Moto X 2014.
I also have the 5x sitting on my desk. I don't think I can justify the price to upgrade from my Moto X 2014 so that one will also be returned. You might want to check it out. It's more of the workhorse of the two and feels really good in the hand.
You get used to the phone being big for the most part. I was using a phone with a 5 inch screen temporarily after having a samsung note 3 and I did like how much easier it was to handle the phone but at the same time I missed the bigger screen. You need to decide yourself which is more important to you so you don't have buyers remorse.
Just buy my old N6. You'll love it. It's nowhere near as awesome as my 6P, but you'll love it. Yup.
You will adapt to its size after a hour or so of use. You will begin to realize that it isn't even that huge anymore.
Get another Nexus 5 for $100 on Ebay and enjoy life.
I'd love to share my thoughts about this phone with you. I have a lot and I also come from the Nexus 5 and skipped the Nexus 6 entirely because of its size. So strap in...
I was also on the fence back in mid October. I just couldn't make the jump yet. The 5X didn't seem like much of an upgrade to me. It just seemed like they remade the 5 again. I'm not here to argue specs with anyone, but personally, I wasn't too impressed. I was impressed with the 6P specs though. That felt more right in the way of an upgrade. I didn't really need an upgrade, but the screen is slightly raised on my N5. It clicks when you press the right spot. It does not impact functionality at all and it's been like that about 6 months now. I got my N5 brand new on launch, so it held up pretty well I'd say. I have a lot of friends who (despite my best efforts) are with the dark side and recently got the 6+ and 6S+ iPhones. They all justify the size of the phone with the real estate for gaming and movies. I get that, I do. I'd much rather game and watch movies on my 55" HDTV then on my 24" in the bedroom. After playing some games and checking out Netflix on their phones, I did like the bigger size in that sense. That being said, I got the phone delivered to me on November 9th and I am still getting used to it. If you've ever held a 6+, that is what you can expect. I compared my 6P to a buddies 6+ and they are exactly the same size.
My best advice to you (and anyone else in a similar situation) would be to be please, please, please, please, please do not let the threads in the 6P General forum scare you. There's a lot of threads about a lot of defects and issues. They have already acknowledged and addressed these issues and aside from a few bad eggs, from what I've seen the RMA's that have been going out have been better. I have 0 issues with my device. Everything is cut and lined up properly. All flush. Nothing is loose or raised. I decided to make the jump and was ready to order from Project Fi the moment I finally got my invite from them. That happened on 10/16/2015. I ordered the 32gb graphite. I love the overall look and feel of it way more than the N5 which I could not get enough of at launch. The build quality of the phone is amazing. The weight of it and the metal touch make it feel extremely high quality. That's the one thing I always thought Google could take a lesson from Apple in. Despite my opinion on Apple and iOS, I could always appreciate the build quality of the iPhones. They felt so solid and great to hold. None of my phones gave me the same satisfaction as iPhones did. I never had one, but I've played with my friends. It always felt so legit while my phones always felt like cheap lightweight plastic toys. Google finally stepped up in that sense. I have had mine since the 9th of November and so far I have not had a single issue as found in this forum. The phone still sits completely flush on the front or back. No wobbling when you press one of the edges. No bends, the back glass hasn't spontaneously cracked. Everything works 100%. It's solid. It's legit.
The feel is phenomenal. The first thing you will notice is the feel of the aluminum. It feels great. No, I mean great. Amazing, even. The one downside being that it is slippery. Keep a good grip on it. Don't try to balance it on your leg or clothes when you're sitting down. It'll slip. Besides that though? The first time you leave you phone idling in a cool room and pick it up. Oh man, I was not prepared for that. I would compare it to flipping your pillow over to put your face on the cool side. You get the same satisfaction. It's refreshing, every single time. 10/10 would recommend. You don't get that with the N5, no sir.
The next thing that I noticed right away was the haptic feedback. As soon as I pressed the home button I giggled like a schoolgirl. I don't know if my N5 had a defective motor (known issue, I know), but it never, ever felt like that. It feels so much crisper, cleaner and a lot more tight. My N5 kind of sounds and feels loose and rattly. Another thing I love, which isn't really a selling point...at all is that when you listen to the haptic feedback in a dead-quite room, it makes a neat sound. The vibrations just feel deeper and sharper. I can't get enough.
My screen is perfect. Not a single issue. There is no color or hue defects at all. There is no raised edges. Everything is 100% in this department. As mentioned earlier, it is awesome for movies and gaming if that is your thing. I don't really game much besides N64 emulators and as far as videos and movies goes, Netflix and YouTube is pretty much all I use.
Next up is the front facing speakers. The front facing speakers. The front facing speaks blew me away. Coming from a Nexus 5? Absolutely blew my mind. I had both phones, one in my left hand one in my right. I opened YouTube on both and I opened up 'Who Are You' by The Who on both. I played it first on my N5, rooted with V4A installed and finely tuned. My thoughts? "OK, sounds pretty good. Yeah." I had my Viper settings to my liking and that's what I was used to. The very second I pressed play on the 6P I had the biggest grin on my face. It was so LOUD and the sound was coming right at me! You know how when you hold the Nexus 5, half of the time you cover the speaker holes with your hand? It was just the way you held it and the placement of the speaker? Especially in landscape when trying to watch a video... I hated that sooooo much. I love these speakers so much. Some people here say the sound quality is bad, but I haven't noticed that at all. No crackling or popping. Nothing sounds distorted or washed out, but there are others out there a lot more judgmental in those regards than myself.
USB Type-C. Now when I mentioned earlier than I am still getting used to the phone, this is primarily what I mean. I cannot seem to shake the habit of slightly twirling the cable and looking down at it to make sure it's facing the right direction before plugging it in. You don't need to do that anymore, just plug and go. If I don't think about it and just go to plug in, I find myself doing that almost every time.
The buttons. The buttons are nice. They have a clean, crisp click when you press them. Almost like a snap. I like the way the power button is textured. It feels nice when you slide your finger over it. While on topic of the power button, I love the double press to access camera feature. I can't tell you how many pictures I missed (animal or insect that got spooked) waiting to open my N5 camera, even from the lockscreen. Even if the 6P is idle, a quick double press of the power button and the camera is open instantly. It's so fast, I'm blown away every time. I still haven't got used to that either. Oh and the 240 FPS is so cool, just make sure you do it in well lit places otherwise it comes out grainy. I don't want to go as far as to say potato quality, but you'll see what I mean if you try in a dimmer setting.
The only, and I mean only beef I have with the buttons is the placement. I am left handed. The way I hold and use all of my phones is that I primarily support my phones with my right hand and use my left for scrolling, reaching across the screen, zooming, etc. As a result, I got into the habit of using my right hand for single handed use. It just doesn't feel right to use only my left hand with my phones. It's awkward and just not natural for me. So when I want to take a screenshot, I do have to use both hands. My right thumb and then my left hand for the power button, otherwise I end up capturing a bug report. I can take screenshots one handed if I use my left hand, but I just don't do that, ever. Other than that I have no issues with that. I do not have any rattling from them during normal usage or movement of the phone. They do slightly rattle if I shake the phone quite hard. However having button rattle ONLY when I shake it hard enough to see if they rattle is not a turn of for me, at all.
The battery. I am honestly so incredibly impressed with the battery, I cannot even begin to tell you. On my Nexus 5, I would take all sorts of measures to improve battery life as well as screen on time. Granted I did have some things working against me like the Viper drivers and things of that nature, but I would keep the brightness around 50%, usually slightly under. NFC, location, etc. was all off and I was pretty impressed with 3-3.5 hours of screen on time, per charge. With my 6P I get 6 hours of screen on time every single charge. That is with the screen at 100% full brightness at all times. Nothing is turned off either. This is with the phone bare stock. It isn't unlocked or rooted, it is completely factory stock plus about 80 or so user apps installed. At least an hour of YouTube throughout the day, probably more. I also stream Spotify sometimes, not too much though. Aside from that just web browsing. XDA, Facebook, Google+, things of that nature. As far as the brightness goes, I'm not too worried about burn in as I never got any on my Galaxy Nexus and I had that for almost 4 years. The idle drain is insane. I went an entire work day without my phone. I left it in the car and at the end of the day when I went back, it was at 99%. 8 hour shift on full bars LTE. I often find myself using the phone and after so long I'm like yeah it's about time to charge it before it dies. Since I'm used to the Nexus 5 and all, but I pull the shade down and see like 40% left and I can't help but laugh. I love it. Love love love it.
Now as far as the size goes. If that's all you're worried about... Do yourself a favor and go order the phone right now. Just do it. I was so against it myself, but you do get used to it. You really do. Eventually you get the hang of using it one handed no problem. You kinda have to tilt it in towards your palm so you can reach your thumb across to the furthest corner, but that's only if you happen to need to press whatever is in the furthest corner. Texting in landscape was a bit of a curve as well. I don't have huge hands, but I don't have small girly hands either. That's a lot of phone to cover. Instead of just resting it in your fingers, you kind of have to set it further back on your fingers to cradle it. That way you have a bit more reach with your thumbs. It took some getting used to, but now I can text one handed, or landscape with no issues. Believe me though, when you first try you will probably say nope, this isn't happening I am returning it. Don't. You get over that. Really, you do. Everything else about this phone will make you fall in love before you are inconvenienced by the size even once. Seriously, pull the trigger. You want to and you know it, stop kidding yourself. I just got used to the size though, I didn't really fall in love. I would say if they made a phone with the same specs and they found a happy medium between the N5 and the 6P as far as size goes, I'd surely downsize and get it. Not until this phone put in it's 2+ years though. I wouldn't ever send it back to get a smaller screen now that I actually have it.
I have no real complaints with any aspects of the phone. It's been so great I honestly haven't even wanted to unlock or root it yet. Now that Cataclysm is available- and a user over in that thread commented that with systemless root he was able to successfully add cards and complete purchases with Android Pay, I may reconsider. Solid phone and a solid experience using it. Like you said, you have slightly larger hands, so you certainly will acclimate to the size of the phone in little to no time. I hope I could answer some of your questions about the device and alleviate some of your concerns! Let me know if you have any other questions!
tl;dr - Do it and welcome to the 6P forums.
It's OK to sit on the fence. Just make sure not to sit on the phone... It will bend.
6P imo is the best android phone you can buy right now, its a full package, much easier to hold than the N6 too
Jimmy_Noname said:
So, still rocking the nexus 5, but it's time to upgrade since the mic is giving out (my fault for being rough replacing the screen without a heat gun lol).
I know I want a nexus device but I'm not sure if I want to super-size my screen. I've never owned a "phablet", in fact I used to dislike them, but now that they're more common place I might reconsider. My hands are average if not on the larger side so I'm sure I'd get used to it, but do I want to? One handed use is nice when necessary, but is it ever absolutely necessary?
The beefier speakers, cpu, ram, battery, and screen (AMOLED) are all turn-on's. But I want to now how the transition was for all of you, be it to the nexus 6, Note, 6p, or whatever other device was your first big screen phone. Any regrets, big or small? Will you ever down size? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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You'd be surprised how quickly you get used to it. I went from a smaller screen to the OnePlus One and it was a pretty big jump, but I was used to it within a few hours. Now I have the 6P. You won't want to go back to a smaller screen.
Sent from my Nexus 6P
Try it and probably never look back!
I had a Nexus 5X until my 6P came in. Trust me, it's night and day and although the size difference is VRY noticeable, it's not unbearable. You're getting a lot of phone for a rock bottom price. NOT saying the 5X was bad at all, actually quite different. I just wanted the extra screen real estate.
I came from an N5, had the same phablet reservations. But after seeing what Google did with the 5X, it wasn't quite what I was hoping it would be. I love the 6P!
Sent from a 128th Legion Stormtrooper 6P
Rado_vr6 said:
I had a Nexus 5X until my 6P came in. Trust me, it's night and day and although the size difference is VRY noticeable, it's not unbearable. You're getting a lot of phone for a rock bottom price. NOT saying the 5X was bad at all, actually quite different. I just wanted the extra screen real estate.
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Returned my 6p for a 5x and could not be happier. The 6p is a very big and long phone.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
Hey guys I came across see guy locally that is VERY interested in trading his Essential for my Pixel XL, I must admit that I'm intrigued by this phone but very worried about all the negativity surrounding it. Can you guys give me your honest opinion since you guys are current users?
Jess813 said:
Hey guys I came across see guy locally that is VERY interested in trading his Essential for my Pixel XL, I must admit that I'm intrigued by this phone but very worried about all the negativity surrounding it. Can you guys give me your honest opinion since you guys are current users?
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I love it...it's compact and super sturdy. Built well. I have no issues with the camera...they've updated it several times and I'm not a professional photographer. It comes with an unlockable bootloader and they said during their AMA source will be released in the next week or two. Development will be there. For such a unique device I have no qualms with it at all.
I came from the Pixel XL and dont regret it at all. I'm really excited about the future of this device. Although Essential had some issues on launch they have really stepped things up regarding customer support, communication and updates. Having them involved in the community (Reddit AMA) says a lot about how they feel about us, the customer. The build quality is superior to anything I've ever held and I change devices about every 6 months. It will take a lot from a future device to get me to switch from this. Since the updates I've had really good luck with the camera, even at night. If I were you I'd go for it!
I have a Pixel XL and an Essential - while the build quality of the Essential is top notch (feels really well weighted IMHO) and the edge to edge display really impresses, there are a few things that really annoy me.
- Placement of the hardware buttons (I keep reaching for the power button only to hit the volume buttons)
- Touch sensitivity is all over the place. Many times it does not register when I press on the screen, forcing me to do this multiple times. Given the amount of time we spend interacting with our phones, this can get pretty frustrating.
- General stutters & slowdowns. For a near-stock Android phone, this phone is really laggy when performing certain actions. It just grinds to a halt for a second or two. My Pixel XL or OnePlus 5 do not ever do that.
- Buggy software. I've noticed that the camera app will randomly freeze, forcing me to close it and reopen. I've noticed the same thing when interacting with the system settings.
- Camera: The Pixel XL camera (and app) blows this away. The Essential one is slow to focus, slow to switch modes etc. And the image quality is not comparable to the Pixel XL.
I know most of these issues could probably be fixed with tons of s/w updates, but I am not sure people want to wait and be the beta testers for this phone. For now, IMHO, Pixel XL > OP 5 > Essential PH-1. Having said that, the phone shows a lot of promise but we will need to wait and see if they can deliver on their promises.
rajeshr said:
I have a Pixel XL and an Essential - while the build quality of the Essential is top notch (feels really well weighted IMHO) and the edge to edge display really impresses, there are a few things that really annoy me.
- Placement of the hardware buttons (I keep reaching for the power button only to hit the volume buttons)
- Touch sensitivity is all over the place. Many times it does not register when I press on the screen, forcing me to do this multiple times. Given the amount of time we spend interacting with our phones, this can get pretty frustrating.
- General stutters & slowdowns. For a near-stock Android phone, this phone is really laggy when performing certain actions. It just grinds to a halt for a second or two. My Pixel XL or OnePlus 5 do not ever do that.
- Buggy software. I've noticed that the camera app will randomly freeze, forcing me to close it and reopen. I've noticed the same thing when interacting with the system settings.
- Camera: The Pixel XL camera (and app) blows this away. The Essential one is slow to focus, slow to switch modes etc. And the image quality is not comparable to the Pixel XL.
I know most of these issues could probably be fixed with tons of s/w updates, but I am not sure people want to wait and be the beta testers for this phone. For now, IMHO, Pixel XL > OP 5 > Essential PH-1. Having said that, the phone shows a lot of promise but we will need to wait and see if they can deliver on their promises.
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I also don't think everyone is experiencing all these bullet points.
I agree it took a little bit to adjust with the volume and power buttons, they are flipped unlike my Nexus.
Touch sensitivity, I mainly only notice that on the border of the screen. I'm assuming this is setup this way so your hand doesn't accidentally touch things when holding the phone since the borders are so minimal.
Personally I haven't noticed any stutters or slowdowns. It runs butter smooth.
Software has pretty much been fixed on my end since their last few updates.
Again, this is maybe just my experience, but I wouldn't assume everyone is seeing the same issues. There are quite a few happy campers from reading through the other threads.
I think you will enjoy the phone a lot. Coming from a Nexus, your phone will feel way less clunky with these screen borders.
Jess813 said:
Hey guys I came across see guy locally that is VERY interested in trading his Essential for my Pixel XL, I must admit that I'm intrigued by this phone but very worried about all the negativity surrounding it. Can you guys give me your honest opinion since you guys are current users?
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Click to collapse
I would be a bit skeptical of the source of the phone.
I'd trade but you want to know source.
He would still be inside the return window.
He could sent the Essential back and get a PXL and have change back.
Personally I would do it. The Pixel XL will be replaced in a couple weeks and therefore will be harder to sell if you want to upgrade. Also, I have asked for an RMA and then changed my mind twice on this darn Essential phone because every time I feel this strange connection with it. I want to root for Essential. This sounds silly, of course. I have the S8, have had the G6 and all the other flagships before, but this phone is to me the Nexus device of 2017. I had the Pixel and Pixel XL and while I loved the software and camera, once you hold the Essential phone then the Pixels will have laughably huge bezels and will feel five years old in your hand.
So, the camera. I have taken some awesome outdoor shots and I have also taken some that look like they were from a 2014 Moto X. There is no consistency with this camera. I want to believe in it and I have seen what it is capable of, but when I reach for my S8 the experience blows the Essential away. The camera app freezes on the Essential and is extremely slow. If anyone disagrees, then I completely respect that but I will ask if you have compared it to the best of 2017 devices? That said, the best compromise I have found is this: install the Google Pixel camera and set the power button quick launch to launch that camera. Then leave the default camera app icon in the normal place. So now, I can quickly launch the fool-proof Google camera when I need to snap a quick image, but I can take my time with the Essential camera when I have that time to give. I have a 7 month old son and trust me, he ain't waitin' for that damn Essential camera to load!
TL;DR - I would make the trade.
-Collin-
Man, I'm thinking about returning my Pixel 2 XL for an Essential. Wanted the Essential but then all the bad reviews of the camera and what not turned me away. It is literally half the cost of the P2XL with the price drop. It's nice to have one of, if not the best camera, but I feel silly paying $1000 for this phone when I can get a brand new phone with similar specs for half the cost. Not to mention the disappointing screen issues.
I like to run custom stable ROMs which is why I'm looking at these two phones and the P2XL will certainly have more development. I'm not even sure if the Essential has sold enough to have any decent development. I would hate to be stuck with a phone that ends up getting no development. I guess that's what makes the Pixel worth a grand. I never buy brand new phones and always look for deals on Craigslist but this time I thought I'd pull the trigger on something brand new.....the experience was meh.
I am in a similar boat as you (except I have a pixel). If this phone get done development I might pull the trigger. Partly because at least for me, the whole rom game on the pixel is just a nightmare thanks to the two boot slots. I REALLY miss the simplicity of the nexus. But I get it that having the two slots makes things great for stock users but I have soft bricked this phone so many times. If this phone can be simple like the nexus days (once the images come out) I am really tempted. Also depending on when oreo gets dropped
My previous phone was a LeEco Le Pro 3, bought it last year during a black friday sale, it was released almost 2 months before that sale. No roms or any development at that time, but a couple months later a bunch of great roms were available. I think is just a matter of time, be patience, also, we have stock android, why the hurry to flash a new rom?
b316kane said:
I am in a similar boat as you (except I have a pixel). If this phone get done development I might pull the trigger. Partly because at least for me, the whole rom game on the pixel is just a nightmare thanks to the two boot slots. I REALLY miss the simplicity of the nexus. But I get it that having the two slots makes things great for stock users but I have soft bricked this phone so many times. If this phone can be simple like the nexus days (once the images come out) I am really tempted. Also depending on when oreo gets dropped
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The PH-1 has two boot slots just like the Pixel.
I don't remember hearing that. Are they doing the automatic updates too? I figured it was unique to pixels
I am sending back a Pixel 2 XL and getting the Essential
30 day return policy from Amazon right? I'm just gonna get an Essential use them both for a week and make a decision
I have an Essential. It is a solid phone and performs well. However (and this is going to sound strange), it is an unbelievably slippery phone. I took their word that it was made of space-age materials and was drop-resistant, and I didn't get a case. It slipped out of my pocket the second day I owned it while I was sitting down. Screen cracked and it is $200 to replace.
There are really no quality cases available, so I would wait to see if there is going to be any aftermarket support before buying an Essential.
Jess813 said:
Hey guys I came across see guy locally that is VERY interested in trading his Essential for my Pixel XL, I must admit that I'm intrigued by this phone but very worried about all the negativity surrounding it. Can you guys give me your honest opinion since you guys are current users?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just be sure the one you are trading for is not locked to Sprint, unless you're on Sprint of course.
appleguy2 said:
I have an Essential. It is a solid phone and performs well. However (and this is going to sound strange), it is an unbelievably slippery phone. I took their word that it was made of space-age materials and was drop-resistant, and I didn't get a case. It slipped out of my pocket the second day I owned it while I was sitting down. Screen cracked and it is $200 to replace.
There are really no quality cases available, so I would wait to see if there is going to be any aftermarket support before buying an Essential.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a number of decent cases available. I'm using the Incipio NGP Pure:
https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Incipio-Shockproof-Polymer-Shock-Absorbing/dp/B076H16TWP
A lot of people like the Tudia cases, especially the new one that just came out with the glass back.
The complaints about the Incipio is that it doesn't work with glass screen protectors... Well 99% of the glass screen protectors available for this phone don't fit right anyways... What I ended up getting was the Incipio Plex Plus Flex... which they claim is flexible glass (I think it's just plastic) but either way, it fits with their case and is invisible on the phone. I managed to snag it on a Black Friday sale because it's kinda expensive for a screen protector, but either way, my phone is now fully protected and looks excellent. I can post pictures if you're interested.
I was just wondering how many of you guys and girls have returned or cancelled your order of the Pixel 2 XL? There are so many threads where a lot of members said that they either are returning their phone or cancelling their order based on general reception. And as I don't think we can expect any data about this topic from Google any time soon, I thought a poll would be nice to get an overview about the percentage of returns in this forum.
I live in Germany, and as the phone isn't released here yet there might be a chance for me to cancel my order if there are many returns because of screen and/or loudspeaker issues.
Claus1221 said:
I was just wondering how many of you guys and girls have returned or cancelled your order of the Pixel 2 XL? There are so many threads where a lot of members said that they either are returning their phone or cancelling their order based on general reception. And as I don't think we can expect any data about this topic from Google any time soon, I thought a poll would be nice to get an overview about the percentage of returns in this forum.
I live in Germany, and as the phone isn't released here yet there might be a chance for me to cancel my order if there are many returns because of screen and/or loudspeaker issues.
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Click to collapse
Kept my Panda preorder. Actually having ages to wait is turning out to be a blessing. I'm leaving it as long as I can and keeping an eye on what's going on with the US ones. If it's still looking bad in mid December, then I'll still have the option to cancel.
Interestingly, Google will be coming to my place of work on 17th November, so I'll have the opportunity to grill them!
Sent from my SM-A300FU using Tapatalk
Claus1221 said:
I was just wondering how many of you guys and girls have returned or cancelled your order of the Pixel 2 XL? There are so many threads where a lot of members said that they either are returning their phone or cancelling their order based on general reception. And as I don't think we can expect any data about this topic from Google any time soon, I thought a poll would be nice to get an overview about the percentage of returns in this forum.
I live in Germany, and as the phone isn't released here yet there might be a chance for me to cancel my order if there are many returns because of screen and/or loudspeaker issues.
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Click to collapse
I kept mine long enough to go to tmobile and get the 350 visa card going and then returning it. I'll wait or get a note 8 or just just stay with my current phone. All the main phones this year seem kind of disappointing.
I canceled my 2nd order two days ago and picked up a unlocked Note 8. After all the negatives with the 2XL coming out daily I figured I'd give Samsung another go. I will still keep an eye on the 2XL with a open mind. Hopefully the issues will be resolved soon because it is a beautiful phone. Good luck to those who are keeping theirs.
I'm keeping my 128 panda preorder the google reps that I spoke to are claiming that the second batch of phone will do much better screen wise I'm assuming this will delay my panda even more and that's fine with me as long as they iron out some of their kinks.
travblue said:
I'm keeping my 128 panda preorder the google reps that I spoke to are claiming that the second batch of phone will do much better screen wise I'm assuming this will delay my panda even more and that's fine with me as long as they iron out some of their kinks.
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They mention how the phone "will do much better screen wise" ? Kinda odd that they switch it out that much but wont comment on the first ones coming out really.
---------- Post added at 09:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:31 AM ----------
Misterxtc said:
I canceled my 2nd order two days ago and picked up a unlocked Note 8. After all the negatives with the 2XL coming out daily I figured I'd give Samsung another go. I will still keep an eye on the 2XL with a open mind. Hopefully the issues will be resolved soon because it is a beautiful phone. Good luck to those who are keeping theirs.
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Click to collapse
I wouldnt mind a note 8 but the fingerprint drives me nuts as i've used just the small s8 for past 2 months and that was annoying to get use to let alone a phone that much bigger.
I cancelled my pre-order for 64 GB Just black and will keep my brand new OG pixel for now till the screen issues is resolved.
Sent from my NXT-L29 using Tapatalk
Gilley said:
They mention how the phone "will do much better screen wise" ? Kinda odd that they switch it out that much but wont comment on the first ones coming out really.
---------- Post added at 09:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:31 AM ----------
I wouldnt mind a note 8 but the fingerprint drives me nuts as i've used just the small s8 for past 2 months and that was annoying to get use to let alone a phone that much bigger.
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The two reps I spoke never really gave me specifics but then again I didn't even ask I just wanted to know if they knew anything about what Google plans on doing about the screen issues and should I cancel my preorder and they said they were aware and that much of the issues have been corrected on the second batch of pixels XL I then ask will my phone be apart of that second batch and they said yes
Gilley said:
I wouldnt mind a note 8 but the fingerprint drives me nuts as i've used just the small s8 for past 2 months and that was annoying to get use to let alone a phone that much bigger.
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It wasn't my first choice coming from a Pixel 5" but I am liking it so far and feel at ease with the purchase. But yeah it feels like a brick in my pocket lol. My wife got a S8+ last week so that kinda swayed me back to Samsung for a bit. As for the fingerprint, I rarely if ever use it. I can still purchase a 2XL when things get resolved but for now I'm good.
Misterxtc said:
It wasn't my first choice coming from a Pixel 5" but I am liking it so far and feel at ease with the purchase. But yeah it feels like a brick in my pocket lol. My wife got a S8+ last week so that kinda swayed me back to Samsung for a bit. As for the fingerprint, I rarely if ever use it. I can still purchase a 2XL when things get resolved but for now I'm good.
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Click to collapse
The note 8 feels like a better phone than the pixel 2 does, the only reason I returned the note was you couldn't root it at the time. Once my XL is back in the mail back to google I am just getting one with the exn chip in it and staying with the note.
Cancelled order, will wait if the screen approve with future batch. Sticking to OG XL 6P replacement.
Kept. The screen blue tint doesn't bother me really at all. Most of the time I don't look at it at any other angle than dead on so seeing the blue isn't often. I think some people are just super nitpicky about things haha. So far I like this phone better than my og Pixel.
Decided to return mine this week. Have until next week to be within my 15 days. I will keep my V30. It just feels so much better size wize, wireless charging and headphone jack. When I use the Pixel I miss using the V30...just that simple.
Got my 128gb black version yesterday. I was surprised at how subtle the blue tint is in person. I barely notice it and I really have to angle it for it to show up - like nearly look at the screen directly from the side. The supposed washed out/dull colors are only obvious if you're comparing it directly to another device with higher saturation. I've especially noticed reds on the Pixel XL 2 actually look red compared to the oversaturated orangish look of the devices I compared it with (OnePlus 3T, Moto G4 Plus, iPhone 6 Plus).
With that said, I'm not sure that I'll keep it. $1000+ is a lot for a phone with display issues. Even though they're subtle, they're definitely there and I'm not sure one should just accept them. I'm not so sure about this "second batch" of phones, but maybe in a couple months these problems will be resolved.
Or maybe I'll keep it. I have time to think about it. I'll definitely use it through the weekend before making a decision.
I've had it for a day now. Great phone! Much better all around than the Oneplus2 I came from. Much better than the Note4 I had before that.
Plus, will get huge dev support. Not too many companies releasing source code any more and encouraging development.
This is my first carrier free google/nexus phone experience (the original G1 doesn't count, right?), and already - wow!!
Will be returning. Defect just popped up for my screen. I've got a grey bar that stretches across the screen below the bar is darker than above. Pretty disappointed as the software and overall hardware was damn nice on this phone.
Edit: the diagonal lines in the pictures are from the camera, not actual visible on phone.
Keeping mine. I love it. No issues except for the blue tint. The tint is mildly annoying at best. Anyway, if they somehow fix that, or actually end up using different screen hardware, I can always RMA it for a new one at that time.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using XDA Labs
Keeping mine, no issues and have to tilt to get it to give the light blue tint not a deal breaker to me. Really a work horse and smooth as silk IMO. Not into vivid colors that much, but might try them out if they do a software update that give it just to see what is all the fuss over vivid color.
Cancelled my order. Might just get the smaller pixel 2 instead.
My Oneplus 5 is awesome but stuttery compared to anything from Google. WiFi is awful too.
What else to get?
Dear All,
I thought about cancelling the order but what other phone would I want? Nothing. Google has acknowledged the bugs and will fix in upcoming update. My order won't arrive till end of November which gives Google time to iron out the bugs. The blue colour shift they can't fix with software but would it really deter your overall user experience? Time will tell...