As in, this one is debuting the new Samsung GN2 cam sensor and I think the SoC manufacturing process node, ahead of whenever Samsung and the others post their new updated devices. So for a few months this is probably the one to get, until a competitor drops the next set of updates from the HW supply chain, and so on.
Three years of updates and iFixit are great and could be differentiating for now, but hopefully the rest of the ecosystem will catch up to that standard.
It's a lot less exciting without a sensor upgrade and would be mostly playing catch-up otherwise.
Damn, it may be time for me to move back to Android. Do Pixels require the updates to be sent by your carrier, or do they allow direct download?
https://www.gsmarena.com/newscomm-60107.php - comments tipped me off; then googling for "pixel 8 GN2; last hour" gets me links like https://www.androidauthority.com/google-pixel-8-pro-release-... where the cache has the reference but the current page doesn't.
My pixel 5 just stopped turning on one day about 2 years in, and my pixel 7 pro had the volume and power buttons fall out about 3 weeks in (not due to a drop, after googling it's apparently a very widely seen issue).
The service with iFixit was unhelpful, they told me "We keep seeing this and Google says this is wear and tear. We can't submit it for a warranty repair, and if we try we end up eating the cost". After finally complaining on twitter I was contacted by some support person who said to give iFixit this email and they would fix it. They still refused, and after a few more rounds of interactions like that I eventually bought some replacement buttons on Amazon, popped them in, and put a case that covers them on it. I'm fully expecting this to randomly die some time before 2 years is up.
Combine that with Google's extremely strong tendency to abandon everything, promises like these seem well, worthless.
Meanwhile my daughter is using my wife's old iPhone from 8 years ago. My Samsung note 3 and my s8 still boot up and work just fine (though I cracked the screen on one about 5 years ago). It's just so obvious that these phones are very low priority to Google, while other companies base their business around their phones.
The problem with all these phones is that they're kind of built to be disposable. They're just glued together plastic. And even if you can repair the phone or it survives 5 years or so, the vendor is just going to stop supporting the chipset anyways.
Just got a fairphone 4, optimistic but the build quality is shit and they're already rolling out a fairphone 5 now... whatever, I use AOSP. I can't stand samsung anyways with all the crapware they put on stock android.
I miss some of the nice touches LG added on top of stock Android, but the hardware has met all expectations so far.
In general samsung and others (huawei, etc.) are trying to get a grip on android, and open-source seems to oppose that.
I don't know what motivates google to lean in so hard with open-source ( maybe trying to prevent fragmentation or avoid future antitrust or set a "clean" example standard for stock android with their pixel brand ), but we do currently enjoy its fruits.
https://9to5google.com/2023/01/12/google-pixel-t-mobile-upda...
Subjective, I am at my third Pixel phone in six years and I never had an issue.
unlocked, carrier-agnostic phones are the way to go.
My daughter's Pixel 5a update, for example, was delayed but it was purchased from Google.
To be clear, the update _does_ come directly from Google but the device won't show that the update is available until the carrier gives the green light. The factory image can still be sideloaded.
The P7P is the first phone that I've not purchased outright, and that's because TMO was willing to give me a ridiculously generous offer to trade in a OnePlus 7t.
edit: another link -- https://www.androidpolice.com/pixel-t-mobile-update-delayed/
Nexus 5 had already quality issues. Pixels went downhill completely, while simultaneously bumping up the price.
With the Pixel updates, at least, the updates come through Google but the carrier (at least TMO) can prevent this from happening even if the phone is unrestricted.
Don't you think that three phones in six years is the issue?
I'm still on 2019 Galaxy S10, i.e. fourth year, single phone. The hardware is still in great condition, no malfunction of anything.
And by replaced it, I mean they sent a different phone that had lots of wear and she lost all her non-cloud data.
Something like this could have kept me on Android for a longer so I am thankful it did not show up until I had left Android behind.
After years of phones that became slow after a few weeks, having a phone that is still fast after 3-4 years is incredible.
One (P3) ended with me having it in the back pocket of my jeans and literally jumping in the backseat... yeah, not smart.
Another (P4a), I tried to open to swap a new battery in and it did not end well. I'd still happily be with the 4a if it was not for my dumb self. It's perfectly working and I use it to listen to some music while biking or at the gym. I just did not reattach the speaker cable.
Having said that, I'm still using my 4-year-old Pixel 4, and it's in great shape. I'll probably get a new phone this year since it's no longer receiving security updates. Which is stupid, because I'm otherwise perfectly happy with the phone. And hate that they get physically larger every year.
IIRC you can download the images from Google via web browser and flash manually, but not sure if you can still do that, and I've never tried it myself.
The reason is that it is much, much more compact and it's perfect to carry around when on the bike as it does not wedge into my quad when pedaling. And it's easier to hold with my gloves on. Well, it's living a second life full of music and OsmAnd maps.
With that being said i've only had questionable build quality on 2 occasions. The Huawei 6p which was covered under a recall, and the Panda Pixel 2XL where there was some lamination issues.
That being said, the build quality and materials (mostly) really stepped up initially in the Pixel 4, and then noticeably again in the P7. They are quite nice. I don't really find them lacking in quality, fit, or finish these days.
With Asahi Linux I'm now considering going back to all-Apple hardware after 12 years away.
I switched to Pixel 7 so that my partner can get the 4a 5G to replace their aging device. But this 7 is clearly heavier and while a good device, I just don't like it quite as much.
flashlight, overheating, extremely slippery which mandates a case, small chance of screen lines, no personal need for SD, weird camera choices e.g. focal length of telephoto, notification LED, waterproof but unusable in the rain, I think one vendor sells a screen protector that isn't total garbage, no personal need for Qi charging, basic photography mode has always been awful, antenna/battery/amp/side sense/night mode is nothing special, previous gen microphone config had echo and/or gain problems on Signal calls, and the list goes on and on...
Biggest selling point: photography, right? Sony continues to develop amazing hardware and then takes the most leisurely and conservative approach toward camera firmware/software. Both auto modes on an a6000 are head-and-shoulders above this year's Xperia auto mode, despite being nearly a decade older. The fanboys continue to defend manual mode photography as if every serious picture taker wants to dial in focus, white balance, shutter speed, etc. all on a touchscreen while their toddler hangs from a branch for his/her first time; as if every photo should go straight into Lightroom Mobile before getting sent to grandma or the friend group or onto social media.
Beyond that, the update schedule is suboptimal (Hello, Pro-I!?) and so fast-paced, you're always hoping the next generation or surprise mid-year model fixes most of the details you dislike.
The 5 V comes out and totally eliminates the telephoto which you loved and frequently used. Not only that, everyone compares it to the 5 IV (60 mm) when Gen. II had a 70 mm shooter and Gen. III had a 70--105 mm (which, as most non-prime lenses, was quite soft at the longer range). "You get literally the same detail because 52 MP!" Sure, dude. Now explain why every comparison review of the 5 V telephoto has significantly less detail than even a lowly 3x zoom, even factoring in how 1/9th of 52 is 5.8 MP? (Notebookcheck.net supposedly lets you downscale its comparisons to 2 MP and 4 MP, and the closest-to-Xperia-quality but still better shot belongs to the 3x Galaxy S23.)
You remember being disappointed when the 1 V bundle was WH-1000XM5 and you already owned well-worn WH-1000XM3s. You're even more disappointed when the new 5 bundles inferior cans rather than buds or something wired from Sony's Pro Audio division. The 5 price is always the same as the 1 price when the 5 drops in September, so you wonder why not get the 1, which is superior in nearly every way?
Oh, right, because you know it only gets one more OS upgrade (Material You: Yuck!) and you probably won't get whatever new APK comes standard in the next gen's Xperia 1, plus you've already missed your chance to order and resell the bundled headphones, so the now-300-off price of the 1 is just the same that you would've paid by selling the bundle plus a little depreciation.
Also, where the hell IS this Pro-I successor? Is _that_ going to have a real telephoto and less of Xperia 5's wacky design changes and 4 to 7 years of software support and a screen bright enough to use as a flashlight because, let's face it, Sony will close its mobile division before letting its users put more current through the rear LED. Plus, who knows, maybe next year they finally release crimson or that same sweet shade of orange that sits at the base of their true flagship full-frame mirrorless??
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Cost, within reason, is not an issue for me. I would get another Xperia---any model---if it ticked most boxes. My main reason for ignoring Sony as a serious contender? Sony continues to nerf two peripherals or APKs for every one feature they improve, and then I continue to wait for actual improvement while my Zenfone 8 and a6400 slowly age. Every few months, I wonder what phone I would get if I needed a replacement today, and Xperia drops further down the list.
I assume it's standardization that prevents any notable competitors to them from popping up. Since others can just sell tools/parts.
But the lack of security updates makes the XL and the 3XL, though still functioning as expected, not acceptable. This thing has far too much access to my life to actively use it on the Internet every day.
I'm getting the Pixel 8 not because the 6 Pro has any problems (personally I've had none), but rather because I have a bit more disposable income to spend on my tech enthusiasm and I'm excited about a phone with a 7 year software support window (with incidental coverage to support 5 years of accidental damage). If all goes well, I hope to take advantage of more than 3 years of that, assuming some insane new development doesn't happen in the interim.
My Pixel 3 stopped working because Google fucked up it's kernel boot and mechanical design. They placed a laser focus IC, that's a bare die mounted on a tiny FR4 shim to get it closer to the backpanel, on top of the main PCB. When this tiny laser focus IC inevitably breaks off or loses contact with the pads due to mechanical forces on the back panel, the Pixel 3 linux kernel ends up panicking during boot because the driver can't communicate with it.
I could see this because I had the bootloader unlocked before it bricked and could get the boot logs coming out. In fact it could boot into recovery just fine too but what a PITA to fix this at that point.
You can also just update the phone using the OTA Google provides on a page and ADB to side load it.
Yes you can still can. https://developers.google.com/android/ota#cheetah
In fact they even host all the images dating back to the Nexus lines still.
For my contribution to this anecdata the only Pixel phone I've had die is my Pixel 3 XL that started having weird charging issues and refuses to turn on and charge unless I let it completely passively drain then recharge it after that it only works for a bit, that happened after about 2 years maybe. Tried having it looked at by uBreakIFix and they had nothing. Other than that my Pixel 6 is doing great but I keep it in a case 99% of the time and don't abuse it.
I've been a long time Pixel user, and have had the Pixel, Pixel 4 XL, and currently have the Pixel 6 Pro.
On every device, there has been one or several glaring software bugs that haven't been fixed for months, or have required a really, really nasty workaround.
A good example was the bluetooth stack on the Pixel 4 XL. We got a security software update one day, applied it, and then found that the bluetooth connection to loads of devices was suddenly broken. Google took months to get the issue fixed, despite a few hundred pages of complaints on their forums. Instead someone (not from Google) worked out that if you went into developer mode, you could swap out the bluetooth stack for a previous version, and it might work again.
Is this sort of blasé approach to quality assurance and lack of urgency around fixing user reported bugs that really, really irritates me about Google's hardware devices.
The 6 Pro is an ok phone but also has it's problems (painfully slow and somewhat unreliable fingerprint unlock). I think I've had enough and I'll probably give a Samsung device a try.
Get a new phone every handful of years. Stop being surprised when old hardware starts to fail.