Previously on Lemmy:

Past Discussions:

Sorry for the delay for the weekly. Server’s not that stable right now, maybe we should start the thread on Sundays instead.

I always like to switch things up once in a while because it’s fun. So, let’s get back to the brand discussion this week for the Google Pixel. We’ll do a discussion on repairability next week. Again, ideas are always welcome here.

I’ve never used a Pixel, but people around here should know that I’ve been very critical of Google’s product decisions over the years, and the Pixel is no exception. In my point of view, discontinuing the Nexus series, buying out the talents from the remains of HTC and starting an official “made by Google” phone is the equivalent of reddit buying out Alien Blue to make the official reddit app. I think it’s the event that scared big Android manufacturers like Samsung enough to start making their own ecosystem away from Google, as they are concerned that Google may start locking software features to their own phones instead of improving Android overall (rightfully so, I might add).

It really makes no business sense at all to turn your manufacturing partners into your competitors, but then again, it’s Google.

With that being said, the first years of the Pixels has been marred with growing pains. Whereas the Nexus line has always been barebones, no frills development devices, it seemed to me that the people who made Pixels don’t even use Android and are insistent on turning Pixel into iPhones, removing the headphone jack on the Pixel 2 despite the antagonistic ad from the original Pixel, Pixel exclusive software features like Google camera that necessitating the need of rom mods, as well as the quality issues that seems to be inherited from the Nexus days just really soured me from considering Pixels, as I think it’s against the spirit of openness that made Android great.

But it seems like in recent years, they finally figured out that a large percentage of people who bought Androids not because they can’t afford iPhones, but because they like Android, and I see the introduction of the “a” series as progress. The recent Pixel ad campaign also made me think that they finally figuring it out: people want different things, trying to turn Android into worse versions of iPhones was not going to work, so they should be trying to make the best Android for Android users instead.

(It’s also the reason I think all the previous reddit clones failed, but Lemmy will be the one that finally succeeds.)

  • @bigschnitzEnglish
    3•1 year ago

    They used to be fantastic, but for various reasons Google have been reducing the quality of their products for some time.

    The android 12 update really hurt the UI/UX by limiting customization, adding big obnoxious qs tiles that obstruct notifications for no reason (that I am constantly activating by accident), removing the wifi toggle and wasting home screen real estate with an ‘at a glance’ widget that isn’t useful (it’s like a wish.com version of Google now), you need a custom default program manager to let it open search results in browser without pushing shit apps (like reddit official). Also wasn’t the point of pure android to avoid bloatware? Why am I carrying google TV, YouTube, wallet, Google money, fit, Google one, gpay, spy assistant, lens, meet etc?

    As bad as the recent software direction is, the hardware is worse. My pixel 7 pro new has worse battery life than my pixel 5 had after 2 years of constant use, it overheats and throttles doing basic tasks (like maps), the glass back is among the most slippery things I’ve ever touched, the curved screen has an infuriating glare persistent no matter how you hold it, the fingerprint sensor is unreliable and in an awkward place, there’s no capacitive gesture to drop notifications shade and “double tap” gesture meant to replace it flat out doesn’t work. The charging is super slow, the curved screen follows the curved screen trend of breaking easily, all phones in the current line up are too large to use comfortably with one hand, they deleted the headphone jack to sell shit earbuds (yes that was ages ago but it’s still stupid).

    All in, I’d trade my pixel 7 pro in for a gen 5 model or earlier in a heartbeat. Been a long time Google/nexus user but however good the old phones were, my next phone won’t have a tensor!