Pixel audio disappointment

[Gerald Downing]

I really loved the Nexus 6P's dual front facing speakers and for this new Pixel to totally drop that for a single bottom firing speaker seems is a major downgrade. That big bottom bezel has absolutely no justification for its existence without a front facing speaker on it. Down firing speakers are completely impractical for real world use. They get covered, muffled and are just simply pointing the wrong way. When gaming or interacting with your phone the phone is gonna have its speakers pointed at your face so having to pointed the bottom of your phone towards your ears or face is frankly ridiculous. Other than that the Pixel phones seem like pretty cool, powerful devices despite the steep price.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! I get what you're saying, but with any of my previous phones that had a speaker at the bottom, I never had any issues with being able to hear sounds. And if I want to listen to music or movie audio with any kind of quality, I'd much rather use headphones than rely on the phone's main speaker. That being said, after having my Nexus 6P for a while, I do agree that watching a YouTube video on other phones and only hearing sound from the right side of the phone does seem a bit jarring these days.

 

[EnemiesInTheEnd]

I really loved the Nexus 6P's dual front facing speakers and for this new Pixel to totally drop that for a single bottom firing speaker seems is a major downgrade. That big bottom bezel has absolutely no justification for its existence without a front facing speaker on it. Down firing speakers are completely impractical for real world use. They get covered, muffled and are just simply pointing the wrong way. When gaming or interacting with your phone the phone is gonna have its speakers pointed at your face so having to pointed the bottom of your phone towards your ears or face is frankly ridiculous. Other than that the Pixel phones seem like pretty cool, powerful devices despite the steep price.

It isn't empty space in the boring areas around the display. That extra bezel space could be used for a number of things.

 

[Nathan R]

I like front facing more than down facing speakers.

 

[MrSlippery519]

It isn't empty space in the boring areas around the display. That extra bezel space could be used for a number of things.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/57e9c5/breakdown_image_of_the_pixel/

Take a look, so yes its not like the bezels are just empty and Google wanted to **** everyone off lol.

I own a M9 and yes the speakers are great however I have seen plenty of phones with front facing speakers that suck and some that are good. Per usual it is best to reserve judgement until people have reviewed them, many people have posted on reddit claiming the speaker is actually quite good.

 

[BeekC]

I completely agree...if audio in any form is important you should run away from the Pixel. Between the Bluetooth that doesn't pair with a myriad of cars including recent Subaru Outbacks and the very poor quality speakers...mine have now gone completely silent - I have found almost no upside to this phone.

 

[reuben_skelz92]

I actually think the single speaker does a very good job and was slot better than I thought it would be. I've had a 6p and 10 and it didn't disappoint like j though it would

 

[18t]

I'm satisfied with the audio experience. I really don't need anything louder than this.

 

[Billy Bob Jimmy Joe]

I actually think the single speaker does a very good job and was slot better than I thought it would be. I've had a 6p and 10 and it didn't disappoint like j though it would

I agree. I think the single speaker on the Pixel sounds more clear than the 6P.

 

[Blumini06]

I think its plenty loud and gives you that transistor classic sound. Call me crazy but oh well.

 

[bhatech]

Could definitely be better like bunch of phones that have dual speakers and front firing. But for a single down facing speaker it does sound fine and loud compared to the same speaker arrangement from the Galaxy phones. But yeah front facing would have been great.

 

[Lobwedgephil]

Probably my biggest disappointment, second is wireless charging. Still love it though, and the sound is more then useable.

 

[1213 1213]

The axon 7 is basically the only phone this year worth considering that has front facing speakers.

 

[Rumblee1]

The axon 7 is basically the only phone this year worth considering that has front facing speakers.

You said it. Ive got a pixel, very dissapointed at everything especially the price. As soon as the ZTE axon 7 went on black friday deals at Newegg, I picked one up for 349.00 plus free headphones and coffeemaker. The axon7 beats the pixel at almost everything. Anyone want to buy a 2 month old pixel. Pristine condition. I went back to my S7 edge and axon7.