Phone (for) a friend

[Pickle528]

I have a friend with a first gen Google Pixel, the battery doesn't last and the speakers are all crudded up, etc. I'm going to get a group of friends to pay for a new phone for his birthday, and I found some super good condition phones on eBay that I want to ask about. One is a Motorola G7 and one is a Google Pixel 2, both in very good condition and cheap. (click the links). What is a better pick and why? TIA.

 

[Rukbat]

My personal choice would be the Pixel 2.

Why? First, he's familiar with the Pixel line, so it will feel like just a better version of what he has. The updates (if he wants to download them instead of waiting for them) are in the same place, just a little higher up on the page. And it's a good phone. (If he does any kind of photography, everyone is comparing their cameras to the Pixel 3, and the 3's camera app has been ported to the 2. The 2 has the Visual Core, so almost-no-light photography is there, portrait mode is there, HDR+ is there - it's just a better OP [Original Pixel].)

And Google support makes someone who used to run customer service operations jealous - they're better than good. Lenovo? I have no idea, but most Chinese companies leave at least a little to be desired. (If the 4 offered anything interesting, I'd upgrade - that's how impressed I am with Google.)

 

[B. Diddy]

Be cautious, though -- the smaller Pixel 2's battery is generally mediocre as well, and since this one is used, it's hard to know how the current owner has treated it. If he or she routinely let it drop to zero or near-zero, that can significantly shorten a battery's lifespan.

Is the Pixel 3a an option?

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

With B Daddy's warnings in mind, the pixel 2 is a better phone than the G7. It is an older flagship phone so it has better components. In addition you get security updates for another 2 years at least and the phone will update to Android R and possibly S.

I am using a 2XL and I even replaced mine with a different version of the same phone because I Iove it so much and my son wants my black one.

 

[B. Diddy]

Don't forget about the unlimited Original Quality photo backups to Google Photos for the Pixel 2 (until January 2021)!