Samsung S9 question for Pixel 2/2Xl owners

[Chex313]

Wow. You have no idea how much has changed.

I have not had a Samsung since the S2 and GN...Do they now do updates every month for security? No? Guess not much has changed...

 

[Coug]

My spouse wanted me to fix some things on her S8+ and it just reminded me why I stick with Pixels. I do not like Samsung's skin on top of android, and I am not a fan of bixby. The S9 will have better hardware than my 2XL, but the 3XL will have the same or better than the 9. I can wait the few months if I decide to trade in my 2XL.

 

[Mike Dee]

My spouse wanted me to fix some things on her S8+ and it just reminded me why I stick with Pixels. I do not like Samsung's skin on top of android, and I am not a fan of bixby. The S9 will have better hardware than my 2XL, but the 3XL will have the same or better than the 9. I can wait the few months if I decide to trade in my 2XL.

There is little reason to leave the Pixel 2 series even if there is better stuff out there. The Pixels just get it done. I will most likely get the next Pixel but not because I need it. I trade up or sell the 2XL to get the most I can towards the next generation.

 

[anon(5630457)]

Nope. If I were to get an Android phone, it'd be the Pixel devices. Samsung doesn't update their software enough. As someone who's always living in hotels during the field season, having the latest software and security updates is very important to me. Samsung dropped the ball on software updates long ago.

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

After seeing the reveal and a few hands-on impressions, the S9/S9+ look like nice devices, but not much of an upgrade over the S8/S8+ and definitely not enough to sway me away from the Pixel 2 XL.

Admittedly, the camera being able to change aperture does look pretty cool and I want to see how the photos turn out, but other than that, nothing really piques my interest.

Still, if you are into Samsung phones, definitely looks like the best yet and a good upgrade if you're on the S7 or older.

 

[chriskwarren]

Well the Pixel 2 XL's screen isn't the flattest. lol
My biggest gripe is lack of decent screen protectors

Ghost touches on the edges are not a problem on the 2XL though. Most people I know with the S7 Edge or S8 complain about it.

I'm using the Whitestone Dome...its excellent and worth it, IMO.

 

[LeoRex]

The S9/S9+ look like nice devices, but not much of an upgrade over the S8/S8+ .

Get used to that... The jumps from year to year will keep getting smaller. There's not a lot of rapid hardware advances.

The S9 will be a pretty good phone... They'll keep fixing their software, improve their camera, etc.. they are going to shift to multi-frame photo processing (which is what HDR+ has done for over 4 years now), but at that point, software is the most important aspect... I've never been sold on Samsung's software chops... They are like a chef that puts together the ingredients for the world's best cake, then decides to use salt instead of sugar.

 

[Golfdriver97]

The jumps from year to year will keep getting smaller. There's not a lot of rapid hardware advances.

I agree. This is true for everything computer related. Taking the Intel desktop line....there wasn't that much improvement after Skylake (Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake) it just isn't an incentive to upgrade. Very small jumps as we are rapidly approaching the limit to how small we can make a CPU. Ohm's law, as I recall?

 

[LeoRex]

. Ohm's law, as I recall?

Moore's Law... But you are right... They are approaching scales that will probably much stop advancement, at least with the current tech. 7nm is pretty much the smallest we'll get out of silicon... After that, electrons start to start doing some funky stuff... Some of the bits in these things are only 3 or 4 atoms thick.

But that's starts a WHOLE different conversation.

Long story short, there aren't too many gotcha features left. The upcoming phones might be awesome, but so are the phones from the fall... The S9's camera might be awesome, but that doesn't make the Pixel 2's worse.

It's diminishing returns.

 

[pseudoware]

I came from an S8 when I got my
It was my first Samsung since the S3. No desire to go back anytime soon. Maybe when the S13 comes out.

 

[Orion78]

There is little reason to leave the Pixel 2 series even if there is better stuff out there. The Pixels just get it done. I will most likely get the next Pixel but not because I need it. I trade up or sell the 2XL to get the most I can towards the next generation.

Exactly what I'm going to do.

 

[jimbo1mcm]

I had an original Pixel and sold it to get a Galaxy S8, a great phone. The S9 will be similar to the S8 with a great camera. I gave the S8 to my wife for the Pixel 2 and don't miss it at all. I put a very slim case on it and a wireless receiver, so I never have to plug it in. I will get the next generation of Pixel 2.

 

[psteve2005]

I like the idea of an S9 but it won't drag me from my Pixel 2. I too would like the regular Pixel 3 to have a similar screen to body ratio of the regular S9, along with wireless charging, and I'd keep that for 2 years instead of changing every nine months. Of course there's no such thing as a perfect phone so I'm bound to be disappointed in some way!

 

[psteve2005]

I had an original Pixel and sold it to get a Galaxy S8, a great phone. The S9 will be similar to the S8 with a great camera. I gave the S8 to my wife for the Pixel 2 and don't miss it at all. I put a very slim case on it and a wireless receiver, so I never have to plug it in. I will get the next generation of Pixel 2.

Ahh! Can you recommend your wireless charging receiver/case combo? Is it for the regular Pixel 2? Have you got any links? I'd love that for mine.

 

[Tomster88]

Now, I know that I'm asking this question in the Pixel 2 forum. I'm the proud owner of the Pixel 2Xl . I really like this phone. It does everything smoothly and just works. I feel the camera is great as well. However, there have been a couple of times were the camera has disappointed me. They we're mostly incidents when I was in a semi-lite to dark club. My wife owns an iPhone 7 and always uses my phone for photos when we are out.

I always buy a new phone 1-2 times a year. She never likes when I do that but she said to me that I should go back to Samsung. I switched from the S8+ to the Pixel 2 XL. I switched for constant updates.

However, I would not mind a smaller phone with similar screen real estate like the XL. I had wished the smaller pixel was more screen than bezel. I tried that for the two weeks and returned it to keep the XL.

The S9 will come with possibly 6gb of ram and a camera that will offer some great features. I going to try it when it's released and make a decision before the return period.

Is anyone else interested in what Samsung is setting up to release. Please keep the touch whiz talk to a minimum.

My first Android phones were Samsung phones. This was back Around the Galaxy S4. Once I experienced pure Android it was a whole different world. The phones are so buttery smooth and I like that we get updates right away. However, after watching some videos of the S9, it looks really really nice! I'm not sure I could give up updates and pure Android, but if any phone could persuade me, I think it would be the S9.

 

[Guyinbox]

I'm passing my 2xl to my wife so i can try the s9+. I'm almost positive I'll like the 2xl better. It's the best phone I've ever had by a pretty good margin now. The only reason I'm upgrading is i got the s9+ for $499 with my wife's student discount and trading in an s7 edge.

When the pixel 3 comes out, I'll trade in the s9 and hopefully take advantage of TMobile's pixel offer to get the 3xl for next to nothing.

 

[EMGSM]

Like others, the S9 is not enough to get me away from the 2XL. I still can't get over the 2XL's camera. IMO it's better than my Note 8 and even my old 7 Plus (which showed a lot of detail). I'll wait to see what the Note 9 has to offer. If it's just like an S9 with a S-Pen then I'll wait for the 3XL.

 

[Ziich47]

I think Samsung has the best hardware out there in regards to phones period. But personally I will be sticking to my pixel and iPhone. At least I know I won’t have to buy a new phone to get a software update

 

[LeoRex]

We're past the point where the next generation hardware is miles better than the previous. Even budget phones are powerful enough for all but the most processor intensive tasks. Performance and efficiency gains are now incremental, things are only getting a tiny bit better over year to the next.

So, at least from my perspective, it's about software and post-sale support. The former has never been Samsung's strong point.. And the latter? You'll be fine until the next generation drops then they kind see you as a liability... They make money off selling phones, not supporting them.

I've been a Nexus/Pixel owner since the Nexus 5... But I foolishly tried chasing the dragons tail with my wife's phone when it was time to upgrade HER Nexus 5... Bouncing between LG's and Samsung's, which forced me to trade them in for a new model because I knew that I'd whatever problem she had - and she had many - weren't fixed shortly after launch, they'd never get fixed. My wife is now a happy and satisfied owner of first gen XL, the first phone that she hasn't hated since that Nexus... And when it comes time to replace that one, it'll have a big ol G on it. Did the fool me twice (it was more like 5 times)... All set with that.

 

[MooMooPrincess]

We're past the point where the next generation hardware is miles better than the previous. Even budget phones are powerful enough for all but the most processor intensive tasks. Performance and efficiency gains are now incremental, things are only getting a tiny bit better over year to the next.

So, at least from my perspective, it's about software and post-sale support. The former has never been Samsung's strong point.. And the latter? You'll be fine until the next generation drops then they kind see you as a liability... They make money off selling phones, not supporting them.

I've been a Nexus/Pixel owner since the Nexus 5... But I foolishly tried chasing the dragons tail with my wife's phone when it was time to upgrade HER Nexus 5... Bouncing between LG's and Samsung's, which forced me to trade them in for a new model because I knew that I'd whatever problem she had - and she had many - weren't fixed shortly after launch, they'd never get fixed. My wife is now a happy and satisfied owner of first gen XL, the first phone that she hasn't hated since that Nexus... And when it comes time to replace that one, it'll have a big ol G on it. Did the fool me twice (it was more like 5 times)... All set with that.

What sucks even more is that once again the snapdragon variants will not be able to take advantage of project treble. Which is dumb so with pixel I stay