Please weigh in on your Pixel 2XL vs/and/or Note8 experience . . .

[revtech]

I know there are other places to get this input, but I am looking for fresh up to date perspectives. I have gone back and forth on these two devices 'at a distance' because of cost, but now my business account is offering the Note8 for 249 and the Pixel 2XL for 149. I know you can't make my decision for me, but sometimes I get myself tied in knots and it helps me sort out my own thoughts as I hear the opinions of others. Thank you!
(btw, I'm posting this in the Note8 forum as well to catch that crowd).

 

[Photo_Drew]

had a note for a work phone. much prefer the software experience of the pixel. both are fine devices though. sylus was nice but rarely used. both are excellent so it really boils down to user experience with the software. I've never been a fan of Samsung software. Google now launcher went right on my tab s2 first thing and now using Evie since it's close to stock experience.

 

[torbach1]

I loved my Note 8 and would still be using it, but it's battery life is terrible. Even the S9+ with 200mAH more isn't great. The Pixel 2 XL has much better battery life primarily due to standby time. So you won't see it beating the S9+ in YouTube drain the battery tests. But in the real world, you won't have to charge the XL during the day every day.

Later production models of the 2 XL don't have any major screen issues. And it's nice to have stock Android. Still, if the Note 9 has a 4,000 mAH battery, I may switch to that.

 

[GibMcFragger]

I had the Note 8, then the S9+. I prefer the Pixel XL in every way, with the exception of the display. Samsung nails that (except for the stupid curved edges).

 

[Mike Dee]

I loved my Note 8 and would still be using it, but it's battery life is terrible. Even the S9+ with 200mAH more isn't great. The Pixel 2 XL has much better battery life primarily due to standby time. So you won't see it beating the S9+ in YouTube drain the battery tests. But in the real world, you won't have to charge the XL during the day every day.

Later production models of the 2 XL don't have any major screen issues. And it's nice to have stock Android. Still, if the Note 9 has a 4,000 mAH battery, I may switch to that.

You're in denial....all Pixel 2XLs have screen issues.....execpt mine of course. I have a special one tuned by Barney Google himself.

 

[torbach1]

You're in denial....all Pixel 2XLs have screen issues.....execpt mine of course. I have a special one tuned by Barney Google himself.

Not sure if you're serious or joking, but no, that's not accurate. I had an early one and a Note 8 at the same time, and this was after Google introduced the Saturated screen mode. It was absolutely terrible. Now I have an April production unit and an S9+ at the same time. The difference is there, but very slight.

 

[Mike Dee]

Not sure if you're serious or joking, but no, that's not accurate. I had an early one and a Note 8 at the same time, and this was after Google introduced the Saturated screen mode. It was absolutely terrible. Now I have an April production unit and an S9+ at the same time. The difference is there, but very slight.

Reread it and let me know if I'm joking

 

[torbach1]

Reread it and let me know if I'm joking

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

Not sure if you're serious or joking, but no, that's not accurate. I had an early one and a Note 8 at the same time, and this was after Google introduced the Saturated screen mode. It was absolutely terrible. Now I have an April production unit and an S9+ at the same time. The difference is there, but very slight.

Lucky you. I have a Pixel 2 XL manufactured in October and yeah, the screen isn't very good when compared to the Note 8.

I had the Note 8 for a short stint. OP, I'd say they're two pretty different phones and you have to decide what you value more - form and function or software and stability. I'll explain what I mean.

Form and function is for the Note 8. Samsung make absolutely stunning devices. The Note 8 looks beautiful. The screen is gorgeous, best in class easily. Samsung make the best displays for mobiles right now and the Galaxy line really show them off. Great colours, excellent brightness levels, just all round great screens. The build and design of the Note 8 is also amazing. Small top and bottom bezels and the curved screen makes the screen bleed into the sides which leaves a large screen in a small phone footprint - a better screen to body ratio than the Pixel 2 XL. Plus the Note 8 has the works in terms of features - S-pen, a stack of S-pen related apps/functions, SD card slot, 3.5mm jack, headphones bundled with the phone, wireless charging, telephoto lens - the list goes on and on with features the phone has. Samsung really try to push that value for money prospect for customers as they throw in pretty much everything they can into the phone.

The negatives I would say (and these are subjective) is that Samsung's UI/software isn't to my liking. It looks weird, performance isn't always smooth and consistent and found myself just getting irritated by a collection of small things. The camera is good, but I wouldn't say is amazing. Bixby is pretty useless and after trying it a handful of times, I didn't touch it again. There are a lot of things the phone has which I personally don't find any use for. As amazing as the hardware is, I don't think the software is as amazing.

Software and stability for the the Pixel 2 XL on the other hand is a different beast. IMO the Pixel is all about its software. The UI and performance are excellent, very smooth, very consistent, even months down the track. Never had the phone lag or hang on anything, no matter what I'm doing. The software is minimal, so it doesn't have all the bells and whistles that the Note 8, but that also means it's very focused in what it does, and it does it well. Fast updates including monthly security updates, unlimited photo and video storage at original quality, and the camera which still impresses me months down the track. The camera and Google's algorithms for it just seem to nail shots every time.

The downsides (again subjective) is that the screen is way behind the Note 8. If the Note 8 has a 2017 screen, then it looks my Pixel 2 XL has a 2014 screen that Samsung used to make. I don't think the Pixel 2 XL is a very attractive device, it has a metal build but covered in a primer and paint so it feels like plastic (the coating also scratches and chips just like plastic as well) and the speakers aren't very good. They're positioned in the right spot, but other phones with 2 speakers (through ear piece and bottom firing) sound better to me. Basically its hardware is the downside for me.

So that's how I'd put it - form and function vs software and stability.

 

[TraderGary]

Lucky you. I have a Pixel 2 XL manufactured in October and yeah, the screen isn't very good when compared to the Note 8.

I had the Note 8 for a short stint. OP, I'd say they're two pretty different phones and you have to decide what you value more - form and function or software and stability. I'll explain what I mean.

Form and function is for the Note 8. Samsung make absolutely stunning devices. The Note 8 looks beautiful. The screen is gorgeous, best in class easily. Samsung make the best displays for mobiles right now and the Galaxy line really show them off. Great colours, excellent brightness levels, just all round great screens. The build and design of the Note 8 is also amazing. Small top and bottom bezels and the curved screen makes the screen bleed into the sides which leaves a large screen in a small phone footprint - a better screen to body ratio than the Pixel 2 XL. Plus the Note 8 has the works in terms of features - S-pen, a stack of S-pen related apps/functions, SD card slot, 3.5mm jack, headphones bundled with the phone, wireless charging, telephoto lens - the list goes on and on with features the phone has. Samsung really try to push that value for money prospect for customers as they throw in pretty much everything they can into the phone.

The negatives I would say (and these are subjective) is that Samsung's UI/software isn't to my liking. It looks weird, performance isn't always smooth and consistent and found myself just getting irritated by a collection of small things. The camera is good, but I wouldn't say is amazing. Bixby is pretty useless and after trying it a handful of times, I didn't touch it again. There are a lot of things the phone has which I personally don't find any use for. As amazing as the hardware is, I don't think the software is as amazing.

Software and stability for the the Pixel 2 XL on the other hand is a different beast. IMO the Pixel is all about its software. The UI and performance are excellent, very smooth, very consistent, even months down the track. Never had the phone lag or hang on anything, no matter what I'm doing. The software is minimal, so it doesn't have all the bells and whistles that the Note 8, but that also means it's very focused in what it does, and it does it well. Fast updates including monthly security updates, unlimited photo and video storage at original quality, and the camera which still impresses me months down the track. The camera and Google's algorithms for it just seem to nail shots every time.

The downsides (again subjective) is that the screen is way behind the Note 8. If the Note 8 has a 2017 screen, then it looks my Pixel 2 XL has a 2014 screen that Samsung used to make. I don't think the Pixel 2 XL is a very attractive device, it has a metal build but covered in a primer and paint so it feels like plastic (the coating also scratches and chips just like plastic as well) and the speakers aren't very good. They're positioned in the right spot, but other phones with 2 speakers (through ear piece and bottom firing) sound better to me. Basically its hardware is the downside for me.

So that's how I'd put it - form and function vs software and stability.

I agree with your assessment of the Pixel 2 camera and software.

I put my Pixel 2 XL in a Google Live case the moment I took it out of the box, so for me naked build quality and feel are irrelevant.

I'm a photographer and for photography work on my PC I use a high quality screen that is color calibrated with a Pantone X-rite calibrator. It is color accurate. When I compare a color accurate screen to a Samsung phone using the same photo, it is quite obvious that the Samsung is grossly oversaturated to the point of being cartoonish. The Pixel 2 screen isn't color accurate either, but it is significantly closer to actual real colors than the Samsung.

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

I agree with your assessment of the Pixel 2 camera and software.

I put my Pixel 2 XL in a Google Live case the moment I took it out of the box, so for me naked build quality and feel are irrelevant.

I'm a photographer and for photography work on my PC I use a high quality screen that is color calibrated with a Pantone X-rite calibrator. It is color accurate. When I compare a color accurate screen to a Samsung phone using the same photo, it is quite obvious that the Samsung is grossly oversaturated to the point of being cartoonish. The Pixel 2 screen isn't color accurate either, but it is significantly closer to actual real colors than the Samsung.

Very simple fix - go to the display settings on the Samsung phone and change the screen to whatever you want. They have a number of preset modes (including Adobe RBG) or you can manually tweak it if you want. Far more options than what you get on the Pixel 2 XL and being a better screen, the Note 8 looks gorgeous.

 

[TraderGary]

Very simple fix - go to the display settings on the Samsung phone and change the screen to whatever you want. They have a number of preset modes (including Adobe RNG) or you can manually tweak it if you want. Far more options than what you get on the Pixel 2 XL and being a better screen, the Note 8 looks gorgeous.

Sounds good! Are Samsung devices now getting timely security and OS updates? They used to always be several months behind.

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

Sounds good! Are Samsung devices now getting timely security and OS updates? They used to always be several months behind.

I don't believe so, though I haven't owned the Note 8 in months.

 

[anon(661246)]

you're paying a premium for a pixel phone when it's really a mid-range phone

 

[Mike Dee]

you're paying a premium for a pixel phone when it's really a mid-range phone

It's only money.....when I run out I just print more.

 

[TraderGary]

you're paying a premium for a pixel phone when it's really a mid-range phone

My opinion differs from yours. I paid a premium for my premium Pixel 2 XL and I'll soon again pay a premium for a premium Pixel 3 XL. As Mike Dee said, "It's only money", and it pleases me!

 

[FeinP1118]

AT&T Note 8 currently on May security and Android 8.00

 

[torbach1]

Sounds good! Are Samsung devices now getting timely security and OS updates? They used to always be several months behind.

I wouldn't say Samsung has sorted out their updates yet. The Note 8 is doing relatively well, with T-Mobile and AT&T variants both on May. The S9+ was just finally updated from either February or March to June yesterday. I'd like to see them get a regular cadence that is better than once a quarter. But if they continue with once a quarter, I feel it should be fine except in cases like Blueborne and the WPA2 vulnerabilities, where they really need to act more quickly.

 

[Morty2264]

Since I have a Pixel 2 device, I feel like I would be biased in saying that that would be my recommendation. I think it all boils down to this: which phone do you see yourself using long-term? Which one will you be happy to look at for two years; or however long you keep devices for?

Both phones are fantastic, and you've found them at exceptional deals; so price won't really be a deciding factor.

However, look at it this way: the Note 8 has a superb screen, excellent camera, a stylus, and, drum roll please, a headphone jack.

The Pixel 2 XL has a great form factor, an excellent camera, is pure stock Android (so no Samsung bloatware), and gets timely updates.

Which of those "benefits" relate to you most?

Let us know what you decide!

 

[revtech]

Thank you all for your input (up to this point). I haven't decided yet because I'm apparently in that space where I'm the only one who can decide and I am indecisive about what is most important to me.
I'm sure I'm not alone in this but my highest priorities are split, I want a high quality screen, which means Note, but some have said the pixel screen is good enough. And I value clean software (I'm used to Moto phones), which means Pixel, but many have said Samsung's features can be useful or disabled. My third priority is battery life, although that seems to be a push between these two. I also *think* I'd like the s-pen functionality, although many have said it was nice for a while but now they don't use it.
So there it is . . I was hoping there would be some 'silver bullet' input that made me say 'thats it', but what I probably need to do is just go down to a store and play around with them (I live pretty far away for any store like that), but what I hate about that is I can never get a good hand feel for the phone because of all the security cabling on them, and it's hard to get an idea of 'usage feel/flow' because it doesn't have my apps on it. . . Wow, reading back on this sounds like a mess and a lot of first world problems, eh?
tl:dr . . Thank you