Finally decided to post my thoughts on the Pixel XL. I'm coming from a Note 4 which has served me well and still love it (and BlackBerry before that - I'm an ambassador over at CB, but I guess that needs to change now lol) , but it's two years old, and being on my second replacement because of constant reboots, I knew I needed to change. So to my surprise, my hubby got me a Pixel XL for Xmas. It was one I was seriously considering (along with the V20) but had my doubts because of all that I have read here on the forums ( I read and research a lot, lol). I also thought I would miss all the fancy Samsung features.
At any rate, after using it now for a couple of weeks, I can say that I have not experienced any of the issues mentioned here, it is fast, and everything is working as should be.
What I love:
Response, smoothness
Battery life!!!! Again was worried about no removable battery but it seems I won't need to be switching batteries...I hardly ever get it to go below 30-40% by the end of the day. Sometimes I'm at 60 when I go to bed (note I'm not a heavy user but still - my Note would have been down to the 20's or needed to be charged at least once during the day)
Camera (especially night shots - my Note 4 never took pictures at night this well)
Google Photos unlimited storage (although I haven't figured out how to check if they are indeed getting stored at 0mb). This is key since no SD card but I do have the 128mb so I should be ok
No ATT crap - so so awesome! I get LTE mostly everywhere I go, and at home I have a microcell which connected right away. Was also worried about the bluetooth issues, but so far so good...even my fitbit blaze syncs! I have an older car with no bluetooth connectivity so I can't comment on that (yeah I really need to get new wheels lol)
Size - it's narrower and lighter than my Note 4 and I'm really liking it - thought I would miss the 5.7 screen, but 5.5 is not bad ha.
I'm actually loving the back fp scanner! It is fast and I find it easier to use than having it on the front for me - really like the scrolling effect it has for the notification shade.
Fast updates. OMG with Samsung and ATT I had to wait forever - My Note had just gotten MM this past fall lol.
Raise and double tap to wake. Love it.
Things I do miss - a little
Custom fonts (although MM and Samsung took that away, I still was able to keep mine since I updated to MM OTA) I could root my Pixel but I never have rooted and am quite leary at doing so
I do miss the Spen. Didn't use it often, but when I did it was very cool and handy
Sound profiles and quick changing them in notification shade - but I'm using do not disturb and it's ok I guess
The LED for notifications is kind of dim
Chargers and cables. This I'm so confused on - there aren't many options and I have read and looked at the Nathan and Benson spreadsheets - good god. All I want is another charger for upstairs at home, and a car charger if I ever need it. I'm afraid now to buy any from looking at all those results from them.
I'm assuming I can use the USB to USB C cable that came with the phone to connect my phone to my laptop?
Yeah I do wish the chin was smaller, but eh, I'm getting used to it and those damn on screen nav buttons...
That's it for now. Thanks for reading. Just wanted to post a positive experience from a former Samsung user (doesn't mean I won't be seriously coveting the Note 8 when it comes lol)
At any rate, after using it now for a couple of weeks, I can say that I have not experienced any of the issues mentioned here, it is fast, and everything is working as should be.
What I love:
Response, smoothness
Battery life!!!! Again was worried about no removable battery but it seems I won't need to be switching batteries...I hardly ever get it to go below 30-40% by the end of the day. Sometimes I'm at 60 when I go to bed (note I'm not a heavy user but still - my Note would have been down to the 20's or needed to be charged at least once during the day)
Camera (especially night shots - my Note 4 never took pictures at night this well)
Google Photos unlimited storage (although I haven't figured out how to check if they are indeed getting stored at 0mb). This is key since no SD card but I do have the 128mb so I should be ok
No ATT crap - so so awesome! I get LTE mostly everywhere I go, and at home I have a microcell which connected right away. Was also worried about the bluetooth issues, but so far so good...even my fitbit blaze syncs! I have an older car with no bluetooth connectivity so I can't comment on that (yeah I really need to get new wheels lol)
Size - it's narrower and lighter than my Note 4 and I'm really liking it - thought I would miss the 5.7 screen, but 5.5 is not bad ha.
I'm actually loving the back fp scanner! It is fast and I find it easier to use than having it on the front for me - really like the scrolling effect it has for the notification shade.
Fast updates. OMG with Samsung and ATT I had to wait forever - My Note had just gotten MM this past fall lol.
Raise and double tap to wake. Love it.
Things I do miss - a little
Custom fonts (although MM and Samsung took that away, I still was able to keep mine since I updated to MM OTA) I could root my Pixel but I never have rooted and am quite leary at doing so
I do miss the Spen. Didn't use it often, but when I did it was very cool and handy
Sound profiles and quick changing them in notification shade - but I'm using do not disturb and it's ok I guess
The LED for notifications is kind of dim
Chargers and cables. This I'm so confused on - there aren't many options and I have read and looked at the Nathan and Benson spreadsheets - good god. All I want is another charger for upstairs at home, and a car charger if I ever need it. I'm afraid now to buy any from looking at all those results from them.
I'm assuming I can use the USB to USB C cable that came with the phone to connect my phone to my laptop?
Yeah I do wish the chin was smaller, but eh, I'm getting used to it and those damn on screen nav buttons...
That's it for now. Thanks for reading. Just wanted to post a positive experience from a former Samsung user (doesn't mean I won't be seriously coveting the Note 8 when it comes lol)
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram