Verizon Pixel XL2 or S9 Plus

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

Yes, I would pass on the S9+ and keep my GP 2 XL. I was only pining for the slightly narrow width of the S9+.

Roger that, I wasn't sure if I was misunderstanding what you were saying.

 

[skippa2011]

Do Pixel or Galaxy have longer Android upgrade support?

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

Do Pixel or Galaxy have longer Android upgrade support?

Pixel does in general and in this case. Pixel 2 guarantees 3 years of software updates and 3 years of security updates. The Pixel 2 XL started on O, will receive P, Q and possibly R (TBD). The Galaxy S9 starts on O, will receive P, will possibly (probably IMO based on their track record) receive Q but will almost definitely not receive R.

 

[EPIC_VIC_951]

I'm honestly going to the S9+. Although the Pixel 2 has a great camera, The S9+ has the better display, kept the headphone jack, not only kept but upgraded the micro sd card slot capabilities, and the camera will still be exceptional. Plus, (I'm going to get hate for this) I don't enjoy stock android as much. I am much more familiar with Touch Wiz. Especially since how refined it has been for the past years, it is more appealing to me than stock android. Also, I am a Samsung Fanboy, but with awareness.

 

[akii_naik]

S9 is better version of camera

 

[Aju1]

S9 or XL 2 which one camera is better

 

[rushmore]

Pixel advantages

Updates

Tad smoother?


S9+ advantages

Camera

Display

Form factor

Speakers sound better

SD slot

3.5mm jack

Seems the Pixel's main thing is updates, but seems Android has evolved so well that newer iterations are hitting a diminished return curve for noticeable improvements. Only update junkies seem applicable now.

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

S9 or XL 2 which one camera is better

Depends on what your needs are. If you are trying to zoom on most of your photos, S9+. Otherwise, Pixel 2 XL.

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

Pixel advantages

Updates

Tad smoother?


S9+ advantages

Camera

Display

Form factor

Speakers sound better

SD slot

3.5mm jack

Seems the Pixel's main thing is updates, but seems Android has evolved so well that newer iterations are hitting a diminished return curve for noticeable improvements. Only update junkies seem applicable now.

I'd do it like this

Pixel 2 Advantages:
Updates
Security
Better software
Camera (everything except zoom)
Form factor (no edge display, slightly wider and normal 2:1 aspect ratio)
Build materials (alum less fragile)
Storage (128 GB option)
Day to day performance
Less bloatware
Better charging solution (Samsung is still using QuickCharge 2.0)
Dual front facing speakers

S9+ Advantages:
Newer SoC
Display might be better (Sorta TBD, waiting on measurements, but the general consensus, even if incorrect, will be that it is better)
Audio - higher end speakers
Samsung Pay
Camera (only for zoom)
More and better accessories available
Easier to buy, probably won't run out of stock every 15 minutes
Available in more markets
MicroSD card slot (I consider this a con because of security concerns it introduces and how broken SD card support is in Android still, but many people consider it a pro - so it's a pro)

Neutral or TBD:
Build quality
Battery Life

To me, lots of pros and cons to both but overall, for me anyways, the pros of the P2XL far outweigh the pros of the S9+.

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

I'm honestly going to the S9+. Although the Pixel 2 has a great camera, The S9+ has the better display, kept the headphone jack, not only kept but upgraded the micro sd card slot capabilities, and the camera will still be exceptional. Plus, (I'm going to get hate for this) I don't enjoy stock android as much. I am much more familiar with Touch Wiz. Especially since how refined it has been for the past years, it is more appealing to me than stock android. Also, I am a Samsung Fanboy, but with awareness.

I think it'd be ridiculous for you to get hate for that. You like what you like and you're supposed to buy what you like and then hopefully love what you bought.

 

[bluegreen1965]

As always the lack of Samsung updates (non-security) is a deal breaker for me.

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

As always the lack of Samsung updates (non-security) is a deal breaker for me.

That's a hard one for me to get over as well, but I think the vast majority of the market doesn't care yet.

 

[ThrottleJohnny]

Is there really a “best” between these two phones? I say no. Each one is a beast in its own way so it comes down to what you value most. I love when people say one or the other is the “best” as if they’ve stated a fact. You’ve just given your opinion, that’s it.

Input on what you value is great. Big, bold statements of fact is just you being a fanboy. And there’s nothing wrong with being a fanboy, just state that up front

 

[doggy2965]

S8 is still on 7.0 and Google just announced beta for 9.0. that is tragic

 

[Michaelw81]

I'm confused about the whole updates thing? Do these updates to Google hardware make that much difference to the day to day use of the phone? I have an S7, and I don't really care about the lack of updates I've had. I can still do everything I would do on a Google phone, that affects 99.9% of my life?

 

[Michaelw81]

The amoled screen is a much bigger draw for me on a Samsung phone, as that is what I will predominantly using the phone for and the difference in the 2 cameras are minimal for the standard user. Everyone needs to relax a bit. Work out which phone suits you more. There is no better or worse out of the 2, it's all about preference

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

I'm confused about the whole updates thing? Do these updates to Google hardware make that much difference to the day to day use of the phone? I have an S7, and I don't really care about the lack of updates I've had. I can still do everything I would do on a Google phone, that affects 99.9% of my life?

Sounds like they definitely don't matter to you. I think the majority of consumers would agree with that too.

 

[Michaelw81]

Sorry for my ignorance, as it's not something that I've really looked into. I'd love someone to give me a little heads up, the reason why it's a big deal?

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

Sorry for my ignorance, as it's not something that I've really looked into. I'd love someone to give me a little heads up, the reason why it's a big deal?

An important point about updates that's been made a few times over the years: Samsung isn't selling you the Galaxy S7 with a grand vision of how awesome it's going to be when it gets updated to Oreo two years later. They're selling it to you in the hopes that you love what they did with the software as it was when you opened the box.

Well there are three kinds of updates: 1) Major OS updates, like going from Nougat to Oreo 2) Incremental OS updates like going from 7.0 to 7.1 and 3) Security updates. Samsung does 1 and 3, just slowly though on 3 they are still better than most OEM's out there. On type 2 they typically ignore those entirely. 1 and 3 are definitely the most important, with I think most of us in the forums leaning towards 3 as more important than 1.

Type 1 updates are generally bringing new features - however, with Samsung, these can sometimes be features they already had, just with a different implementation that serves only Samsung devices, while the new updates typically does it in a way to get it to all kinds of devices. An example is mutli-window. With the Samsung version, it was kinda jenky and only worked on certain apps, but they had it two years before the rest of Android got it - but now that Android has it, it actually works better and for more apps. As an example of this, Oreo was released last summer and many 2017 Samsung phones still do not have it.
Type 2 updates are generally bringing polish to the major update and lately, for the last couple of years, there has only been one of these updates and it usually follows the Type 1 by only a few months. Call it a finishing update. 8.1 was released 3 months ago and so far Samsung has put it on zero devices, including the S9.
Type 3 updates are monthly security updates, which Google provides the code to the OEM for about a month prior to their release schedule, and then the OEM pushes the update out. That's the one that people tend to get grumpy about. As an example of the issue here, some Samsung devices are on the February update right now, some are on December. March was released yesterday and is already available to all Pixel devices (this year's and last) as well as the last generation of Nexus devices from 2015. So best case scenario, right now, all Samsung phones are at least one month behind.

The bigger question is... should any of this matter at all, if users don't care? Most users don't - if they did, Samsung would change their priorities. But updates are not selling phones in any sort of significant volume. For some users this is a dealbreaker, for others it's the last thing on their mind. Similar to how not having an SD card slot is a dealbreaker for some users, while others don't care in any way whatsoever. Just treat it like another feature IMO, it's either important to you or it isn't.

 

[EPIC_VIC_951]

How do I delete this? XD #2