I've been an iPhone user for several years now, since switching to an iPhone after a bad experience with a Motorola phone. Now I'm very impressed with the reviews of the Pixel 2. I use Google for email, calendar, contacts, etc., so it would make sense to switch to an Android. Is it accurate that the Pixel 2 will get the newest software updates as soon as they are released? The lack of timely software updates has been one of the things keeping me from going back to Android. I also have two beautiful grandkids, so having a good camera phone handy is a great thing. I don't see a camera phone on the market that has better specs than the Pixel 2. Any comments?
Considering a Switch from iPhone 5s to Pixel 2/Software Updates?
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bobster922
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I recently switched from an iPhone 7 to a Pixel 2 XL and honestly, all of your concerns I had as well... Including a bad experience with a Moto phone. But the Pixel line of devices are Google's first party products. They get software updates pushed directly from Google, day one, and as of this week, Google pushed a software update to the camera app that enables the secondary processor in these new Pixel phones to render HDR+ images instantly as you take pictures. Aka the camera is unbelievable and point-and-shoot performance is top notch.
If you can take advantage of any of the promotions going on right now for the Pixel phones I'd recommend them highly.
Cheers
The only promotions of which I'm aware are ones through Verizon. As I have AT&T as a carrier, they wouldn't apply to me. Are there others?
bobster922
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Bestbuy is offering $400 off promo and Google store is giving $100 Google store credit for purchasing the phone
I can find a much lower price on the Google Pixel, since it's not the latest generation. Is there much difference in the overall performance, the battery life and the camera? I also understand it has the latest software updates pushed to it as well.
Rukbat
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- Feb 12, 2012
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As far as the camera, every reviewer who knows his/her stuff is now comparing phones to the Pixel 2. 2XL. I did a 10 second time exposure in a dark room - the picture looks like the lights were on. I'm 75, so you know my hands aren't rock-steady. No shake or blur visible. I'd say it's the camera to beat. Even if they're young ones, holding the camera button down will give you 10 shots/second - enough to capture the one moment you really wanted.
Updates? Will they be timely? They have been timely, and will continue to be not for 2 years, as with most manufacturers, but for 3. February 5th is the update release date (even if it's a minor little fix) and I see many people running the update on the 5th - same day service.
I've been through a lot of phones, and the Pixel 2 is my favorite so far (and that goes back to the days when you dialed the number by hand, because there was no place to store numbers in a cellphone). I'll probably get a new one in 5 or 6 years if I'm still alive - also whatever Google has out at the time.
No comment about iPhones (because of my personal issues with Apple), but for my money (and it is a bit of money), you can't beat the 2. (The 2 XL seems to have screen burn-in issues, so I went with the 128GB 2.)
Updates? Will they be timely? They have been timely, and will continue to be not for 2 years, as with most manufacturers, but for 3. February 5th is the update release date (even if it's a minor little fix) and I see many people running the update on the 5th - same day service.
I've been through a lot of phones, and the Pixel 2 is my favorite so far (and that goes back to the days when you dialed the number by hand, because there was no place to store numbers in a cellphone). I'll probably get a new one in 5 or 6 years if I'm still alive - also whatever Google has out at the time.
No comment about iPhones (because of my personal issues with Apple), but for my money (and it is a bit of money), you can't beat the 2. (The 2 XL seems to have screen burn-in issues, so I went with the 128GB 2.)
Vega007
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Mike Dee
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And here I thought I was oldest guy on the team and was surrounded by young whippersnappers.
Rukbat
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You are - except for me 
Who says that the old guys who developed the first portable phones (and I was doing that in the 60s for Chromalloy, not that anyone would remember them as an electronics company now) don't know anything about cellphones? (And I've been told that I can't know anything about them so many times I lost count years ago).
Who says that the old guys who developed the first portable phones (and I was doing that in the 60s for Chromalloy, not that anyone would remember them as an electronics company now) don't know anything about cellphones? (And I've been told that I can't know anything about them so many times I lost count years ago).
Mike Dee
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You are - except for me
BTW....I once called one of the young engineers on my team at work a whippersnapper....and he looked at me and said "what's a whippersnapper?"
I told him to Google it. .lol
Rukbat
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Careful, I'm old. I could have a heart attack from reading something that funny. "What's irony?" "Google it." (I used to work with engineers under me - now I "work" with Android Central in front of me. Retirement is nice, but it can get boring.)
I Can Be Your Hero
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If fast software updates are important to you (and by reading your post, it does seem like it's very important), then honestly, the only choice is the Google Pixel line of phones.
You will get updates faster than any other android phone, within a week or two after it's released.
No other android phone manufacturer can match Google with timely software and security updates. So it's very reassuring to know that you're always on the latest software and security patches. Google have guaranteed 3 years of software updates for the Pixel 2. Other phones, you'll be lucky to get one update in two years. For example, the Galaxy S8/8+ and Note 8, Samsung's 2017 flagships still don't have the 2017 android release which came out in August. They might it it this year some time, but forget about them getting the 2018 android release. I wouldn't bet on it.
So yeah, for software updates, Pixel really is the only choice.
You will get updates faster than any other android phone, within a week or two after it's released.
No other android phone manufacturer can match Google with timely software and security updates. So it's very reassuring to know that you're always on the latest software and security patches. Google have guaranteed 3 years of software updates for the Pixel 2. Other phones, you'll be lucky to get one update in two years. For example, the Galaxy S8/8+ and Note 8, Samsung's 2017 flagships still don't have the 2017 android release which came out in August. They might it it this year some time, but forget about them getting the 2018 android release. I wouldn't bet on it.
So yeah, for software updates, Pixel really is the only choice.
TraderGary
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- Apr 12, 2012
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And if you don't want to wait the normal week or two for staged updates, you can get your updates immediately by clicking on "Check for update".
Pixel 2 is far superior to the original Pixel. I know because I had/have both. The Pixel 2 is a fantastic all around device.
The "fast updates" for the Pixels are subjective. They are THE FIRST devices to get OS releases, so they often are the benchmark for others getting the update. That's not to say the final Android code wasn't committed in AOSP a month before the Pixel received the update. Some devices received an update yesterday, dated "March 1, 2018" in the security patch field, the Pixel devices were NOT those and that's not to say that was actually the final March update (Google released several in November, before the Nexus devices had their final November 6, 2017, patch level - https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...es-krack-slaps-band-aid-on-pixel-2-xl-screen/).
Bottom line - if you want OS updates, for 3 years and first in line to get them, get a Pixel 2 or 2 XL
Bottom line - if you want OS updates, for 3 years and first in line to get them, get a Pixel 2 or 2 XL
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