Re: Good? Bad? Something in between? How is the Pixel working out so far?
I received mine Friday night, and I'm extremely happy.
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Some background (skip this if you don't care) - I'm a long time Android guy, my first Android phones being the Droid Eris and Droid Incredible, followed by the Incredible 2, GSM Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 5, HTC M8 (flashed to GPE), and Note5 followed most recently by an iPhone 7 that I received on launch day.
The Nexus 4 and 5 were the highlights of my Android experience, even if the 4 lacked LTE and the 5 had poor battery and camera. Lollipop, however, really took me down a peg and seemed to push my Nexus 5 into a buggy and unstable mess. Background battery drain? Oh yeah.
I've been wanting Google to take the Android experience as seriously as Apple seems to for a while. I think they have, and for a 1.0 product supposedly designed and built in under a year? I'm amazed.
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I am in love with this device so far. The screen is much better than my Note5 screen, seriously the best I've seen or used. The performance is frankly on another level compared to any other Android device I've ever used - touch response hits it out of the park, no lag or stutters so far anywhere. Battery life has been easily 5 hours of SOT, it charges quickly, and doesn't really get hot or warm like I'm used to. Google Assistant isn't going to blow your mind if you're used to Now, other than the fact that it just seems so FAST.
I don't really care about MicroSD or front facing speakers, and waterproofing is simply a nice to have.
Rather than focus incessantly on what the Pixel is NOT, as most people do, I want to try to explain what the Pixel IS to me: a highly polished, optimized Android experience that we've all waited for. It's free of bloat, free of whizbang features most people would never use.
It has the best screen I've ever seen, with the best touch response I've ever experienced, a phenomenal camera, and a software experience that is what I've always loved about stock android - clean, minimalist, fast - with guaranteed security updates as soon as they're released.
The problem I think is some people, especially on this and similar forums, want features for their dollar - I don't really care about most added features, Pixel gives me what I care about - I prefer polish for my dollar and it's nigh impossible to talk to people about what the experience is actually like. How do you put into words what it's like to switch to an app you haven't run in hours upon hours and have it simply be there and ready for you rather than needing to relaunch? What it's like to scroll quickly and have the device actually keep up. Or what it's like to just fly around the UI doing whatever and simply having the device...do it, without friction?
I could use those words, I could say those things, but I can't give you that experience and I certainly can't make anyone VALUE that experience as I do above things like a MicroSD card or smaller bezel or whatever. I am going to say this - people that haven't used the Pixel are obviously judging it based only on the previous Android context - as if we're talking about a $900 6P vs an S7Edge. We're not. This doesn't feel to me like an iteration in the Nexus lineup with a pricetag. This feels like Google building hardware to suit the software and I believe that does a brilliant job. I have always felt Android devices lacked the integrated feel that iPhones have - that feeling that the hardware and software blurred somewhere and made for a consistent and reliable experience. I don't have that feeling right now.
The hardware of the Pixel isn't supermodel cover shoot sexy. Not at all. But it's attractive in the "welcome home, I made brownies" sense. It's comfortable, beautiful, and worth it in and of itself
Sorry for the rambling. I need coffee. Any specific questions just ask.
I received mine Friday night, and I'm extremely happy.
**********************
Some background (skip this if you don't care) - I'm a long time Android guy, my first Android phones being the Droid Eris and Droid Incredible, followed by the Incredible 2, GSM Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 5, HTC M8 (flashed to GPE), and Note5 followed most recently by an iPhone 7 that I received on launch day.
The Nexus 4 and 5 were the highlights of my Android experience, even if the 4 lacked LTE and the 5 had poor battery and camera. Lollipop, however, really took me down a peg and seemed to push my Nexus 5 into a buggy and unstable mess. Background battery drain? Oh yeah.
I've been wanting Google to take the Android experience as seriously as Apple seems to for a while. I think they have, and for a 1.0 product supposedly designed and built in under a year? I'm amazed.
**********************
I am in love with this device so far. The screen is much better than my Note5 screen, seriously the best I've seen or used. The performance is frankly on another level compared to any other Android device I've ever used - touch response hits it out of the park, no lag or stutters so far anywhere. Battery life has been easily 5 hours of SOT, it charges quickly, and doesn't really get hot or warm like I'm used to. Google Assistant isn't going to blow your mind if you're used to Now, other than the fact that it just seems so FAST.
I don't really care about MicroSD or front facing speakers, and waterproofing is simply a nice to have.
Rather than focus incessantly on what the Pixel is NOT, as most people do, I want to try to explain what the Pixel IS to me: a highly polished, optimized Android experience that we've all waited for. It's free of bloat, free of whizbang features most people would never use.
It has the best screen I've ever seen, with the best touch response I've ever experienced, a phenomenal camera, and a software experience that is what I've always loved about stock android - clean, minimalist, fast - with guaranteed security updates as soon as they're released.
The problem I think is some people, especially on this and similar forums, want features for their dollar - I don't really care about most added features, Pixel gives me what I care about - I prefer polish for my dollar and it's nigh impossible to talk to people about what the experience is actually like. How do you put into words what it's like to switch to an app you haven't run in hours upon hours and have it simply be there and ready for you rather than needing to relaunch? What it's like to scroll quickly and have the device actually keep up. Or what it's like to just fly around the UI doing whatever and simply having the device...do it, without friction?
I could use those words, I could say those things, but I can't give you that experience and I certainly can't make anyone VALUE that experience as I do above things like a MicroSD card or smaller bezel or whatever. I am going to say this - people that haven't used the Pixel are obviously judging it based only on the previous Android context - as if we're talking about a $900 6P vs an S7Edge. We're not. This doesn't feel to me like an iteration in the Nexus lineup with a pricetag. This feels like Google building hardware to suit the software and I believe that does a brilliant job. I have always felt Android devices lacked the integrated feel that iPhones have - that feeling that the hardware and software blurred somewhere and made for a consistent and reliable experience. I don't have that feeling right now.
The hardware of the Pixel isn't supermodel cover shoot sexy. Not at all. But it's attractive in the "welcome home, I made brownies" sense. It's comfortable, beautiful, and worth it in and of itself

Sorry for the rambling. I need coffee. Any specific questions just ask.