I returned the Pixel 7, some thoughts why

[Jx J]

Getting back on topic, I returned my Pixel 7 purely due to the fingerprint sensor not functioning reliably.

After thinking about it, my replacement is......... a Pixel 7.

Reasons:
1 There are some cases of people reporting improved fingerprint sensor performance after swapping the phone. So there MAY be some variability in the product affecting performance.

2 The only alternative phone that I like costs about £300 more.

3 If my second Pixel doesn't work properly, I can send that back within the first 30 days too.
Most of the settings and apps copy across from my old phone easily, so there isn't that much time wasted.

I shall update on performance of the new phone, after testing.

 

[Joshua Luther1]

I'm on my second 7 Pro due to the screen going green. If this one goes bad I'll be sending it back too. I had considered trading it in for an S23 ultra but there's a good reason why I switched from Samsung to the Pixel. It's just such a smooth phone and I love the Pixel features on it. Talk to text is so much more accurate than on a Samsung phone.

 

[Morty2264]

Phones used to have all these as standard - replaceable batteries, sd card, notification light, and a durable, light plastic/polycarb body that you could get in many colors.

And its not like they were 2in thick bricks either.

When I say phones, I mean Android (and also if anyone remembers, Windows Phone). iPhones at the time were 3.5-4" screens, iOS had no features at all (no notifications, no control center, no sharing, nothing, even copy paste was late)

What happened? Apple and its marketing of glass+metal as superior, charging 3x premium for storage, promoting non user serviceable and replaceable products, and telling people they didn't need anything as useful as a notification light.

iPhones sold like crazy. Remember the lines 2 days before launch covered by WSJ? And so all the other Android oem's hurried to copy and remove all the good things.

While Apple was busy copying all the good parts of Android, Google wanted to make sure it copied all the bad parts of iOS and dumb down Android, so we have massive buttons and wasted space, removed features in every release and lets not forget the pinnacle of UI design which apparently takes millions of dollars - colors and rounded corners!

And so now all the innovation has gone out of Android - remember things like LG's smart window cover? Meanwhile Apple invents the notch and 'island', and Google is busy making sure they cripple Android - in Android 14 apps won't even access to your phone's storage, so say goodbye to file explorer, backup programs etc.

Its a real shame I tell you.

I do miss the good ol' days, when Windows Phone and BlackBerry were around too and added to the competition. WP always impressed me, and I relied on battery pulls with my BlackBerry phone.

 

[NMCynthia]

I dearly loved my Windows Phone ICON ... kept it for 6 years, replacing the battery & charging port, then went to the P2 (which is still chugging along, weak battery, though). I'm incredibly happy with my P7P ... how fast & smooth it is, the quality of the photography, and my battery life is really quite good, even though I'm listening to podcasts most of the day. I just wish that the fingerprint reader worked. It didn't work on my P2, or P6 either ... working with my hands (even in gloves) for years on end has sort of erased my fingerprints, I guess! Facial Recognition works super fast ... I just wish it were "secure", for banking.

 

[Joshua Luther1]

I dearly loved my Windows Phone ICON ... kept it for 6 years, replacing the battery & charging port, then went to the P2 (which is still chugging along, weak battery, though). I'm incredibly happy with my P7P ... how fast & smooth it is, the quality of the photography, and my battery life is really quite good, even though I'm listening to podcasts most of the day. I just wish that the fingerprint reader worked. It didn't work on my P2, or P6 either ... working with my hands (even in gloves) for years on end has sort of erased my fingerprints, I guess! Facial Recognition works super fast ... I just wish it were "secure", for banking.

Yeah the fps is not consistent on my 7 Pro. I registered two different ones for my right thumb and if it's dry or a little wet, it doesn't work.

 

[Morty2264]

I dearly loved my Windows Phone ICON ... kept it for 6 years, replacing the battery & charging port, then went to the P2 (which is still chugging along, weak battery, though). I'm incredibly happy with my P7P ... how fast & smooth it is, the quality of the photography, and my battery life is really quite good, even though I'm listening to podcasts most of the day. I just wish that the fingerprint reader worked. It didn't work on my P2, or P6 either ... working with my hands (even in gloves) for years on end has sort of erased my fingerprints, I guess! Facial Recognition works super fast ... I just wish it were "secure", for banking.

Windows truly made exceptional phones -- I always wanted to try a Nokia Lumia. I'm sorry you've been having trouble with your fingerprint readers. I agree that facial recognition should be used, maybe with an extra layer of biometrics or PIN if the user desired.