Im torn

[mach1man]

Ok so I love new tech, like most of us here. I currently have the S23 Ultra and I'm debating on trading in my pixel 6a for 300 to get the 8 pro. I just don't know if I'll stick with it. I remember liking the 7 pro but ended up going back to Samsung. Is anyone else leaving samsung for the Pixel? Should I just get it then swap between them when I get bored. Or is this just a tech itch that I need to not scratch lol

 

[BrwnSuga3]

Ok so I love new tech, like most of us here. I currently have the S23 Ultra and I'm debating on trading in my pixel 6a for 300 to get the 8 pro. I just don't know if I'll stick with it. I remember liking the 7 pro but ended up going back to Samsung. Is anyone else leaving samsung for the Pixel? Should I just get it then swap between them when I get bored. Or is this just a tech itch that I need to not scratch lol

I switch back and forth very often. I just switched back to my 7Pro about a month ago from S23U. I like having the option to switch when I'm bored LOL I love being on my Pixel during the holidays because I truly feel it takes better photos, especially of different skin tones. However, I'll probably be on the S24U boat once that drops next year LOL

 

[mach1man]

I switch back and forth very often. I just switched back to my 7Pro about a month ago from S23U. I like having the option to switch when I'm bored LOL I love being on my Pixel during the holidays because I truly feel it takes better photos, especially of different skin tones. However, I'll probably be on the S24U boat once that drops next year LOL

I definitely understand where your coming from. I know as soon as I see the S24 Ultra ill be pre ordering it lol. So far though I'm 2 years clean of no iphone lol. I use to switch between Samsung and Apple when they had their events

 

[BrwnSuga3]

I definitely understand where your coming from. I know as soon as I see the S24 Ultra ill be pre ordering it lol. So far though I'm 2 years clean of no iphone lol. I use to switch between Samsung and Apple when they had their events

Me too! I'm actually trading my 13 Pro Max on for the P8Pro since I haven't used it in a year. The whole esim thing really made me return the 14promax and just stick with my Pixel and S23U.

 

[TheAngryToaster]

I definitely understand where your coming from. I know as soon as I see the S24 Ultra ill be pre ordering it lol. So far though I'm 2 years clean of no iphone lol. I use to switch between Samsung and Apple when they had their events

This is me haha, been switching between apple and android for a while. With the death of the apple watch for me (watchos10 killed the experience). I preorderd the 8 pro and I am trading my 13pro in towards the cost. The watch was really the only thing holding me in the apple ecosystem. Now I will just switch between samsung and google haha.

 

[neil74]

I have the S23U and have just got the 8 pro. I'm reluctant to sell the S23U as I have the ltd edition colour but having both is silly and now is maybe the time to sell as the closer to January we get the value will likely tank.

I think the camera seals the deal for me, living with that shutter lag/motion blur on a Samsung does get old and with a Pixel as a point and shoot just nails it pretty much every time.

 

[Stanley Kubrick]

I have the S23U and have just got the 8 pro. I'm reluctant to sell the S23U as I have the ltd edition colour but having both is silly and now is maybe the time to sell as the closer to January we get the value will likely tank.

I think the camera seals the deal for me, living with that shutter lag/motion blur on a Samsung does get old and with a Pixel as a point and shoot just nails it pretty much every time.

Have you tried the "camera assist" app for the Samsung?

 

[jbjtkbw007]

I carry 2 phones. I have a Razr+ as my burner phone and I just went from the S21 Ultra to the Pixel 8 Pro. I was not expecting to like it as much as I do. I mentioned it in another thread, but I'm not missing the Samsung bloatware. Other than the zoom lens on the Galaxy S series, I'm enjoying the camera and the software magic (even though not fully implemented with all of the features yet) better than I did on Samsung. Originally, I had planned on just using this as an interim phone until the S24 Ultra drops, but now, I don't know. They are going to have to come out with something absolutely mindblowing to get me to switch like a great early deal that includes a Galaxy watch 6 or something of that calibre.

 

[MoreDef]

Comparison is the thief of joy, which is why I stop watching any phone reviews after I get mine.

And as of recently, I feel like I've finally found the perfect collection of earbuds...time to stop watching those reviews too.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Comparison is the thief of joy, which is why I stop watching any phone reviews after I get mine.

And as of recently, I feel like I've finally found the perfect collection of earbuds...time to stop watching those reviews too.

tTrue dat.

I just use the earwear that I got with phones lol. A set of Galaxy buds 2 pro from a Flip 4 and a set of Bose nc 700 from a pixel 6... I'd be using Sennheiser if I was spending money, but those are more than good enough.

 

[neil74]

Have you tried the "camera assist" app for the Samsung?

Yes, it does improve things slightly but it is still not great.

 

[neil74]

Ok, a few days in with the Pixel 8 pro, so here is an update vs the S23U for those who are interested. Don't get me wrong I like the 8 pro a lot but I'll admit to a little buyers remorse already.

As expected, I prefer the Pixel camera overall for sure, as with my previous pixel experience it just nails things 9/10 whereas despite the improvements on the Samsung side, shutter lag and/or motion blur still ruin a lot of photos. I used to be a pro photographer so I know my way around a camera but on a phone I have never wanted to dig into pro settings, I just want to point and shoot and the Pixel is (IMO) just better at that. Also for Portraits the 5x optical is a much better focal length too.

Despite all of this though I am looking longingly at my S23U and want to start using it again! Now I have given it some thought, all of this AI stuff on the Pixel makes me a little nervous privacy wise, especially as the line is so blurred between what is on device and off it. Having said that some of the features are admittedly pretty cool. Performance for me has been fine but I'd still say that that the S23U is snappier and stays cooler. Too soon to comment on signal strength etc. Lastly, whilst the 8 Pro does appear to be very well built, as someone who rarely uses a case I do worry as to how the camera bump will hold up over time.

Overall, I am on the fence as there is a lot to like but I cannot really justify keeping them both. As I have opened and used it I probably cannot return it now (well not without getting a black mark from the Amazon returns police) but as I got the free watch I can probably sell them both separately and not take too much of a bath on it if I decide to stick with the S23U. On the other hand the S24U is around the corner so now is maybe not the worst time to sell on the S23U. Decisions, decisions!

As always YMMV!

 

[YankInDaSouth]

Ok, a few days in with the Pixel 8 pro, so here is an update vs the S23U for thosse that are interested. Don't get me wrong I like the 8 pro a lot but I'll admit to a little buyers remorse already.

As expected, I prefer the Pixel camera overall for sure, as with my previous pixel experience it just nails things 9/10 whereas despite the improvements on the Samsung side, shutter lag and/or motion blur still ruin a lot of photos. I used to be a pro photographer so I know my way around a camera but on a phone I have never wanted to dig into pro settings, I just want to point and shoot and the Pixel is (IMO) just better at that. Also for Portraits the 5x optical is a much better focal length too.

Despite all of this though I am looking longingly at my S23U and want to start using it again! Now I have given it some thought, all of this AI stuff on the Pixel makes me a little nervous privacy wise, especially as the line is so blurred between what is on device and off it. Having said that some of the features are admittedly pretty cool. Performance for me has been fine but I'd still say that that the S23U is snappier and stays cooler. Too soon to comment on signal strength etc. Lastly, whilst the 8 Pro does appear to be very well built, as someone who rarely uses a case I do worry as to how the camera bump will hold up over time.

Overall, I am on the fence as there is a lot to like but I cannot really justify keeping them both. As I have opened and used it I probably cannot return it now (well not without getting a black mark from the Amazon returns police) but as I got the free watch I can probably sell them both separately and not take too much of a bath on it if I decide to stick with the S23U. On the other hand the S24U is around the corner so now is maybe not the worst time to sell on the S23U. Decisions, decisions!

As always YMMV!

Very good assessment and I am with you. I've thrown my SIM back in my S23U and will be packing up the P8P and watch to send them back to Google. The P8P, in my short time with it, looks to be a great looking device but I agree with you that the S23U feels snappier and stays cooler. Phone calls on my S23U have been better too ... Had a lot of breaking up and voice dropping in/out with the P8P.

Aside from that, I've gotten extremely spoiled with Routines! I have so many Routines set up that make my daily use so convenient and easy I find myself missing them way more than I thought would. Are most Routines I have set up just me being lazy? Possibly ... but having the phone automatically do something you're going to do anyway is straight out awesome and so convenient!

Also, the fact Bixby can still set location based reminders is huge for me! Didn't realize how much reminding I needed until it wasn't there LOL. To simply push the power button and say "Remind me when I get home to ..." or "Remind me when I get to work to ..." (and to have it actually WORK) is great! Why Google dropped this from Assistant instead of trying to improve upon it and get it to work is beyond me. I know Google Keep has location based reminders but it's nowhere near as convenient to set up and in my experience is hit or miss as to when the notification goes off. With Bixby the notification goes off as I approach my neighbor's house and within the building next door to my office without fail every time. Whereas with Google Keep sometimes I'm at the destination for several minutes before the notification goes off ... If it goes off at all.

 

[neil74]

Very good assessment and I am with you. I've thrown my SIM back in my S23U and will be packing up the P8P and watch to send them back to Google. The P8P, in my short time with it, looks to be a great looking device but I agree with you that the S23U feels snappier and stays cooler. Phone calls on my S23U have been better too ... Had a lot of breaking up and voice dropping in/out with the P8P.

Aside from that, I've gotten extremely spoiled with Routines! I have so many Routines set up that make my daily use so convenient and easy I find myself missing them way more than I thought would. Are most Routines I have set up just me being lazy? Possibly ... but having the phone automatically do something you're going to do anyway is straight out awesome and so convenient!

Also, the fact Bixby can still set location based reminders is huge for me! Didn't realize how much reminding I needed until it wasn't there LOL. To simply push the power button and say "Remind me when I get home to ..." or "Remind me when I get to work to ..." (and to have it actually WORK) is great! Why Google dropped this from Assistant instead of trying to improve upon it and get it to work is beyond me. I know Google Keep has location based reminders but it's nowhere near as convenient to set up and in my experience is hit or miss as to when the notification goes off. With Bixby the notification goes off as I approach my neighbor's house and within the building next door to my office without fail every time. Whereas with Google Keep sometimes I'm at the destination for several minutes before the notification goes off ... If it goes off at all.

Yeah, I wish I had ordered it direct from Google rather than Amazon.

 

[Joshua Luther1]

Comparison is the thief of joy, which is why I stop watching any phone reviews after I get mine.

And as of recently, I feel like I've finally found the perfect collection of earbuds...time to stop watching those reviews too.

Couldn't agree with you more. I'm quite happy with my S23 ultra, Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. There will always be comparison videos that try and sell you on the newer phone or how it's slightly faster at opening apps or gets a few more minutes of screen on time. We should all learn, myself included, to be happy with the phone we have.

Our phones seem to be the only thing we think we need to constantly upgrade every year. Consumers and the tech companies are both to blame for this. We demand a new device and the carriers and tech companies provide ways for us to pay monthly payments to buy them so that it is somewhat affordable. Sony and Microsoft don't have payment plans for financing the PS5 or Xbox. Otherwise I'd probably own one. Sure I could use a credit card but it's generally not something I feel I need. I need a new computer but I have found ways to upgrade the internals to get the most out of a 8 year old laptop. I can't play games on it but it's fast enough to use for most other things I need it for. I imagine I could buy a nice computer for the same price I am paying for my S23 ultra.

When I think about how much money I have needlessly spent on new phones each year, it kinda makes me second guess my decisions that I have made over the years because that money could have been better spent elsewhere. I have come to the conclusion that I have based a lot of my buying decisions on tech reviews and YouTube videos and comparisons. It's nice to learn more about how to get the most out of the products I've bought. Buying new phones for a lot of people is a hobby and they enjoy it. But it also has to potential to make us more materialistic and we end up not ever being satisfied with our purchases for very long.

 

[subguy812]

I kind of did the opposite thing. Years ago, between Moto, One Plus, Google, Samsung and so on I probably ordered anywhere from 4-6 phones a year, just a sickness, I know. Over the past three years or more I have limited it to Google and Samsung. Lats year Samsung started the lowering the trade-in trend so I sold my S23 Ultra while it still has value. I know I will get the S24 U when it comes out unless I get to a point where I am strictly happy with my P8P and Pixel Fold. By selling the S23U it gives me 4-5months of using the Pixel and then when the Sammy comes(if I get it) I can switch between the two.

I have always taken my Pixel on vacation because I couldn't always trust the Sam cam. Sam has so many features and Pixel is more clean and simplistic.. Generally, I say the reception is better, but my Pixel has been solid in that category too. I like all of the call screening, voice to text and those baked in goodies no one else has.

We will see....but just another perspective.

 

[Ben_70]

I'm probably the only one on this forum who has never owned a Samsung. The Pixel has all the customization I need and I keep hearing over and over that for simple point and shoot camera shots, the Pixel is better. So I have no desire to switch.

 

[Bkdodger1]

Pixel AI > and why I can't ever leave Google ...voice dictation alone for me is the a must ..I've come to realize how much I depend on it along with the Fix it feature now on my sentences and all ...

Loved loved the S23U though awesome

 

[Gdwheel]

I have been very pleasantly surprised with the 8 Pro. I expected very little. It has been so good, that I am planning to sell the 23U and keep the 8 Pro and Watch 2. I never would have guessed that this is where I would be.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Pixel AI > and why I can't ever leave Google ...voice dictation alone for me is the a must ..I've come to realize how much I depend on it along with the Fix it feature now on my sentences and all ...

Loved loved the S23U though awesome

I've mentioned before I don't see it... Pixel voice dictation is about as bad as on any other phone for me.

I'd like to hear what other people with non US and non southern UK accents think about the deal... Maybe the Americans with more interesting accents like thick Minesota or Massachusetts (I had to look that up lol) ones as well.

I also wholeheartedly believe this should not be a distinguishing Pixel feature.