My impressions of the 2XL after 3 years with a Droid Turbo 1.

[jec11718]

I used my 64 gig ballistic nylon Droid Turbo 1 for 35 months, 17 days and 8 hrs. The first year to 18 months was great then it sucked after that. The battery was crap and got so bad, that at month 30 I had it replaced. I figured that a new battery would help when I use it for a dedicated GPS for the car. When the Pixel XL came out I went multiple times to get one and my vzw store never had one in stock. So I waited and waited. I waited so long the Pixel 2 XL was here! I went to a family reunion five states away, walked into a local vzw and low and behold they had 2 Xls in stock! Thank-you! I'll take one!!! I knew about the screen and burn in. I didn't care, all I knew was I wanted one! The camera is amazing, the battery life is solid...6hrs sot after only a week of use and getting better every day! The stock Android is cool. The only thing I miss from my Turbo is chop-chop and twist for camera, but the play store has a few apps that will work to replace those. All in all... I'm 1000% pleased. My dad gave me his old Nexus 6p and I couldn't stand it and went back to my Turbo right before I had the battery replaced. If you're on the fence about the Pixel 2 XL, don't be it's phenomenal!!!!

 

[PowrDroid]

From another Droid Turbo owner, thanks for the post. I hope to be joining you shortly. Going to see what kind of specials they run over Black Friday and Christmastime.

My battery is showing fatigue--I can still get through a day if it is moderate use. Gone are the heady days of 6 to 7 hours screen on time. It's now tough to get 4 hours SOT. Plugging my phone in at evening time was a foreign concept to me, but no more. I thought about replacing the battery and keeping it but I want to upgrade the camera and I really want a fingerprint sensor.

 

[jlebouton]

I made the same jump from the Turbo. Happy to report that I haven't looked back since receiving my Pixel 2XL.

 

[Aquila]

Glad to hear you're happy

 

[jec11718]

I noticed that the radio signal had degraded also. It was challenging to get a good signal at work for videos!

 

[Apple2Droid]

From another Droid Turbo owner, thanks for the post. I hope to be joining you shortly. Going to see what kind of specials they run over Black Friday and Christmastime.

I have read that Google won't be offering any Black Friday deals but Best Buy was offering a gift card with purchase–either $50 or $100, but I think it's $100. I"m not sure how long this deal is going on though.

 

[cozzy123]

click the power button twice to get your camera app instantly. if you want to take a selfie fast say "ok Google take a selfie"

 

[PowrDroid]

I have read that Google won't be offering any Black Friday deals but Best Buy was offering a gift card with purchase–either $50 or $100, but I think it's $100. I"m not sure how long this deal is going on though.

Thanks for the info. I'll keep a look out for the Best Buy deal.

 

[PowrDroid]

I got my Pixel 2 XL on December 2nd with a $300 discount from Verizon.

A couple of days after I got the Pixel 2 XL I took two pictures of the same object in low light conditions, using the Droid Turbo and then the Pixel 2 XL. This was about 10 minutes after sunset. The room looked dark to my eyes. I was absolutely astonished at how the Pixel 2 XL handled low light. It's as if the room was regularly lit! Unbelievable!

I have resized the pictures to be smaller, then laid them onto a new blank file, added some text and then saved as a low-res image so it would post on AC. Take a look:

 

[goose8]

Lol, I am only a couple days different than you. Went to the store today to check out the 2, but liked the XL2 much better. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Spitfire151]

Awesome thread, I still have my Turbo and have been having this debate with myself. I was first going for the LG V30 but then the Pixel 2 was released and the camera smoked it. Much like PowrDroid, I am battery and camera focused, with ease of use being in the mix.

I desperately tried finding demo units in stores and had mixed results. Target had fake ones and cell stores were hit or miss and had them affixed to tables so I couldn't full hold the 2 and 2 XL.

My big quandary is the size. I find the Turbo to be just about right where I stretch just a tad one-handed to get all around the screen. Can anyone shed any light on going bigger with the XL? The regular 2 would be fine IMO BUT I like having as big a battery as possible.
Glad there are others out there =)

 

[PowrDroid]

My big quandary is the size. I find the Turbo to be just about right where I stretch just a tad one-handed to get all around the screen. Can anyone shed any light on going bigger with the XL? The regular 2 would be fine IMO BUT I like having as big a battery as possible.
Glad there are others out there =)

I have larger hands than most. The Turbo was fairly easy for me to use one-handed. The 2 XL is a bit challenging for me, especially with a case on it (Spigen Crystal, which is a minimal case.) I'm a glide-typer so two handed use for entering text is how I roll.

I can one-hand the 2 XL when surfing, scrolling, etc. but I'd say one-handed typing would be difficult. You may want to see if you can find a cell phone store rep that will let you handle a 2 XL off the tether and try it for size.

The larger screen and smaller bezels, along with bigger battery, would be worth giving up one-handed use.

 

[sixty_four]

I have larger hands than most. The Turbo was fairly easy for me to use one-handed. The 2 XL is a bit challenging for me, especially with a case on it (Spigen Crystal, which is a minimal case.) I'm a glide-typer so two handed use for entering text is how I roll.

I can one-hand the 2 XL when surfing, scrolling, etc. but I'd say one-handed typing would be difficult. You may want to see if you can find a cell phone store rep that will let you handle a 2 XL off the tether and try it for size.

The larger screen and smaller bezels, along with bigger battery, would be worth giving up one-handed use.

If you're using Gboard, have you tried its one-handed mode? On my 6P, one-handed typing was feasible with that mode.

One-handed mode on my Pixel 2 works extremely well.

 

[PowrDroid]

If you're using Gboard, have you tried its one-handed mode? On my 6P, one-handed typing was feasible with that mode.

One-handed mode on my Pixel 2 works extremely well.

I'm on GBoard but I haven't tried the one-handed mode. I'll play around with it tonight.

 

[Spitfire151]

Thanks for the info, I should clarify by saying I type messages one handed but scroll/navigate with one. My main thing is ensuring I can reach with my thumb to the nav buttons at the bottom. Hoping to get to a store that has some I can actually handle before time runs out on the Verizon deal.

 

[PowrDroid]

Thanks for the info, I should clarify by saying I type messages one handed but scroll/navigate with one. My main thing is ensuring I can reach with my thumb to the nav buttons at the bottom. Hoping to get to a store that has some I can actually handle before time runs out on the Verizon deal.

They should let you handle one without a tether attached. If they are reluctant, offer to let them make a photocopy of your driver's license for them to hold until you are done testing the phone.

When I checked out the Note 8 at Best Buy a while ago I said I was concerned about the size so they took a unit from inventory and let me power it on and fool around with it.

 

[sixty_four]

Thanks for the info, I should clarify by saying I type messages one handed but scroll/navigate with one. My main thing is ensuring I can reach with my thumb to the nav buttons at the bottom. Hoping to get to a store that has some I can actually handle before time runs out on the Verizon deal.

The larger bezels of the smaller 2 makes this easier, imo.

 

[AgentRedlum]

loved my turbo!

 

[PowrDroid]

I'm on GBoard but I haven't tried the one-handed mode. I'll play around with it tonight.

It's kind of awkward at first. I have my index finger in the bottom of the finger print sensor and I'm balancing the bottom edge of the phone on my pinky finger (knuckle of pinky finger is in USB port). Fingers are somewhat splayed out a bit.

This is unbelievable, I'm glide typing with very few mistakes!There is the feeling that the phone may drop out of my hand, though.

I guess my advice is that the 2 XL is a bit too big, but then again I'm not accustomed to one-handed typing. I definitely cannot reach the send icon in Tapatalk.

 

[sixty_four]

This is unbelievable, I'm glide typing with very few mistakes!There is the feeling that the phone may drop out of my hand, though.

I keep harping on this but...

The Pixel 2 bezels help with this and I think contribute to what is a very well-balanced phone. One-handed typing feels very stable. It sounds like you're ready for some glide typing on a Wear 2.0 keyboard.

I guess my advice is that the 2 XL is a bit too big, but then again I'm not accustomed to one-handed typing. I definitely cannot reach the send icon in Tapatalk.

Yeah, I can't reach that send icon on the smaller Pixel 2 either. Not even close.