Pixel 2 (NON-XL) Owners Club Reviews

[Morty2264]

Re: Pixel 2 none Xl Owners Club Reviews

So far very fast compared to the Pixel which was already the smoothest Android phone I have ever held. Yes, the colors are more muted than Pixel, however when I turn on sRGB in Pixel, I actually prefer the Pixel 2 sRGB panel. Pixel 2 screen is a slight upgrade imo. Phone feel great in a slim case. Very handsome design, all business in black. Finger print scanner is by far the fastest ever. I am not blown away by the stereo speakers. They are okay even in stereo mode. However at least they are projecting in the right direction. So far it just feels like a faster Pixel. Another all business no bull$hit Google Pixel. The camera is faster, produces sharper pics, overall better point and shoot pictures. I have been shooting identical scene to compare on my computer and Pixel 2 consistently better pics. Less blur and surprisingly colors pop more than original Pixel.

Thank you for your review! It is truly an amazing phone!

 

[mwboost]

I caved in. Just picked up an XL panda /storm trooper /Micheal Jackson.
Screen is fine too lol.
As much as I loved my Pixel 2 5" I missed a bigger screen. And to be honest it doesn't feel as big in my hand as I thought it would.
So might put the Pixel 2 up for sale soon.

 

[Morty2264]

I caved in. Just picked up an XL panda /storm trooper /Micheal Jackson.
Screen is fine too lol.
As much as I loved my Pixel 2 5" I missed a bigger screen. And to be honest it doesn't feel as big in my hand as I thought it would.
So might put the Pixel 2 up for sale soon.

I'm sure you'll get a lot of takers for it! Enjoy your new 2XL!

 

[dannyar11]

Ive had the Pixel 2 XL since launch and used it briefly along a pixel 2. Decided on keeping the XL 2. Recently got the iphone x as my secondary device and going to the xl 2 after using the X feels too big. I enjoy the smaller footprint devices and will be selling my XL 2 and have a Pixel 2 that is set to arrive today. I primarily wanted the pixel 2 for the cameras so not having to sacrifice quality and still saving $200 and having a smaller device seems like a no brainer for me.

 

[Darius DuPree]

I think my favorite thing to share is the portrait mode on both cameras. The second may be the Kinda Blue (really it's Grey or Robin Egg Blue to me), but that may change if I swap it for a white or black model.

 

[psteve2005]

There's just two things I'd add to my Pixel 2 - larger battery, because why wouldn't you, and wireless charging. Every time I put my Nexus 7 on my Nokia Qi wireless charger and wish everything had it. Maybe next year we'll get it back...

 

[C5Longhorn]

I got my pixel 2 last Friday and have been enjoying it so far. the screen looks good. I do miss the bigger screen so may compare to a Panda 2 XL I have on order to see if I can live with blue tint.

 

[Morty2264]

If you have the option to return the XL and get the regular my suggestion is to do it, you won't be disappointed.
Personally I like a flat screens they're just easier in so many ways.
1080p resolution is high enough for any of my needs on any larger phones I always turn the resolution down anyway.
Outstanding battery life able to go 24 hours.
Most of the time I hold this phone in one hand for browsing, General operation and it's not overly heavy either.
With the size and the placement of the fingerprint sensor super easy works 100% of the time.

I have all Pros for the regular pixel 2 and only one negative is Bluetooth needs to be improved to pair with more than one device for phone calls at a time not that big a deal

Great review, OP! I've heard great things about the Pixel 2's battery life. And I love smaller phones; so I enjoy that you could use it one-handed.

 

[Morty2264]

Well I've had my Pixel for just over 2 weeks and it is without doubt the best phone I've ever owned and I wouldn't swap back to my Pixel XL now.

Sometimes it's easy to get swept up in all the hype and opinions, i.e. the bigger phone is always better, and forget what matters to *you*. I did seriously consider switching to the 2XL but when I really thought about it, why would I want to switch? I made a conscious decision to go back to a more comfortable size. The Nexus 5X/Pixel 2/Samsung S8 footprint is just right for me. I only had the XL for the better battery life as I don't watch films or play many games on my phone.

I'd say for anyone else considering the same switch, do it. Also, I'm putting the £170 I saved by not buying a 2XL toward a Chromebook to replace my dying Nexus 7. Any convertible Chromebook recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

I too truly loved my Nexus 5. Great size. Can't wait to get my Pixel 2!

 

[lynn02]

I'm interested in the Pixel 2. I was wondering how the ambient display is compared to the Moto Display. The Moto Display is one thing that I really like about my Moto X 2nd gen. I've read about an app called AmbiTuner. It looks like it could help with getting some of the things the Moto Display does. Anyone have any experience with that app?

After receiving the phone last night and playing around with it:

- I do have the faint ticking, only mildly annoying and I'm willing to see what they do with a possible software fix.
- Set up on Project Fi with eSIM was super smooth, I'm liking the service so far. Project Fi is half the reason I wanted this phone.
- I'm happy with the screen in all aspects including viewing angles, I wish it was about 5% wider and had a 2:1 aspect ration with small bezels.....but hey there is always next year. I'm coming from a 5.2" screen and it sounds dumb but I do miss that 0.2" diagonal.
- Camera is so good in low light such as inside at night with lamps on.
- Phone call quality is great, but my last phone was pretty bad so for all I know it is average.
- Bluetooth seems good in my car (2015 VW Golf), no problems and seems quick to connect.
- Phone was awesome when I just used Android Pay, it paid faster, smoother, and from further away than my old phone.....it surprised me how fast it completed the transaction. It seems like better NFC plus the faster processor in general.
- WiFi seems good but I haven't done any in depth testing.
- Speakers are ok but definitely "bright" sounding....they will get the job done when I want to watch a quick YouTube video on the phone instead of Chromecast. They are speakers in a thin light weight phone so I don't expect any miracles here, you can't beat physics.
- Ambient display isn't as good as the "Moto Display" from my 2014 Moto X....I wish Google would have kept the rights to copy that when they sold off Motorola to Lenovo (for Lenovo to ruin the Moto brand). For all I know maybe they could copy it and just choose not to.
- In general the phone is really great and I'm glad that I bought it. Next year I hope they make the minor form factor tweaks to make the smaller phone even better (more screen, less bezel)

 

[JSOL1]

coming from a MotoX, I can say that is the one feature I really miss! I found Ambiturner after searching for something that would approach the Moto experience. AT was great, but sadly it completely stopped working with Oreo and the developer went dark. He used to be really responsive and had a great app, but no more.
overall the Pixel is so much better than the Moto, but this is the one thing I miss most. I hung on to my Moto as long as I could, but glad I upgraded in the end...

 

[lynn02]

So other than that, that's the only thing you miss. I love my Moto X but it's getting slower and slower. You saying your glad you upgraded is reassuring.

coming from a MotoX, I can say that is the one feature I really miss! I found Ambiturner after searching for something that would approach the Moto experience. AT was great, but sadly it completely stopped working with Oreo and the developer went dark. He used to be really responsive and had a great app, but no more.
overall the Pixel is so much better than the Moto, but this is the one thing I miss most. I hung on to my Moto as long as I could, but glad I upgraded in the end...

 

[JSOL1]

So other than that, that's the only thing you miss. I love my Moto X but it's getting slower and slower. You saying your glad you upgraded is reassuring.

That's the only thing I miss. My battery is also what forced me to switch. Getting monthly updates and OS upgrades right away is a game changer for the Pixel. It was frustrating on the Moto as I essentially stopped seeing updates a while ago.
I also prefer the size of the Pixel over the Z's...now if we can only get Ambiturner to work...