Sell it to me

[mabr82]

After being priced out of the Pixel :-( I'm looking for an upgrade.

By review it looks a solid device.

Obviously a great price.

How good is the camera (important to me - anyone with kids knows)

Battery life. Heard mixed reviews here, what about real world. I generally use about 4 hours SOT for browsing, Twitter, calls, video, occasion low end game (puzzles etc), streaming music, Facebook, take average 5-10 pics a day.

Main concerns are after sales support, dash charging (yes great but not compatible with existing quick charge hardware), updates.

Any other drawbacks/positive?

Any advice on the device is welcomed

 

[tpmbb10]

There are lots of these types of questions happening now that Pixel has been announced so I may as well chime in as I've been doing. I'm a OP3 owner since launch. I think it's a great device, and to your points...

How good is the camera (important to me - anyone with kids knows)

I have little kids and am on the record saying that I've had challenges taking high quality indoor shots of the kids. I *think* I've seen slight improvements with the recent camera update. But I think the majority of reviewers have it spot on, including AC's assessment here: Best Android Camera | Android Central.

Battery life. Heard mixed reviews here, what about real world. I generally use about 4 hours SOT for browsing, Twitter, calls, video, occasion low end game (puzzles etc), streaming music, Facebook, take average 5-10 pics a day.

Call me lucky but my battery life is really good, and from what I can tell my usage pattern similar to yours. I get legitimate full day usage on a single charge and throwing it on the DASH charger for 15-20 mins makes it a no brainer. DASH charging, proprietary as it is, works as advertised. I'd be curious to hear if other OP3 owners in the forum are having the same experience.

Any other drawbacks/positive?

There was another thread asking about the OP3 and I chimed in there with some thoughts. The phone is not gimmicky at all. The skin is near-stock with some handy customizations available. The notification slider is a nice touch, and the fingerprint sensor works great.

 

[mchockeyvette27]

I too have owned this wonderful device since launch.

I would say if you like a very fluid and non intrusive experience that will last the whole life of the phone, this is it.

The camera for me has been surprisingly excellent. Now, I don't have kids yet, so I can't quite touch on that. However similar experiences I've had, I don't see you having issues. I've said this before on the forums, between my girlfriend's iPhone 6s and my OP3, often times we just use my phone for all pictures we take. Which I think says a lot. The camera is also extremely quick with opening, focusing, and snapping a picture. HDR works well and is also very quick.

Dash charging, amazing.
Enough said about that.
In my experience, using OTHER quick chargers, it still charges faster than using a regular charger. So I've never had issues with charging at all.

Battery life has been fairly consistent for me and I would say between good and great. Off charger at 5:30am and usually back on at 10-11pm. Usually get 3:30-4 hrs screen time, but can depend on how my usage is of course. With your usage patterns, I'd say you should fair well on a single charge throughout the day. Generally unless I navigate, game, or youtube for a couple hours, I'll get through a whole day without charging.

It's a very solid phone with great minimalist software and the right hardware to match.

And that fingerprint sensor...amazingly fast.

Build quality I'd say excellent.

Edit:
Also, as far as support goes, customer service wise, I haven't had any experience with it, but I have seen its not generally great with one plus.

Update wise has been all positive for me so far. We shall see how they get the nougat update out to users and that will gauge their position a little better overall, but the many minor updates they have pushed already have been nice.

 

[Soreloser]

I know this is the OP forum but if you are on AT&T consider the Axon 7. I believe it also works on T-Mobile and other carriers that use those frequencies.

I have one on AT&T and usually average about 3 hours SOT in a day and a half dozen pictures or so and end the day around 35%.

Fingerprint sensor is fast. QC 3 is also fast. So far. I have noticed no lag or such issues. I have had no random reboots either.

 

[TheMarcus]

I'm torn. With both the Pixel XL and V20 being priced so high, I have to look elsewhere. My two top contenders are either this or the Moto Z Play. What's holding back, though, is the battery. I'd be giving up removable battery (G3 and G4) for a phone that has, from what I'm understanding, similar battery life. I don't like that. Not at all. I hate having to carry a power bank and I hate having to remember to plug my phone into a wall outlet (especially when standard, slow charging USB ports are easier to come by). Moto Z Play won't have that problem, but I'd much rather have the OP3 software.

I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get taken advantage of by either LG or Google.