Way too many issues, who's jumping ship once S22 Ultra launches?

[Aflaaaak]

I am paying £32 a month for my 6 Pro. I will save extra and pay it off early.

Unless your carrier is charging a Financing fee, how do you "save" money by paying it off early? Verizon charges me the same. It's just the total cost of the phone up front, or the total cost of the phone divided by the months of the payment plan. For example, the Pixel 6 Pro 256 monthly payment is $27.77 for 36 months. Or, pay the full retail price of $999.99 up front, which is actually .27 cents more to pay in one lump sum than financing it through Verizon. It's no more expensive to finance, but if you just don't like to see an extra $27.77 on your monthly bill, that's a different story.

 

[Aflaaaak]

Buying most current Samsung releases, the forums after release are full of Samung sucks, their camera can't take any movement, over satyurated, over HDR'ed, too much skin smoothing in selfies and the list goes on and on.

The old addage is a photo is taken 6" behind the camera.

Just for giggles, I looked at the reviews for the Samsung S21 and S21 Ultra and the Pixel 6 Pro on Verizon's website. I always sort by Date, so the most recent reviews are first, better reflecting the current state of the phone's popularity based on more recent User experience. While the Samsung's had a better Overall rating (S21 a 4.5/5 Stars, 87% Recommended rate, the S21 U a 4.6/5 Stars, 89% Recommended rate, vs Pixel 6 Pro at 4/4 Stars and a 69% Recommended rate), the recent reviews for the Pixel 6 Pro were mostly 5 Star, the S21U had quite a few recent 1 Star ratings, surprisingly. Thought it would be the other way around, the way some people around here are talking.

 

[J Dubbs]

As far as pixel 6 issues being caused by Android 12... there's a lot of pixels running 12, from the 3 on, and honestly I'm seeing almost no complaints from any other pixel owners except for the 6. I'm not bashing it at all, I'm a HUGE pixel fan, but I'm a realist, and it does seem Google's new from the chipset up 6 line is having some teething problems that I don't think can all be blamed on Android 12. My 3XL running 12 is working better than it did on 11.... so good that I'm dragging my feet on retiring it and setting up my Z Flip 3

The truth is I prefer pixels over Samsungs, even if the Samsung folds lol.

 

[subguy812]

Just for giggles, I looked at the reviews for the Samsung S21 and S21 Ultra and the Pixel 6 Pro on Verizon's website. I always sort by Date, so the most recent reviews are first, better reflecting the current state of the phone's popularity based on more recent User experience. While the Samsung's had a better Overall rating (S21 a 4.5/5 Stars, 87% Recommended rate, the S21 U a 4.6/5 Stars, 89% Recommended rate, vs Pixel 6 Pro at 4/4 Stars and a 69% Recommended rate), the recent reviews for the Pixel 6 Pro were mostly 5 Star, the S21U had quite a few recent 1 Star ratings, surprisingly. Thought it would be the other way around, the way some people around here are talking.

This is my point. As an admitted phone junkie, I have mostly settled on Samsung and Pixel. I generally purchase the flagship model of Samsung and this year I have picked up the Pixel 6 Pro and more than likely will pick up the S22U. In the past I have always sprinkled in other brands but it has been a couple of years for that and no other brands really interest me anymore.

I always go to the threads about whichever phones. It is like Groundhog Day, the movie, wash rinse and repeat in the threads. It is same thing and folks have short term memory loss if they think otherwise. I still have my S21U but have only swapped the sim to it once since I had the P6P.

Mark my words, I encourage you to read the S22U thread when it starts. There will be mostly positive comments at first, then the battery comparison will start, then the camera and what it doesn't do well, then screen on time and so on.

They are all just phones at the end of the day. I enjoy a TOTL one, the same as a car. That said, my life would probably be just as good without a TOTL either of those things. It is a phone, while important shouldn't be a deciding factor in your overall happiness or strife. There are way too many important things going on in "real" life.

If I couldn't make calls I would sell my phone and buy another. I am not going to allow an inanimate object be a stressor. Such is life today though. It is difficult to walk through a mall, drive down the road and so on without dodging rectangle staring zombies that are "liking" things.

 

[Aflaaaak]

I'm not sure if it's Android 12 or the phone. One article I read from Android Police suggests it could be teething issues with the Tensor processor: https://www.androidpolice.com/pixel-tensor-driver-update-deep-dive/

I'm not sure if Android 12 is as buggy for Pixel 5/4 users etc. So might be some merit to the hardware playing a part in this.

Interesting article. It suggests that Samsung may be a bit to blame here in that they are not as adept in supporting the Tensor chip they produced as well as Qualcomm has been for the chips they produce. It would explain why the Pixel 6 is the only model having the kind of problems the other Pixel models seem to have avoided and why Samsung isn't having as much trouble with Android 12. The lack of clarity from Google may be that they don't want to publicize how much help they got from Samsung, their direct competitor for Smart phones. It's a tricky situation for Google to navigate at the moment. Do they come right out and blame Samsung, biting the hand that's currently feeding them and possibility Samsung just blames it on their design? Or keep quiet and let Samsung work it out and preserve the Peace between them? OR, is it partially Google's fault because this is their Rookie Season at managing so much of the main chip in their phones? The conclusion is no one knows for sure at this point in time when Google will get things right with the Pixel 6, saying "if you’re not okay with that, you don’t have to buy a Pixel 6, though we still think it’s the best Android phone".

 

[Aflaaaak]

This is my point. As an admitted phone junkie, I have mostly settled on Samsung and Pixel. I generally purchase the flagship model of Samsung and this year I have picked up the Pixel 6 Pro and more than likely will pick up the S22U. In the past I have always sprinkled in other brands but it has been a couple of years for that and no other brands really interest me anymore.

I always go to the threads about whichever phones. It is like Groundhog Day, the movie, wash rinse and repeat in the threads. It is same thing and folks have short term memory loss if they think otherwise. I still have my S21U but have only swapped the sim to it once since I had the P6P.

Mark my words, I encourage you to read the S22U thread when it starts. There will be mostly positive comments at first, then the battery comparison will start, then the camera and what it doesn't do well, then screen on time and so on.

They are all just phones at the end of the day. I enjoy a TOTL one, the same as a car. That said, my life would probably be just as good without a TOTL either of those things. It is a phone, while important shouldn't be a deciding factor in your overall happiness or strife. There are way too many important things going on in "real" life.

If I couldn't make calls I would sell my phone and buy another. I am not going to allow an inanimate object be a stressor. Such is life today though. It is difficult to walk through a mall, drive down the road and so on without dodging rectangle staring zombies that are "liking" things.

Good perspective .

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

Interesting article. It suggests that Samsung may be a bit to blame here in that they are not as adept in supporting the Tensor chip they produced as well as Qualcomm has been for the chips they produce. It would explain why the Pixel 6 is the only model having the kind of problems the other Pixel models seem to have avoided and why Samsung isn't having as much trouble with Android 12. The lack of clarity from Google may be that they don't want to publicize how much help they got from Samsung, their direct competitor for Smart phones. It's a tricky situation for Google to navigate at the moment. Do they come right out and blame Samsung, biting the hand that's currently feeding them and possibility Samsung just blames it on their design? Or keep quiet and let Samsung work it out and preserve the Peace between them? OR, is it partially Google's fault because this is their Rookie Season at managing so much of the main chip in their phones? The conclusion is no one knows for sure at this point in time when Google will get things right with the Pixel 6, saying "if you’re not okay with that, you don’t have to buy a Pixel 6, though we still think it’s the best Android phone".

Google can't blame Samsung, certainly not publicly. Google have branded the chip Tensor, it's their product, it's their responsibility. Samsung are fabricating the chip, presumably fabbed test units for Google to test, Google were happy and gave the thumbs up to mass produce them. If blame is going around, it 100% goes to Google.

If there's an issue with the Apple A16 chip, Apple can't just point the figure to TSMC and blame them for it. It's Apple's chip, they designed it, they tested it, they OK'd it. Same thing here with Google. If there are issues with the fabrication process, I'm sure Google would be having discussions with Samsung, but honestly, what can Google do? Only two companies in the world fabricate mobile processors - TSMC and Samsung. TSMC's 5nm fab capacity has been bought up largly by Apple (something like upwards of 80%), so Google are unable to secure chips fabbed by TSMC, so the only other company that can make these things are Samsung, which is why Google had to go with them. So not much Google can really do here, they're stuck with Samsung.

 

[Rodawg71]

"Mark my words, I encourage you to read the S22U thread when it starts. There will be mostly positive comments at first, then the battery comparison will start, then the camera and what it doesn't do well, then screen on time and so on."

This right here

 

[mustang7757]

"Mark my words, I encourage you to read the S22U thread when it starts. There will be mostly positive comments at first, then the battery comparison will start, then the camera and what it doesn't do well, then screen on time and so on."

This right here

Lol it happens every new device, but should be pretty solid device

 

[YankInDaSouth]

First, although S20 vs S21 may have the same cameras' glass and sensors, but the software between the two has been revised. The same glass on the Pixel 5 as previous models produces some of the best photos!

As for blurry fur, I just saw a few posted photos, on this forum, of animals with terrible fur and they appear to be stationary; granted indoors but not running and the fur and the photos were blurry. And here I thought the Pixel 6 cannot take bad photos of animals. Learned something new today.

As for 99 percent of the photos I have seen taken with the Pixel 6 (granted, the ones posted online are usually the best, and that is true for any phone/camera) are great shots. Many are great because they are of fantastic scenery or cute kids, but still very good. But seen just as good of photos taken with a S21. In fact, there is a guy who takes some of the best mountains scenes with his S21 I have seen anywhere online.

Just saying, is it the photographer or the device? I have a friend who takes some darn good shots of his dog running with a S21 and he has sent me some terrible ones too.

In some instances I like the pics my Pixel 3 takes better than my Pixel 6 Pro. Pixel 3 obviously has older hardware that Google has had several years to tweak and fine-tune. I think they'll eventually get there with the new Pixel 6 hardware over time.

I am with you though, I think we've gotten to a point where ALL flagship smartphones nowadays are taking great pics! Maybe some devices handle certain situations better than others ... and a lot of which is "better" than the other comes down to personal preference and what the subject matter is.

All that said, I will still likely preorder the S22 Ultra Not because of any issues I've been having with my Pixel ... but because I have issues LOL

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

"Mark my words, I encourage you to read the S22U thread when it starts. There will be mostly positive comments at first, then the battery comparison will start, then the camera and what it doesn't do well, then screen on time and so on."

This right here

Yeah, we'll see the normal gripes.

But there is a difference between the normal gripes and the pixel 6 cluster funk.

 

[Aflaaaak]

Google can't blame Samsung, certainly not publicly. Google have branded the chip Tensor, it's their product, it's their responsibility. Samsung are fabricating the chip, presumably fabbed test units for Google to test, Google were happy and gave the thumbs up to mass produce them. If blame is going around, it 100% goes to Google.

If there's an issue with the Apple A16 chip, Apple can't just point the figure to TSMC and blame them for it. It's Apple's chip, they designed it, they tested it, they OK'd it. Same thing here with Google. If there are issues with the fabrication process, I'm sure Google would be having discussions with Samsung, but honestly, what can Google do? Only two companies in the world fabricate mobile processors - TSMC and Samsung. TSMC's 5nm fab capacity has been bought up largly by Apple (something like upwards of 80%), so Google are unable to secure chips fabbed by TSMC, so the only other company that can make these things are Samsung, which is why Google had to go with them. So not much Google can really do here, they're stuck with Samsung.

That article made mention of Driver support for some of the Tensor components. Wouldn't that fall to Samsung? II would assume Samsung wouldn't deliver Tensor with known issue, so that's why Google gave it their stamp of approval in the beginning. But as time goes on Real; World use happens, and changes are made to apps and Android 12, the Tensor needed updates. Maybe that's where Samsung couldn't deliver? Just speculating.

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

Alright well I've gone ahead and preordered the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Overall, the Google Pixel 6 Pro has been an extremely frustrating device since I've had it. Some of the issues I've had. I'll give my pros can cons about it:
Pros
+ Finally Google have made a decently good high-end flagship. I like the new design, like the direction the phone is going in.
+ I like that they went ahead with their own processor, now they just need to actually design their own cores.
+ The voice transcription on the phone is excellent. Extremely fast, very accurate and punctuation had mostly been pretty good.
+ Some Pixel exclusive features I do enjoy like the lock screen telling you what song is playing, hold for me (when it works) is decent, Magic Eraser is good when you know what will/won't work well on it.
+ The pricing is decent, especially for the Pixel 6.

Cons
- Reception issues on the December patch where I occasionally couldn't make/receive phone calls. Even with the latest updates, I still get calls which can cut out randomly and sounds like people are breaking up.
- Fingerprint scanner issues. It's slow, it's inaccurate, it barely works in bright sunlight. IMO probably the worst aspect of the phone.
- Overall pretty disappointing battery life. It's not awful, but it's not great.
- I would get a lot of visual bugs, like the keyboard randomly popping up and not being able to remove it, visual bugs with PIP on Youtube not displaying correctly, just a bunch of random bugs here and there.
- Auto-brightness is wonky and constantly changes from too dark to too bright when indoors. It's especially frustrating in the morning when I wake up and am on the phone.
- Phone heats up randomly for no reason. I could just be browsing the web and it'll start to heat up a tonne and then I notice battery life starts to tank
- I have had issues with the Pixel Stand 2 not detecting the phone correctly and it constantly asking me to realign the phone.
- The screen just isn't as good as the Samsung/Apple flagships. Doesn't get bright and the quality just doesn't look as nice.
- The camera I feel is a downgrade from previous Pixel phones. It will overdo HDR in some shots that make them unusuable, I can get bad artifacting and white balance in one, but the next shot will look normal. I really do feel that the previous Pixel phones had a better look to them. Maybe it's because the camera team were working with the same camera hardware for so long, but I'm not a big fan of this camera and competitor's cameras are far more versatile.
- Video recording on the Pixel 6 is just not good. I don't know why this seems to be Google's achilles heel, but Samsung and especially Apple just do better video quite easily.
- The Pixel 'magic' which I used to really like in previous Pixel phones I feel has disappeared with the 6. Unlimited photo backup is gone, as I mentioned above the camera I don't feel is as good, the UI has taken a massive downgrade with Android 12 in a design and usability aspect.

So yeah, just a few issues I had with it. I'm sure the S22 Ultra will have it's own issues too, no phone is perfect, but I at least expect to be able to get into the phone reliably with the fingerprint scanner and be able to make phone calls without issues. Plus it'll have just substantially better hardware, especially the screen which I felt was a big downgrade when I went from the S21 Ultra to the Pixel 6 Pro.

I'll have both phones with me so I'll be able to direclty compare the two in hand.

 

[subguy812]

Ordered my S22U as well...as expected it was a cluster F to even place an order. Not sure I will gain a thing but I had the S21U thrown in a drawer and the S22U was only $365 so I bought it. Things I can rely on with S22U, frustrating camera but really good photos when the stars align, an over saturated screen, and a million settings annoyingly notifying me at every turn(until I seek them all out and turn them off). Of couse anything said about better anything is just subjective opinion.

The P6P has been a great phone and experience to me. The camera works great IMO, bettery life great, design is unique, basically not much to complain about here.

At least I only paid $365 for the S22U(+the S21U trade, it has to be factored in) so I can always sell it and the acessories for some extra cash, throw it in the drawer as a backup or pop the sim in for a change of pace.

 

[YankInDaSouth]

I ordered the S22 Ultra (White, 512GB) and I'm already contemplating cancelling LOL (I do this EVERY year )

I'm fortunate and have only had very minor issues with the P6P ... most I believe are Android 12 issues as I also experienced them on my Pixel 3. I'm hopeful Google irons them out, but if not I could live with them. I can understand the frustration of those having major issues like connectivity and battery drain jumping ship. But for me, especially since the February update, things are running pretty smooth for the most part which is why I'm also considering canceling the pre order.

Overall I've disliked Android 12 since I first jumped on the Beta with my P3. I don't like the aesthetics. I think they took a few steps back, in my opinion. The giant quick setting toggles and getting rid of a true dark mode are my biggest complaints. By making the quick toggles so big they limited how many toggles you can have to quickly access. Seems counter intuitive to me. (The "Internet" toggle is a mind boggling decision too.) Why they moved from a true black on the settings menus to a dark grey also irks me a bit ... at least give us an option to choose what we want.

My Chromebook is dying a slow death and I am trying to justify the S22U purchase to myself because I can use DEX in lieu of purchasing a new Chromebook (Plus I like shiny new devices LOL). IDK ... I'll kick around keeping the pre order or canceling it over the next few days ... After all it's an annual tradition

 

[subguy812]

I ordered the S22 Ultra (White, 512GB) and I'm already contemplating cancelling LOL (I do this EVERY year )

I'm fortunate and have only had very minor issues with the P6P ... most I believe are Android 12 issues as I also experienced them on my Pixel 3. I'm hopeful Google irons them out, but if not I could live with them. I can understand the frustration of those having major issues like connectivity and battery drain jumping ship. But for me, especially since the February update, things are running pretty smooth for the most part which is why I'm also considering canceling the pre order.

Overall I've disliked Android 12 since I first jumped on the Beta with my P3. I don't like the aesthetics. I think they took a few steps back, in my opinion. The giant quick setting toggles and getting rid of a true dark mode are my biggest complaints. By making the quick toggles so big they limited how many toggles you can have to quickly access. Seems counter intuitive to me. (The "Internet" toggle is a mind boggling decision too.) Why they moved from a true black on the settings menus to a dark grey also irks me a bit ... at least give us an option to choose what we want.

My Chromebook is dying a slow death and I am trying to justify the S22U purchase to myself because I can use DEX in lieu of purchasing a new Chromebook (Plus I like shiny new devices LOL). IDK ... I'll kick around keeping the pre order or canceling it over the next few days ... After all it's an annual tradition

Install the beta 12L

 

[YankInDaSouth]

Install the beta 12L

Is the UI different or something? Thought 12L was geared more towards foldables ... Haven't really been following that Beta much.

 

[Guyinbox]

I will pre order the ultra, but I'll wait for camera reviews to see how it stacks up to the pixel. I used the 21 ultra side by side with my 6 pro for pictures at a gathering last weekend, and that camera is still bad for indoor lighting (as well as with moving subjects.)
If Samsung can fix the camera, I'll gladly give them my wife's pixel 6 for an $800 trade-in to T-Mobile and give the ultra a try.

 

[neil74]

The S22 plus interests me more TBH, looks a great size.

I am on the fence, fear the camera will be a compromise again vs. the Pixel. On the other side I can get £450 trade in for my S20 against the ultra or £300 against the plus so I am tempted!

 

[bkdodger2]

I ordered the S22 Ultra (White, 512GB) and I'm already contemplating cancelling LOL (I do this EVERY year )

I'm fortunate and have only had very minor issues with the P6P ... most I believe are Android 12 issues as I also experienced them on my Pixel 3. I'm hopeful Google irons them out, but if not I could live with them. I can understand the frustration of those having major issues like connectivity and battery drain jumping ship. But for me, especially since the February update, things are running pretty smooth for the most part which is why I'm also considering canceling the pre order.

Overall I've disliked Android 12 since I first jumped on the Beta with my P3. I don't like the aesthetics. I think they took a few steps back, in my opinion. The giant quick setting toggles and getting rid of a true dark mode are my biggest complaints. By making the quick toggles so big they limited how many toggles you can have to quickly access. Seems counter intuitive to me. (The "Internet" toggle is a mind boggling decision too.) Why they moved from a true black on the settings menus to a dark grey also irks me a bit ... at least give us an option to choose what we want.

My Chromebook is dying a slow death and I am trying to justify the S22U purchase to myself because I can use DEX in lieu of purchasing a new Chromebook (Plus I like shiny new devices LOL). IDK ... I'll kick around keeping the pre order or canceling it over the next few days ... After all it's an annual tradition

Please don't cancel ..I have no issues whatsoever with my P6P ...but I did order the White 512GB as well ...so your issues are my issues lmao