Pixel 2 Review
I didn't pick up the larger Pixel 2 XL, mostly because by the time I thought to place an order they weren't shipping for several weeks according to the Google Store and I'm simply not that patient. So, I have nothing to say about the pOLED screen complaints. But, after a week of use I think I can now talk about the smaller one I have been using from my perspective.
Of course, it wasn't JUST that they weren't shipping as soon. It was also a matter of being interested in going back to a smaller phone. Much as I loved the screen real estate on the Nexus 6P, it is pretty easy to admit that my daily use for my phone doesn't really demand or even really benefit from the larger screen size. I generally got pulled towards larger devices though because you often couldn't get the flagship phones in the smaller form factors. They always came with a hit to processor, RAM or storage. With the Pixel 2, this wasn't the case. So, the decision was really a combination of convenience and a desire to give a smaller phone a try again.
So, here are my thoughts on this phone.
Screen
I'm not a professional tech reviewer. I own 1-2 phones at a time and only use 1 daily. I don't put 2 or more phones side by side and compare their quality. That being said, I think the screen is great. In daily use I don't notice any color shift at different viewing angles. I can't see individual pixels. And colors look like... colors. For a person like me (a supposedly typical user) I think the screen on this device is more than fine.
Camera
I am a bit picky on cameras. I don't own a stand alone camera any more. And while I don't sit around and take pictures all day long, when I do, I want them to turn out as good as possible. Also, my last few phones have all had very good cameras for phones and if nothing else I don't want to take a huge hit there. On this topic, I feel like the Pixel 2 camera is very good. And CRAZY fast. Though, despite the fact that it is supposed to be better than the Nexus 6P's camera, I liked the pictures I took on the 6P more. Perhaps it is the screen, perhaps something else. I find, when zoomed a bit, that the Pixel 2 gets grainier faster and isn't as detailed. That being said, I still feel it is the second best camera I've owned. Also, with Pixel Visual Core, there is a chance that the quality will actually improve over time.
Battery Life
An area which I pay close to attention but which doesn't concern me a ton. I keep my phones religiously above 75% battery life and I am almost always near a charger. Combined with rapid charging and I've never once had a phone run out of battery on me. But, battery life can be indicative of a number of things. A dying battery can lose charge very rapidly. It can also fail to supply the necessary power when it is needed. So, I pay attention to battery life on my phones. Also, because I like to keep them reasonably well charged I still need to know roughly how fast it is discharging.
I don't have many apps or widgets, or even many icons on my home screen. I use the always on display and Now Playing features of the Pixel 2 line so, while I may be a little low on app related power draw, I'm not exactly the most conservative user either.
Here is what I've noticed. I had a good Nexus 6P. None of the battery life problem or reboot problems others reported. To me, the 6P had excellent stand by battery life. I could probably drag that thing out 2-3 days if I never used the screen. But, of course, I did use the screen. And the screen on that phone was a HOG.
With the "always on" and "Now Playing" the Pixel 2 experiences a faster drain when not in use (as one would expect). But, the drain is not bad. I probably lose about 1% an hour where the Nexus 6P would probably drain 1% every 2-3 hours. Both have spikes where the battery life drops faster, could be due to background processes like email, battery drain due to signal strength or perhaps just the battery reading correcting itself.
Comparatively, that sounds bad... but, as mentioned before... I don't own a phone so I can leave it in stand by all the time. I listen to music, I use the occasional app, etc... and, as stated, my Pixel 2 screen is always on, whereas the Nexus wasn't. I don't know what the stand by would be like without those features enabled. The Pixel 2 is MUCH better when in use. It felt like the 6P would drain 1% for every minute or so the screen was on regardless of content (my brightness settings are basically the same across the two devices BTW) whereas the Pixel 2 feels more like it drains 1% every 2-4 minutes depending on screen content.
Also, since the Pixel 2 is new, I'm tinkering with it more. Despite this, I would say I end the day with the same or more battery than I did with the 6P. Given the increased usage and added features like the always on display I'd have to say that the Pixel 2 easily wins on battery life for me.
Performance
It is a flagship device, with flagship specs running a pure Android experience. It definitely runs more smoothly than even my Nexus 6P did. And it should outperform just about every other Android device and even keep a decent pace with most phones for a generation or two. Apps and games won't be a problem for years to come on a device like this.
Features
Active Edge is the only thing I turned off. Maybe I'd get used to it and like it. But triggering it intentionally and only intentionally was pretty darn hit or miss. I even tried alternate sensitivity settings a few different times. I never had it accidentally open when I picked up the phone, but I also had to try numerous times most times I tried to use it. And "Ok Google" or long pressing the home button are much easier ways to launch assistant. Which I do use.
Always On I like. As stated, if it impacts the battery, for me, the phone makes up for it by being better than my past in terms of screen on time. I like having the time and date always visible on my phone. I don't wear a watch.
Now playing... probably doesn't need to be on, it is quaint. It works, if sometimes a little delayed. I leave it on because I sincerely doubt the battery impact is even measurably against the always on display, especially since I have it listening already for Google Assistant.
The Pixel 2 specific features mentioned above are a nice touch. They can all be disabled and they all add some amount of utility. They are also all covered in the initial setup experience which is important as it means you're not just defaulted to them being on and need to dig around to turn off what you don't like.
Build Quality
I always buy a case for my phones. I don't drop them often, but even the most durable phones can break or suffer aesthetic dings. But build quality is still important and the Pixel 2 feels well built. I don't buy screen protectors. Up until I accidentally dropped a heavy paper weight on my Nexus 6P the screen never had any readily visible damage. Gorilla Glass has gotten to a very good level of resistance to scratching from daily life.
Some articles were floating around giving some negative press over bendability and problems arising from scratching the fingerprint sensor. I have already argued this, but I'll do it again here quickly since it does relate to build quality. The bend test in my opinion obviously didn't look good for the device, but I also don't think it is all that bad either. The test applied a large amount of stress directly upon the weak point of the device. It still flexed back into shape and continued to work. It would compromise the water resistance. But that was A LOT of stress on the device. If I did that to my phone I'd simply be happy if it still worked.
As for the scratched finger print sensor. I think the test is inconclusive and even more extreme than the bend test. It was EXTENSIVELY scratched with tools. And only after it was devastated was it tested and reported no longer working. As I said before, what we don't know is at what point it would have stopped working and whether or not breaking would even be common at that level of damage. So, we don't really know if keys in a pocket or purse are likely to cause the sort of damage that will break the sensor or not, which is what I assume people are worried about.
Value
These are not cheap phones. They are flagships and as such they offer the least compromises. But, there are still compromises and we're hitting a point of diminishing returns with each new generation of phone. So while I certainly think they are comparatively worth the price, I also think the value should be partly driven on what you're coming from.
For me, my Nexus 6P was starting to have issues with the charging port. My wife on a VERY old Windows Phone. For us, the upgrade made sense. But, if my 6P didn't have issues with the charging port (and I didn't shatter the screen), in hindsight, I likely wouldn't feel like the upgrade was worth it. That should put things in context. A flagship phone 2 generations old, doesn't feel like substantively out of date any more.
Everyone's preferences and expectations are different. It will come down likely to how much you feel like you need to have the latest gadgets and how much it would cost. In terms of performance and features though, unless you're upgrading from a lower quality handset or a flagship phone more than 3 years old, I don't think you'll buy this (or any other device) and feel like it is a huge upgrade.
Of course, it wasn't JUST that they weren't shipping as soon. It was also a matter of being interested in going back to a smaller phone. Much as I loved the screen real estate on the Nexus 6P, it is pretty easy to admit that my daily use for my phone doesn't really demand or even really benefit from the larger screen size. I generally got pulled towards larger devices though because you often couldn't get the flagship phones in the smaller form factors. They always came with a hit to processor, RAM or storage. With the Pixel 2, this wasn't the case. So, the decision was really a combination of convenience and a desire to give a smaller phone a try again.
So, here are my thoughts on this phone.
Screen
I'm not a professional tech reviewer. I own 1-2 phones at a time and only use 1 daily. I don't put 2 or more phones side by side and compare their quality. That being said, I think the screen is great. In daily use I don't notice any color shift at different viewing angles. I can't see individual pixels. And colors look like... colors. For a person like me (a supposedly typical user) I think the screen on this device is more than fine.
Camera
I am a bit picky on cameras. I don't own a stand alone camera any more. And while I don't sit around and take pictures all day long, when I do, I want them to turn out as good as possible. Also, my last few phones have all had very good cameras for phones and if nothing else I don't want to take a huge hit there. On this topic, I feel like the Pixel 2 camera is very good. And CRAZY fast. Though, despite the fact that it is supposed to be better than the Nexus 6P's camera, I liked the pictures I took on the 6P more. Perhaps it is the screen, perhaps something else. I find, when zoomed a bit, that the Pixel 2 gets grainier faster and isn't as detailed. That being said, I still feel it is the second best camera I've owned. Also, with Pixel Visual Core, there is a chance that the quality will actually improve over time.
Battery Life
An area which I pay close to attention but which doesn't concern me a ton. I keep my phones religiously above 75% battery life and I am almost always near a charger. Combined with rapid charging and I've never once had a phone run out of battery on me. But, battery life can be indicative of a number of things. A dying battery can lose charge very rapidly. It can also fail to supply the necessary power when it is needed. So, I pay attention to battery life on my phones. Also, because I like to keep them reasonably well charged I still need to know roughly how fast it is discharging.
I don't have many apps or widgets, or even many icons on my home screen. I use the always on display and Now Playing features of the Pixel 2 line so, while I may be a little low on app related power draw, I'm not exactly the most conservative user either.
Here is what I've noticed. I had a good Nexus 6P. None of the battery life problem or reboot problems others reported. To me, the 6P had excellent stand by battery life. I could probably drag that thing out 2-3 days if I never used the screen. But, of course, I did use the screen. And the screen on that phone was a HOG.
With the "always on" and "Now Playing" the Pixel 2 experiences a faster drain when not in use (as one would expect). But, the drain is not bad. I probably lose about 1% an hour where the Nexus 6P would probably drain 1% every 2-3 hours. Both have spikes where the battery life drops faster, could be due to background processes like email, battery drain due to signal strength or perhaps just the battery reading correcting itself.
Comparatively, that sounds bad... but, as mentioned before... I don't own a phone so I can leave it in stand by all the time. I listen to music, I use the occasional app, etc... and, as stated, my Pixel 2 screen is always on, whereas the Nexus wasn't. I don't know what the stand by would be like without those features enabled. The Pixel 2 is MUCH better when in use. It felt like the 6P would drain 1% for every minute or so the screen was on regardless of content (my brightness settings are basically the same across the two devices BTW) whereas the Pixel 2 feels more like it drains 1% every 2-4 minutes depending on screen content.
Also, since the Pixel 2 is new, I'm tinkering with it more. Despite this, I would say I end the day with the same or more battery than I did with the 6P. Given the increased usage and added features like the always on display I'd have to say that the Pixel 2 easily wins on battery life for me.
Performance
It is a flagship device, with flagship specs running a pure Android experience. It definitely runs more smoothly than even my Nexus 6P did. And it should outperform just about every other Android device and even keep a decent pace with most phones for a generation or two. Apps and games won't be a problem for years to come on a device like this.
Features
Active Edge is the only thing I turned off. Maybe I'd get used to it and like it. But triggering it intentionally and only intentionally was pretty darn hit or miss. I even tried alternate sensitivity settings a few different times. I never had it accidentally open when I picked up the phone, but I also had to try numerous times most times I tried to use it. And "Ok Google" or long pressing the home button are much easier ways to launch assistant. Which I do use.
Always On I like. As stated, if it impacts the battery, for me, the phone makes up for it by being better than my past in terms of screen on time. I like having the time and date always visible on my phone. I don't wear a watch.
Now playing... probably doesn't need to be on, it is quaint. It works, if sometimes a little delayed. I leave it on because I sincerely doubt the battery impact is even measurably against the always on display, especially since I have it listening already for Google Assistant.
The Pixel 2 specific features mentioned above are a nice touch. They can all be disabled and they all add some amount of utility. They are also all covered in the initial setup experience which is important as it means you're not just defaulted to them being on and need to dig around to turn off what you don't like.
Build Quality
I always buy a case for my phones. I don't drop them often, but even the most durable phones can break or suffer aesthetic dings. But build quality is still important and the Pixel 2 feels well built. I don't buy screen protectors. Up until I accidentally dropped a heavy paper weight on my Nexus 6P the screen never had any readily visible damage. Gorilla Glass has gotten to a very good level of resistance to scratching from daily life.
Some articles were floating around giving some negative press over bendability and problems arising from scratching the fingerprint sensor. I have already argued this, but I'll do it again here quickly since it does relate to build quality. The bend test in my opinion obviously didn't look good for the device, but I also don't think it is all that bad either. The test applied a large amount of stress directly upon the weak point of the device. It still flexed back into shape and continued to work. It would compromise the water resistance. But that was A LOT of stress on the device. If I did that to my phone I'd simply be happy if it still worked.
As for the scratched finger print sensor. I think the test is inconclusive and even more extreme than the bend test. It was EXTENSIVELY scratched with tools. And only after it was devastated was it tested and reported no longer working. As I said before, what we don't know is at what point it would have stopped working and whether or not breaking would even be common at that level of damage. So, we don't really know if keys in a pocket or purse are likely to cause the sort of damage that will break the sensor or not, which is what I assume people are worried about.
Value
These are not cheap phones. They are flagships and as such they offer the least compromises. But, there are still compromises and we're hitting a point of diminishing returns with each new generation of phone. So while I certainly think they are comparatively worth the price, I also think the value should be partly driven on what you're coming from.
For me, my Nexus 6P was starting to have issues with the charging port. My wife on a VERY old Windows Phone. For us, the upgrade made sense. But, if my 6P didn't have issues with the charging port (and I didn't shatter the screen), in hindsight, I likely wouldn't feel like the upgrade was worth it. That should put things in context. A flagship phone 2 generations old, doesn't feel like substantively out of date any more.
Everyone's preferences and expectations are different. It will come down likely to how much you feel like you need to have the latest gadgets and how much it would cost. In terms of performance and features though, unless you're upgrading from a lower quality handset or a flagship phone more than 3 years old, I don't think you'll buy this (or any other device) and feel like it is a huge upgrade.
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