No-bullshit Android is pretty much the only reason I got my P3 (that and my 6P was steadily weaving itself into dust everytime I had to coax it do anything), and I guess the camera is pretty cool. Went on a cave tour with my brother who brought along a fancy DSLR and I was taking rad ass fuckin pictures shot after shot in the dark, just pumping out those fuckers like Peeps on Easter, while he was fumbling with his kit and I'm like get owned biiiiiiiiiiitch.
But yeah, Pixels are probably a couple bills more expensive than they should be, which is a high price to pay for naked Android that is actually updated worth a damn on the reg.
eh, that just sounds like someone who has a dSLR and doesn't *really* know how to use it. My dad is a photographer, and he doesn't "fumble" around to get great low light shots, and it's not like he's changing settings every shot. He just knows what he's doing.
Well yeah, I'm assuming a professional photographer will know how to do things way better than my brother, a casual hobbyist, and me some idiot with a phone.
But I'm down with dunking on my bro though, cuz he a punk.
The big thing I see from people I know who own dSLR's is that they actually do try to do too much with them, changing settings on every shot, etc. honestly, just leaving them on auto wfor 100% of your shots will still get you photos that are remarkably better than anything any phone can do. But too many people think that because they have this camera that has all these fancy settings that they should be trying to set everything perfect manually every shot.
that's the dirty little secret. My dad, who does this for a living, leaves his Canon SLR or automatic mode probably 75% of the time.
No-bullshit Android is pretty much the only reason I got my P3 (that and my 6P was steadily weaving itself into dust everytime I had to coax it do anything), and I guess the camera is pretty cool. Went on a cave tour with my brother who brought along a fancy DSLR and I was taking rad ass fuckin pictures shot after shot in the dark, just pumping out those fuckers like Peeps on Easter, while he was fumbling with his kit and I'm like get owned biiiiiiiiiiitch.
But yeah, Pixels are probably a couple bills more expensive than they should be, which is a high price to pay for naked Android that is actually updated worth a damn on the reg.
I took a shot in the dark on a theory and it happened to work:
The Pixel 3 came out late Oct-to-Nov 2018 iirc. I suspected that a number of people bought them as Christmas gifts, and either wouldn't like them for some reason, or they bought an Android phone for an iPhone user. So I hopped onto Ebay in January and managed to snag a like-new Pixel 3 for $600 because a lady bought it for her son but he wanted to go back to iPhone.
I expect something similar this year, so if any of you are in the market for a Pixel 4 but can't stomach the price, check just after the Holidays on the secondary market. There's some risk involved, but if you're judicious about it, you can snag what you want for a great price.
you very much do get what you pay for in phones. the difference between a $250 phone and a $1000 phone is giant. But There's a $500-$700 market with great phones. I wouldn't recommend somone buy a $250 phone unless you absolutely do not have more money to spend, and I also woudln't recommend you buy a $1000 phone unless money is absolutley no object. But there are a ton of phones in the $400-$750 range that are excellent. they're not *quite* as good as the $1000 phone, but is the Note 10+ $400 better than the Oneplus 7 Pro? Probably not.
The Pixel's problem is just that in the price range, there are phones that are better now, except for camera and update speed.
Yeah. I bought the Pixel 2 at full retail price, and within 2-3 months of launch there were a ton of $200+ off deals to get a Pixel 2 (I think I saw at least one that was around $540 even). If the Pixels started around the 5-600 mark I think that's a bit closer in line with that you get, not $800.
Honestly, I don't even really get what I'd be getting out of a $1000 phone. Glass all around that breaks when you sneeze on it wrong? I guess you get a faster processor, but I only play a couple games (and not high-power stuff) and is it really going to be THAT much faster than a mid-range $400 phone?
I've had a Nexus 5X for 2.5 years and it's getting a little long in the tooth - mostly I think because the battery is toast. We got my wife a Nokia 7.1 when her Nexus died and it seems pretty great. I've been thinking about the 3a or 3a XL though.
I just want regular f-ing Android, and a headphone jack dammit!
there are two or three things between a $1000 phone and a $700 phone that are noticable. the first is usually camera. The cameras on most of the $700 phones are good to great (pixels being the exception). While the $1000 phones usually have great to excellent cameras. If smartphone photography is that important to you, that can be worth it alone.
The other is just that everything about them is like 10% better. The build quality, fit and finish, attention to detail, quality of components etc. Whether that kind of improvement is worth $3-400 is up to the individual. Most people are 100% fine with a midrange phone. If the one plus 6T or 7 Pro had the pixel camera, those would be the best phones on the market hands down.
firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
I grabbed a pixel 3 to replace my pretty much on life support 6P (last time I booted it up, the battery lasted 6 minutes from fully charged ) when they were half off on that anniversary sale, and have been loving it so far. I don't think I'd be able to justify it at full price, personally, but my girlfriend was so impressed with the photos it took (and the value of Fi) that she picked one up to replace her (pretty much brand new...) iphone xr.
Poor woman has had nothing but trouble with the phone so far. Trying to be as helpful as possible but I can't tell what's legit problem and what's a result of jumping into android for the first time. I had to return the first pixel 3 they sent me due to a blob of dead pixels, so it wouldn't surprise me if she got a dud? Lots of dropped calls and shitty reception, which is odd since we both have fi and I have very few issues.
Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
you very much do get what you pay for in phones. the difference between a $250 phone and a $1000 phone is giant. But There's a $500-$700 market with great phones. I wouldn't recommend somone buy a $250 phone unless you absolutely do not have more money to spend, and I also woudln't recommend you buy a $1000 phone unless money is absolutley no object. But there are a ton of phones in the $400-$750 range that are excellent. they're not *quite* as good as the $1000 phone, but is the Note 10+ $400 better than the Oneplus 7 Pro? Probably not.
The Pixel's problem is just that in the price range, there are phones that are better now, except for camera and update speed.
The slightly better camera is worth it for me. I suck at photography but I want to make sure I have the best possible pictures of my daughter saved all the time.
I'd like to jump in on a OnePlus but they don't sell them at retail, and I can't afford to not do subsidized purchasing. We could shell out all at once, but the monthly payment built into our phone plan is an easier thing to budget for.
No-bullshit Android is pretty much the only reason I got my P3 (that and my 6P was steadily weaving itself into dust everytime I had to coax it do anything), and I guess the camera is pretty cool. Went on a cave tour with my brother who brought along a fancy DSLR and I was taking rad ass fuckin pictures shot after shot in the dark, just pumping out those fuckers like Peeps on Easter, while he was fumbling with his kit and I'm like get owned biiiiiiiiiiitch.
But yeah, Pixels are probably a couple bills more expensive than they should be, which is a high price to pay for naked Android that is actually updated worth a damn on the reg.
eh, that just sounds like someone who has a dSLR and doesn't *really* know how to use it. My dad is a photographer, and he doesn't "fumble" around to get great low light shots, and it's not like he's changing settings every shot. He just knows what he's doing.
Well yeah, I'm assuming a professional photographer will know how to do things way better than my brother, a casual hobbyist, and me some idiot with a phone.
But I'm down with dunking on my bro though, cuz he a punk.
What's the point of life if you can't dunk on your family?
So, I preordered a galaxy tab s6 and it came yesterday (a nice surprise, as I got the shipping notification the night before, and it said it was arriving on the 13th).
I'll let you guys know more about what I think of it when I get a chance to use it more.
Jealous. I kind of love the idea of the Tab S series but considering they keep getting more and more expensive.... I just can't justify it.
Yeah, it was fairly expensive, but is basically a note 10 with a bigger screen. From that perspective the price isn't so bad. I'm not sold on the pen storage. The new S-Pen is active (With a battery), and I think the magnetic storage with wireless charging is superior to the way apple does it on the iPad Pro, but it is still a little awkward when holding the tablet, and I'm worried I'm going to lose it somewhere. The other negative is the lack of the headphone jack. I don't mind it as much as a phone missing the jack though, as you're not going to want to stick it in your pocket and walk around with it, and the tablet is too thin to support a jack. The weight reduction of the thinner device is really worth it with a tablet so large. The tablet also has 4 surprisingly good speakers, which makes it more useful for things like watching videos without headphones.
The major reason why I bought this tablet was to replace my old tablet that was having problems holding a charge overnight. This tablet is much better battery wise than my note 10.1 2014 edition was even when it was new. I used it to play an audio book over Bluetooth for 4 hours of driving and only used up 10% or so.
The tablet is smaller than my note 10.1, but the screen is larger (which is a bit of a trip) I don't think they could make the bezels smaller without impacting the usability of the tablet. I haven't stressed the tablet performance wise, but it's an 8 core with 8 gigs of ram, I imagine it will handle anything I can throw at it.
The Samsung custom ui is a lot nicer than the TouchWiz stuff they were doing before, much more minimalistic and closer to default Android. The handwriting recognition is surprisingly good, although I still prefer typing (and soon, actual typing as I have they keyboard cover on order).
I'm sure there things I'm forgetting to mention, so I'll post again, I'm sure.
I'll dispute you on the headphone jack on a tablet. Tablets are mostly media consumption devices in stationary environments. I'd argue the case for a headphone jack is way stronger on a tablet than a phone. You're *not* putting a tablet in your pocket and walking around, which makes a cable for headphones less of an issue. I have a Tab A 10.5 that I use for youtube/netflix/media and there are wired headphones plugged into that thing almost perpetually. You could probably glue the headphones in and I wouldn't even notice. There is no excuse not to have a headphone jack on a tablet. That really is cutting the market.
Also, the newer iPad Pros use Apple pencils that attach magnetically and charge wirelessly, but attach to the side of the tablet, not the back, so you can lay it down flat with the pencil attached. That's a significantly better way of doing that.
I'll dispute you on the headphone jack on a tablet. Tablets are mostly media consumption devices in stationary environments. I'd argue the case for a headphone jack is way stronger on a tablet than a phone. You're *not* putting a tablet in your pocket and walking around, which makes a cable for headphones less of an issue. I have a Tab A 10.5 that I use for youtube/netflix/media and there are wired headphones plugged into that thing almost perpetually. You could probably glue the headphones in and I wouldn't even notice. There is no excuse not to have a headphone jack on a tablet. That really is cutting the market.
Also, the newer iPad Pros use Apple pencils that attach magnetically and charge wirelessly, but attach to the side of the tablet, not the back, so you can lay it down flat with the pencil attached. That's a significantly better way of doing that.
On the 2018 iPad Pro now with the new iPadOS makes the lack of headphone jack so much more jarring as they want you to use it more and more like a computer and attaching 3rd party devices for music production and video editing which is then restricted to only bluetooth headphones because of the single slot.
Update on the Note 10+ to anybody who wants to use it for 5G. Switch off the 5G in settings until you are in a strong 5G signal area and need the use of 5G speeds. Having it on constantly is just not sustainable for your battery health.
Given the strain 5G puts on batteries now, I wonder how long it's going to take to actually become a new standard in terms of actual usage (as opposed to just being included in every device).
I also wonder if settings to turn it off are going to become an exception rather than a rule. Right now it seems necessary.
Man ever since I updated to Android 10 and I take a picture with my Pixel2 it gets stuck processing the HDR forever. I've lost a couple of baby pictures because I thought it took but it just kinda hangs.
This is just like LTE. the first LTE phone, the HTC thunderbolt, had garbage battery life and there was no network coverage. the LTE radios were first generation, separate silicon on the phone's motherboard, and they were power hungry because they weren't every efficient.
fast forward to 2019 and we have LTE built into processors, and the silicon is so efficient that LTE modems actually use less power than 3G.
5G is also very different in that there are two separate kinds of 5G. the milimeter wave stuff on 6GHz is super power hungry right now, and super short range, so that stuff just kills batteries. there's a 2.5 GHz part of 5G which is a lot closer to the LTE spec, and is what the vast majority of "5G" will be. that's not even really deployed anywhere yet.
5G is tracking the exact same way LTE tracked. It'll get there, it'll just take time.
I personally wouldn't buy a 5G phone within the next couple years. 2.5GHz 5G isn't any faster than LTE is right now, and milimeter wave on 6GHz is nothing more than a tech demo in a couple cities.
2020 will be the where the first phones with built in 5G modem into a single chip setup. Current phones have a separate modem chip. Some companies have been a little misleading on advertising this information.
all of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again. We call it "LTE" instead of 4G now because at the beginnings of LTE/4G Tmobile started calling their 42mbit HSPA+ service "4G" because they were still a year away from deploying LTE when AT&T and Verizon started rolling it out.
So I've recently set up a Pi-Hole in our house, which is basically a Raspberry Pi that acts as an in-between DNS server for the home network that keeps an updated list of malware, adware and such domains that it blocks, which makes using mobile devices with fewer blocking/filtering options less of a pain to use when on the home wireless.
A side benefit is that I get a bunch of statistics of what's getting blocked and from whom and, it turns out, my own phone seems to be hammering www.googleadservices.com late at night if the wifi is on. Like, a ping every two seconds, with the phone noticeably getting warmer and the battery going down. Doesn't happen if I turn on the wireless during the day, but around midnight, ping city.
It's a pretty fresh Nexus 6P (fully updated factory reset hand-me-down) install, with barely any apps installed (and most of those are paid for or free open source), and none of them seemed to be running when I was killing them one by one to see what was causing it.
As such I'm at a bit of a loss as to what's doing this- is there like a network sniffer app I could install that would log which apps are making what network calls?
so, if anyone cares, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 (2017) is getting Android 9 pushed to it.
I know this because we have 17 of them set up as digital boards outside of meeting rooms at my work (they have a full screen web app that displays the room's calendar and free/busy) and half of them this morning went to the homescreen with the prompt to do the update. So I had to run around the building setting them all to install overnight and tomorow I get to run around the building and put the web app back up after they restart.
I've been using a smartphone since the original Motorola Droid, dropped a few of 'em case-less and screen-protector-less onto concrete and asphalt, and yet managed to never crack a screen - until Saturday, when I dropped my Pixel 2 XL on the kitchen floor and cracked it bad enough that bits of glass came off in the corner. The timing is especially irritating because the Pixel 4 is has been leaked enough that it's clear it'll be announced (and probably released?) any day now, but it's out-of-sight enough that I can't really wait.
So, anyway, now I have a Pixel 3 XL. It's nice, I like it - although I think the notch is very ugly. I understand the "it gets you a bit more screen real estate" argument, but I think it's such ugly design that I'm shocked Apple and Google designers allowed that kind of thing to go out into the world. Ultimately it's not a huge usability issue, and I'm sure I'm gonna get used to it in a week's time.
So, anyway, now I have a Pixel 3 XL. It's nice, I like it - although I think the notch is very ugly. I understand the "it gets you a bit more screen real estate" argument, but I think it's such ugly design that I'm shocked Apple and Google designers allowed that kind of thing to go out into the world. Ultimately it's not a huge usability issue, and I'm sure I'm gonna get used to it in a week's time.
You can turn it off, can you not? Or are Pixels not able to? Most Android phones can black out the areas to the left and right of the notch, leaving only the status bar info there on a blacked out background, which more or less covers up the notch and looks more or less like a bezel.
I saw my friend the other day who recently got a 3XL. I didn't get a chance to play around with it at all, unfortunately, but I did get to hold it briefly... and was amazed how much heavier it was than my V30. It is a bit bigger too, but not by enough for that alone to account for it.
I've maintained for a while that Google's phones actually aren't that good. they have the best camera, and get updates the fastest, but other than that, they're not great.
I know someone with a Pixel 3 (non XL) and the battery life is so bad it's usually dead by 4pm for her. Pretty much every OEM makes better phones now, except for the camera.
I really hope Google steps up their game with the pixel 4 series.
I know someone with a Pixel 3 (non XL) and the battery life is so bad it's usually dead by 4pm for her. Pretty much every OEM makes better phones now, except for the camera.
I haven't had this kind of an experience with a smartphone since my Nexus 6P's battery stopped holding a charge. What is your friend doing with the phone? I don't mean it in a "What the hell, your friend doesn't know how to use a phone!!!11" sense, I just mean that her use case must be pretty different from mine. Does she use it to watch a lot of video, for example? (An entirely reasonable thing, just something that I almost never do.)
I've maintained for a while that Google's phones actually aren't that good. they have the best camera, and get updates the fastest, but other than that, they're not great.
I know someone with a Pixel 3 (non XL) and the battery life is so bad it's usually dead by 4pm for her. Pretty much every OEM makes better phones now, except for the camera.
I really hope Google steps up their game with the pixel 4 series.
I'd just like others to git gud as much with the camera. That's probably more realistic than hoping Google will stuff everything I want into a phone.
Samsung's camera stuff is really close. in daytime it's hard to tell the difference between most high end cameraphones nowadays. in low light the Pixels are better but I find the note 10 way better than the note 9. Samsung's night mode is ok, It preserves an ok amount of detail but pixel night modes are still better.
One place where I find the note 10 camera's do really well is with a challenging backlight. think a picture with a window in the background. iPhone cameras really struggle with that, and the Note 10 produces pretty good shots there.
Basically, camera phones are really almost personal preference. It seems every good one does some things better and some things worse than every other one.
My Pixel 3 lasts a little more than a day, if I let it go all the way down to sub-20% before charging. As it stands, I'm usually charging up to ~92% before bed, and I'm at around 35% when I'm putting the kids to bed the next night.
I'd prefer it last a bit longer, but my usage case jumps around. I've started checking Twitter regularly again, and that tends to kill the battery. My desk is also in the middle of a building that was built in the 1930s, in a room with an open door to the windows, so it does spend a bit more energy periodically looking for a signal.
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
edited September 2019
I still consistently get 6-7hrs of SOT across 48 hours between charges on my OnePlus 6T, even almost 12 months after purchase. If I wanted to use it nonstop it's somewhere around 11 hours SOT.
I'd never want to go to anything less, it's so liberating to not have to constantly be aware that the battery is limiting.
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The big thing I see from people I know who own dSLR's is that they actually do try to do too much with them, changing settings on every shot, etc. honestly, just leaving them on auto wfor 100% of your shots will still get you photos that are remarkably better than anything any phone can do. But too many people think that because they have this camera that has all these fancy settings that they should be trying to set everything perfect manually every shot.
that's the dirty little secret. My dad, who does this for a living, leaves his Canon SLR or automatic mode probably 75% of the time.
I took a shot in the dark on a theory and it happened to work:
The Pixel 3 came out late Oct-to-Nov 2018 iirc. I suspected that a number of people bought them as Christmas gifts, and either wouldn't like them for some reason, or they bought an Android phone for an iPhone user. So I hopped onto Ebay in January and managed to snag a like-new Pixel 3 for $600 because a lady bought it for her son but he wanted to go back to iPhone.
I expect something similar this year, so if any of you are in the market for a Pixel 4 but can't stomach the price, check just after the Holidays on the secondary market. There's some risk involved, but if you're judicious about it, you can snag what you want for a great price.
Yeah. I bought the Pixel 2 at full retail price, and within 2-3 months of launch there were a ton of $200+ off deals to get a Pixel 2 (I think I saw at least one that was around $540 even). If the Pixels started around the 5-600 mark I think that's a bit closer in line with that you get, not $800.
I've had a Nexus 5X for 2.5 years and it's getting a little long in the tooth - mostly I think because the battery is toast. We got my wife a Nokia 7.1 when her Nexus died and it seems pretty great. I've been thinking about the 3a or 3a XL though.
I just want regular f-ing Android, and a headphone jack dammit!
The other is just that everything about them is like 10% better. The build quality, fit and finish, attention to detail, quality of components etc. Whether that kind of improvement is worth $3-400 is up to the individual. Most people are 100% fine with a midrange phone. If the one plus 6T or 7 Pro had the pixel camera, those would be the best phones on the market hands down.
Poor woman has had nothing but trouble with the phone so far. Trying to be as helpful as possible but I can't tell what's legit problem and what's a result of jumping into android for the first time. I had to return the first pixel 3 they sent me due to a blob of dead pixels, so it wouldn't surprise me if she got a dud? Lots of dropped calls and shitty reception, which is odd since we both have fi and I have very few issues.
The slightly better camera is worth it for me. I suck at photography but I want to make sure I have the best possible pictures of my daughter saved all the time.
I'd like to jump in on a OnePlus but they don't sell them at retail, and I can't afford to not do subsidized purchasing. We could shell out all at once, but the monthly payment built into our phone plan is an easier thing to budget for.
What's the point of life if you can't dunk on your family?
I'll let you guys know more about what I think of it when I get a chance to use it more.
Yeah, it was fairly expensive, but is basically a note 10 with a bigger screen. From that perspective the price isn't so bad. I'm not sold on the pen storage. The new S-Pen is active (With a battery), and I think the magnetic storage with wireless charging is superior to the way apple does it on the iPad Pro, but it is still a little awkward when holding the tablet, and I'm worried I'm going to lose it somewhere. The other negative is the lack of the headphone jack. I don't mind it as much as a phone missing the jack though, as you're not going to want to stick it in your pocket and walk around with it, and the tablet is too thin to support a jack. The weight reduction of the thinner device is really worth it with a tablet so large. The tablet also has 4 surprisingly good speakers, which makes it more useful for things like watching videos without headphones.
The major reason why I bought this tablet was to replace my old tablet that was having problems holding a charge overnight. This tablet is much better battery wise than my note 10.1 2014 edition was even when it was new. I used it to play an audio book over Bluetooth for 4 hours of driving and only used up 10% or so.
The tablet is smaller than my note 10.1, but the screen is larger (which is a bit of a trip) I don't think they could make the bezels smaller without impacting the usability of the tablet. I haven't stressed the tablet performance wise, but it's an 8 core with 8 gigs of ram, I imagine it will handle anything I can throw at it.
The Samsung custom ui is a lot nicer than the TouchWiz stuff they were doing before, much more minimalistic and closer to default Android. The handwriting recognition is surprisingly good, although I still prefer typing (and soon, actual typing as I have they keyboard cover on order).
I'm sure there things I'm forgetting to mention, so I'll post again, I'm sure.
Also, the newer iPad Pros use Apple pencils that attach magnetically and charge wirelessly, but attach to the side of the tablet, not the back, so you can lay it down flat with the pencil attached. That's a significantly better way of doing that.
On the 2018 iPad Pro now with the new iPadOS makes the lack of headphone jack so much more jarring as they want you to use it more and more like a computer and attaching 3rd party devices for music production and video editing which is then restricted to only bluetooth headphones because of the single slot.
Update on the Note 10+ to anybody who wants to use it for 5G. Switch off the 5G in settings until you are in a strong 5G signal area and need the use of 5G speeds. Having it on constantly is just not sustainable for your battery health.
I also wonder if settings to turn it off are going to become an exception rather than a rule. Right now it seems necessary.
Steam | XBL
fast forward to 2019 and we have LTE built into processors, and the silicon is so efficient that LTE modems actually use less power than 3G.
5G is also very different in that there are two separate kinds of 5G. the milimeter wave stuff on 6GHz is super power hungry right now, and super short range, so that stuff just kills batteries. there's a 2.5 GHz part of 5G which is a lot closer to the LTE spec, and is what the vast majority of "5G" will be. that's not even really deployed anywhere yet.
5G is tracking the exact same way LTE tracked. It'll get there, it'll just take time.
I personally wouldn't buy a 5G phone within the next couple years. 2.5GHz 5G isn't any faster than LTE is right now, and milimeter wave on 6GHz is nothing more than a tech demo in a couple cities.
A side benefit is that I get a bunch of statistics of what's getting blocked and from whom and, it turns out, my own phone seems to be hammering www.googleadservices.com late at night if the wifi is on. Like, a ping every two seconds, with the phone noticeably getting warmer and the battery going down. Doesn't happen if I turn on the wireless during the day, but around midnight, ping city.
It's a pretty fresh Nexus 6P (fully updated factory reset hand-me-down) install, with barely any apps installed (and most of those are paid for or free open source), and none of them seemed to be running when I was killing them one by one to see what was causing it.
As such I'm at a bit of a loss as to what's doing this- is there like a network sniffer app I could install that would log which apps are making what network calls?
1. Love Dark Mode
2. Google killed my favorite alarm clock by buying it and sunsetting it
I know this because we have 17 of them set up as digital boards outside of meeting rooms at my work (they have a full screen web app that displays the room's calendar and free/busy) and half of them this morning went to the homescreen with the prompt to do the update. So I had to run around the building setting them all to install overnight and tomorow I get to run around the building and put the web app back up after they restart.
So, anyway, now I have a Pixel 3 XL. It's nice, I like it - although I think the notch is very ugly. I understand the "it gets you a bit more screen real estate" argument, but I think it's such ugly design that I'm shocked Apple and Google designers allowed that kind of thing to go out into the world. Ultimately it's not a huge usability issue, and I'm sure I'm gonna get used to it in a week's time.
It's not pretty!
Also unless I'm missing a setting, I can't blindly mash the top of my phone to snooze anymore. Yes I'm petty.
You can turn it off, can you not? Or are Pixels not able to? Most Android phones can black out the areas to the left and right of the notch, leaving only the status bar info there on a blacked out background, which more or less covers up the notch and looks more or less like a bezel.
Still ends up being roughly the same as a phone without a notch, with the natural exception of the OnePlus phones that have the popup camera now.
Although, actually, what DOES bother me is the fact that far fewer notification icons can fit in the reduced space around the notch.
Steam | XBL
I know someone with a Pixel 3 (non XL) and the battery life is so bad it's usually dead by 4pm for her. Pretty much every OEM makes better phones now, except for the camera.
I really hope Google steps up their game with the pixel 4 series.
I'd just like others to git gud as much with the camera. That's probably more realistic than hoping Google will stuff everything I want into a phone.
Steam | XBL
One place where I find the note 10 camera's do really well is with a challenging backlight. think a picture with a window in the background. iPhone cameras really struggle with that, and the Note 10 produces pretty good shots there.
Basically, camera phones are really almost personal preference. It seems every good one does some things better and some things worse than every other one.
I'd prefer it last a bit longer, but my usage case jumps around. I've started checking Twitter regularly again, and that tends to kill the battery. My desk is also in the middle of a building that was built in the 1930s, in a room with an open door to the windows, so it does spend a bit more energy periodically looking for a signal.
I'd never want to go to anything less, it's so liberating to not have to constantly be aware that the battery is limiting.