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Google Unveils Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL With No Headphone Jack (venturebeat.com)

Posted by msmash on from the new-shiny-devices dept.

From a report: Google product chief Mario Queiroz today unveiled two new Android 8.1 Oreo smartphones at the company's annual hardware event: the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL. The smaller Pixel 2 sports a 5-inch, 1080p display, with a 16:9 aspect ratio that was until this year the standard on Android flagships. The larger Pixel 2 XL, meanwhile, has a 6-inch, QHD+ display in an 18:9 aspect ratio, in line with 2017's flagship smartphones. The Pixel 2 thus still has a large bezel while the Pixel XL 2 has a noticeably reduced bezel profile, although certainly not the smallest we've seen. As always, smartphone size also dictates battery capacity: 2700 mAh for the Pixel 2 and 3520 mAh for the Pixel 2 XL. Here's the rundown: Snapdragon 835 chipset, 4GB of RAM, either 64GB or 128GB of storage, an 8-megapixel front-facing camera, a 12-megapixel rear camera, front stereo speakers, a fingerprint scanner on the back, a USB-C port on the bottom, and no headphone jack. "Use your existing analog headphones with the included adapter," Queiroz said. [...] The HTC-manufactured Pixel 2 will be available in Just Black, Clearly White, and Kinda Blue on October 19. The LG-manufactured Pixel 2 XL will ship in Just Black and Black & White on November 15. The Pixel 2 will be available for $649 (64GB) and $749 (128GB) while the Pixel 2 XL will come in $849 (64GB) and $949 (128GB) flavors.

8 of 291 comments (clear)

  1. Bye by OverlordQ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Fi-licia.

    "You dont need SD cards, put it all in the cloud! Oh by the way, data is $10/GB"

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    1. Re:Bye by dknj · · Score: 4, Insightful

      just another digital rights grab by the music industry. too little, too late. the worry is when android ceases to stop supporting the analog headphone jack, this is what google is setting up for

      -dk

    2. Re:Bye by zenbi · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Did anyone else notice the microphone is always on and listening? On a phone. Without a disable switch.

      Speaking of audio, the Pixel 2s have a music recognition feature that is always on, Google’s director of product management Sabrina Ellis revealed. Whenever music is playing nearby and the second-generation Pixel recognizes the song, it will automatically show the artist and title on your lock screen.

      The obvious next step is to display an ad to "purchase" the song in the Play store. Or maybe just go ahead and charge you anyway if you don't a have sufficient license to the song. Be careful what you say near a Pixel phone. If the phone can continually listen for songs, it could also continually listen for key words and phrases.

      It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself – anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime, it was called.

      You are a slow learner, Winston.

  2. Re:No Jack No Problem by dbialac · · Score: 4, Insightful

    By using bluetooth, you lose out on high-fidelity audio. A simple test: listen to a high-quality recording via bluetooth on your car, then try listening to the same audio through the AUX without the volume turned up too high as this can also create a different type of distortion. The muffling of the bass with bluetooth will be clear as daylight. This is why I never use bluetooth audio.

  3. Re:Google, we need AFFORDABLE Android phones! by Luthair · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Agreed - its more than just their phones their entire product line has become egregiously expensive.

    If we recount their popular and successful products - Nexus 7, Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Chromecast, Cardboard. Whats the common factor? A good product at a great price.

  4. Re:Cue the Android fanboy apologists by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I still love Android. Of course, I use Samsung and they still have headphone jacks. No need for me to ever consider a Pixel 2. See, that's the advantage of Android - actual CHOICE about features, not just "which color and what size" like you get with Apple! If choice is confusing to you, then by all means live with an Apple product, but if you want to actually have a choice from dozens of manufacturers of a few hundred models - Android works nicely.

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  5. Re:Definition of Courage by lukpac · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As I've said before, it did take Courage take take on all the initial Nerd Rage generated by removing an ancient obsolete port that the Nerd Hipsters all love and want to keep forever.

    Even when we are beings of pure energy they will manifest a physical ear and one audio jack specifically so they can use a wired headset and feel superior.

    It has nothing to do with "nerd rage" and everything to do with usability. I have multiple pairs of headphones that I often use (work, office, bedroom, etc), plus I regularly plug my phone into various line-level inputs. The lack of a 1/8" jack means I would either have to 1) always carry a dongle around with my phone or 2) keep a dongle with every device I *might* connect to.

    Audio exists outside the realm of cell phones, and analog audio isn't going anywhere. Removal of built-in analog out on phones is a definite hindrance.

  6. Re:Definition of Courage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Seems like you don't know who the nerd hipsters are, or you're just disingenuously projecting. Perhaps you've been called one too much for being too willing to accept whatever your tech fashion overlords dictate? If the former, here's a clue: nerd hipsters are the ones who will not hesitate to throw out what still works because the next version is out, and will spend hundreds on a record player that only has USB-C out because they are "cool" right now.

    People want a headphone jack because their headphones and PC speakers, which they like and which still work, can connect to their PC, their music player, other mobile devices, their car (AUX IN) and everything else with speakers. Furthermore, almost none of said speaker-having things have a USB-C port at all. Replacing everything to suit one new thing is grossly impractical. A complacent "dongle here dongle there" attitude quickly turns into needing to bring a bag around for everything which is also grossly impractical. USB-C ain't so universal.

    Even when every type of device has a USB-C port and not a headphone jack, suddenly every old pair of headphones is relegated to the landfill or requires the production of even more unnecessary and otherwise useless dongles which would double what gets added to landfills later.

    Then you have the unpleasant DRM/"smart" aspect of USB-C which definitely won't be used against the public when head office/government decides pirated or politically unpleasant content just won't play.

    And lastly you have the problem of it being the only port on the device, meaning you can't multi-task without yet another dongle.

    I don't know why I'm bothering to reply though. Morons refuse to listen to reason.