Android Oreo Helps Google's Pixel 2 Smartphones Outperform Other Android Flagships (hothardware.com)

MojoKid highlights Hot Hardware's review of Google's new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones: Google officially launched it's Pixel 2 phones today, taking the wraps off third-party reviews. Designed by Google but manufactured by HTC (Pixel 2) and LG (Pixel 2 XL), the two new handsets also boast Google's latest Android 8.0 operating system, aka Oreo, an exclusive to Google Pixel and certain Nexus devices currently. And in some ways, this is also a big advantage. Though they are based on the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor as many other Android devices, Google's new Pixel 2s manage to outpace similarly configured smartphones in certain benchmarks by significant margins (Basemark, PCMark and 3DMark). They also boot dramatically faster than any other Android handset on the market, in as little as 10 seconds. Camera performance is also excellent, with both the 5-inch Pixel 2 and 6-inch Pixel 2 XL sporting identical electronics, save for their displays and chassis sizes. Another notable feature built into Android Oreo is Google Now Playing, an always-listening, Shazam-like service (if you enable it) that displays song titles on the lock screen if it picks up on music playing in the room you're in. Processing is done right on the Pixel 2 and it doesn't need network connectivity. Another Pixel 2 Oreo-based trick is Google Lens, a machine vision system that Google notes "can recognize places like landmarks and buildings, artwork that you'd find in a museum, media covers such as books, movies, music albums, and video games..." The Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are available now on Verizon or unlocked via the Google Store starting at $649 and $849 respectively for 64GB storage versions, with a $100 up-charge for 128GB variants.

Comments

MODERATION IS CENSORSHIP

[Anonymous Coward]

This post is noting the censorship of posts that are skeptical of global warming. Although the posts on this site often are more skeptical than accepting of global warming, moderators routinely censor the skeptical posts to -1. Moderators are engaging in a systematic attempt to suppress any skepticism of global warming, and it needs to be stopped. I will continue to post this in order to draw attention to the censorship that is occurring on Slashdot until it stops. It seems clear that this censorship is the work of Al Gore's paid moderator trolls, who are tasked with suppressing any posts that call global warming into question. Slashdot is supposed to be a place free of censorship and it is time that the censorship of global warming skeptics stops.

I predict that a butthurt moderator will be triggered by my post and will censor it to -1! LOL!

Re:MODERATION IS CENSORSHIP

[DigitAl56K]

Denying global warming is denying scientific consensus.

If you want to be taken seriously please develop a scientific model that disproves global warming, have it peer reviewed, and then you ought to be able to submit it, discuss, and cite it here.

However, this topic has nothing to do with global warming, so an off-topic mod is appropriate.

Re: MODERATION IS CENSORSHIP

[Anonymous Coward]

Most people deny one or another "scientific consensus": climate change, vaccination safety, GMO safety, crime correlations, gun safety findings, marriage effect on children, and the list goes on. Lack of faith in a specific scientific theory does not communicate low intelligence, lack of scientific education, or malice. It only means that science educators fail in convincing the " scientific infidels " that their explanation is probable.

surprise surprise

[Anonymous Coward]

google optimizes *their* mobile os for *their* hardware.

Re:surprise surprise

[guacamole]

This is not a case of some sort of optimization hidden deep in Google's OS that's meant benefit just Google brand hardware. Pixels and Nexus phones are now running Android 8, and those are the only phones having Oreo, besides phones running custom third party firmware.

Nobody is stopping Android hardware manufacturers from providing Android 8 on their hardware.

Boot speed Android Linux vs. GNU/Linux

[DrYak]

They also boot dramatically faster than any other Android handset on the market, in as little as 10 seconds.

And my Xperia running Sailfish X (by the former Nokia engineer who were developing Maemo/Meego before the whole Elop/Microsoft blunder happened), boots even faster, in a couple of seconds.
Yay for GNU/Linux OSes ! (in this case, using systemd as a init system).

The whole "boot loader unlocked" warning that Sony displays is actually longer than the OS boot procedure.

Re:Boot speed Android Linux vs. GNU/Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

After stripping the system to base components, tweaking the kernel a bit, and tweaking the boot system, I managed to make a Raspberry Pi boot (graphical desktop + initialization of an external GPS and 3G module + our application being actually usable) in 20 seconds.

We smashed our target boot time of 1 minute (previous boot time was 3 minutes) because it turns out that there is a load of shit on a typical Linux installation that slows down the boot process for no reason whatsoever (like wasting ~20 seconds for the interfaces to be up before continuing the boot process... what the hell?) that you can tweak for massive boot speed gains without sacrificing functionality.

I didn't even need to nuke systemd, otherwise I could probably shave another 2 seconds off of that (and if I really wanted, I could just write one big fat rc script and shave even more).

That said, congratulations Google. With a bazillion times more processing power and RAM than a Raspberry Pi, custom chips and a billion dollar budget, you still only have marginally faster boot times that a $30 machine.

Re:Boot speed Android Linux vs. GNU/Linux

[Kopp]

How is booting time that important ? My phone is usually up for weeks or months before I reboot it (most often because of updates...)

Re:Boot speed Android Linux vs. GNU/Linux

[JohnFen]

I was wondering this myself. The boot times for laptops and desktops aren't of great importance, and the boot times for smartphones are at least an order of magnitude less important than that.

Is this slasdot, or is this googlevertisement week

[XXongo]

Yet another ad for Google products?

Nice ad Google!

[Anonymous Coward]

Why is this not displayed as sponsored story?

Actually, moderation is not censorship

[XXongo]

The problem is that the denier community is so out of touch that they post their crap on articles that have nothing whatsoever to do with global warming.

Annoying people is is not helping your cause, Mr. Coward.

Fragmentation is not a good thing

[shilly]

A strategy of deliberately fragmenting the user-base across OS versions based on the hardware they're running is not good from a UX, security or privacy perspective

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[PhrostyMcByte]

Phone vendors fragment themselves already. They try to differentiate themselves with custom launchers and apps for everything. I'd love for my V30 to get this new software without getting a hacked OS or APK, but I really don't see Google as being a primary contributor to fragmentation.

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[BronsCon]

Google could put an end to it by simply not allowing it in the license agreement. Of course, more than a handful of features have made their way from vendor overlays into vanilla Android, and I'm not sure Google would have considered those features for inclusion had they not been proven beforehand, so maybe there's some benefit to the current system.

I'm honestly torn on the issue. On one hand, the vanilla experience does lend itself to system updates more readily than what we have now; on the other hand, innovation has to come from somewhere and most of what Google adds to Android isn't originating from within Google.

Perhaps, at the very least, Google should require vendors to submit any proprietary drivers so that Google can release vanilla builds for every device; they would also need to require that any carrier- or vendor-specific apps be released on the Play store, to prevent any model-specific features from being locked behind those apps. Then, you could have the vanilla experience on any phone without losing and vendor- or model-specific functionality which may have made you choose that phone in the first place.

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[Kjella]

Well project Treble is supposed to make it so that they can update Android separate from the vendor implementation, from what I understand one side effect is that all phones could run stock Android. Whether vendors will let you is another story, but hopefully at least now you'll get timely and long lasting updates.

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[swillden]

Google could put an end to it by simply not allowing it in the license agreement.

No, they really couldn't. Google has to walk a fine line, especially with Samsung, but with several of the major players. Push too hard and they're perfectly capable of pulling an Amazon... but far more likely to be successful. Even the smaller players could potentially band together, or make a deal with Amazon.

You think Android fragmentation is bad now? It's nothing compared to what we'd have if Google pushed too hard and lost control. Eventually it would re-consolidate, I think, though probably not entirely. In the short term it would be a mess.

Of course, more than a handful of features have made their way from vendor overlays into vanilla Android, and I'm not sure Google would have considered those features for inclusion had they not been proven beforehand, so maybe there's some benefit to the current system.

This is true.

most of what Google adds to Android isn't originating from within Google.

This is not true. Google does pick up a lot of ideas from other OEMs, but it's definitely not the majority.

Perhaps, at the very least, Google should require vendors to submit any proprietary drivers so that Google can release vanilla builds for every device

Treble is a better approach, I think. The idea is to provide a standard hardware interface that is tested and validated, both with a set of low level tests (the Vendor Test Suite) and by flashing a vanilla AOSP system image and running the app-level API tests (the Compliance Test Suite). So Google doesn't have to release vanilla builds, you (or your favorite community) can just build your own -- assuming, of course, that you can unlock your device's bootloader.

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[guacamole]

And how did you conclude that Google encourages fragmentation in the OS? The bottom of this story is that Google's phones are the only ones released with Android 8. There is nothing stopping other hardware manufacturers from shipping phones with Android 8. In fact, Google would only encourage that.

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[jabuzz]

Fake news I am afraid. Brand new Xperia XZ1 Compact brought last week according to Settings/System I am running Android 8.0.0.

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[ArmoredDragon]

You think Android fragmentation is bad now? It's nothing compared to what we'd have if Google pushed too hard and lost control. Eventually it would re-consolidate, I think, though probably not entirely. In the short term it would be a mess.

Or they would just abandon the platform since they have no product differentiation. This was one of the (many) reasons windows phone failed; every phone was pretty much the same as every other phone in that there was no customization of the OS permitted at all, and they all had to run on the same qualcomm SoC and other hardware components, only being allowed to change the camera, display, battery, and outside casing. They were also required to use the same navigation button layout fixed on to the display (i.e. no soft buttons) with the back button, start screen, and a search button that was forced to use shitty bing (FWIW Google ditched the search button back in 2011.)

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[JohnFen]

Google could put an end to it by simply not allowing it in the license agreement.

I'm glad they don't, personally. But if they did, the license agreement is only for Google apps, not for Android itself.

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[BronsCon]

the license agreement is only for Google apps, not for Android itself

There is, in fact, a license agreement for Android, as well. It just happens to be very permissive at the moment, but Google could change that tomorrow if they wished.

We should be thankful for every day that they don't.

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[JohnFen]

Android proper is open sourced under the Apache 2.0 license, (and the kernel under the GNU GPL2 license). Google cannot change the licensing for versions they've already released. They could, of course, remove future versions from those licenses and do whatever they wish -- but everyone could just continue to use the old versions or their forks.

Google Apps, however, are not open sourced.

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[BronsCon]

They could, of course, remove future versions from those licenses and do whatever they wish

Which is precisely what I was implying.

but everyone could just continue to use the old versions or their forks.

With no updates from Google. Old versions with no security patches (okay, the community might handle that -- maybe it's even likely) and no feature updates, might be fine on old hardware, but isn't that the situation we're all complaining about right now? That's hardly an improvement, then, you see?

Forks might add new features, but they won't be the same features Google adds to new versions, so we'll end up with fragmentation. Isn't that also what we're all complaining about right now?

So yeah, people could keep using the old version, which is what many people are complaining about being forced to do already, and people could develop multiple forked versions, which is the other thing many people are complaining about already. Or, everyone could just use Google's version and actually see the problems they're complaining about solved.

So yes, what you propose could happen. Hell, it's probably the most likely outcome, but it would leave us with the very same issues we have today. And Google could still license future versions under more restrictive terms, knowing full well that our alternative to adopting those more restrictive terms is the status quo.

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[JohnFen]

That's hardly an improvement, then, you see?

I wasn't saying that it would be an improvement, only that manufacturers are likely to go that route if Google gets too pushy about what they can or can't do.

Isn't that also what we're all complaining about right now?

Not all of us. I'm not. As a user, I don't see fragmentation as being a huge issue. I understand how it is annoying to developers, though.

people could develop multiple forked versions

Not only could they, they already have. I have one running right now.

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[farble1670]

Google could put an end to it by simply not allowing it in the license agreement.

Here we go again.

If Google did that, manufacturers would migrate to another OS. If Google had those terms from the beginning Android would be a fading memory. No company (Samsung, HTC, and so on) is going to cripple their options by signing some restrictive license with Google. The only reason Android was a success is because:

1) Manufacturers own all the source. It's theirs sitting on their servers to do with as they please. Google can't take it away.
2) They have wide reign with regards to customizing the OS.

Perhaps, at the very least, Google should require vendors to submit any proprietary drivers so that Google

Sigh. See above.

so that Google can release vanilla builds for every device

Do you think it's reasonable for Google to manage the builds for patches, minor, and major releases for hundreds (thousands?) of Android devices?

Do you think it's reasonable that Google could test all of those builds across all of those devices?

Tens of builds across thousands of devices? Tested and quality assessed?

(Answer: no).

innovation has to come from somewhere and most of what Google adds to Android isn't originating from within Google

You ought to go look at the activity on AOSP then decide where the "innovation" is coming from.

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[farble1670]

Or they would just abandon the platform since they have no product differentiation.

Exactly right. It's more likely though they'd just get out of the business entirely. Even if they somehow managed to build an OS on feature parity w/ Android they'd have to figure out how to get devs to write apps for it.

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[BronsCon]

Here we go again.

Indeed. Sadly, that was in a thread for another article, and not posted here.

Re:Fragmentation is not a good thing

[shilly]

The article says: "the two new handsets also boast Google's latest Android 8.0 operating system, aka Oreo, an exclusive to Google Pixel and certain Nexus devices currently. And in some ways, this is also a big advantage"

Sounds like encouraging fragmentation to me. YMMV

Re: Is this slasdot, or is this googlevertisement

[Anonymous Coward]

You're an idiot. Nerds might be interested in new tech products and their benchmarks versus other similar products. By your standard, any post that discusses new products in a favorable way is an advertisement, regardless of how much the product might be of interest to nerds. I actually like to know when new products are released, and there have always been stories like this posted on Slashdot. Of you don't like the article, don't read it.

Actually, moderation IS censorship

[Anonymous Coward]

Moderation suppresses posts from being viewers by people. It is, by definition, a form of censorship. Webster's dictionary disagrees with you. I find it ironic that Slashdot readers generally object to censorship, except when they get to practice censorship. When you point out that moderation is censorship, people like you get very butthurt about it. You react like someone insulted your mother or kicked your dog. Again, moderation is, by definition, a form of censorship. You are the denier here, and no matter how much you deny that fact, it's true. Most Slashdot readers are snowflakes and get triggered when the truth gets posted. That's why this post will also be censored to -1.

Re: Actually, moderation IS censorship

[Anonymous Coward]

You're the same dummy that claims first amendment rights when they get fired from a job. This board has no responsibility to you too host your inane ramblings. Say whatever the fuck you want. We don't have to listen to it

Re: Actually, moderation IS censorship

[Zero__Kelvin]

... And yet I'll still be able to read it if I so choose to do so, which would explain any downmods. You are simply asserting a falsehpod with an air of (false) authority.

Re:Actually, moderation IS censorship

[dreamchaser]

You really don't know what censorship means, do you? It does not apply to private entities. It applies to Goverment only. If you do not like /.'s moderation system then don't load the page. Pretty easy to do.

Re:Actually, moderation IS censorship

[stdarg]

Wrong, censorship applies to everyone. What is the deal with people trying to limit these sorts of concepts to the government only? Free speech is the other big one that some people think only has meaning with the government.

Let me ask you this, why does the term "self-censorship" exist if it only applies to governments? What is the definition of that term? Are you suggesting that it's a fanciful term that anthropomorphizes government?

Re:Actually, moderation IS censorship

[Anonymous Coward]

Your entire existence is a complete waste of resources. Clearly, the only useful thing you could ever achieve in your entire life is to end it - and I strongly encourage you to do so.

Re:Actually, moderation IS censorship

[farble1670]

Wrong, censorship applies to everyone.

You might want that to be the case, but it's not. A private entity can censor you whenever and however they want within their system. That's why Twitter can block your account if they don't like what you are saying. It's why if you get up on a box of canned beans at your local grocer and start raving about Trump they'll have you thrown out and possibly arrested.

Re:Actually, moderation IS censorship

[dreamchaser]

Try reading a dictionary at least once in your life. Informally, sure you can use that term, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with a private entity 'censoring' your speech.

Re:Actually, moderation IS censorship

[i286NiNJA]

And here I declare that taxes aren't just for the government and you must pay me.
I also declare that independent human flights is a god given right and now we can fly
I declare that the bill of rights isn't only for americans!
Pissing in your mouth is freedom to deny me my freedom is like being hitler.
PS you are hitler, if not worse.

Re:Actually, moderation IS censorship

[stdarg]

You might want that to be the case, but it's not.

vs

A private entity can censor you whenever and however they want within their system.

I'm guessing you misunderstood what I said, or responded to the wrong post, because you're actually agreeing with me (despite your first sentence).

My point: when private entities censor you, that is censorship. I was disagreeing with someone who said "You really don't know what censorship means, do you? It does not apply to private entities. It applies to Goverment only."

Re:Actually, moderation IS censorship

[stdarg]

You already have shown that you understood what "censoring" means with respect to a private entity, so I'm not sure why you think I (or you) need to read the dictionary, but here you go...

the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security

Notice how it doesn't limit that to the government. Hey the dictionary agrees with me! What's your take on this startling new development?

Re:Actually, moderation IS censorship

[stdarg]

Coming back to the replies to my comment, reading yours feels like I've stumbled across someone having a bipolar episode. Yes, I'm worse than Hitler because I said the concept of censorship applies to private entities suppressing expression as well as government. Great argument, very well put!

Shazam without network

[Anonymous Coward]

Another notable feature built into Android Oreo is Google Now Playing, an always-listening, Shazam-like service (if you enable it) that displays song titles on the lock screen if it picks up on music playing in the room you're in. Processing is done right on the Pixel 2 and it doesn't need network connectivity.

Do they also store the database of fingerprinted songs on the device as well? Without that, processing won't matter, you'd still need network connectivity.

Re:Shazam without network

[Desler]

Yeah it’s a database stored on the phone.

Re:Shazam without network

[Anonymous Coward]

According to this link it's an (apparently very small) 53MB offline database that AmbientSense (the magic behind Google Now Playing) consults for matching: https://www.xda-developers.com...

Although Google has since denied that they're using AmbientSense to do it.

The boot time wars are back...

[Anonymous Coward]

"They also boot dramatically faster than any other Android handset on the market, in as little as 10 seconds."

If it came pre-loaded with MS-DOS, it would boot in just a few microseconds. You didn't need the Internet or a cell phone anyway.

Wow, great.

[nightfire-unique]

I mean it's great that it can monitor your audio 24/7 and can make some nice numbers flash up in a benchmark and all...

But, uh.

Replaceable battery? Rugged/IP68? SD card slot? Headphone jack? You know.. things that actually matter?

Re:Wow, great.

[youngone]

Replaceable battery? Rugged/IP68? SD card slot? Headphone jack? You know.. things that actually matter?

Also:

Google's new Pixel 2s manage to outpace similarly configured smartphones in certain benchmarks by significant margins (Basemark, PCMark and 3DMark).

Why would I care? Any mid-price Android phone works fine in 2017.

They also boot dramatically faster than any other Android handset on the market, in as little as 10 seconds

I can't remember the last time I restarted my phone. If it takes 60 seconds twice a year why would I care?
Also, that's a pretty ugly phone. Also it costs way too much.

Re:Wow, great.

[Anonymous Coward]

If those things actually mattered to most consumers they would be in all phones. Clearly most consumers don’t care despite what your nerd bubble circle jerk leads you to believe.

Re:Wow, great.

[swillden]

Replaceable battery? Rugged/IP68? SD card slot? Headphone jack?

There are phones on the market that have all of those things. You should buy one of them.

You know.. things that actually matter?

You know those phones I mentioned above? You should check the sales figures on them. The features you mention are important to you -- and that's fine, you should buy what serves your needs, and the great thing about Android is that you have lots of choice -- but they apparently aren't important to most people. You're trying to claim that they are, but objective evidence clearly indicates that you're wrong.

Re: Wow, great.

[Anonymous Coward]

None of those things particularly matter. If they did, theyâ(TM)d be in the phone. And in many other top-tier phones. The conspicuous absence of these features and the popularity of these phones despite that make you part of a diminishing niche market, not the main one. Sorry.

âoeOh, but *I* matter! I have money and Iâ(TM)ll vote with my dollars!â Well, you can try. It kind of looks like the world has moved on, though.

Re:Wow, great.

[jabuzz]

What's the sales figures for Android phones without a headphone socket? My guess is that phones with a 3.5mm jack wildly outsell those without. As for waterproof that has been an increasing trend in the Android market starting with the Sony Z four years ago. Removal batteries I will give you but the rest I would argue you are dead wrong the market has spoken and it's said all those features are important.

Re: Wow, great.

[jabuzz]

Except most middle tier Android phones feature a 3.5mm stereo jack and microSD card expansion. A growing number are waterproof. So true of Samsung S8, A5 (2017), A3 (2017) and S7, Sony XZ and XZ1 lineup as well in fact for Sony going right back to the Z about four years ago no. LG do the G6 and V30.

The one thing that has disappeared and the market seems to have accepted is lack of removable battery.

Heck even Apple have succumb to the make it waterproof concept, so a top tier phone that is not waterproof in 2017 is seriously behind the curve. The lack of removable storage has been somewhat dealt with by providing larger capacities of internal storage and I predict in the future 200GB+ capacity phones will make removable storage go away across the entire market.

I also consider the lack of removable battery a sane choice for most people, as they can now go a whole day and often more on a single charge. Longevity of the battery is an issue but if those glass Li batteries make it to market then that will be a moot point too.

However I can never see the point in removing the 3.5mm stereo jack and I predict it is here to stay for a long time at least in Android land. I would not be surprised if down the line it makes a reappearance in Apple land too.

Re:Wow, great.

[swillden]

What's the sales figures for Android phones without a headphone socket? My guess is that phones with a 3.5mm jack wildly outsell those without.

Since there are so few models without an audio jack, it's really not yet possible to tell what the market thinks about that. We'll see over the next couple of years.

My personal take (YMMV, of course): I've been using the Pixel 2 XL for a few months now, and the only place I even sort of miss the audio jack is in the car, but I just put the dongle in there. My truck has Bluetooth audio. For headphones, I already mostly used Bluetooth, but I've found USB-C headphones to be a perfectly good alternative when I want wired (which is rarely). The only potential problem I see with USB-C is that you can't use headphones while charging (without a hub), but honestly I almost never think about charging. Between the big battery and fast charging, I don't even plug the phone in at night. I just plug it into the fast charger in the car/truck whenever I'm driving somewhere. 30-40 minutes of rapid charging per day is all the phone needs to keep running.

As for waterproof that has been an increasing trend in the Android market starting with the Sony Z four years ago.

The Sony Z was only IP57. The Pixel 2 is IP67. There are a few phones on the market that provide your requested IP68, but there's hardly a great deal of evidence that consumers think the difference between IP67 and IP68 is critical.

the rest I would argue you are dead wrong the market has spoken and it's said all those features are important.

Really? The rest of your list consists of ruggedized and SD slot. The first claim is laughable; the trend is toward super-slim all-glass bodies. On the second, there are wildly successful devices both with and SD slots. Personally, 64 GB is enough storage for me.

Re:Wow, great.

[PoisOnouS]

Have you experienced the display grain many complain about with the 2XL? It's the one thing holding me back from choosing the larger phone.

Re:Wow, great.

[swillden]

Have you experienced the display grain many complain about with the 2XL? It's the one thing holding me back from choosing the larger phone.

Once I heard people complaining about it and looked for it, I can see it. Sometimes. The only thing that has ever actually bothered me about the display is that at the default brightness setting it's a little bit dim. I turn the brightness to about 75%, though, and it's fine. And I've never had a situation where I couldn't set it bright enough (other than cases like full sunlight where no backlit phone display is bright enough).

Re:Wow, great.

[swillden]

They also boot dramatically faster than any other Android handset on the market, in as little as 10 seconds

I can't remember the last time I restarted my phone. If it takes 60 seconds twice a year why would I care?

Well, you should be restarting your phone at least monthly, when the monthly security update arrives. Your phone does get regular security updates, right?

The ultra-fast boot time is really nice for me, because I run pre-release builds and get updates daily, sometimes more. In the bad old days (three years ago) an update meant ten minutes of installing, two minutes of booting, and then a one-hour "optimizing apps" marathon, during all of which my phone was unusable. ART got rid of the "optimizing apps", A/B got rid of the long installation time (installations still take 10 minutes, but it happens in the background while the phone is still running fine) and now fast boot, my phone is only out of service for about 15 seconds when I tap the "Install update" button.

I'm not saying you should care, but for me it's a great feature.

Re:Wow, great.

[PoisOnouS]

Appreciate the reply. I have only seen the smaller phone in store. When they get a 2XL display model, I'll compare them and decide if I can live with the grain effect. I tend to be a little OCD and I might have to stick with the Samsung panel on the smaller phone. I've spent 3 years on a similar panel.

Re:Wow, great.

[lexman098]

Replaceable battery? Rugged/IP68? SD card slot? Headphone jack?

There are phones on the market that have all of those things. You should buy one of them.

Not that I personally care about any of these features, but there is in fact just 1 android phone ever released that has all of those if you include the need for a fingerprint reader (modern phone).

Re:Wow, great.

[thejynxed]

Almost no phone on the market gets updates, as a percentage. Even some flagship models in the very recent past were left to languish after the first 6 months of release.

Re:Wow, great.

[farble1670]

Replaceable battery? Rugged/IP68? SD card slot? Headphone jack? You know.. things that actually matter?

Those are all hardware features. Hardware is difficult and costs. Software is easy and cheap.

Re:Wow, great.

[farble1670]

I've been using the Pixel 2 XL for a few months now

So you're either a Google employee or stole it from a Google employee. It was released on Oct 17.

Re:Wow, great.

[swillden]

I've been using the Pixel 2 XL for a few months now

So you're either a Google employee or stole it from a Google employee. It was released on Oct 17.

I'm a Google employee.

Is it a Google phone?

[u19925]

A while ago, people had issues with "Google" Nexus 5 after the Android OTA upgrade. Despite the fact that Google called this as Google Nexus 5 and was sold from Google website, it refused to take the blame and told customers to contact LG as it was LG which made the phone and it was responsible for any issue with the phone. Pixel 2 is made by HTC. Who will be responsible for servicing and support? I upgraded by Nexus 5 to iPhone. 11 months later, I had issue with headphone jack (it was detecting as headphone connected even when it was not). I took it to Apple store and told them that I am traveling and need urgent fix. They gave a brand new phone. Can we expect Google to do the same? If not, you are just buying an HTC phone advertised by Google.

Re:Is it a Google phone?

[Anonymous Coward]

A while ago, people had issues with "Google" Nexus 5 after the Android OTA upgrade. Despite the fact that Google called this as Google Nexus 5 and was sold from Google website, it refused to take the blame and told customers to contact LG as it was LG which made the phone and it was responsible for any issue with the phone. Pixel 2 is made by HTC. Who will be responsible for servicing and support? I upgraded by Nexus 5 to iPhone. 11 months later, I had issue with headphone jack (it was detecting as headphone connected even when it was not). I took it to Apple store and told them that I am traveling and need urgent fix. They gave a brand new phone. Can we expect Google to do the same? If not, you are just buying an HTC phone advertised by Google.

I've had Google replace my Nexus 5 (no questions asked when I dropped it) and later my Nexus 6p, but I did have to wait a couple of days for it to arrive by mail.

Also, Apple doesn't build your iPhone either - that would be Foxconn.

Apple does do a better job of hiding that fact, and if you happen to live near an Apple store it probably is more convenient than waiting a couple days for your phone.

Statistically however, Apple's phones need to be replaced at an alarming rate compared to others.

Re:Is it a Google phone?

[Trongy]

IIRC, when the OTA update failed, Google did support the Nexus 5s sold through its website, but not those Nexus 5s that were sold by other retailers.

Re:Is it a Google phone?

[Anonymous Coward]

Precisely my point. The iPhone I mentioned 11 month old was purchased on eBay and when I received, it had some Brizilian provider tag and came with Brazilian power adapter + a generic power adapter added by eBay seller and yet Apple replaced it after 11 months. Apple phones do not have FoxConn written over it. It is all Apple from consumer perspective no matter where you purchase from.

Lack

[markdavis]

>"with both the 5-inch Pixel 2 and 6-inch Pixel 2 XL sporting identical electronics, save for their displays and chassis sizes"

And they also share the:

* Lack of headphone jack
* Lack of wireless charging
* Lack of swappable batteries
* Lack of SD card support
* Lack of serviceable battery?

But not the lack of price... so, go ahead and cough up $650 or $850, anyway, because we are giving the public what they want. And to think I am STILL using a Nexus 5 which has at more than half of the above lacking features, and was around HALF the price.

Re:Lack

[Anonymous Coward]

My last Android tablet cost me $50 and includes 1GB/mo of mobile Internet service for free, fantastic!

But it runs an old Android 5.0 vendor locked ROM that I can't OTA update ever since rooting and I can't replace it with an up-to-date open source ROM. So, I'm always in fear of having my tablet hacked. Android 5.0 also had memory leaks that I wish I could fix but alas can not.

With respect to Android theoretically being open source, it's really very disappointing how locked up we are in practice.

Re:Lack

[Anonymous Coward]

Allow me to explain:

* Lack of headphone jack

The majority of people don't use these, they just use Bluetooth in the car or use a Bluetooth headset.

* Lack of wireless charging

The majority of people don't care about wireless charging. It's slow as hell anyway.

* Lack of swappable batteries

An incredibly small group of people would actually swap batteries out.

* Lack of SD card support

SD cards are notoriously unreliable and also slow as hell. You may not have noticed, but you can buy a phone with 64G or 128G of space. The majority of people think that's plenty.

* Lack of serviceable battery?

The majority of people never buy a new battery for their phone

giving the public what they want

Glad we agree on something.

Re:Lack

[Anonymous Coward]

Most of these are valid, but go on any transit system or around any school, and the majority of people have their headphones physically plugged into their phone. Agree in the car they use bluetooth, but out in public the headsets are far less common.

Re:Lack

[trawg]

But not the lack of price... so, go ahead and cough up $650 or $850, anyway, because we are giving the public what they want. And to think I am STILL using a Nexus 5 which has at more than half of the above lacking features, and was around HALF the price.

Ditto. I waited for the Pixel announcement before upgrading from my Nexus 4, because I wanted to see if they were going to make something significantly better. The Pixel looks great but not 2x as much as the Nexus 5X I ended up getting.

I wasn't seriously looking at the Pixel 2 (I only got my 5X like a year ago) but was still interested to see if it was going to be worth it. Basically though my take is if I'm going to drop a fortune on a phone, I think I'd rather it be an iPhone at this point - the new neural process & features & camera I think are more appealing to me. And I say that as someone that has had a Nexus One, 4 and now 5X.

It will be hard to leave Android but killing the Nexus line and just cloning iPhone doesn't make me feel inclined to stick with it.

Re:Lack

[Anonymous Coward]

Allow me to explain:

* Lack of headphone jack

The majority of people don't use these, they just use Bluetooth in the car or use a Bluetooth headset.

Bloetooth in the car may be ok - if you don't have to struggle pairing devices over and over. One or the other forgot the pairing because of power loss/reboot/upgrade. Now, what key combo do I press on this car thing to initiate pairing, docs long lost?

Bluetooth is not ok for a headset, because then the headset must be charged in addition to the phone. Cars are ok, they have their own power.

* Lack of wireless charging

The majority of people don't care about wireless charging. It's slow as hell anyway.

* Lack of swappable batteries

An incredibly small group of people would actually swap batteries out.

Small group for this, small group for that, it adds up when you remove all these things. Lots of people already bought a wireless charger for the previous phone. So not buying now, but they want the convenience on the next phone. It is slow, therefore nicer for the batteries. It is for overnight charging anyway, so no time problem.

Swappable battery is not hard to do - it is ok that the phone is somewhat cumbersome to take apart. Even those that do this, do it rarely. Anyway, there are enough that there is a market for people swapping batteries in phones not designed for it.

* Lack of SD card support

SD cards are notoriously unreliable and also slow as hell. You may not have noticed, but you can buy a phone with 64G or 128G of space. The majority of people think that's plenty.

It is not the space, but the convenience. I got a new phone, I transferred the card, I then had my music and offline maps available. Syncing all that (quite a few GB) over wifi would be boring.

Re:Lack

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep, I can by a phone with 128G by paying $100 more. Or put a 64 GB SDcard in my 64GB phone for $15.99. So why would I possibly want a phone with an SD card?

Re:Lack

[Anonymous Coward]

Also still using Nexus 5. Bump it.

Where does the song catalog come from?

[saccade.com]

I don't get this claim: Google Now Playing, an always-listening, Shazam-like service ... displays song titles on the lock screen if it picks up on music playing ... Processing is done right on the Pixel 2 and it doesn't need network connectivity. Where does it get the song catalog to match to, if not the Internet?

Re:Where does the song catalog come from?

[110010001000]

Internal storage? It is just a bunch of hashes.

Re:Where does the song catalog come from?

[Anonymous Coward]

Who cares? I'd have to think pretty hard to come up with a bigger waste of battery then continuously listening to every bit of noise trying to identify a song, just for that rare occasion that I actually care. You know what I do when I actually care to know? I just manually take 5 seconds to launch the Google Sound Search (ie: "What's This Song?"). Then I still get my answer, but I don't waste battery time for the other 99.9999% of the time that it's listening to identify something I don't care to have identified.

captch: non empty ...... not if battery-wasting crap like this has anything to say about it

Welcome to Slashdot, Sergey!

[Trogre]

I hope you enjoy your time here. Feel free to take a look around and stay as long as you like, but I suspect in the end you'll find that this site isn't for you.

so advanced...

[harvey the nerd]

Google pixel2 - with features so advanced, although you think you own it, it actually owns you...

Re: so advanced...

[Anonymous Coward]

And in Soviet Russia...

Exclusive?

[Troed]

Sony Xperia XZ1, Android 8.0 Oreo

On the market since weeks.

https://www.androidcentral.com...

Re:Exclusive?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ditto Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact

Re:Exclusive?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nah, you see it's google's fault that the other makers won't update their devices! It's not like android is open source or something.

Re:Exclusive?

[Anonymous Coward]

My OnePlus 3 got an OTA a few days ago as well. The article is just wrong.

Oversensitive woman

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course the cupcake is pink. That's practically the default look of a cupcake. Do an image search for cupcake, like 80% pink cupcakes. Is the entire world lowkey targeting women with pink cupcakes? Don't blame Google here.

No SD kills it dead

[Anonymous Coward]

Nail in the coffin for casual users right there

Re:No SD kills it dead

[markdavis]

>Nail in the coffin for casual users right there

As long as it has 64+GB of storage, it is probably the least important of what I listed, for me. The problem in the past was that 32GB was just not enough, especially when half of it is gone for the OS and other reserved space. So that is finally becoming less of an issue.

Freedom of speech

[Anonymous Coward]

Doesn't mean what most right wing nut jobs thinks it means. The text is pretty explicit:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Small Version Please!

[Daetrin]

Please please please make a "small" version of the Pixel 2! I was fine with the 3.7" of the Nexus One, but the 4.7" of the Moto X was tolerable as well! I'd happily accept anything in that range!

Also, a curved back like the Moto X and a headphone jack would be great too! K THX BYE!

(Yes, i know i'm shouting into the wind and the odds of getting what i want are probably indistinguishable from zero.)

Magical performance improvements

[Anonymous Coward]

So they re-wrote a bunch of code in C or C++ like they should have from the beginning? Java was an absolutely horrible decision and they should have known that at the time.