Pixel 6 Availability?

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Max
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#2808977 7-Nov-2021 18:42

Streaming:
sbiddle:

The real issue with with phones is anybody buying any device that isn't from an operator needs to assume that a) VoLTE won't work, b) WiFi calling won't work, and c) 5G won't work.

That's a real shame, because it basically limits device choice to an iPhone, Samsung or a handful of devices from brands such as Oppo. IMHO it's totally pointless buying a phone now without VoLTE support because the number of RCG sites going up is going to severely impact rural voice coverage.

I'm really out of touch with phones these days and have pre-ordered a pixel 6 for the wife and myself before finding out the issues with 5g (not really an issue for us) and VoLTE. We've loved all of our pixel phones until now and have been trying to stay stock Android, but this has me a bit worried.

Is there a way to see what 'rural' is in this instance? We live in Christchurch but do a fair bit of driving outside of it (~1hr out of town) which I'm sure gets us into rural territory, and if at some point soon (is there a timeframe for the RCG sites being in place?) This would mean we might not be able to make phone calls at all.... that's a bad situation.

If it is going to be fairly soon then are there phones at similar levels to the new pixels that are stock Android that work in NZ? It feels like that's going a bit out of fashion these days.

In the case of Christchurch and Canterbury from what I can see there are RCG sites with SOME 3G sites so you can make calls on phones without VoLTE. My definition of rural is literally 30 minutes away from the city and we've got good coverage for the most part and not a lot of it is being served by an RCG site.

In terms of handsets look at Motorola and Nokia. You may want to ask someone at PBTech to see which specific models will run VoLTE or try them out at the store(Hornby PB has in the past let me shove my sim in them to see what pops up).

If you're adventurous you could just get a Poco F3, request to unlock the bootloader for 7 days and load your choice of AOSP(there are pixel ones!) and retain both VoLTE and 5G and be away laughing.

Otherwise the choices are slim. If you do ever end up at a 4G only site, VoIP apps that let you call(FB messenger, skype, whatsapp etc etc) would get around this issue since you'll have data but remember no actual phone calls.

If I remember correct RCG is mostly done(website says december 2023 finish) and any site will serve all 3 of our big players.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

gzt

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#2809033 7-Nov-2021 20:42

I moved from Pixel to Nokia based on Android One. I regretted this.

On the plus side Nokia Android One devices are close to stock android. In practical terms the update cycle is less than perfect. Security updates are mostly on time. Feature updates and major version operating system updates are just too slow and unpredictable. Different for each model. I have not owned Motorola Android One. I think the experience will be similar, based on previous Motorola ownership.

I'm back to Pixel now. I'll just remember to pack a cheap capable phone for trips. On that topic, I purchased a Samsung recently. First major update.. 'updating 127 applications..' yeah that's why I don't like the major oems thanks for reminding me..😂

GoogleGeek88

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#2809064 7-Nov-2021 23:42

Is the answer perhaps for NZ-based consumers to advocate directly to Google?

With a bit of research I'm sure we could get in touch with Geoff Ross (head of NZ govt rels / comms), or with its Auckland office directly.

I know we're essentially asking them to invest potentially significant sums but given the high mobile device penetration rates in NZ it is a prime market for people to opt for something a bit different to either a Galaxy or an iPhone.

I have a background in politics/government and I know that in situations like this, a smart and targeted effort can reap rewards.

Handle9

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#2809123 8-Nov-2021 00:45

GoogleGeek88: Is the answer perhaps for NZ-based consumers to advocate directly to Google?

With a bit of research I'm sure we could get in touch with Geoff Ross (head of NZ govt rels / comms), or with its Auckland office directly.

I know we're essentially asking them to invest potentially significant sums but given the high mobile device penetration rates in NZ it is a prime market for people to opt for something a bit different to either a Galaxy or an iPhone.

I have a background in politics/government and I know that in situations like this, a smart and targeted effort can reap rewards.

NZ is in no way a prime market for google and neither is the Pixel a prime product. Neither are in any way significant to their revenue. Mobile device penetration in NZ is in no way unusual.

The only way it would be appealing is if a carrier picked it up.

James47889

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#2809926 9-Nov-2021 15:44

Hi all, new user here! I've found a way to get the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro locally at the Australian prices, and wanted to share how I did it.

Us Kiwi's can buy from both MightyApe NZ and MightyApe AU with the same set of credentials. Regardless of site, all products (as far as I'm aware, unless things have changed under Kogan) are shipped out of Milldale in Auckland.

What I did was login to the Australian site and submitted a price match with JB Hifi AU for the Pixel 6 128GB at $999AUD. This was accepted and the phone is now sitting in my cart ready for purchase at a grand total of $1002AUD ($1036NZD). With it shipping from Auckland (TBC if it ships from Auckland) there will be no import GST to pay. Proof below:

Your mileage may vary with price matching - my first was rejected but I tried again on another account and was successful. Good luck!

demeter23

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#2809928 9-Nov-2021 15:48

I've given it a go.....will report back!

everettpsycho

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#2809933 9-Nov-2021 16:08

James47889: Hi all, new user here! I've found a way to get the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro locally at the Australian prices, and wanted to share how I did it.

Us Kiwi's can buy from both MightyApe NZ and MightyApe AU with the same set of credentials. Regardless of site, all products (as far as I'm aware, unless things have changed under Kogan) are shipped out of Milldale in Auckland.

What I did was login to the Australian site and submitted a price match with JB Hifi AU for the Pixel 6 128GB at $999AUD. This was accepted and the phone is now sitting in my cart ready for purchase at a grand total of $1002AUD ($1036NZD). With it shipping from Auckland (TBC if it ships from Auckland) there will be no import GST to pay. Proof below:

Your mileage may vary with price matching - my first was rejected but I tried again on another account and was successful. Good luck!

Love it and very tempted to give it a shot.

So weird that mighty ape are buying Aussie stock, shipping them here to ship them back at the same price as Australia but are selling here for a huge mark up.

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NzBeagle

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#2809939 9-Nov-2021 16:16

everettpsycho: Love it and very tempted to give it a shot.

So weird that mighty ape are buying Aussie stock, shipping them here to ship them back at the same price as Australia but are selling here for a huge mark up.

Agree, could be a goer as opposed to getting via JB AU / Friend.

CapBBeard

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#2809948 9-Nov-2021 16:38

everettpsycho:

Love it and very tempted to give it a shot.

So weird that mighty ape are buying Aussie stock, shipping them here to ship them back at the same price as Australia but are selling here for a huge mark up.

I can't see how the Australian price ($1350 for the non-pro) is even remotely attractive to anyone actually shopping in Australia, when they can buy it locally from JB or Google themselves even (I believe?) for $999. They're dreaming for even listing it there I would think.

But this is a cracking great tip from the OP - nice one!

j4ke

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#2810102 9-Nov-2021 21:18

NZ is in no way a prime market for google and neither is the Pixel a prime product. Neither are in any way significant to their revenue. Mobile device penetration in NZ is in no way unusual.

The only way it would be appealing is if a carrier picked it up.

Other posts in this thread have said that the only thing stopping 5G/VoLTE is a config file that Google hasn’t added NZ carriers to. Isn’t it trivial for Google to add that or to allow users to edit the file without root?

MaxineN

Max
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#2810109 9-Nov-2021 21:41

j4ke:
NZ is in no way a prime market for google and neither is the Pixel a prime product. Neither are in any way significant to their revenue. Mobile device penetration in NZ is in no way unusual.

The only way it would be appealing is if a carrier picked it up.

Other posts in this thread have said that the only thing stopping 5G/VoLTE is a config file that Google hasn’t added NZ carriers to. Isn’t it trivial for Google to add that or to allow users to edit the file without root?

It's well hidden in the system's efs partition(this is the case with all android phones these days). That's locked away under root.

No it isn't hard if Google wanted to add all 3 carriers to that configuration file and away we'd go(of course carriers would want to test this and make sure it's actually working).

It might be possible if they haven't locked away USB settings (dial *#0808# on exynos devices, also that calling code needs to be there) otherwise you may need a root ADB shell to open up RNDIS ACM DM under ADB. You also need to know how to use ShannonDM to do anything, oh you also need a license.

Either way you're probably going to need root to do it yourself but you're going to need the exact settings and you could also brick your device in the process. It also might not even be stable.

This isn't meant to scare you but this is a lot for one user to do.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

gzt

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#2810113 9-Nov-2021 22:02

MaxineN: This isn't meant to scare you but this is a lot for one user to do.

Very true. The guides on xda forums show this is not simple and may involve unresolved issues for things like caller id and who knows what else. Add that rooting is not a great thing for security posture of your device

MaxineN

Max
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#2810165 9-Nov-2021 22:15

gzt:
MaxineN: This isn't meant to scare you but this is a lot for one user to do.

Very true. The guides on xda forums show this is not simple and may involve unresolved issues for things like caller id and who knows what else. Add that rooting is not a great thing for security posture of your device

Not to mention it is incredibly hard to hide your root attempt and pass Google SafetyNet on Android 12 now. It was easy enough on 11 but on 12? Yeah nah.

For the uneducated you need SafetyNet to use GPay and a variety of other things that get tied to Safetynet(such as bank apps, Sony's Remote Play for some odd reason, and even break Widevine L1 putting you to L3 meaning no HDR and 480p streaming from most streaming platforms sans YouTube, Oneplus I'm looking at you).

It's really not worth it.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

fe31nz

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#2810175 10-Nov-2021 01:24

MaxineN:

Not to mention it is incredibly hard to hide your root attempt and pass Google SafetyNet on Android 12 now. It was easy enough on 11 but on 12? Yeah nah.

For the uneducated you need SafetyNet to use GPay and a variety of other things that get tied to Safetynet(such as bank apps, Sony's Remote Play for some odd reason, and even break Widevine L1 putting you to L3 meaning no HDR and 480p streaming from most streaming platforms sans YouTube, Oneplus I'm looking at you).

It's really not worth it.

[rant] Except when your phone is becoming useless due to a buggy app filling up a system partition - which seems to be fairly common. I have this at the moment on my Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017) - I can not update apps or install new ones, and various strange things happen such as the govt. Covid19 app telling me it is unable to store my Bluetooth encounters for about 24 hours. If I had rooted my phone when I got it, it would be simple for me to look into the various system only partitions, find the one that is filling up and delete the bad app, or clear out the log files that are likely filling the space. On my old Samsung Galaxy S2, I had a system WiFi program filling the space with log messages, but I had rooted it shortly after I got it, so it was easy to just delete those log files and keep on using it. Without root on my current phone, I am unable to root it now (no space to do that), so I am faced with having to factory reset it. So yes, rooting is really worth it.

And I object to Google trying to prevent me from using my property any way I choose to. I own it, not them. If I want to root it, they should just make a sensible path for me to do that. There are plenty of people who say that having a rooted device is a big security problem - but they seem to not bother to provide any proof of that. If a phone is rooted, you can not use the root account without logging into it somehow. This is exactly the same as on any Linux device, and there is no-one out there saying that an Ubuntu PC is unsafe because it has a root account that can be used. Ubuntu simply comes with adequate security on accounts, including root, and there is no problem with things working that way. It is just accepted that you do need a root account on any PC to be able to use it properly. So why all the fuss and bother about root accounts on devices?

[/rant]

hasp

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#2810213 10-Nov-2021 09:23

James47889: Hi all, new user here! I've found a way to get the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro locally at the Australian prices, and wanted to share how I did it.

Us Kiwi's can buy from both MightyApe NZ and MightyApe AU with the same set of credentials. Regardless of site, all products (as far as I'm aware, unless things have changed under Kogan) are shipped out of Milldale in Auckland.

What I did was login to the Australian site and submitted a price match with JB Hifi AU for the Pixel 6 128GB at $999AUD. This was accepted and the phone is now sitting in my cart ready for purchase at a grand total of $1002AUD ($1036NZD). With it shipping from Auckland (TBC if it ships from Auckland) there will be no import GST to pay. !

Great tip, unfortunately my price match has been declined twice. I think they're on to us :(

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