Google Pixel 4 announcement and owners thread

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ShinyChrome

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#258690 16-Oct-2019 07:58

Well since no one else has, here it is

Some of the specs look interesting, but if it makes it here full stop, it will most likely be priced out of competition for all but people that want a Pixel

And it's still a base storage of 64gb....

Pixel 4 vs 4 XL

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#2337928 16-Oct-2019 08:52

So really, Pixel 4: don't bother. 2800mah battery. They might be able to pull some power management wizardry to eke out every last watt, but unless they made a battery out of hand-wavium, it can't beat the physics of a small li-ion battery.

But overall: a 90hz display. Cool, but with an ugly ~80% screen-to-body ratio. 12mp + 16 mp cameras. Neat, and I am aware that they can pull some Gandalf-level magic to make the most of it, but when your competitors are working on 5x optical zoom and 64mp binning, yeaaaaaaahhhhhhhh, Gandalf better have something good in that pipe he is smoking. 18w "fast" charge. When you are even beat by Samsung for charging rates, you should know that you might need to bring a little bit more to the party.

Is Google really still that confident that people love their "pure" software that much that they can sell a phone that is competitive with phones released 2 years ago?

Did the Pixel 3 sell well enough that they thought that they could just phone it in?

How much hatred are you burning with for the heavily flavored Android variants of Samsung et all to want to drop that much money on an inferior phone?

Overall, a solid rating of ..... meh.

muppet

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#2337948 16-Oct-2019 09:20

I'll be buying a P4 XL when the reviews have come in and it's confirmed to not suck. I still have my Pixel 1 and it's fine, esp now I got a new battery for it.

I'm really disappointed though that the unlimited original quality photo storage is gone. That was a huge selling point for me, one of the reasons in fact I got myself a Pixel. I've taken hours and hours of HD video of the kids and it hasn't dented my storage. Won't get that with the P4.

The reason I like the Pixels vs any other Android phone: Amazing camera, stock software (with all the bugs it introduces) and fast, regular updates.

Certainly it's not a good choice for 95% of consumers, there's way, way better value for money out there.

lNomNoml

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#2338127 16-Oct-2019 14:48

Still the issue of how to get it here, irritating that JBHIFI in Aussie and the Google Store sells them no problem but they are not available here

muppet

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#2338128 16-Oct-2019 14:49

lNomNoml: Still the issue of how to get it here, irritating that JBHIFI in Aussie and the Google Store sells them no problem but they are not available here

I have family in Aus who can buy it for me and ship it over. I agree though, it's a PITA. Maybe PBTech will stock them?

nzkiwiman

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#2338130 16-Oct-2019 14:54

If only it was sold in New Zealand...

lNomNoml

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#2338357 16-Oct-2019 18:28

muppet:

lNomNoml: Still the issue of how to get it here, irritating that JBHIFI in Aussie and the Google Store sells them no problem but they are not available here

I have family in Aus who can buy it for me and ship it over. I agree though, it's a PITA. Maybe PBTech will stock them?

Let me know if you go ahead with doing that I would pay you for your help in getting one.

Last I heard PBTech have washed their hands of anything Pixel.

muppet

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#2338371 16-Oct-2019 18:59

lNomNoml:

Let me know if you go ahead with doing that I would pay you for your help in getting one.

Last I heard PBTech have washed their hands of anything Pixel.

I'll be waiting until there's some proper feedback about them, so at least a month or two.

I don't blame PBTech, I think they imported the Pixel 1 and hardly moved any (I bought one!)

dafman

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#2338376 16-Oct-2019 19:01

I like a small phone, but the Pixel 4 is physically bigger than my S10e yet smaller screen, and what's up with a 2,800 mAh battery in late 2019?

The camera looks great, but pity they dropped the free storage. Google harvest your data for financial gain, Apple don't. If Google are going to charge Apple prices, they need to offer something additional to offset what you give them over Apple, like ... free unlimited photo storage. But now they don't.

And motion sense - yeah, kind of ok, but how much real life improvement in experience is it going to offer? Probably limited.

Four pixels so far, still waiting for the knock out product.

zyo

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#2338391 16-Oct-2019 19:27

Basically a OnePlus 7T with better camera, far worse battery and design from 2016.

I dont understand why Google keeps pushing these premium devices when the entire pixel lineup has been a sales failure (maybe with the exception of 3A).

lchiu7

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#2338427 16-Oct-2019 20:49

It says Soli not available in NZ but not sure how that is enforced. One thought was they would sell different SKU's depending on the country so if you got an Aussie one then you would have Soli. Another thoughts is would use GPS to detect where you were and turn it off in in a country where the Soli frequencies are not authorised.

I see Amazon is selling them (pre buy) including US$100 Amazon gift card. So that make the 4 US$699 which is reasonable.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/rooms/32019730 Mention GZ to get a 10% discount

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zyo

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#2338432 16-Oct-2019 21:10

lchiu7:
It says Soli not available in NZ but not sure how that is enforced. One thought was they would sell different SKU's depending on the country so if you got an Aussie one then you would have Soli. Another thoughts is would use GPS to detect where you were and turn it off in in a country where the Soli frequencies are not authorised.

I see Amazon is selling them (pre buy) including US$100 Amazon gift card. So that make the 4 US$699 which is reasonable.

When you first setup the device your selected country will determine the features available.

gzt

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#2338539 16-Oct-2019 23:20

Micro SD on the article I read. That's useful depending on how it's managed.

No free original quality storage - did the file sizes on this thing scare them ? ; )

Realistically if you can afford this phone you can afford a storage plan.

zyo

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#2338563 17-Oct-2019 07:20

gzt: Micro SD on the article I read. That's useful depending on how it's managed.

No free original quality storage - did the file sizes on this thing scare them ? ; )

Realistically if you can afford this phone you can afford a storage plan.

No Micro SD, no dual SIM (esim only)

ShinyChrome

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#2338574 17-Oct-2019 08:04

Ars did a bit of a hands-on, sounds like Soli is a bit of a gimmick with the current state of their software.

I'll have to play with Motion Sense some more to get a better beat on it, but so far, the first impressions are not good. Take the skipping music or dismissing an alarm gesture, where Soli has you wave your hand across the sensor: Soli needs a BIG gesture to work. It's not a flick of the wrist; it's a bend of the elbow. You need to wave your whole hand across the phone in a very big gesture. I've yet to find a way to skip songs using Soli that feels quick or effortless. The gesture is so big that it's a cumbersome, tiring, annoying thing to do.

Interesting reason why Soli is not available in all countries too

Since Soli is radar, it needs to be approved by various government regulatory bodies around the world in order to be used in a country. In the US that's the FCC. A Google support page lists the countries where the Soil sensor has approval: "Currently, Motion Sense will work in the US, Canada, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, and most European countries." This has nothing to do with where you bought the phone, either. Google's support page notes that "If you travel to a country where [Motion Sense is] not approved, it won’t work," meaning the feature is geo-fenced based on your current location.

ShinyChrome

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#2338588 17-Oct-2019 08:26

zyo:

Basically a OnePlus 7T with better camera, far worse battery and design from 2016.

I dont understand why Google keeps pushing these premium devices when the entire pixel lineup has been a sales failure (maybe with the exception of 3A).

That was my first thought, especially given how "clean" OnePlus tries to keep OxygenOS. The 7T also has better base memory and storage, slightly faster CPU/GPU, an additional camera, and can be found for a lot cheaper. None of which really matter to their target audience I guess.

So I guess they are sticking to their strategy of a software company trying to play at being a niche hardware company.

I also don't see any mention of a fingerprint sensor for the Pixel, so I am guessing they are all in on 3D face unlock?

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