We aren’t that far removed from sharing the story of the Pixel 4 that painted the device and its launch as nothing short of a disaster. From team members departing after its arrival and industry numbers used to describe Google’s struggles to sell devices from one year to the next, I’m not sure anyone would call the Pixel brand strong today. With that in mind, new numbers being shared this morning paint somewhat of a different picture.
A single Tweet from an associate VP from the IDC put almost nothing but praise on Google’s Pixel brand as a growing success story. The info he shared says that in 2019, Google’s Pixel shipments were up 52% year over year to 7.2 million units, which gave them their “best performance ever.” He noted that Google is now shipping more phones than OnePlus and had “strong performances in the USA, Western Europe and Japan.”
. @Google continues to expand the #Pixel portfolio and sales are growing. In 2019 shipments grew 52% YoY to reach the highest volume ever, with strong performances in the USA, Western Europe and Japan. It now ships more units than @oneplus but it is still far from reaching Top10 pic.twitter.com/qY66isF9vN
— Francisco Jeronimo (@fjeronimo) June 9, 2020
Mind you, this is the same IDC whose numbers were cited last month by the The Information’s report, where the story was about how badly the Pixel 4 performed out of the gate compared to the Pixel 3, which also compared poorly to the Pixel 2.
Now, we are pretty sure the Pixel 3a saw some early success, plus there were plenty of Pixel 3 deals throughout 2019 leading up to the launch of the Pixel 4 that could have helped Google ship more units than in 2018. Calling the performance “strong” seems odd, though, again because even Google has rarely referred to their own Pixel sales with that same tone. They admitted that Pixel 3 sales weren’t great in early 2019 and that hardware sales in general continued to be down at the end of the year.
- UPDATE: IDC’s Francisco Jeronimo expounded on his initial Tweet, pointing out that the added Pixel 3a line certainly helped the overall year of 2019. Maybe more importantly, the expansion to 3 new markets didn’t hurt.
That’s correct. Pixel 3a & Pixel4 sold fewer units in the 1st two-quarters of sales than Pixel3. However:
– the 2nd Q of sales for Px3 was 1Q2019
– Google launched Px3a & 4 in 2019. Weaker launches but the full impact was in 2019
– Google expanded Pixel portfolio to 3 new markets— Francisco Jeronimo (@fjeronimo) June 9, 2020
I guess if the goal was to only sell a couple of extra million phones in an entire year, thanks largely to a $400 mid-range device, then sure, that sounds like strong performance. Still, I can’t imagine Google being in agreement.
Let’s see, unemployment is up, a significant percentage of the U.S. just received a $1,200 stimulus check, people always need to replace phones, due to breaking/losing, etc. and I’d say the general public is by and large fed up with the idea of buying $1,000+ phones right now. Maybe it’s just me but this seems like an ideal set of ‘market conditions’ to release a $350-$400 phone before hell freezes over. Probably as good a time as any to expose people to the Pixel line.
Like many others, I’m still waiting on the 4a.
I know at least 2 people that bought the Pixel 4 / 4 XL not because they wanted to but because they needed a phone and it was the default. I’m sure that sentiment would resonate with a lot more. I really hope that Google is taking note.
Well when they are constantly on sale for $300-$400 off MSRP I’m sure that helps sales as at that price (the price they should have been), it’s an easy buy. But a 128gb 4XL at $1,000 pitted up against Samsung and even Apple is a “no way in hell”.
I only pulled the trigger myself recently when I decided I always wanted to have the latest Pixel as my vacation/backup phone and was able to get that 128gb 4XL for $575 new direct from Google. Anything over $600 and I wouldn’t have done it.
I’m kind of disappointed the Pixel 5 won’t be a true flagship spec’d phone, sure it will be priced lower, but I’ll bet you it won’t be a lot lower and ironically that’s the biggest complaint against the Pixels, middling spec’s. Now they are purposefully lowering the spec’s. What they should be doing is bumping storage to 128/256 (or better 256/512), bumping the ram to 8gb or 12gb and then selling them for the same price…that would have made A LOT MORE sense.
I know right? If they properly spec’d their phones, people would be able to justify the price finally. They always cut corners and I don’t understand why.
What’s not to understand? They get their profits from Google services/apps and are one of the richest companies on earth already without hardware. It’s not like they’re Samsung or Apple who would crash and burn without hardware sales.
The Pixels are for “driving computing forward” as a platform to develop Google’s bread and butter services and apps. That they prioritize things like user experience, long term support, optimized software, better security and fast updates on a clean bloat free UI over raw spec’s is a refreshing addition to the Android ecosystem. The Pixels and what they bring instead of excessive spec’s are the one thing the Android ecosystem has been missing as a choice. Before the Pixels you had to get an iPhone for those things.
That sounds like justifying underwhelming hardware. What excuse do you have for the continued tiny batteries or lack of ram? Don’t tell me ram isn’t and issue, look at the Pixel 3 awful ram management. Soli was a complete dud and a waste of space in the phone. How can you “drive computing forward” if you don’t even offer proper specs. Not to mention rumormill for pixel 5 is, it’s not even going to use a flagship processor.
That sounds like justifying underwhelming hardware. What excuse do you have for the continued tiny batteries or lack of ram? Don’t tell me ram isn’t and issue, look at the Pixel 3 awful ram management. Soli was a complete dud and a waste of space in the phone. How can you “drive computing forward” if you don’t even offer proper specs. Not to mention rumormill for pixel 5 is, it’s not even going to use a flagship processor.
The Pixel 4/4XL has 6 GB of RAM which is plenty. The P3 issues were on the software side. That said, there’s lots of choice available for Android users who want more specs but it will come at a cost to what the Pixels do best.
New or unique hardware like Soli radar, auto call screening, optimized software, new camera features, Project Mainline, Google Duplex, new Assistant capabilities, machine learning algorithms, new AI features, RCS Messaging, customized Titan M security chips, Neural Core processing, longer term support and soon a first in house designed SoC etc are just some of the ways Google uses the Pixels to “drive computing forward”.
What you’re looking for is what others offer instead in an extra lens, bigger battery or the ability to keep even more apps in memory with even more RAM, so the Pixels aren’t for you, and they don’t need to be. You already have a ton a great choices in Android phones for that. Google will go on using the Pixels to develop Android just fine without you.
You’re missing the point. Yes, others offer better hardware but I want the Pixel software experience. Until Google forces manufacturers to use stock software (it is in their power to do so). I just want proper specs AND the software experience. Why cant we have both? Don’t tell me “Pixel’s aren’t for me”. Asking a company to do better is a good thing in my eyes. I want that experience with quality hardware. Do you work for Google? Because, it sure sounds like it. We didn’t even touch on the small storage capacities.
– ” offer better hardware but I want the Pixel software experience”…
Sure, you have a point that Google could continue making the Pixels as is AND make a super spec’d out version for those that want that, but they can’t do it without stepping on their Android partners toes. So far Google has shown zero interest in stealing Samsung etc sales, probably because they already have those customers under their money maker apps and services already.
– “Until Google forces manufacturers to use stock software”…
Your idea that everyone should be ‘”forced” to use stock Android is crazy! That leaves everyone, literally dozens of Android OEMs, making only Pixel like phones and leaves only Google left to develop Android features. Yikes! , that would be awful! There simply isn’t enough hardware diversity to support so many different OEMs making Android Pixel like phones! We need software diversity as well so manufacturers can continue with their valuable contributions to Androids development and to produce products that differentiate enough from each other in more than just hardware so that they can offer consumers more distinct choices.
– “I just want proper specs AND the software experience”…
What you need to happen is for Samsung to drop Android and Google services altogether and use their own OS in Tizen and Samsung services instead. You can be guaranteed that the next version of the Pixels would include a spec monster type model if that ever happened because they’d be in direct competition then and no longer Android partners. Of course Samsung is still some ways off from accomplishing that feat despite the duplication of many of Google’s apps/services over time, so don’t hold your breath.
– “Don’t tell me “Pixel’s aren’t for me”…
You’re the one saying that the Pixels aren’t for you, I’m just commenting on the how and why the Pixels are designed and built the way they are. That they’re not for those like you who prioritize specs is obvious by comments from you and those like you. You make that very clear!
– “Do you work for Google?”…
Do you really have to work for Google in order to understand and consider their business model with regards to the Pixels, how and why they differ in that business model from hardware centric companies like Samsung and Apple and where exactly Google gets their profits from? Nope, you don’t.
I mean it’s not like piling up on specs is hard, it’s child’s play. Obviously Google is designing the Pixels this way on purpose and for a reason so there’s has to be a sound business model for that, a business model that definitely doesn’t revolve around a spec’d out Pixel that steals their Android partners sales. Just saying.
– ” offer better hardware but I want the Pixel software experience”…
Sure, you have a point that Google could continue making the Pixels as is AND make a super spec’d out version for those that want that, but they can’t do it without stepping on their Android partners toes. So far Google has shown zero interest in stealing Samsung etc sales, probably because they already have those customers under their money maker apps and services already.
– “Until Google forces manufacturers to use stock software”…
Your idea that everyone should be ‘”forced” to use stock Android is crazy! That leaves everyone, literally dozens of Android OEMs, making only Pixel like phones and leaves only Google left to develop Android features. Yikes! , that would be awful! There simply isn’t enough hardware diversity to support so many different OEMs making Android Pixel like phones! We need software diversity as well so manufacturers can continue with their valuable contributions to Androids development and to produce products that differentiate enough from each other in more than just hardware so that they can offer consumers more distinct choices.
– “I just want proper specs AND the software experience”…
What you need to happen is for Samsung to drop Android and Google services altogether and use their own OS in Tizen and Samsung services instead. You can be guaranteed that the next version of the Pixels would include a spec monster type model if that ever happened because they’d be in direct competition then and no longer Android partners. Of course Samsung is still some ways off from accomplishing that feat despite the duplication of many of Google’s apps/services over time, so don’t hold your breath.
– “Don’t tell me “Pixel’s aren’t for me”…
You’re the one saying that the Pixels aren’t for you, I’m just commenting on the how and why the Pixels are designed and built the way they are. That they’re not for those like you who prioritize specs is obvious by comments from you and those like you. You make that very clear!
– “Do you work for Google?”…
Do you really have to work for Google in order to understand and consider their business model with regards to the Pixels, how and why they differ in that business model from hardware centric companies like Samsung and Apple and where exactly Google gets their profits from? Nope, you don’t.
I mean it’s not like piling up on specs is hard, it’s child’s play. Obviously Google is designing the Pixels this way on purpose and for a reason so there’s has to be a sound business model for that, a business model that definitely doesn’t revolve around a spec’d out Pixel that steals their Android partners sales. Just saying.
– ” offer better hardware but I want the Pixel software experience”…
Sure, you have a point that Google could continue making the Pixels as is AND make a super spec’d out version for those that want that, but they can’t do it without stepping on their Android partners toes. So far Google has shown zero interest in stealing Samsung etc sales, probably because they already have those customers under their money maker apps and services already.
– “Until Google forces manufacturers to use stock software”…
Your idea that everyone should be ‘”forced” to use stock Android is crazy! That leaves everyone, literally dozens of Android OEMs, making only Pixel like phones and leaves only Google left to develop Android features. Yikes! , that would be awful! There simply isn’t enough hardware diversity to support so many different OEMs making Android Pixel like phones! We need software diversity as well so manufacturers can continue with their valuable contributions to Androids development and to produce products that differentiate enough from each other in more than just hardware so that they can offer consumers more distinct choices.
– “I just want proper specs AND the software experience”…
What you need to happen is for Samsung to drop Android and Google services altogether and use their own OS in Tizen and Samsung services instead. You can be guaranteed that the next version of the Pixels would include a spec monster type model if that ever happened because they’d be in direct competition then and no longer Android partners. Of course Samsung is still some ways off from accomplishing that feat despite the duplication of many of Google’s apps/services over time, so don’t hold your breath.
– “Don’t tell me “Pixel’s aren’t for me”…
You’re the one saying that the Pixels aren’t for you, I’m just commenting on the how and why the Pixels are designed and built the way they are. That they’re not for those like you who prioritize specs is obvious by comments from you and those like you. You make that very clear!
– “Do you work for Google?”…
Do you really have to work for Google in order to understand and consider their business model with regards to the Pixels, how and why they differ in that business model from hardware centric companies like Samsung and Apple and where exactly Google gets their profits from? Nope, you don’t.
I mean it’s not like piling up on specs is hard, it’s child’s play. Obviously Google is designing the Pixels this way on purpose and for a reason so there’s has to be a sound business model for that, a business model that definitely doesn’t revolve around a spec’d out Pixel that steals their Android partners sales. Just saying.
OMG, you must be unemployed!
Ask Kellen or Tim, or 99% of this site and they would agree with me. In fact, they should do a poll asking if people would want specs that match up or beat other flagships. Not going to apologize for wanting Google to do better. I just want a better battery and more storage. And you defend that practice
– “99% of this site and they would agree with me”…
I’m sure that many would love a spec’d out Pixel and they want that because the Pixels are already fantastic in so many ways. That said, current spec’s are fine for 90% + consumers as techie types who chase spec’s are only a small minority of consumers. Heck, the vast majority of consumers don’t even know what SoC they’re running or even what RAM is for.
– “Not going to apologize for wanting”…
There’s no need to “apologize” for that, people want what they want. It’s not about right or wrong in that regard. It’s just a matter of making a solid business case for Google to go after their Android partners with a spec heavy Pixel over the current business model that has the Pixels giving Android users another alternative, other than the iPhone, for things like longer support, faster updates, a bloat free UI, custom chips, new features, optimized software, better security etc.
So far I haven’t heard anyone express a business case beneficial to Google that would justify a spec heavy Pixel that would clearly take sales from their Android partners, other than the one scenario I suggest with Samsung leaving Android and Google services behind. Much less a case for nothing but stock Android phones on the market that you suggested, and how that would benefit Google’s business.
It may be frustrating for some but leaving the Pixels for the purpose of developing Android and as an alternative for Android users thinking of switching to the iPhone makes the best business sense for Google in the current business environment. These guys aren’t leaving Android because Samsung and others don’t offer enough spec’s, they’re leaving because they want what the Pixels and iPhones “do better”.
Like my Pixel 2 hope they continue giving free space for photos & videos for new pixel users
I think that this is inline with Google’s expectations. I mean, if they wanted the Pixels to be more mainstream with much higher sales then wouldn’t they just do the simple things like throw excessive spec’s around like other Android OEMs and not limit their availability to so few markets?
People need to keep in mind that the vast majority of Google revenues does not come from hardware. It matters little to them how much they sell. The Pixels are about giving Google a platform in which to “drive computing forward”/develop Android. If they can keep Android users, looking at an iPhone because they’re sick of poor support/no or slow updates, in the Android fold then that’s a bonus as well. It’s all the Pixels need to be for Google. Anything more than that would put them in direct competition with their Android partners and there’s just no need for that from the perspective of Google’s business model.
love my pixel 2 , flawless throughout the last 2 years, will upgrade to 4xl soon just because.
I LOVE my 4XL. Make sure you give the adaptive battery time to settle in. When I first got mine, I was barely making it to 4pm on a charge. That extended to 10pm in a week or 2. After a month or 2 and still to this day, I regularly go to bed with about 40% battery left.
I LOVE my 4XL. Make sure you give the adaptive battery time to settle in. When I first got mine, I was barely making it to 4pm on a charge. That extended to 10pm in a week or 2. After a month or 2 and still to this day, I regularly go to bed with about 40% battery left.
That is excellent news to hear, can’t do that on my 2 right now. Makes me wanna switch even sooner, waiting for a little better price or a sale, I am as cheap as they get.
I’m with you. I opened a google store account and got it on black friday. 200 off for the black friday discount and another 100 off for opening the google store account.
I’m an android developer so getting new phones fast is kind of a thing for me. That said, it doesn’t mean I can’t wait a bit for a good deal 🙂
I had 2xl. I call bs on flawless. Happy you’re enjoying it, but lets be realistc.
I was being realistic, if it was crap why on earth would I want another
The simple fact that they had to nerf every phone means it wasn’t without flaws. I’ll just leave it at that. Trump 2020.
Chump
circle circle dot dot, now i’ve got my cootie shot.
I LOVED my Pixel 2XL and miss it. Had to move on to the Pixel 4XL last year because my 2XL was starting to get slowand battery degraded. It had a great almost 2 year run though.
Im perfectly fine using my Nexus 6p until it can serve me no longer. Almost at the 4 year mark! Best $400 spent
How many have you gone through? I think I ended up with 4 in 2+ years.
still using the original phone i bought 4 years ago. no replacements phone and never had to replace the battery. i havent really had any of the issues that ive read about that have plagued the phone with boot loop or the phone turning off at 50%. yeah it lags and gets hot sometimes but it is still useable. maybe the phone came from a good batch when i had bought it.
still using the original phone i bought 4 years ago. no replacements phone and never had to replace the battery. i havent really had any of the issues that ive read about that have plagued the phone with boot loop or the phone turning off at 50%. yeah it lags and gets hot sometimes but it is still useable. maybe the phone came from a good batch when i had bought it.
Im perfectly fine using my Nexus 6p until it can serve me no longer. Almost at the 4 year mark! Best $400 spent
Google does well with the software but it continues to fail at hardware.
Shipments vs sold through to customers. I wonder how many are sitting in Verizon stores?
Don’t they report similar shipments for other companies. Or it’s only with Google that we might have the phone”sitting in Verizon stores” lol. People can’t just stop hating on the pixel
Im now curious what have sales more Pixel 3a or Pixel 3aXL because they killed the Pixel 4aXL this year(if the rumors are true)
We are talking about a company who hasn’t cared about making money on projects and is publicly okay with that… See YouTube.
It’s all about increasing footprint in order to push and collect more data.
This dude gets it.
Love my 4XL. Bought it new on swappa for $435
i am seeing alot more ppl with pixel phones. of course the marketing $ spent on pixel phones is bare bone.
p4xl now from p2xl i have become a legend in my family with the stunning shots. every wedding i go to i have the best pics. even beating the professional camera guys
I need more Pixel 5 leaks.
They should start popping up pretty soon.
I already know as much as I need to know to skip it. A Snapdragon 765/768? No thanks. Not taking a performance drop over a three year old phone.
wait until it’s released before judging the performance. Google has been doing a good job customizing the OS to the SOC on the pixel line. Maybe it won’t play fortnite at 60fps but I doubt it’ll struggle.
Hell, the 3a can eat just about anything you throw at it
What about features like the live view HDR in the camera of the Pixel 4? That will be gone. Do you remember how many people were upset that the Pixel 4 didn’t do 4K @ 60fps? With the SD 855 that was technically possible. That’s a feature that certainly won’t be on the Pixel 5 because of hardware limitations.
You don’t really have to wait for the phone to have an idea of performance. A comparison of the 765 to the 835 shows the 835 beating the 765 in several areas. I’m not going to take a downgrade in performance compared to my Pixel 2 XL.
I’ve been a Google phone owner since 2013 (Nexus 5, Nexus 5X and currently Pixel 2 XL). If the Pixel 5 is confirmed to have a SD 765 I’ll be moving on from Google phones. Such a shame since I like the Google software experience. I’ll be looking at One Plus probably.
Spec whores are boring.
It’s not just about being a “spec whore”. There is a real world performance difference. In several ways the SD 765 performs worse than the 3 year old SD 835. Google is likely going to have to remove a few features that were on the Pixel 4 like live view HDR for the camera.
I’m not going to take a downgrade in performance from my Pixel 2 XL.
I just want to buy a 4a…
Pixel 4 sales were only bad due to battery size and lack of wide angle camera. And also internal storage starting at 64gb. They even took away the google photos perk.
…but the media said the Pixel 4/4XL was a horrible and unusable phone for not having a wide angle lens and only 6 gigs of RAM
…but the media said the Pixel 4/4XL was a horrible and unusable phone for not having a wide angle lens and only 6 gigs of RAM
No one harped on the 6 GM of RAM, and the lack of a wide angle lens was a negative point, but I think everyone can agree the main shortcoming of this phone was the battery life. I know some people haven’t had as bad of experience, but reviewers almost universally agreed it had poor battery life compared to it’s competitors.
Oh yes there were plenty of nitpicks including some major ones like the battery on the smaller pixel 4.
My point is that people (and reviewers) are often confusing “not good enough” with “bad” as if people aren’t getting a good phone because it doesn’t have a wide angle lens or because there’s a slight bezel on the top.
I was fine with the 6GB RAM (plenty for a stock Android phone) and I didn’t mind not having a wide angle lens (telephoto matters more to me anyways).
It was the tiny battery and lack of finger print sensor that lost me.
Love my Pixel 4 XL! The camera is too good!
Discount your phones enough and you can increase your shipments as much as you want. Doesn’t mean you’re making any money though. I’d also be curious what these numbers looked like if you took out the 3a.
True. However, I still think Google’s primary goal selling phones is not to make tons of money, but to push ads into more faces (which is how Google really makes money), and get more people to use Google apps & services (which Google will use to harvest data, sell ads, and make more money)
Google is not a hardware company. Hardware sales simply don’t affect the bottom line like they would for companies like Apple and Samsung. The vast majority of revenue for Google comes from other sources. The Pixels are just a platform they use to develop their real money maker in Android and Google services.
They use the Pixels to “drive computing forward”, if they wanted huge sales and to compete directly with their Android partners then they would have thrown excessive spec’s around and sell in far more markets like their Android partners do. If anything they’re going with the iPhone like approach instead where things like optimized software, better security, a clean bloat free UI and long term support with fast updates taking precedence over excessive spec’s, and that’s a good thing imo. The Pixels are what the Android ecosystem has been missing.
Google is not a hardware company. Hardware sales simply don’t affect the bottom line like they would for companies like Apple and Samsung. The vast majority of revenue for Google comes from other sources. The Pixels are just a platform they use to develop their real money maker in Android and Google services.
They use the Pixels to “drive computing forward”, if they wanted huge sales and to compete directly with their Android partners then they would have thrown excessive spec’s around and sell in far more markets like their Android partners do. If anything they’re going with the iPhone like approach instead where things like optimized software, better security, a clean bloat free UI and long term support with fast updates taking precedence over excessive spec’s, and that’s a good thing imo. The Pixels are what the Android ecosystem has been missing.
See we tried to tell you all that the Pixel 4 XL does not suck!!!
6.3″ QHD screen with 90hz refresh rate with only a 3700mAh battery and crappy face unlock instead of finger print sensor. Yeah, it sucks.
that is your opinion, but I don’t see why Face Unlock is crappy, I had to root, to enable Face Unlock in all apps, but it was better than fingerprint sensors I have used, and more reliable, I also feel its more convenient. Pixel 4 XL had good battery life, far from terrible.
Face unlock is crappy for several reasons.
First it doesn’t work a lot of the time. I’ve tested it a lot. Same issues the iPhone has with Face ID. It has issues with sunglasses, hats, hoods and will certainly have issues with masks that so many are wearing right now. Also, the system works by taking a 3D scan of your face using an IR camera. The sun is basically a big ball of infrared light. So if you are in direct sunlight the IR camera is basically blinded. That’s a complaint I’ve heard from many people on both the Pixel 4 XL and iPhone. I’ve also experienced myself.
Then there is the issue with authentication in apps. That’s an issue on the app developer side to use the new biometric APIs which very few developers have done even after almost two years of the new API being out.
Also something I personally don’t like is how the lock screen works with face unlock. Since a fingerprint unlock is a deliberate action I can see the lock screen when I want or bypass it when I want. Since face unlock is a non-deliberate action you have to set it to either always show the lock screen or always skip it. I hate that. Sometimes I just want to control music, check Now Playing, see the time or check notifications. In those cases I don’t want to skip the lock screen. I don’t want to unlock at all. Other times I know I want to go directly to the home screen and not even see the lock screen. With a fingerprint sensor I can make that choice each time I pick up the phone.
As far as battery my Pixel 2 XL battery life was mediocre at best even brand new and the battery life of the Pixel 4 XL is even worse than the Pixel 2 XL. Even when my Pixel 2 XL was brand new getting an entire day of heavy use away from a charger all day on mobile data the entire time was almost impossible. I had to carry a bulky battery and charge cable in my pocket all day which was super annoying.
If they’d ever release the 4a those numbers might go up again.
And how many of those shipments are at warehouses collecting dust?
Regardless its still the same standard applied to all smartphone shipments.
Loved my 2 XL, and still happy with my 4 XL. Guess I’m a fanboy ????????♂️
me too.. i have been very happy with my Pixel 4XL. I am starting to question the two year upgrade cycle.. but very happy with the Pixel line.
I really like my 4XL too and will probably keep it for awhile. It has everything I need, screen is awesome, and I like the gestures, use them all the time to silence the phone and skip tracks.
As you should. 2XL is going strong and you can always change the battery if it gets weak.
Pixel 4 XL is awesome device, I had to root my phone to enable Face Unlock for any app which supports Fingerprint, I was satisfied with the battery, its build was different and I really enjoyed holding and using Pixel 4 XL, haptics for me it was better than S20 Ultra, speakers was awesome. If I had some minor complaint, it would be I wish display was more brighter,
Also I used my phone in force 90hz mode and still had no battery issues,
PSA: I had iPhone 11 Pro Max, S20 Ultran (Exynos), S20 Plus (Exynos) and last flagship was OnePlus 8, whose fingerprint I wrecked after rooting and also lost Widevine L3,
Same. My 4XL has been a great phone. I too will hang onto it for another year and it will be the longest I’ve ever kept a phone.
I totally love my Pixal 3a and will very likely get a 4a. I’m a fan boy as well I guess.
Love my 3a as well- so much that I’m NOT looking at the 4a because i have no need. It’s still as great (for me) as it was out of the box 11 months ago…hope to get 3yrs out of this $300 steal of a phone.
I might have a problem, but I love getting a new phone. I’ll end up selling my 3a to make up some of the cost, but I agree, this phone still works perfectly.
I loved and still have my 2XL, but was hugely disappointed by the 4XL, which I returned after a week.
I had the Nexus 6 (Shamu). Great screen, good speakers. SOC and camera was a little suspect, but the Nexus line was awesome
Funnily enough, the Nexus 6 was the only device that ever gave me problems. I went through three of them, and each one had major problems. I was so turned off by it all that I switched to a Windows phone for several months before the 6P was released, which was fantastic.
I liked my Nexus 5. I liked my Nexus 5X. I like my Pixel 2 XL. I was very disappointed by the Pixel 4 XL. If it would have had a finger print sensor and a 4200mAh+ bigger battery I would own one right now.
Don’t base your decision on specs alone. Yes, the battery could be bigger, but the adaptive battery in the OS is AMAZINGLY good. When I first got my 4XL, I had to put it on the charger by 4pm. After a couple of weeks, it was making it to about 10pm. After a month or 2 and still going, I regularly go to bed with ~40% battery.
The battery management on the device is SO much better than the specs. If you have a chance to try one with a return window beyond 1 week, I strongly encourage testing it out and judging it on real life performance over specs.
On the finger print side of things. Nearly every app I use at this point has updated to work with face unlock (bank of america, barclaycard, lastpass, and a few others. For those that don’t, lastpass fills in the username and password for me)
I don’t base performance on specs alone but specs do tell a lot. There will be at least one feature that the Pixel 4 has that the Pixel 5 won’t be able to do and another feature that many people have been asking for that the Pixel 4 didn’t have only because of software limitations but also won’t be on the Pixel 5 but this time because of hardware limitations. That’s just sad.
I’m really surprised adaptive battery does anything for you. It doesn’t do anything on the Pixel 2 XL and never has. The simple fact if the battery life of the Pixel 4 XL is objectively worse than the battery life of the Pixel 2 XL and the Pixel 2 XL battery life has been mediocre at best.
The first two spec I look at on a phone are screen resolution and battery size. Anything less than 4,000mAh for a QHD screen and I’m not even going to bother. Even at 4,000-4,500mAh and I’m going to hesitate.
Don’t base your decision on specs alone. Yes, the battery could be bigger, but the adaptive battery in the OS is AMAZINGLY good. When I first got my 4XL, I had to put it on the charger by 4pm. After a couple of weeks, it was making it to about 10pm. After a month or 2 and still going, I regularly go to bed with ~40% battery.
The battery management on the device is SO much better than the specs. If you have a chance to try one with a return window beyond 1 week, I strongly encourage testing it out and judging it on real life performance over specs.
On the finger print side of things. Nearly every app I use at this point has updated to work with face unlock (bank of america, barclaycard, lastpass, and a few others. For those that don’t, lastpass fills in the username and password for me)
I enjoy reading that many are very happy with their phones.
I would also very much like to be a Pixel fanboy someday.
I liked my 2 XL enough that when I accidentlaly broke it a few months back, I went on Swappa and ordered a new one. Unfotunately, the Swappa one kind of sucks, I wouldn’t say it was as “Mint” as the listing claimed to be, but it was cheap and works. With that, I’ve been considering picking up a 4 or maybe a 4a to replace it or just wait for the 5 if this “new” phone doesn’t annoy me first. Having the 2XL makes me think that frequent upgrades aren’t really necessary anymore.
In case your wondering, the device loses a charge quicker than mine did – but whatever it’s old and with Covid and modern stuff, I’m always near a charger anyway. The bigger annoyance is, the USB C only works from one direction and it won’t launch Android Auto. Thinking your phone is charging all night to wake up with no battery is really annoying.
same, but 1 and 3. still happy with the 3. waiting for the 5.