Android Phones....

[sdkid]

Anybody using a Pixel 6 of whatever flavor? I loved Motorola, but they are getting worse and worse. Hell-- all of them seem to be getting worse, and I don't care to have $1,000 in my pocket, or more than that for some of 'em

SO.... looking at a Pixel 6 or 6a.... Any real-world experience with that one here on the forums??

 

[fenderman]

Anybody using a Pixel 6 of whatever flavor? I loved Motorola, but they are getting worse and worse. Hell-- all of them seem to be getting worse, and I don't care to have $1,000 in my pocket, or more than that for some of 'em

SO.... looking at a Pixel 6 or 6a.... Any real-world experience with that one here on the forums??

Note that google will be releasing the pixel 7 in a few weeks so you will be able to get a much better deal on a 6 or perhaps you will want a 7.

I use a samsung s21+ which I love. I had the earlier pixels but moved to samsung with the 21 after a short lived stint with the iphone that was horrific. The 21's are often on sale and/or samsung provides solid trade in values for your old phone (though not sure about your moto). The newer s22 should be a bit better.

Years ago I had a great experience with moto. I sent in a phone for an out of warranty repair. They did not have the parts or a replacement phone. They offered to reimburse me a brand new phone if I went out and purchased locally. I had them put it in writing via email. True to their word they paid via check, I think it was 600 bux. Based on that experience I would still have a moto today - however they were terrible at providing security updates even when the phone was new which is simply unacceptable. Samsung on the other hand provides timely monthly security updates.

 

[sdkid]

Note that google will be releasing the pixel 7 in a few weeks so you will be able to get a much better deal on a 6 or perhaps you will want a 7.

I use a samsung s21+ which I love. I had the earlier pixels but moved to samsung with the 21 after a short lived stint with the iphone that was horrific. The 21's are often on sale and/or samsung provides solid trade in values for your old phone (though not sure about your moto). The newer s22 should be a bit better.

Years ago I had a great experience with moto. I sent in a phone for an out of warranty repair. They did not have the parts or a replacement phone. They offered to reimburse me a brand new phone if I went out and purchased locally. I had them put it in writing via email. True to their word they paid via check, I think it was 600 bux. Based on that experience I would still have a moto today - however they were terrible at providing security updates even when the phone was new which is simply unacceptable. Samsung on the other hand provides timely monthly security updates.

The 7 must be VERY close, as the deals are kicking in on all 3 of the Pixel 6 phones.

What I didn't like about the Samsungs was that they F with Android so much... Moto kept a very "stock" feel, and Pixel of course does. Moto dropped nice OLED screens ... deal breaker for me. Cool thing with Pixel-- they GUARANTEE updates for FIVE YEARS. A long time in the phone world.

 

[looney2ns]

I'm using a Pixel 3a xl going on a little over three years old. It's been updated from Android 9 up to 12 in that time period. Never really had a problem.
I'm a moto refugee as well, do to batteries crapping out in 14-15 months.

 

[fenderman]

The 7 must be VERY close, as the deals are kicking in on all 3 of the Pixel 6 phones.

What I didn't like about the Samsungs was that they F with Android so much... Moto kept a very "stock" feel, and Pixel of course does. Moto dropped nice OLED screens ... deal breaker for me. Cool thing with Pixel-- they GUARANTEE updates for FIVE YEARS. A long time in the phone world.

The release date is October 6 or close to that. I agree that samsung screws with android but I got used to it to the point where I cant feel the difference. All phones should be stock android just like all pc's run stock windows and updates should come direct from google as they do from microsoft. Samsung is promising OS updates for 4 years. To apples credit ios 16 will be available on the iphone 8 which means at least 6 years of updates.

 

[SJGUSMC21]

I have been a Sammie owner for a long time. Mostly all notes, but a few S's here and there (S9+ and S6). My current phone is the Note 20 Ultra 5G. It will also be the last phone I buy new. Not going to spend that money for a new phone EVER again. TV's, watches and phones is what I buy Samsung products for, nothing else though. I would advise the same. My co worker has a Pixel and he loves it.

 

[d5775927]

Samsung is a good choice. At least the S series.
They have a decent camera (though I find it hard to capture closwd objects - macro, the focus is bad).
Software updates are good, they provided an update to S7/S8 recently (S7 was relases 6 years ago).
However, this is not the phone for custom roms.

 

[wittaj]

Yeah, same here - I am not paying $1k for a phone.

Have had $250ish Motorola and loved them, but similar to above, their security updates were lacking.

We have since went to Samgsung A series ($250ish) and have loved them...except two phones here went thru the update and on one phone model when the bank sends a text for a purchase, it then prevents receiving texts from anyone until the phone is rebooted. The other model just updated this week and it now has less mobile signal and needs a reboot everyday to get cellular service back. Discussions with the mobile provider and Samsung have been useless. I keep calling to try to get them to log an issue so that it can be looked at for the next update and they keep giving the run around "put it in airplane mode and then turn if off, take out the SIM card, reset network settings, etc., try a factory reset, etc" and the problem still exists) - the phones were perfect before the updates.

 

[The Automation Guy]

I have a Pixel 6 and my wife a Pixel 6a.

There was a long time that I used the Pixel "A" series phones because I felt the regular Pixel phones were too expensive for their features. That changed with the Pixel 6 (and seems to be true with the Pixel 7 if the leaks are accurate). I think the Pixel 6 is offered at a great price for it's feature set and I think the Pixel 6A is priced a little too high at full retail price for it's feature set - which is probably why it has been on sale virtually the entire time it has been available. My wife pre-ordered her phone when Google was offering exaggerated trade in prices for various phones and it ended up only costing about $150 after trade in and it came with a free pair of Google Buds A Series as well. I would not have bought the Pixel 6a for her if I had to pay full retail price. I would have bought a used Pixel 6 in "mint" condition for the same money.

For me personally, taking pictures with my phone is a big deal and I want a high quality option. The Pixel series has always been a great choice for photographers. The only annoying part of the phone is the finger print scanner. It's the first phone that I've had where the scanner is under the front glass so I don't have anything to compare it to, but it reads well about 80% of the time. The other 20% of the time, I have to scan several times and sometimes end up having to type in my access code instead. From what I have read, the Pixel 6 scanner hardware isn't the best choice.

Regardless, at this point I would definitely wait for the Pixel 7 to be released. We are just a couple weeks away. Leaks suggest the pricing is not going to be higher than the P6. In the mean time, I'll be happy to answer any specific questions you might have.

 

[sdkid]

I have a Pixel 6 and my wife a Pixel 6a.

There was a long time that I used the Pixel "A" series phones because I felt the regular Pixel phones were too expensive for their features. That changed with the Pixel 6 (and seems to be true with the Pixel 7 if the leaks are accurate). I think the Pixel 6 is offered at a great price for it's feature set and I think the Pixel 6A is priced a little too high at full retail price for it's feature set - which is probably why it has been on sale virtually the entire time it has been available. My wife pre-ordered her phone when Google was offering exaggerated trade in prices for various phones and it ended up only costing about $150 after trade in and it came with a free pair of Google Buds A Series as well. I would not have bought the Pixel 6a for her if I had to pay full retail price. I would have bought a used Pixel 6 in "mint" condition for the same money.

For me personally, taking pictures with my phone is a big deal and I want a high quality option. The Pixel series has always been a great choice for photographers. The only annoying part of the phone is the finger print scanner. It's the first phone that I've had where the scanner is under the front glass so I don't have anything to compare it to, but it reads well about 80% of the time. The other 20% of the time, I have to scan several times and sometimes end up having to type in my access code instead. From what I have read, the Pixel 6 scanner hardware isn't the best choice.

Regardless, at this point I would definitely wait for the Pixel 7 to be released. We are just a couple weeks away. Leaks suggest the pricing is not going to be higher than the P6. In the mean time, I'll be happy to answer any specific questions you might have.

We are playing the hand-me-down game in our house. My youngest is in high school now, so it's time to get her actual phone service for her Moto G-Play that she's been running wifi only. So-- since we are adding a line, we might as well leverage that for the best possible deal. We will likely retire my wife's Moto Z3 and then use the new phone number on my daughter's phone. My Z4 will go another year... or more... then I will likely do a pixel too.

I will miss my Moto when the time comes--- 2 cool Moto features:
-you can do a "tomahawk" chop action to turn the flashlight on and off, and a "twist" action to immediately open the camera without fingerprint or security code. Those items have been the handiest things to implement into a phone! Another phone will feel like going backwards LOL...

EDIT: Current deal at BestBuy with a new line on Verizon...

 

[The Automation Guy]

I will miss my Moto when the time comes--- 2 cool Moto features:
-you can do a "tomahawk" chop action to turn the flashlight on and off, and a "twist" action to immediately open the camera without fingerprint or security code. Those items have been the handiest things to implement into a phone! Another phone will feel like going backwards LOL...

I remember those shortcuts! (Although I forget which Moto phone I had - it's been a while).

As far as the camera is concerned, on the Pixel phones you can double press the power button and it will open the phone up to the camera immediately (no lock screen etc). It's very quick to get into the camera and definitely a worthy replacement to the "twist" shortcut of Moto. I honestly like it better than the twist method.

There unfortunately isn't a great alternative to the chop gesture shortcut for the flashlight. I wish they would put that option on the "long press" power button, but it's not an option. You can add a "quick tile" in the notification pulldown, but that still requires turning the screen on and pulling down the menu. It's better than nothing, but nothing like the chop gesture.

 

[sebastiantombs]

My S10 Samsung has the same direct camera access, two quick presses of the power button.

 

[sdkid]

I remember those shortcuts! (Although I forget which Moto phone I had - it's been a while).

As far as the camera is concerned, on the Pixel phones you can double press the power button and it will open the phone up to the camera immediately (no lock screen etc). It's very quick to get into the camera and definitely a worthy replacement to the "twist" shortcut of Moto. I honestly like it better than the twist method.

There unfortunately isn't a great alternative to the chop gesture shortcut for the flashlight. I wish they would put that option on the "long press" power button, but it's not an option. You can add a "quick tile" in the notification pulldown, but that still requires turning the screen on and pulling down the menu. It's better than nothing, but nothing like the chop gesture.

I had to check-- a "double-click" of the power button on my old Z4 brings up the "OK Google" screen, waiting for a voice request.

This is an interesting article on the new Pixel 7 phones... though the article really looks at the big picture of that phone in the Google universe...

What everyone’s getting wrong about the Google Pixel 7

How are so many people missing the boat with Google's latest Pixel phone and its bigger-picture significance?

www.computerworld.com

 

[sebastiantombs]

The thing that stops me from buying a Pixel is Google. The corollary applies to the iPhone.

 

[The Automation Guy]

I'm just glad that Google is continuing to put out the Pixel series because the sales numbers are nothing close to Samsung, etc. Honestly I don't understand why they aren't more popular with people because it's the only way to buy a phone without a bunch of spam apps installed on it. But in the end Google just doesn't seem to even try to market these devices well I guess. I know that as long as Google continue to sell them, I will be a buyer every few years.

 

[sdkid]

I'm just glad that Google is continuing to put out the Pixel series because the sales numbers are nothing close to Samsung, etc. Honestly I don't understand why they aren't more popular with people because it's the only way to buy a phone without a bunch of spam apps installed on it. But in the end Google just doesn't seem to even try to market these devices well I guess. I know that as long as Google continue to sell them, I will be a buyer every few years.

The bottom 1/3 of that article seems to defy the first half or so, citing massive double-digit percent sales increases, and hinting that the steady turtle's sales pace has been strategy to now. I bought a Samsung S20 for my daughter... but I will need a phone for myself next year, and Pixel 7 is up at the top of my considerations, unless there are droves of people experiencing problems with them.

The thing that stops me from buying a Pixel is Google. The corollary applies to the iPhone.

Yup--- people complain about Facebook and the intrusive nature of social media--- it is THE DEVICES THEMSELVES that are probably far more invasive than anyone knows. I will NEVER have ALEXA or any Google Home device listening in my household.

 

[The Automation Guy]

The bottom 1/3 of that article seems to defy the first half or so, citing massive double-digit percent sales increases, and hinting that the steady turtle's sales pace has been strategy to now.

When your sales figures are so low, it's easy to have double (or triple) digital growth. I think the article had Google at 1% of total US phone sales one year and 2% the next year. That is tremendous growth, but the actual market share it nothing to get excited about and would cause just about any other phone manufacture to think about exiting the market completely. Luckily Google does seem to have a different set of goals/priorities - at least for right now.

 

[sebastiantombs]

A Google phone is loaded with Google crap, not any different than the crap on a Samsung or other brand. The difference being that the crap phones home to Google with every move you make. Same with Apple. With Samsung I can disable and/or uninstall almost all of the crap.

 

[mcapeed]

I’ve had various Samsung phone as well as iPhones. The earlier iPhone hardware was superior…..not so sure today as I’ve had a few problems. I did like the Samsung Note but it had issues with the charge connection. I’m committed to apple as I like the integration across all my devices.

On an unusual note, I lost my iphone 11 on Oct 15 2021 in the lake. My neighbor found it in the lake last week. It still works after nearly a year of being under water!!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[looney2ns]

I am upgrading from a Pixel 3a xl, I briefly have had a Pixel 6, but have two new Pixel 7s arriving tomorrow.
In the pixel3a and the P6, most everything can be un-installed or turned off of googles. I've sure the 7 will be basically be the same.

My wife's current Samsung S9, has a lot of needless bloatware that can't be removed.

Currently, you can get a Pixel 6a for $349. or less depending on where you purchase.

I've seen lots of Tv commercials for the Pixel 7's the past month, and for the 6a.