Pixel 2 Stuff

[hans007]

I'd rather wait for the released stuff in December. Once you opt out of the beta your device gets wiped. It also has a bunch of fixes one of them I think being the garbled sound on video recording.

Ah I wasnt aware of the device wiping, but I guess I'm ok with it for this round. Don't think it wipes it if you opt out once the version is released so I didn't opt in until this latest beta.

Bluetooth wise if anyone is having BT problems with their cars..... this beta doesnt fix that you can't seek with your car audio controls if you are having that problem.

 

[sze5003]

I haven't had any blutooth issues with my car. I only had to pair it twice. Initially then when my phone was wiped from the last beta.

 

[MrSquished]

Is the Pixel 2 XL a beta product? Thinking of getting one in a month or so but it sounds like so many issues.

 

[thejunglegod]

Most phones these days are like most games that get released. A rushed out product only to be later fixed with patches.

 

[sze5003]

I wouldn't call it a beta product. There is a lot of variation in issues between units. They needed better QC especially for the screen issues(burn in, blue shift). Also, seems like LG gave google the left over screens of oled because the v30 has the same screen but none of these issues in screen variation.

 

[MrSquished]

I'm a big Android fan and my first smartphone was the first Nexus. I also had three other Nexus model phones ending with the 6P. Looking to get back to stock android and overlooking the lack of a headphone jack but all these issues have me a little cautious. I have some time to decide as I would buy it with a bonus commission check I will be getting in the next 4-6 weeks.

 

[VashHT]

From what I've heard most of the issues have been worked out in the latest developer preview, including the poor audio recording, poor touch sensitivity near the screen edges, and I believe the rebooting issue as well. At this point I'd say if you can live without the headphone jack the Pixel 2 is a really good phone, and if you don't mind the screen issues with the XL it's also a great phone.

The only thing that bothers me about the screen on the XL at this point is the smearing issue, it's kind of weird but I notice it way more when I look at my phone in the dark. The headphone thing is still kind of annoying, I have a pair of headphones at work and one at home, there have been a few days since I got the Pixel 2 where I wanted to listen to something at work but didn't have the adapter. I suppose I'll just end up buying a second adapter or something but still is annoying.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Smearing is something you'll see in all phone OLEDs to some degree or another. Even on the iPhone X and Galaxy Note 8 it's still present. With that said, the Pixel 2XL seems to have it really bad.

Anytime there's a pure black to dim non-primary colour transition you'll see the smear unfortunately. You can only try avoiding that scenario (using more white backgrounds, setting brighter screen, etc.).

This might actually be the reason why Google keeps testing dark mode but never ships it.

 

[sze5003]

I actually never seen any smearing in the dark with low brightness. I've always kept it at 20% and even the burn in looks more like image retention than burn in when checking at certain times.

 

[ChronoReverse]

I actually never seen any smearing in the dark with low brightness. I've always kept it at 20% and even the burn in looks more like image retention than burn in when checking at certain times.

Should be present to a small degree even with the best OLEDs. What happens if you scroll this image smoothly on your screen: https://imgur.com/p0RmMie

 

[sze5003]

Should be present to a small degree even with the best OLEDs. What happens if you scroll this image smoothly on your screen: https://imgur.com/p0RmMie

Thanks! I dunno I see it go smoothly up and down. Not noticing any smear, but then again I've never known what to actually look for. Looks fine to me.

 

[ChronoReverse]

If you do it quickly enough, the horizontal edges should start to trail out a bit. Normally OLED has amazing response rate so everything should scroll quickly without any trailing which makes it more noticeable. This one isn't the best test but the first I found. [edit]This one might show it better: https://imgur.com/a/NxzYi


It should be minimal with the Pixel 2, the Note 8 and the iPhone X but still present while it's much more noticeable on the 2XL. Overall, it's not really a dealbreaker since the majority of content doesn't trigger this.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Anybody gotten the Android 8.1 update pushed to their phone yet? Excited to get it.

 

[sze5003]

Tried to request it via the settings but nothing. I'm on T-Mobile/metro PCS

 

[MrSquished]

I've been really happy with my V20 but just want an upgrade. Thinking about the V30 now after reading all these Pixel 2 XL issues.

 

[lopri]

Smearing is something you'll see in all phone OLEDs to some degree or another. Even on the iPhone X and Galaxy Note 8 it's still present. With that said, the Pixel 2XL seems to have it really bad.

Anytime there's a pure black to dim non-primary colour transition you'll see the smear unfortunately. You can only try avoiding that scenario (using more white backgrounds, setting brighter screen, etc.).

This might actually be the reason why Google keeps testing dark mode but never ships it.

I do not think smearing is solely an OLED issue. My iPad Pro 10.5" smears white text on black background pretty badly, even with its 120 Hz wizardry.

 

[ChronoReverse]

I do not think smearing is solely an OLED issue. My iPad Pro 10.5" smears white text on black background pretty badly, even with its 120 Hz wizardry.

That's almost certainly a different issue, either persistence or overdrive artifacts.

Black smearing can literally only occur with OLED (or a hypothetical LCD that has an individual backlight for each pixel)

 

[lopri]

Hmm. OK so black smearing is an OLED thing by definition. How does it manifest? I have OLED devices to test.

 

[sze5003]

I tested as much as I could and didn't realize any smearing. I guess I just don't see it, oh well one less thing to complain about for me.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Hmm. OK so black smearing is an OLED thing by definition. How does it manifest? I have OLED devices to test.

It occurs because the the three colours of the pixels do not turn on at the same speed. So it looks like the object is smearing forwards. It does not occur when it's brighter because the overdrive function is supposed to compensate for this but at the lowest brightnesses, it can't compensate well enough.

If you take my test image and scroll it quickly and smoothly up/down with brightness set to low, you should be able to see it. Assuming your image displayer properly does the black.



The simplest way to fix it is to simply never turn off the pixels to pure black. Just by setting the 0,0,0 to 1,1,1 instead will completely negate this issue (but also ruin the "blacks don't use energy" bit of OLED). As far as I can tell, the compensation for this has improved a lot and it's rarely noticeable on the Note 8 and iPhone X but the LG panels seem to be a couple generations behind and exhibit it to a large degree.


Interestingly enough, this is almost certainly the reason why there's no dark mode even as an option on the Pixels despite it being present in test builds.

 

[MrSquished]

OK i picked up a 2XL for a couple of reasons over the V30 - camera and battery life and fast Android updates. Figured for a $35 restocking fee a 2 week road test was worth it. I noticed the blue color screen shift on all demo phones at 3 stores on the XL's but not the regular Pixel so much. I can deal with that I think, but that's what the road test is for. Just waiting for my phone to copy over stuff from my V20 and then I'll try test #1, how the audio sounds with the supplied dongle. I'm nervous lol

 

[sze5003]

OK i picked up a 2XL for a couple of reasons over the V30 - camera and battery life and fast Android updates. Figured for a $35 restocking fee a 2 week road test was worth it. I noticed the blue color screen shift on all demo phones at 3 stores on the XL's but not the regular Pixel so much. I can deal with that I think, but that's what the road test is for. Just waiting for my phone to copy over stuff from my V20 and then I'll try test #1, how the audio sounds with the supplied dongle. I'm nervous lol

Assuming you have decent headphones you will be fine..also update to Android 8.1 they added a bunch of fixes like side sensitivity of the screen and the video audio is no longer garbled.

 

[MrSquished]

Assuming you have decent headphones you will be fine..also update to Android 8.1 they added a bunch of fixes like side sensitivity of the screen and the video audio is no longer garbled.

I picked up a Pixel 2 XL from Best Buy and am using it on AT&T. So it's a Verizon 'version' even though it's unlocked and has zero bloatware. As per Google support it should function just like any Pixel 2 XL except for a locked bootloader, which I don't mind. But It won't update past 8.0.0 when I submit to check for updates. Que? Is 8.1 an official update out now or is it something you need to load up yourself?

 

[sze5003]

I picked up a Pixel 2 XL from Best Buy and am using it on AT&T. So it's a Verizon 'version' even though it's unlocked and has zero bloatware. As per Google support it should function just like any Pixel 2 XL except for a locked bootloader, which I don't mind. But It won't update past 8.0.0 when I submit to check for updates. Que? Is 8.1 an official update out now or is it something you need to load up yourself?

It's official for the pixel XL 2. Mine didn't come in until a few days after 8.1 released. Keep pressing the update button and it should prompt for download soon hopefully. At&t and Verizon are usually the first ones to get it a day after google puts the images out. Or you can do a sideload by downloading the ota to your PC, and adb sideload in the recovery menu (turn off phone and press power + vol up. ). Although you need to have adb tools installed on your PC.

 

[MrSquished]

It's official for the pixel XL 2. Mine didn't come in until a few days after 8.1 released. Keep pressing the update button and it should prompt for download soon hopefully. At&t and Verizon are usually the first ones to get it a day after google puts the images out. Or you can do a sideload by downloading the ota to your PC, and adb sideload in the recovery menu (turn off phone and press power + vol up. ). Although you need to have adb tools installed on your PC.

I'll hang tight a few days and let it propogate down to me. It's still a fresh release and hasn't hit my neck of the woods yet, I tried updating it a bunch of times over the last couple hours and no dice. Thanks.

The volume is definitely high enough, though not as good quality as the V20 or V30 but good enough. At least the dongle is small, but still annoying. I think I can deal though I still think it's stupid to have not included a headphone jack and make it high end audio - our phones are not only our main cameras but also our main audio devices. Why just cater to the one vs the other? Anyways. I ordered 3 spare dongles to have laying around or tucked away in my main messenger bag so I never get caught without one.