
I used to buy some kind of a tech gadget for my birthday ever since I had started earning. But this time, it didn't happen. That's because I bought it a month and a half in advance.
It's a Google Pixel 2. That's my 2nd phone purchase since moving to Australia. I got it from Telstra on a $59 per month plan with 15GB free monthly data allowance. That alone is a good deal, but I got $100 gift card from JB HiFi and a Google Home Mini (which I will write about later) with it.
I was upgrading my phone from a Samsung Galaxy S7, which had become very sluggish for no apparent reason. I was paying $65 per month for it with only 7GB monthly data, so this is a good deal.
I got the White one. But I got a black case for it so the white body hardly reveals anymore. I loved the Spigen case that I had on the S7, so I had no reason to look for another brand. This new case has a sturdier kickstand than the old one.
While the Pixel 2 is a newer phone, it lacks so many features not only comparing with phones from competitors that were released around the same time but also the S7.
Improvements over S7
- Super snappy UI and fast app launches
- Tapping the fingerprint sensor takes me into the phone. With S7, you need to "press" the home button.
- No bloat (read: no bundled Samsung apps)
- Squeeze feature
- Better camera
- Full quality unlimited photo uploads to Google Photos (for 3 years at least)
- Stereo front facing speakers, but not really louder than the S7's single speaker
- Simpler but effective stock launcher
- Faster OS updates
- Double the internal storage
- USB type C (i.e. modern and reversible)
- Bluetooth Headset's battery level is displayed
- Double tap screen to wake
Things missing after switching to the Pixel 2
- Battery level is not displayed on always on display (but should be fixed via software)
- No hardware buttons despite having a large chin (i.e. software buttons taking up screen space) and slightly smaller screen size (5 inch vs 5.1 inches)
- The fingerprint sensor on the back (i.e. have to lift the phone up to get into)
- Terrible automatic screen brightness adjustments (reddit post)
- Large bezels
- No inbuilt Smart Stay functionality (screen won't keep awake while reading)
- The power button is hard to press (to double press to launch camera)
- No headphone jack and no bundled earbuds (but I use Bluetooth Earbuds almost all the time so not really a deal breaker for me)
- The battery is smaller, but I probably the S7 died sooner than the Pixel 2
- Photo shooting gestures missing from photos app (should be added to the Camera app)
- Supports USB type C which is also a disadvantage because now I had to buy new cables (I blew the $100 gift card on cables)
- No IP68 water resistance (only has IP67)
- No MicroSD expansion
So it doesn't feel like an upgrade across the board, but I give a larger weight to the snappiness of the phone, so it definitely is a worthy upgrade for me.
Other than those deficiencies over the S7, I have experienced few things that I have never experienced on the S7.
- Bluetooth crashed twice!
- The phone has rebooted a couple of times out of nowhere
But these things don't happen often, so I am not infuriated by it... yet.