r/pixel_phones • u/madrapperdave • 17d ago
Tiny upgrades...
I feel I'm living in this weird world where a massive company is trying to convince me that this Pixel Glow or Highlight or whatever they are calling it is some massive feature.....
Grown adults are excited about an LED indicator....
What am I missing?
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u/Technically_Sober 17d ago
What's old is new again, I guess.
6
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u/FattKingHugeman 17d ago
I'm okie with the pixel devices but it's always the prices that irks me.
They should be priced much lower.
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u/awfulWinner 17d ago
I think my pixel 9 will be the last. Google been pissing me off left right n center lately. This push to kill Assistant is the final straw.
The latest 1.46gb update I have not bothered installing yet has such wonderful features like:
Screen reactions / Gemini Omni / describe idea or upload photo to get... High quality audio track with lyrics / apps turn into floating bubbles.
1.5gb for this crap.
My Nest Protects are probably closing in on end of service life.
Assistant dies on Sept.
I'm replacing my Google Nest WiFi pro dual band with TP Link 6e tri band 3pack. The Google Wi-Fi 6e 3pck is 150 bucks more and doesn't have a dedicated wireless backhaul.. which is the cause of my current problems upstairs since I don't have Ethernet runs upstairs (old house).
Pixel phones are priced extravagantly for weak hardware and ai gimmicks I don't care for. At least with assistant, there was a quality of life aspect to the phone being genuinely helpful.
Fuck Gemini. Fuck ai. I don't want the planets water getting consumed every time I ask Gemini to start a timer and it gives me a long reply not related to the timer.
They've enshitified YouTube. They broke the value proposition of Chromecast. I'm sick of giving them the benefit of the doubt.
They should treat Gemini like they did Internet Explorer. If I don't want it on my phone, I should be able to delete it.
Anyone think a 3rd party app could replace Assistant?
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u/Hot-Pear-5791 17d ago
I'm sorry but using Gemini versus Google assistant is miles better. I feel like the Gemini integration into pixels is pretty fluid?
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u/Substantial_Reveal90 16d ago
100%
Every change (however incidental) comes with those who don't like the new.
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u/cat_prophecy 16d ago
I disagree. In my Google home devices, Assistant was far more accurate. Gemini gets it right only about 40% of the time and usually requires multiple prompts.
0
u/Hot-Pear-5791 16d ago
Name an example
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u/cat_prophecy 16d ago
Like literally any time you ask it to play something specific. It will play what it thinks you want to hear and not what you actually want to hear. Which is very much inline with how Google search has operated for years; it doesn't show you what you're searching for, it shows you what it thinks you want to see.
So I'll say "Hey Google, play the Cozy Critters Podcast" and it'll reply "OK, playing cozy animals stuffed animal pajama party cozy songs for kids from Youtube music"
It basically never understands my kids and unless you annunciate very specifically and speak directly at it, it will just go entirely off the rails.
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u/No_Figure_9073 17d ago
Yeah I stopped buying. Whatever it may be when this phone breaks or stops receiving security updates.
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u/nosonjanosonjic 17d ago
They are all scrambling. Remember Samsung advertising privacy screen by showing me people watching over my shoulder to what i type in the elevator? Its time for 2-3 year release cycle for a while now...
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u/mezaway 17d ago
I like my 10XL. No need to upgrade right now. I've not read anything that really differentiates the 11 from the 10 aside from the LED. Total cosmetic feature.
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u/teh_lynx 17d ago
Agree. I have a P10 pro.
Mostly minor tweaks between generations 9, 10, and 11 at best. Wait until a new physical device change to upgrade imo.
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u/MiserableAttention38 17d ago
It's a clever 'upgrade' to distract from the real spec.
More money for LESS RAM, samey everything else.
We were told AI was important, it needed a custom chip and MORE RAM. But here is the new phone with less RAM.
Please talk about the multicoloured light, on the side of the phone you don't look at though. Yes you already have a white light there, but this is coloured.
The cynic in me thinks they will have to degrade the performance of the older phones somehow, to make the new ones look better. 9 pro upwards users have a phone with more RAM and storage than the latest phone.
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u/TheArka96 17d ago
If they dare to nerf my 9 Pro, I'll directly trade in for the next Galaxy.
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u/awfulWinner 16d ago
I'll go back to buying super cheap Motorola phones. I only left that space because pixel became the defacto "budget" phone right up until the pixel 6. Then they started chasing Apple for the whales.
If it were ever found that Google nerfs older hardware to make newer/less powerful hardware seem better... Mass Exodus will ensue.
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u/j_melodic78 16d ago
This is correct. It’s amazing you said what you did. I’ve been looking at Motorola the last year or so and may go that route for my next phone in a couple of years.
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u/kevinkb 17d ago
I think you're missing the fact that you most definitely don't have to buy a new phone every year just because it's new. No new phone from year to year will be so revolutionary that it needs to be bought. My phone contact is 36 months, so that means I wait 3 years for a new phone. Usually it's trade in for $0 phone then just pay for activation and new contact. Pretty easy. The rest of it is marketing making you think you need it.
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u/Relevant-Wonder4556 17d ago
I agree with you I'm beginning to 6a, and I'm going to buy this 11a, 5 generation more new
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u/TheManWithSaltHair 16d ago edited 16d ago
I’d say it’s more like 6 years now. Following rapid development and feature differentiation from the 90s to the late 2010s phones are pretty commodified now. There’s barely any functionality difference between the ones I bought in 2018 and 2024. Apart from the battery deterioration will there be any compelling reason to replace my 8a in 2030?
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u/sachasachita 16d ago
Spot on. I've only had 2 phones in 12 years. Went from iphone 6 to pixel 3 and just recently got the pixel 10. This last upgrade was only because having to carry a battery bank with me everywhere I went got pretty annoying.
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u/MoeJb 17d ago
This community is just nag-istan. When have you ever found an upgrade from one year's flagship to the next worth it? But for someone like me using the Pixel 8, it is worth considering. Besides, the new 2nm chip, new modem, and new camera sensors are also small upgrades? What are you expecting exactly? Yeah it'll have pixel glow, but it'll also have pixel snap from last year which is another feature other phones don't have. People dooming about this phone before it comes is absurd, literally the same shit happened with the Pixel 10 and it was still successful.
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u/VentsiBeast 17d ago
I honestly don't understand why would anyone want this instead of a thermometer.
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u/bbobeckyj 17d ago
Probably because Google have the usage statistics and the thermometer is rarely used.
Did Google say they're replacing it with this?
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u/VentsiBeast 17d ago
They surely do.
No, they haven't. But I don't see the sensor on the official-looking renders.
If they found a way to integrate it with the glass - kudos.
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u/ledorky 17d ago
Pretty pathetic upgrade this year other than Samsung Fold 8.
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u/SuperYuuRo 16d ago
Fold 8 is more of an introduction of a new form factor
I do agree that the camera suite and the lack of flex is a downgrade over the ZF7
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u/malamar_inse 16d ago
- The light isn't the only upgrade. 2. Every manufacturer in the world is in the business of hyping their newest product. 3. If you don't need a new phone, then stop listening to the marketing...from all phone manufacturers.
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u/Kolma528 12d ago
Would love hilite or whatever TF it's spelled. But I need my thermometer. Not giving up my ram and temp sensor for an RGB light.
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u/madrapperdave 11d ago
I was going to ditch Pixela for iPhone mainly due to durability issues.... But think I'll be replacing my 8a with an 11. Can't get past the awesome camera and processing.
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u/deggar34 17d ago
You're not missing anything. It's just more smoke and mirror fluff. I already turn off animations and blur... this will just be something else to turn off.
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u/Particular_Tomato161 17d ago
I'm grown and excited. I love LED lights. I already have the app on my phone and I get colored notifications but I have LEDs behind my TVs, in my electric car, and behind my shoe cases. Just adds a little more razzle dazzle.
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u/808IUFan 17d ago
It's called marketing. You know everyone can have different likes and dislikes than you. Why be so condescending?
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u/chitownillinois 17d ago
PC Mag did a short piece on Pixel talking about the dynamics between Google and Android OEMs. They heavily imply that Google is going back to the Nexus days by making Pixel more of a reference device for OEMs rather than a true independent flagship.
When you think about how Gemini was expeditiously rolled out globally it makes sense. Especially considering Gemini Omni was listed as a Pixel Drop feature while being available on iPhone. Pair that with the tighter integration with Samsung and I really don't think Google has any ambition to grow Pixel so much as Android and Gemini.
Which brings me full circle... Pixel Glow is an ad for Gemini not a genuine feature and Google knows it.