Bought this phone for 650 4 weeks ago. Absolutely love it and no regrets at all.
I've used every Pixel since the OG Pixel 1 (except the Pixel 5), and it was good (for its time), and I still use the 9 Pro XL for work. But ever since transitioning to a 1-inch sensor phone, with 3 times the charging speed, a faster storage and faster CPU - for the same price - my Pixel has pretty much remained in my cabinet. The whole "beta experience", and "recycled premium" reality is real. And while it's not a bad phone, it's no longer the best phone in any other aspect except for its software. Moving forward if I'm just looking for a "Pixel experience", I'd get the A series. It's definitely not worth a premium, if you're just gonna pay for software, and everything else passable.
You are correct in your overall assessment but I have to say you cannot deny how good some of the features on the Pixel are. The voice to text for hands free typing is unmatched, none of the rest even come close, the selfie camera is pretty much the best you can get from any phone. The screen brightness is only beaten by a few Chinese phones. Video Boost is also something that none of the rest offer and it makes a huge difference. I think it has enough features to hold its own even in this super saturated market.
First of all thanks for the video I enjoy your content. Maybe it's just me but I've really have been enjoying my Pixel 9 Pro XL from the time I added to my arsenal it's been a great experience I have a few phones in my arsenal haven't used as many as you have.wish I could test/use some of the devices you've come across. anyway there's just something about my Pixel 9 pro Xl that has me picking it up every morning and using it as my daily driver. And even when I do use a different device I always come back to the pixel because of the pixel exclusive features that are unmatched. Then again I'm here in the USA
The problem i see with the phone market its the actualization speed, 6 months ago totally worth it, 6 months later, you have a new market with hardware updates, we have a consumerism problem.
Since the May update, I've dealt with overheating, increased stutter when browsing, and my phone wasn't coming on one morning. I had to keep pressing the power button and when I plugged it in the charger it came on even though it was at 68%. I just want to sell it before it gets worse. The battery seems to be discharging faster as well.
Despite how technically impressive the Galaxy is, I cannot buy anything from Samsung due to their ethical controversies. But you've put me off the Google too 😆 Maybe the Nothing phone 3?
Still rocking a pixel 7 and it works better than the day i bought it, with great software updates. Best phone ive ever had.
Tbh I mostly stick to the cheaper Pixels as I feel I get more of my money's worth at that price. Returned to the 7a atm.
Switched from the iphone 15 pro to fhe pixel 9 pro & so far I don't miss the iphone even a little bit. The pixel has a better camera & a better battery & more customization options. They even have RCS messaging so you can see when your ios friends are typing or read your message!
You mentioned the 6p 😊 , I still have my old 6p , that took a decent photo , and the finger print sensor placement on the back of that phone was just the best of any phone Ive used to this day , and it had a slight recess so your finger fell into it , If it had a chipset that wouldn’t fry your eggs when working it hard and a bigger battery that would have been a killer phone imo. My 6p battery has given up the ghost long ago , it will no longer fire up without a charger plugged in.
For me, it's probably my favourite Pixel I have owned. I have had every Pixel bar the 2. Its smooth, fast and a great form factor, battery life much improved over 8. I don't game so CPU is more than adequate for me. However I haven't used the S25 Ultra. I'm not dismissing your own assessment however.
My experience with the 9 series has been positive compared to previous pixels but it's still not perfect but definitely fixed a lot of the issues that I had in the past
I feel u I just tried out the pixel 9 pro for a few weeks my daily phone being an iPhone 13 pro I was excited to try pixel again first one since using the first 5 pixels and I was really let down by the camera... The colors made the photos look so dry and boring also the phone was hot just from watching a YouTube video. Software still feels pretty similar to the pixel 5 which isn't all bad but it feels boring and like Samsung one UI and even Apple iOS are better and have more customization and definitely better cameras. I might give the S25 Ultra a chance I'm not a huge fan of big phones but I've always wanted to use the S Pen
Yeah I have to say I kind of agree especially since one UI 7 has come out I find myself preferring my S24 Ultra photos to Pixel 9 Pro so it's sat in my draw and sold my 15 Pro Max. It also feels like the unique software features you used to get with a pixel aren't really a thing as much because Google wants Gemini on everything.
I like the Pixel experience, but i'm not invested enough in phones wanting to pay a premium flagship price. I personally still use the Pixel 7, meeting all my needs for calling, whatsapp, reddit, youtube browsing and mail. Not really a power user or use my phone camera must since I mostly use my mirrorless camera for photography. I might consider the Pixel 8 next year as its getting cheaper. I don't think I'm in the market for getting the latest flagship phone anymore and cheaper phones are getting pretty good or just get 1-2 generations before. I think if you arent a power user or want a good phone camera there's no reason to get the latest version.
Mh 9 Pro XL has been fine. No big issues anywhere. Probably wish I'd bought the 9 regular though as the XL is quite large.
I feel the same with the Pixel line unfortunately. Had at least one of every iteration and a few Nexus before that. I've had 2 9 pro XL's, 2 9 pro folds and a standard 9 pro and none have lasted long bedore I've moved them on. I've definitely given them a chance(!) but with the 10 looking underwhelming from the leaks, I think it's time to move om
Not meaning to sound salty to pixel users but in my humble opinion , while pixel cameras are generally good , I think they are a bit overrated, yes in ideal conditions you can get a good happy snap , but in some circumstances they just don’t cut the mustard, even the pixel 8 pro widely lauded for its good camera ,I already had a 14 pro max as a daily and thought I’d get the awesome pixel phone at the time , one particular instance I wanted a pic of my bike frame to do some modifications to it, the light wasn’t dark, but it was somewhat poor , so I thought naturally the pixel would be the device for the job , I took 5 carefully shot photos to give it the best chance of giving me a at least one good shot , to my disappointment, not one single shot was even remotely salvageable and all went in the delete bin ! So I thought to myself, I’ll give the older iPhone a go , I did exactly the same procedure , out of the 5 shots , 3 were absolutely excellent and 2 were just good , I watched the iPhone scanning the area of the frame , the light wasn’t not good , so it upped the exposure then again then again then again , then when the exposure was good , it took the shot , and it did this 5 times in a row , not only was the exposure good , the focus was near perfect , and I’m thinking WTF google ? Now having said all that , at times in daylight , I’ve taken photos of cars , landscape , my cat with the pixel and they came out quite well , my old iPhone in those situations was either on par or so close it didn’t matter. Aside from all that my 8 pro is still a good phone camera , but imo at least for me , maybe the pixel camera hype is a just that.
@amusetech