Apple should be EMBARRASSED - Pixel 4 Review

[aisle9]

So basically, the Pixel's only advantage here is the camera. And don't get me wrong, it is a beautiful camera and one that I very much regret passing on, but there are too many holes in the phone and in Android as a whole right now. The two biggest for me were the phone's storage and Android Auto generally being a dumpster fire in every car I've tried it in. Here's my logic:

• Storage: 128GB is just totally inadequate in 2019 as a high-end storage option. Actually, let me revise that: 128GB without microSD expansion is totally inadequate. But then, Google would be killing their residuals, wouldn't they? If I can put a 256GB microSD card in there, there's no way in hell I'd shell out for anything above the 64GB version, and I'd never in a million years buy Google Drive space. To be really blunt, I wouldn't buy Google Drive space anyway. MS Office gives me 1TB of OneDrive space for what 1TB of Google Drive would cost, but that 1TB of MS Office 365 also comes with access to, you know, MS Office. There's no reason for Google to max their offerings out at 128GB in 2019 unless they're just blatantly trying to force you to spend more on the back end for storage. Even the 128GB wouldn't have been a killer had they kept the free photo storage offer going. I would have gone with the Pixel if even that offer had remained in place, despite the issues with Android Auto and battery life, because of how highly I think of the Pixel's cameras and software photo editing.
• Android Auto: This really breaks down to two separate issues. Android Auto implementation and Google's handling of music libraries. Android Auto, I mean, I really can't think of anything more apropos to say about it than this: using Android Auto is about as intuitive as building a blender from scratch, finding the single squirrel in a one square mile field, catching said squirrel, then putting it in a blender and running that blender for ten minutes without actually harming the squirrel in the process. Android Auto in my Mazda, for example, is just a train wreck. Lots and lots and lots of issues, ranging from the typical stupidity like the phone just randomly disconnecting from the vehicle right on up to the hilarious moments when the car decides that the music is actually your Google Maps audio and feeds you five seconds of "Monkey Wrench" instead of telling you to turn left. Then there's the new trick it learned last weekend when it decided that it didn't feel like handling call audio anymore, so it sent that back to the headset and refused to reconnect to it, making me converse over the phone speaker while driving. Fun!
  Music library handling is kind of a separate issue. Let's just say that I found the formatting problems that were keeping a huge number of my iTunes music files from coming over via Google Play, via DoubleTwist, iSyncr, whatever. Couldn't be 24-bit audio, had to be 16, no slashes in file names, no .wav files, and more. I spent the better part of a day fixing this in iTunes so I could send the audio to my Pixel 2, and to my amazement, it worked. My entire library came over. And then I updated the thing a day later and suddenly everything broke again. I made a mad face.

Everything else is secondary to those two problems. Those two are big enough by themselves that I ordered an iPhone for the first time ever, and for someone who's owned nothing but Android phones since the days of the Samsung Galaxy S Captivate, that's saying something.

[GrockleTD]

trying to remember, is there anything on the 4A yet?

[imreloadin]

2 hours ago, LinusTech said:

The content inside the video didn't change. There's no psychological warfare going on here

So what you're saying is that titles should be ignored as they're apparently not relevant to the content of the video?

That's the only way I can wrap my head around a title for a review video going from "The competition should be embarrassed" to "They really cut a lot of corners here" if the content of the video itself hasn't changed...

 

If the title was changed to not being so clickbaity then why didn't the new title have the same positive connotation to it? Why, instead, did the new title become a disparaging remark about the product? You would think that if the content of the review didn't change, as you claim, and the review of the product was positive that the title would have remained a positive reflection of the content. If the product wasn't reviewed positively then why give it such a positive spin in the title? To me that is pretty much flat out lying to get views...

[LinusTech]

10 minutes ago, imreloadin said:

So what you're saying is that titles should be ignored as they're apparently not relevant to the content of the video?

That's the only way I can wrap my head around a title for a review video going from "The competition should be embarrassed" to "They really cut a lot of corners here" if the content of the video itself hasn't changed...

 

If the title was changed to not being so clickbaity then why didn't the new title have the same positive connotation to it? Why, instead, did the new title become a disparaging remark about the product? You would think that if the content of the review didn't change, as you claim, and the review of the product was positive that the title would have remained a positive reflection of the content. If the product wasn't reviewed positively then why give it such a positive spin in the title? To me that is pretty much flat out lying to get views...

The review contains both positive and negative components. 

 

Also, punctuation is important. For the 'corner cut' title, we added a question mark to reflect a question many of our viewers seemed to be asking about the Pixel 4 in the video comments.

 

SEO/click-through optimization is more art than science, and we're constantly learning new things that work/don't work, and make people happy/piss them off.

 

It's a super-fine balancing act. The first day of click-through on that video (~10%) was better than we've had in ages. But people were salty, so we've found new techniques that work, and a line that a portion of our community doesn't like crossed. That's good to know, and we'll file it away with the rest of what we've learned over the years.

[LinusTech]

2 hours ago, The_Prycer said:

If I may pontificate for a bit, for your edification, what you got called out on was disparaging Apple in your title+thumbnail over an objectively worse product. The clickbait is just part and parcel of being as successful a YouTuber as possible and I can't hold that against you since it's sort of how you employ people and feed your family. I'm a musician, I understand needing to get people through the door so they can spend money at the bar or on your merch just as much as you understand needing to get those clicks and holding our attention for at least the first 10 minutes of a video.

 

Look, I get that LMG maybe isn't the most Apple friendly place on the net, but when you proclaim that "Apple should be EMBARRASSED" and then proceed to show me a device that really only competes with the iPhone in terms of price, then you aren't just click baiting me (We spent HOW MUCH on this mystery box?!) you are being dishonest with us as viewers and damaging your journalistic ethos.

I disagree the Pixel 4 is 'objectively worse'.

 

For many people Apple's OS and business practices are back enough that they would consider a Pixel 4 to be a better option.. and having a chunk cut out of their display might be the final nail in the coffin.

 

So we're left with "was the statement inflammatory to a misleading degree?". After reviewing again and taking community feedback, I decided it was. Sorry.

 

All I can do is fix it at that point, but naturally another subset of the audience will be pissed off about that. 

 

The silent majority doesn't care about any of this... We react to it because we care about the general sentiment in our community because positivity and interacting with our awesome community is one of the best perks of our jobs and we want to make sure we protect it.

[poochyena]

15 hours ago, Twilight said:

my 10000+ song library

Thats an unusually large amount of songs

[Ashleyyyy]

18 minutes ago, poochyena said:

Thats an unusually large amount of songs

i know. i have a very varied music taste. from the my little pony soundtrack to infacted mushroom to three days grace to taylor swift etc

[Founders]

The Pixel 4 is a solid phone, but not at that price point. I would avoid the early adopter tax on any flagship. 

[Drak3]

3 hours ago, poochyena said:

Thats an unusually large amount of songs

It isn't. It really isn't.

[Jet_ski]

8 hours ago, spartaman64 said:

if someone broke into your house without waking you up i feel like you have bigger worries than them unlocking your phone like getting murdered

Here's an example from TechLinked: Your kid wants to buy something online that you don't want them to. Kids have no self control, they wait for you to sleep/nap, hold it to your face and unlock your Pixel 4. It may be a while before you catch on, by then a 7yo with no concept of money has spent $1000s on in-game purchases.

[Jet_ski]

6 hours ago, LinusTech said:

I disagree the Pixel 4 is 'objectively worse'.

 

For many people Apple's OS and business practices are back enough that they would consider a Pixel 4 to be a better option.. and having a chunk cut out of their display might be the final nail in the coffin.

 

So we're left with "was the statement inflammatory to a misleading degree?". After reviewing again and taking community feedback, I decided it was. Sorry.

 

All I can do is fix it at that point, but naturally another subset of the audience will be pissed off about that. 

 

The silent majority doesn't care about any of this... We react to it because we care about the general sentiment in our community because positivity and interacting with our awesome community is one of the best perks of our jobs and we want to make sure we protect it.

People actually watch reviews to make better informed purchases. It is entertainment to some of us but not to most.

 

Pixel 4 is objectively worse than the iPhone 11 and Samsung's latest. Sure it takes better pictures in certain dark environments, but it is behind.

 

4K video at 30fps takes about 170MB per minute of video. If you record 4 hours of video over the year you've used 40.8 gb of your phone's memory!! 

 

And I bet they'll never get that radar to work as well as it needs to be. In 6 months Google is gonna want to work on their newer phone, they aren't gonna go fix a feature in last year's phone. Has game pre-ordering thought us nothing?!

[The_Prycer]

18 hours ago, LinusTech said:

I disagree the Pixel 4 is 'objectively worse'.

 

For many people Apple's OS and business practices are back enough that they would consider a Pixel 4 to be a better option.. and having a chunk cut out of their display might be the final nail in the coffin.

 

So we're left with "was the statement inflammatory to a misleading degree?". After reviewing again and taking community feedback, I decided it was. Sorry.

 

All I can do is fix it at that point, but naturally another subset of the audience will be pissed off about that. 

 

The silent majority doesn't care about any of this... We react to it because we care about the general sentiment in our community because positivity and interacting with our awesome community is one of the best perks of our jobs and we want to make sure we protect it.

I appreciate the response and I can certainly understand why Apple's OS and business practices can be a turn off for a number of consumers. 

 

I feel that "objectively worse" was maybe a bit harsh on my end, but looking at my iPhone XR's hardware versus the Pixel 4's with a price comparison wouldn't excite me to purchase the Pixel 4 if it had been released as an iPhone model or even if it were offered to me as an option to switch to Android. Although the notch does annoy me when it happens to cut off a portion of a comic I'm trying to read.

 

As to the main issue of title switching, I feel that looking at "was the statement inflammatory to a misleading degree" is certainly a litmus test that should be reviewed and implemented further, but given that your company pumps out a video every day, I can understand how deadlines could lead to such a title when on a time crunch. 

 

End of the day, 99.99% of the community won't notice or care about it, but I can at least appreciate you as a CEO acknowledging that there was a decision made somewhere in the pipeline that led to a correction versus just not acknowledging it at all (taking the Apple route) and pretending that everything was always awesome all the time.

[dizmo]

The original title was awful. I didn't understand what Apple was to be embarrassed about, and it was never touched on in the video.

So, I'm glad Linus decided to change it.

The new title is definitely much more accurate.

It'd be nice if their phone reviews stepped it up a bit, but to be perfectly honest I'm not sure how they'd accomplish that without a siginificant investment of time, and honestly, the others already do it at such a level that I think it'd be time poorly invested. It's just not what they're most known for.
 

16 hours ago, Jet_ski said:

Here are some major things missing from this review:

• iPhone 11 Pro captures 4K at 60fps whereas Pixel 4 can only do 30fps. (Is that why the variable refresh screen?!)
• Pixel 4's Face Unlock cannot detect if your eyes are open or not. Someone can unlock it while you're asleep. Google says "it'll be fixed in upcoming months"
• The dynamic range and shadows of the Pixel are not better than iPhone 11 Pro, they are worse in most cenarios. The only thing Pixel 4 is better at is in certain low light environments. There is a much more accurate review of the camera's here: 
• The iOS 13 photo editor and camera app let you control dynamic range and shadows before and after taking a picture. The writer clearly doesn't know how to use iOS 13.
• iOS 13 has a file manager now, at least on the 11 Pro's. (Someone in the comments complained)
• And finally, how can Linus call the Pixel 4 an innovation/good design improvement?!!!! Those BEZELS, top and bottom!!! Square camera bump but only 2 lenses?!!
• Nobody should buy a device that has 64GB memory, you AndroidOS will eat 4-8 gb depending on settings.

Are they though? Not really. This wasn't a direct Pixel vs iPhone review (though the title might lead one to believe otherwise).

The Pixel 4 will be able to detect your eyes, that's coming in a patch, though it is odd that they left it as is for launch.

How can you argue design? The camera hump is purely personal preference, I could easily say that I like that design better, and neither of us would be wrong for thinking what we think. Arguing subjective things makes no sense at all. The bezels, while yeah, large, are necessary for the sensors...just like they are for the huge cut out on the iPhone.

While I agree that 64GB isn't enough for what they're asking price wise, it's more than enough for a huge amount of users.

12 hours ago, avg123 said:

Linus is so biased against Apple that he also manages to spoil the review of a device that has nothing to do with Apple

Is he though? Not really. If you watch the video he also has slights against the Pixel.

1 hour ago, LinusTech said:

The title and thumbnail are designed to get people to watch the video. They are not the content. The title was changed because people accused us of using clickbait. I re-watched the video and felt like it was a fair criticism, so I changed it.

 

The content inside the video didn't change. There's no psychological warfare going on here

I'm glad you saw the issue with the title, but I have to ask...how often does this happen? I've seen at least a few titles that were changed...maybe it's time to have a sit down with whoever decides what they should be.

34 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

Crazy girlfriends are also a thing. Or weird friends when you crash somewhere with them and they dig through your phone. People are weird and that should be taken into account.

Hahaha, that's immediately what I thought when that was found out too. That, and friends that want to look through my phone.

Though, that will be fixed in an update, which is good to see. Though why they didn't have it fixed for launch and thought they could just leave it as is, is beyond me.

12 minutes ago, sowon said:

It's the reviewer's job to be impartial and give a review on the product.

 

In this case, it's the Pixel 4. Why on Earth should LTT need to include Apple in the title? See what I mean, it's biased in favor in Google, there's no reason to include Apple when the spotlight is on the Pixel 4.

I came here for a Pixel 4 review, not a boo at Apple once again.

Yes and no. While it's a goal to be impartial, you will never get away from at least a little bias; that's just part of being human. That's why you should always take any review with a grain of salt, as there will always be certain metrics that are more personal preference than a definitive fact. For example, iOs vs Android.

 

[RejZoR]

@dizmo

Quote

Are they though? Not really. This wasn't a direct Pixel vs iPhone review (though the title might lead one to believe otherwise).

It's not just the title that makes you believe that. Through entire video it was only compared to iPhone. Where are other flagships like Xiaomi's 9T or OnePlus 7T or even Nokia that's been quite strong on camera front and at lower prices with basically stock Android? Not a single mention of any of them. Just a brief mention of Galaxy something half way through and a plug for Galaxy Fold to subscribe tot heir channel...

[Guest]

honestly I couldn't make it through the video. This was just awful. 

[dizmo]

11 hours ago, RejZoR said:

@dizmo

It's not just the title that makes you believe that. Through entire video it was only compared to iPhone. Where are other flagships like Xiaomi's 9T or OnePlus 7T or even Nokia that's been quite strong on camera front and at lower prices with basically stock Android? Not a single mention of any of them. Just a brief mention of Galaxy something half way through and a plug for Galaxy Fold to subscribe tot heir channel...

They're comparing it to one of it's most cross shopped items. iPhones sell in huge numbers, to their target audience, NA. You know what doesn't? XIaomi, and to a lesser extend, OnePlus. Nokia also has extremely small sales in NA. Their Nokia 9 actually wasn't that great compared to other offerings; unique, for sure, but it wasn't quite what it could have been. The iPhone is also closer in price than something like the OnePlus, and is offered through all carriers, whereas the OnePlus isn't. There's tons of phones they could have mentioned, but they close it's most likely cross shopped item, and that makes the most sense. Remember, they don't really do in depth phone reviews. For something like that, you're better off checking a channel that specializes in it. If anything, I'm surprised they didn't compare it to the S10.

11 hours ago, floofer said:

honestly I couldn't make it through the video. This was just awful. 

Why? It wasn't that bad.

[RejZoR]

@dizmo

You do realize USA is not the entire world? Hell, Europe has over twice the population of USA...

[dizmo]

41 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

@dizmo

You do realize USA is not the entire world? Hell, Europe has over twice the population of USA...

Yes. Where are most of their viewers? What are their products catered to?

Use a little thought before you spout off obvious facts.

[RejZoR]

8 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Yes. Where are most of their viewers? What are their products catered to?

Use a little thought before you spout off obvious facts.

Coz LTT and people like MKBHD are totally unknown to us Europeans, right? LMAO

[xARACHN1D]

Too much hate in this thread. Chill yall.

[dizmo]

10 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

Coz LTT and people like MKBHD are totally unknown to us Europeans, right? LMAO

What does that have to do with anything?
Just because I know of UK car YouTubers, doesn't mean they'll start reviewing LHD cars, does it?

[RejZoR]

18 minutes ago, dizmo said:

What does that have to do with anything?
Just because I know of UK car YouTubers, doesn't mean they'll start reviewing LHD cars, does it?

Some things are global. Like Hollywood. Or from my experience, I'm from Europe, I wrote about stuff more or less locally (all units, prices, measurements in metric units and Euros), but I had the most readers from USA because I wrote about things that are relevant to people globally so they read it. LTT is like that. Just because they are Canadian and they tell costs in Canadian Rubles, it doesn't mean people from elsewhere are not watching them. That's what it has to do with everything. People are excited about new phones worldwide, be it Pixel, iPhones, OnePlus, Xiaomis etc. Just assuming Americans only buy iPhones is stupid, just the same as saying Europeans don't...

[dizmo]

On 10/24/2019 at 2:17 PM, RejZoR said:

Some things are global. Like Hollywood. Or from my experience, I'm from Europe, I wrote about stuff more or less locally (all units, prices, measurements in metric units and Euros), but I had the most readers from USA because I wrote about things that are relevant to people globally so they read it. LTT is like that. Just because they are Canadian and they tell costs in Canadian Rubles, it doesn't mean people from elsewhere are not watching them. That's what it has to do with everything. People are excited about new phones worldwide, be it Pixel, iPhones, OnePlus, Xiaomis etc. Just assuming Americans only buy iPhones is stupid, just the same as saying Europeans don't...

And some things aren't, like cellular bands, or the countries in which things are sold in. I mean, could you import it? Sure. Just like you could import anything, from anywhere else in the world. But why review something when you won't get an accurate representation of the product? That's completely besides the point; he caters more to NA viewers, and some of the devices you mentioned simply aren't available here. It's not an assumption. Apple holds 41% of the entire US market when it comes to cell phones. So, yes, it's pretty safe to assume that's going to be cross shopped.

 

You're also completely skirting the original issue, that he doesn't really do in depth reviews of phone, and going into completely irrelevant NA vs the rest of the world arguments. Good job. You've just shown you can't formulate a proper response.

[RejZoR]

8 hours ago, dizmo said:

And some things aren't, like cellular bands, or the countries in which things are sold in. I mean, could you import it? Sure. Just like you could import anything, from anywhere else in the world. But why review something when you won't get an accurate representation of the product? That's completely besides the point; he caters more to NA viewers, and some of the devices you mentioned simply aren't available here. It's not an assumption. Apple holds 41% of the entire US market when it comes to cell phones. So, yes, it's pretty safe to assume that's going to be cross shopped.

 

You're also completely skirting the original issue, that he doesn't really do in depth reviews of phone, and going into completely irrelevant NA vs the rest of the world arguments. Good job. You've just shown you can't formulate a proper response.

And you're so arrogant you formulated one for me, because you think I shouldn't have an argument or an opinion of any kind because you think you know it all and everyone else should just stfu and go away. Gee, thanks pal.

[hojnikb]

On 10/21/2019 at 7:57 PM, RejZoR said:

There is nothing special about Pixel 4. It's actually a VERY sad device given it's made by freaking AUTHORS of the Android. So it has good software photo processing. And that's literally about it. Ok and give them the transcribing of recordings, that is alright. But everything else... come on, it just looks so sad. And with that forehead, I'll always think it's up side down.

 

The radar thing, face unlock is very flawed and they say they'll fix it and that swyping gestures are total gimmick if not actually a bad feature. Imagine swining in front of a phone to shut off alarm. And then continue sleeping... It's literally counter intuitive. Point of alarms being difficult to turn of is so that you actually wake up. I mean, that's what I usually need it. And I'll say it again, FaceID on iOS 13 is flawless experience. It's super fast and seamless. When you lift it, it's instantly unlocked. I can't imagine it being any faster...

 

People give shit to Apple all the time, but I'm still on XR and I love the experience. Sure it has few dumb things like Safari default browser and absolute lack of file/folder manager, but that's really the only thing I can complain.

 

@Suika

If I haven't ditched Android entirely coz of shitty Google practices, I'd be either using Xiaomi Mi9T/Redmi K20 Pro or some OnePlus phone. I actually liked feature rich MIUI. And OnePlus because it's proven fast and reliable. Even long term which is always problem with Android phones that just get slow for no logical reason.

 

There is a reason, why that happens. In the past, it was the shitty eMMC flash storage, that got very slow over time (because no trim and poor controller) which meant that for every I/O activity, phone came to a crawl. Typical scenario is when you tried to update apps via play store made the device a useless brick when that was happening.

 

 

And some user error and factory bloat. Tons of unnecessary apps, running in the background and all around atrocious memory management, that android is known for is what happens. Shit, Apple devices are more than usable with only 1GB of ram; obviously less apps and tabs stay in the background, but experience is still FAR better than any android with that amount of ram (or twice as much for that matter).