Pixel 2 & Pixel 2 XL – This review was FUN

[nicklmg]

Buy Google Pixel 2: http://geni.us/HT5qZEV

 

dbrand sponsor link: http://dbrand.com/LinusPixel2

 

Are the Google Pixel 2 & Pixel 2 XL the best Android phones on the market right now?
 

 

[l0bst3r]

amazing shots. thx brandon

[claussm]

Thanks for the review!  My XL should land on Tuesday. I usually wrap my phones in toast skins, but those new dbrand varieties are lookin' real nice.

[nexusmaniac]

Beautiful video, Linus!!!

 

Can you share a link to the song used in the background of the entire video please?  Sounds super good

 

[Vandorlot]

Whats the song in the background at like 1.30

[Jitin B]

Hi - Why isnt this color combination of the Google Pixel 2 XL available on the Google Store?

[ElderRapWizard]

Any opinions on the screen issues people seem to be reporting with the Pixel 2 XL?

[Syntaxvgm]

Quote

Pixel 2 & Pixel 2 XL – This review was FUN

Clickbait title. I assume it's all bland and meaningless at this point. Sometimes you have subtle thoughts that want to end it all when you need to review another phone. Recently you've come frighteningly close to actually doing it. 

If you feel like killing yourself Linus call me. If I've got nothing else to do I might give you my best advice- turn the channel into a hydroponic gardening channel and adopt some kind of religion. 

[vanished]

30 minutes ago, Syntaxvgm said:

Clickbait title. I assume it's all bland and meaningless at this point. Sometimes you have subtle thoughts that want to end it all when you need to review another phone. Recently you've come frighteningly close to actually doing it. 

If you feel like killing yourself Linus call me. If I've got nothing else to do I might give you my best advice- turn the channel into a hydroponic gardening channel and adopt some kind of religion. 

well that escalated quickly

[Syntaxvgm]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

well that escalated quickly

=)

 

For real though phones have been incredibly boring for me for a long time, and I'm not the only one that feels this way. At some point they started performing all of the functions that most people want and the improvements went from exciting leaps and bounds to small incremental steps. 

[vanished]

1 minute ago, Syntaxvgm said:

=)

 

For real though phones have been incredibly boring for me for a long time, and I'm not the only one that feels this way. At some point they started performing all of the functions that most people want and the improvements went from exciting leaps and bounds to small incremental steps. 

Personally I find them (even android) way too dumbed down and restrictive.  I need a desktop OS on anything I use

[Syntaxvgm]

5 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Personally I find them (even android) way too dumbed down and restrictive.  I need a desktop OS on anything I use

yep. I blame phones for making websites on desktop limited and cancer. And why does every site need a fucking app now, to the point that reddit and imgur for example start breaking their mobile site to push people to an app? that's not intuitive at all. 

I don't get the trend to use phones as primary devices. I would rather have a great experience on the internet when I can sit down in front of a PC instead of a mediocre experience all the time. The frustration using a phone outweighs even being on the internet in the first place for me. 

[TrigrH]

1 hour ago, Jitin B said:

Hi - Why isnt this color combination of the Google Pixel 2 XL available on the Google Store?

dbrand skin maybe?

[Zxero]

A 5 inch phone with top specs AND stereo front speakers? Fiiiiiinally time to trade in my HTC One M7 (maybe not my Axon 7 yet though)

[TrigrH]

Just now, Zxero said:

A 5 inch phone with top specs AND stereo front speakers? Fiiiiiinally time to trade in my HTC One M7 (maybe not my Axon 7 yet though)

I prefer a smaller phone, so I got the XZ1 compact

[Zxero]

4 minutes ago, TrigrH said:

I prefer a smaller phone, so I got the XZ1 compact

Same, for once I'd like a phone I can reach with one hand (I remember when 6 inches was considered tablet size )

I looked at the XZ1 too but that glass seems to scratch with the slightest bit of pocket-lint and the sound never compared to HTC's. 

[TrigrH]

3 minutes ago, Zxero said:

Same, for once I'd like a phone I can reach with one hand (I remember when 6 inches was considered tablet size )

I looked at the XZ1 too but that glass seems to scratch with the slightest bit of pocket-lint and the sound never compared to HTC's. 

Screen protector, and the speakers are much better than last gen the XZ1 compact is smaller too so its the best single handed experience.

[Engineer Faunce]

Hey does anyone know what widget shows the date and weather that Linus is using at the top of his home screen?

[Keudn]

43 minutes ago, Zxero said:

A 5 inch phone with top specs AND stereo front speakers? Fiiiiiinally time to trade in my HTC One M7 (maybe not my Axon 7 yet though)

If it had a 3.5mm jack I would buy it in a heartbeat, but I refuse to buy a phone without one.. rip

[Kobathor]

1 hour ago, Engineer Faunce said:

Hey does anyone know what widget shows the date and weather that Linus is using at the top of his home screen?

It's a part of the Pixel launcher, which is exclusive to Pixel phones.

[D13H4RD]

Honestly, if I had to choose, the standard Pixel 2.

 

I can live with the sRGB gamut and color-shifting on the 2 XL. BUT I cannot stand having a display that burns-in after less than a week of use. Doesn’t seem to be isolated either, as I’ve seen mounting reports of those having seen their navbar and statusbar burn-in after less than a week of use, and my friend’s own 2 XL exhibited the same after 5 days.

 

For a near-$1000 phone, I would have expected a better quality display. And this is a pain because a heap of stuff on the 2 XL are GREAT. But a poor-quality display like that is just inexcusable. I’m REALLY hoping this is fixed soon because I’m a display freak and even slight burn-in is enough to drive me nuts, especially on top-tier flagships.

[Pcgeekbrain]

On 10/22/2017 at 6:54 PM, Ryan_Vickers said:

Personally I find them (even android) way too dumbed down and restrictive.  I need a desktop OS on anything I use

Then I think you will really like this phone that was just funded (runs the linux distro of your choice): https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/

[vanished]

4 hours ago, Pcgeekbrain said:

Then I think you will really like this phone that was just funded (runs the linux distro of your choice): https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/

I heard about that and it has my attention but there's a lot more hurdles for that to cross.  Being a crowd-funded thing, the biggest is "being a normal company".  I need to see them successfully transition from the funding stage to actually being self-sufficient, and I need to see them actually product the product Then of course I'd like to see it reviewed, and if it's good, and if it can do everything I need, then maybe, but I just feel like it's way too likely something will mess up along the way.  If they're planning to make it run linux, I suspect the interface may be one of those things.  Yes I want desktop OS functionality but it still has to be convenient enough to use.  I wouldn't even mind having to drop down to crude "drag to move cursor and tap to click" controls if I have to on occasion but that can't be the norm.

[nexusmaniac]

Anyone know the song yet? :')

 

Would be good to know

[vanished]

12 minutes ago, nexusmaniac said:

Anyone know the song yet? :')

 

Would be good to know

The intro and outro music are linked in the description.  Is it one of those?