Google discontinues 1st Generation Pixel and Pixel XL as the End of its Android OS Updates approaches

[Zodiark1593]

10 hours ago, michaelocarroll007 said:

Yeah its the same price. BUT while carriers dont charge interest while making payments on a phone. Overall it will cause  many people make them overspend and be stuck with a large EIP. many people think $35 a month fits into there budget but  if you asked for $900 upfront they would say they cant afford the phone. But they dont understand that if they cant afford a $900 phone upfront they cant Afford it a month either as its the same price. Just because you can make the payments doesn't mean you can actually Afford it in the grand scheme of things.  Same thing that companies have always done with Credit Cards, Layaway, Rent to own, just 5 easy payments commcercials ECT. Though this is not as bad as those by far it has a hint of the i cant afford to buy it but let me make payments idea that Americans love to be in debt to afford it.

 

you get a weird Look because your probably fiscally responsible and understand not to borrow money to buy a phone which is great but many don't understand that concept as its not the "american way" so its weird to them. 

Even if one can afford it, a 2 year, interest-free loan certainly is far from a bad deal. However, where it gets bad is if one can't afford to replace it should an accident or other form of mobile casualty occur.

 

My current phone, if something happens, is not a large stretch to replace with one of similar or better capability. I would probably be more uneasy carrying something worth a month's rent in my pocket, and mere feet away from being an especially pricy brick. Though I have yet to have broken a phone from an accident, so maybe I'm a decent candidate for an absurdly expensive calculator?

[captain_to_fire]

4 hours ago, Camoxide said:

No more OS updates after 2 years?? How is that acceptable, Apple is still releasing updates for the iPhone 5S which released back in 2013! 

 

Google should be setting the standard at a high level for other manufactures to follow. 

You can partly blame Qualcomm for that. I can't wait for Google to finally ditch Snapdragon in favor of their in-house chips just like Apple. I think even Samsung is in the position to get rid of Snapdragon SoCs for their American Galaxy S phones and switch to exclusively Exynos. They did it once with the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge thanks to the thermal issues of the Snapdragon 810.

[michaelocarroll007]

11 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Even if one can afford it, a 2 year, interest-free loan certainly is far from a bad deal. However, where it gets bad is if one can't afford to replace it should an accident or other form of mobile casualty occur.

 

My current phone, if something happens, is not a large stretch to replace with one of similar or better capability. I would probably be more uneasy carrying something worth a month's rent in my pocket, and mere feet away from being an especially pricy brick. Though I have yet to have broken a phone from an accident, so maybe I'm a decent candidate for an absurdly expensive calculator?

Yeah thats Exactly the point im getting at. The fact they couldn't replace it if they broke it tomorrow shows they cant afford it but just because someone told em its only $35 a month they think that it is affordable. having the Cash to buy it and understanding the actual cost of the phone but still opting for a 24-32 month loan at 0% isnt terrible but its geared towards the MASS majoirty who dont look at it like this. 

 

 

[The Benjamins]

49 minutes ago, michaelocarroll007 said:

Yeah thats Exactly the point im getting at. The fact they couldn't replace it if they broke it tomorrow shows they cant afford it but just because someone told em its only $35 a month they think that it is affordable. having the Cash to buy it and understanding the actual cost of the phone but still opting for a 24-32 month loan at 0% isnt terrible but its geared towards the MASS majoirty who dont look at it like this. 

 

 

I have a 2 year 0% loan for my pixel, but I aslo have a device warranty which means I don't have to worry if it breaks

[Noctus]

Well that blows, i love my XL (lifetime photos and vid full size storage ftw !!) Was planning to see how the note 9 pans out or if they actually do the pixel 3 right (waterproofing, wireless charge etc) if not i guess it's okay it'll last till s10+

[vanished]

Two years is not enough support for a device that costs $400, never mind a flagship like these were.  Absolutely ridiculous.

[captain_to_fire]

10 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Two years is not enough support for a device that costs $400, never mind a flagship like these were.  Absolutely ridiculous.

You can partly blame Qualcomm

[kokakolia]

14 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Two years is not enough support for a device that costs $400, never mind a flagship like these were.  Absolutely ridiculous.

I think that this should be reflected in phone reviews. Just have a little note saying that "Google is known for only supporting their devices for 2 years". That should put a huge dent in Google's sales and consumers should vote with their wallets. 

 

I can't emphasize enough how disappointed I am with the Nexus 4. 

[79wjd]

29 minutes ago, kokakolia said:

I think that this should be reflected in phone reviews. Just have a little note saying that "Google is known for only supporting their devices for 2 years". That should put a huge dent in Google's sales and consumers should vote with their wallets. 

 

I can't emphasize enough how disappointed I am with the Nexus 4. 

No Android OEMs offer good long term support, so every review will basically have the same disclaimer thus rendering the disclaimer moot. Even short term support is dodgy and unpredictable in regards to when you'll actually see the update pushed to your device after being released by Google.

[vanished]

5 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

No Android OEMs offer good long term support, so every review will basically have the same disclaimer thus rendering the disclaimer moot. Even short term support is dodgy and unpredictable in regards to when you'll actually see the update pushed to your device after being released by Google.

I would hate to see people pushed to apple for other reasons but praise where praise is due, support is something they are killing the rest of the market at and android makers need to take notes.  Apple gets a lot of flak for being anti-consumer but this is one area where the tables are definitely turned.

[kokakolia]

1 hour ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

I would hate to see people pushed to apple for other reasons but praise where praise is due, support is something they are killing the rest of the market at and android makers need to take notes.  Apple gets a lot of flak for being anti-consumer but this is one area where the tables are definitely turned.

Long term support is one of the biggest reasons why I switched to an iPhone from a cheaper Android smartphone. I just couldn't bring myself to spend more than $200 on an Android because I knew that the updates were gonna cease 2~3 years down the road. Also, the specs really don't matter on a smartphone anymore. A 720p screen is good enough. So is a Snapdragon 625 and 3GB of RAM. Anything more is "overkill". The only selling feature on a smartphone these days is having a killer camera and good battery life. The design also plays a huge role of course. 

 

As a consumer, I am willing to pay more for a device that get 4+ years of support. The same could be said about having good speakers and a decent camera. This is why I gladly paid the "Apple Tax" on my latest smartphone purchase. And it was hardly a "tax" because I bought my phone used anyway. 

[Drak3]

8 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

android makers need to take notes.

Outside of security updates, I'd rather they didn't. I quite dislike my devices becoming borderline unusable before they become a year old, and that has been a constant I've experienced with every downgraded version of Android Google pushed since Lollipop.

 

Only reason I don't go back to my S4 is that it's carrier locked to the old CDMA Cricket (rip service quality), who doesn't have the needed info to unlock the phones, and my Note 4 will automatically downgrade to Lollipop if I revert it to KitKat.

[vanished]

1 hour ago, Drak3 said:

Outside of security updates, I'd rather they didn't. I quite dislike my devices becoming borderline unusable before they become a year old, and that has been a constant I've experienced with every downgraded version of Android Google pushed since Lollipop.

 

Only reason I don't go back to my S4 is that it's carrier locked to the old CDMA Cricket (rip service quality), who doesn't have the needed info to unlock the phones, and my Note 4 will automatically downgrade to Lollipop if I revert it to KitKat.

I'm saying they need to do a better job supporting devices.  That means better updates, and a longer lifespan of updates.  How can that possibly be a bad thing?

[Drak3]

1 minute ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

I'm saying they need to do a better job supporting devices.  That means better updates, and a longer lifespan of updates.  How can that possibly be a bad thing?

Because, as far as I can see, everything with Google's name on it, Google has been ruining for the past half decade. Instead of leaving good things as is and fixing issues, they're more concerned with making things "different" (and significantly worse), integrating Samsung's addons (but with worse implementation), and ruining just about everything else in the process.

 

On devices that don't benefit from 99% of these updates, and when they do, every OEM did a better job 3 years prior.

I'd switch to another Phone if it weren't for the fact that I legitimately consider iOS unusable for anything but the utmost basic phone functionality and Windows phone lacks a few apps I use regularly.

[vanished]

Just now, Drak3 said:

Because, as far as I can see, everything with Google's name on it, Google has been ruining for the past half decade. Instead of leaving good things as is and fixing issues, they're more concerned with making things "different" (and significantly worse), integrating Samsung's addons (but with worse implementation), and ruining just about everything else in the process.

 

On devices that don't benefit from 99% of these updates, and when they do, every OEM did a better job 3 years prior.

I'd switch to another Phone if it weren't for the fact that I legitimately consider iOS unusable for anything but the utmost basic phone functionality and Windows phone lacks a few apps I use regularly.

It sounds like you'd prefer better updates too, but that you're not even going to consider the possibility that Google could make them, even in theory, and that's your reasoning for saying you'd rather just have no updates.  Is that roughly correct?

[Drak3]

1 minute ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

It sounds like you'd prefer better updates too, but that you're not even going to consider the possibility that Google could make them, even in theory, and that's your reasoning for saying you'd rather just have no updates.  Is that roughly correct?

No, I just want security updates. Not extra shitware.

Basically, I want Kitkat with up to date security. Actually, that's exactly what I want. In my opinion, Kitkat is still the best version of Android to date, by far.

[vanished]

14 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

No, I just want security updates. Not extra shitware.

Basically, I want Kitkat with up to date security. Actually, that's exactly what I want. In my opinion, Kitkat is still the best version of Android to date, by far.

Ah, ok

[Zodiark1593]

23 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

No, I just want security updates. Not extra shitware.

Basically, I want Kitkat with up to date security. Actually, that's exactly what I want. In my opinion, Kitkat is still the best version of Android to date, by far.

I'm in agreement. When I had my old G2, I was really regretting updating from KitKat to Lollipop. I'm not really a fan of Google's Material design fad. It also cost me $4:50 on PowerAmp Pro as I hated how the new music player looked.

 

If I could take my old G2 on KitKat, and plop a SD835/845 and some more RAM into it, I would take it in a heartbeat.

[Noctus]

4 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

I'm not really a fan of Google's Material design fad. It also cost me $4:50 on PowerAmp Pro as I hated how the new music player looked.

 

Its not exactly hard to "jailbreak" an android phone and add your own skins lol.... and 4.50$... really? Seems quite petty.

[Kamjam21xx]

2 minutes ago, Noctus said:

Its not exactly hard to "jailbreak" an android phone and add your own skins lol.... and 4.50$... really? Seems quite petty.

Hey 4.50 is a lot of money. Thats like almost half a trip to starbucks.

[Zodiark1593]

3 hours ago, Noctus said:

Its not exactly hard to "jailbreak" an android phone and add your own skins lol.... and 4.50$... really? Seems quite petty.

Any more petty than some candy bar, or a current AAA title, or a random lootbox? Vs paying an entire $4.50 for a piece of software I've used for well over aa year?

 

You're right, it was an unforgivable expenditure.

 

[maartendc]

On 4/16/2018 at 10:36 AM, AluminiumTech said:

So yeah, if you have a Google Pixel 1st Gen, now might be the time to think about buying a new phone or installing LineageOS on it.

 

Source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/04/google-stops-selling-the-pixel-and-pixel-xl/

Uhm, what? Preposterous.

 

First of all, it will receive another major OS update, Android P, which hasn't even come out yet. And it will get this faster than any flagship phone of other manufacturers. (pretty much immediately after it comes out).

 

Secondly, it will still receive security updates until 18 months from now.

 

Thirdly, this is not news, as even when I bought my Pixel XL in 2017 I knew it would get Android P and nothing beyond that.

 

Fourthly, I will be keeping my Pixel XL until at least end of 2019, if not longer. It is perfectly fine. I just HATE this fucking "throw it away" mentality and planned obsolescence nowadays. I will use it until it breaks, thanks very much.

[Noctus]

On 20/04/2018 at 2:17 PM, Zodiark1593 said:

Any more petty than some candy bar, or a current AAA title, or a random lootbox? Vs paying an entire $4.50 for a piece of software I've used for well over aa year?

 

You're right, it was an unforgivable expenditure.

 

Lol fair enough 

[S w a t s o n]

So because this was just discontinued, people that bought the phone a month ago get to look forward to less than 1 year of official support updates

[79wjd]

9 minutes ago, Swatson said:

So because this was just discontinued, people that bought the phone a month ago get to look forward to less than 1 year of official support updates

People buying an EOL product not getting much support is irrelevant -- I could buy a ten year old product and get no support, but that would be my fault for buying an EOL device, not the manufacturer's fault for not supporting it.

 

Android devices not getting long term support is a problem, but it's not because of people who buy at EOL.