That snappiness was surprising to me since according to some people on twitter nobody should ever buy an Android phone because of the relatively shitty CPU. IME the superior CPU of the iPhone doesn't make much of a difference, except if you're benchmarking CPU-heavy javascript I guess.
Thom Holwerda of OSNews feels similar (http://www.osnews.com/share/29402/Apple_s_A10_Fusion_benchma...).
Considering you feeling Android being cheap: To give some perspective, in my country(Germany) people regularly forgo iPhones for the newest Samsung flagship, even though they are more or less priced the same. I don't think they would choose the cheap feeling one.
I agree with everything else said. Android is just a half-done OS in any regard I can think of. My Xiaomi Mi 6 is awesome, beautiful and very snappy but Android's idiosyncrasies are visible everywhere:
- I have a gigabit internet that gives me 50 MB/s (yes, megabytes, not megabits) to USA which is halfway around the globe but the Play Store still manages to lag.
- My GPS can find my location in 1.5 secs max (there are dedicated apps to test that) yet most apps that go through Google's Location Services consistently need 10+ seconds (a full minute is not a rarity as well) to report a location back to the apps.
- Still no native themes. If you don't like white or if it's hurting your eyes, well, tough luck. Pray your OEM offers them. Luckily Xiaomi does. (Objectively, iOS is at fault here as well; they're trying with the Smart Invert Colors feature and it's decent, by the way, but still long way to go)
- Still no good support for volume controls; if you want to decrease media volume, most of the time you end up decreasing phone call volume. Like, seriously. It's 2017.
- Idle battery life. Damn it, why the hell must I lose 20-30% of battery when out and about with 90-98% cell signal and never unlocking my phone? Why? I had a work iPhone 5s around a year and a half ago and it was full of apps I used for work -- at least 20. I go out, do real-life stuff for 3 hours, come back home. Android lost 25% battery. iOS lost 3%. And then people wonder why iPhone fans love their phones. It's not only about being fans. There are real, measurable reasons.
- ...There are others but let's not make this a book.
After installing a VPN app that filters traffic I was just astounded. I use my smartphone on average 2.5 hours a day and holy shit, that's ~17000 ad/tracker requests blocked a day!
Android is overhyped and clumsy. And the efforts of Google lately are laughable, incomplete and are coming too late. And oh yes, they absolutely are a desperate reaction to the inevitable huge success of the iPhone X.
Bandwidth is not latency. If you're in APAC, the only thing that will help you is if Google opens a mirror of play store nearby. (Unless it's software latency and everybody gets the same behaviour)
> Still no native themes.
Version 8 opened some new possibilities over adb. Hopefully fully accessible by v.9.
> if you want to decrease media volume, most of the time you end up decreasing phone call volume
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tomwandroi...
> I use my smartphone on average 2.5 hours a day and holy shit, that's ~17000 ad/tracker requests blocked a day!
If you think that's os dependent - it's not.
I get that there are various issues people spot and they can be annoying. But a lot of that is familiarity with the system. Use iPhone for a few months and you'll find a lot of issues as well - it's not like it's flawless.
You're pointing me at apps. But I keep hearing Nexus/Pixel folk praise "the pure experience". Something doesn't add up. ;)
And yes iPhone is far from flawless, I completely agree. But I'll take improved privacy and better battery life.
Yes, you're bringing up "Nexus/Pixel folk" like some kind of homogenous group thinking of the same ideas and think I belong to it. Neither one is true - you're projecting your ideas.
My battery's pretty small (2150 mAh), and I've spent about half an hour today playing games. Pulled the phone off the charger at about 8:30, and it's 16:00 now. Power's at 81%. The iPhone 6 would be a little higher, granted.
I wish Android were better, but out of the available options, it suits my needs the closest.
Where I work has terrible LTE (and previously terrible HSPA) and every phone I've had has noticeably worse battery drain while I'm at my desk.
The Mi 6 is actually the best I've had.
GP's list of complaints also don't apply. My AOSP Pixel XL never lags, has no malware, the UI is great, and it doesn't feel cheap at all. Reviews all match my experience as well, so I don't have any reason to believe I somehow got a golden lucky device. It seems far more likely that Xiaomi's implementation is just garbage, particularly since OEMs have a well established history of fucking this up.
The only complaints that match my experience are no native themes and no good ad block solution, but I also think native themes are a terrible idea. It seems op just wants dark mode instead of native themes anyway, but Android sort of has that it's just called night mode instead.
I see you lean heavily towards Google's take on devices which is okay. But right in this thread people recommend apps to fix things that are missing from the pure Android. That is... not very okay.
When I used Samsung, they had a mini app for everything. Even their clock / alarm / stopwatch / timer app was extremely easy and convenient to use. It's hard to quantify, it's a feeling that adds up over time.
I also happen to think the Pixels take away too many features. microSD slots used to be one of the differentiating features of Android devices over iPhones, for example. Now we don't have that and we also no longer have a headphone jack, a decision that was widely frowned upon even by iPhone fans.
To me, as a mostly neutral side observer who never was fanboying on neither platform, it looks like Google is trying to emulate Apple, and is failing.
But you pay for that in the form of a bad core system. Samsung's kernel tuning is bad. Their low level services are bad. Their system UI is bad. I'd much rather have a healthy core system since I can't replace that than a few fancy apps that are trivially replaced via play store. It's a night & day difference between a Samsung & a Google device when you systrace them and look at how the core device is actually responding. Benchmarks don't capture this, which is why most OEMs don't bother getting it right.
If you still need microSD for some reason great, but honestly with 128gb phones I can't say I have any use for it. The phone's internal storage is more than plenty, especially with large things like photos being offloaded to cloud storage (with many providers to choose from if you don't like Google Photos for some reason). microSD was necessary when devices still had a base of 16GB, but that's not the world we live in anymore. Pixel 2's base storage is 64GB.
Google is aiming for a wider audience now and not only for techies. The average Joe and Jane don't give a damn about a healthy core system, that's not a selling point for them. They'll play with the phone and say "WTF? Google's clock app sucks!" or "Can't find anything in these settings" and will walk away. In fact, a friend of mine working in a mobile devices shop told me those exact two examples. People were baffled what was the hype about the first Pixel (or Nexus 6P) and were like "meh, show me the Samsung / iPhone". It is what it is. Call them what you want, but good UX is good UX.
Pixel is not an improved Nexus. It has aspirations for audience as wide as iPhone's and Google's marketing efforts prove it, IMO. It's time for Google's UX team to grow up and stop thinking like a bunch of nerds patting themselves on the back in the dorm room. This phase of Android development is over and won't ever come back.
> If you still need microSD for some reason great, but honestly with 128gb phones I can't say I have any use for it.
I personally agree, plus UFS 2.0 internal storage can put some laptop SSDs to shame. I am actually quite happy with a 128GB UFS 2.0 storage Android (Mi 6). I kept hearing in the past that the microSD controller introduces slowdowns in the overall system -- don't ask me how, I don't know.
Still, I knew people who claimed they needed the feature daily. I just don't see why the choice must be taken away if it didn't do any damage (if it did indeed slow down the kernel in some way then I can see a case against it though).
And why was the headphone jack removed? The device doesn't even have IP67 rating. My former S7 Edge survived falls in 5cm deep potholes full of water with its headphone jack wide open.
Dunno, man. It seems to me like Google is trying to emulate Apple and is doing a bad job at it.
"Healthy core system" and "apps for every possible quality of life improvement" aren't mutually exclusive ideas. I've heard many people pull out the "bloatware" card which is just laughable. Yeah, 0.5 - 3.0 more GB on a 128GB is bloatware... sure! Some imaginary concept of "pure OS" which never really happened and is still not happening, having in mind all the AI-related benefits Google is pitching for the Pixels.
That's not true at all. Do they look for that feature on the box? No, of course not. Do they get pissed off when instagram suddenly fails to launch quickly or the device hangs randomly? Abso-fucking-lutely.
> They'll play with the phone and say "WTF? Google's clock app sucks!" or "Can't find anything in these settings" and will walk away. In fact, a friend of mine working in a mobile devices shop told me those exact two examples. People were baffled what was the hype about the first Pixel (or Nexus 6P) and were like "meh, show me the Samsung / iPhone". It is what it is. Call them what you want, but good UX is good UX.
Sounds like you haven't ever touched a Pixel phone. Bad apps or confusing settings are not accurate descriptions at all. Nor is a bad UX. The phones are superb for an average user. It's the previous Nexus owners, the ones used to settings out the wazoo and customizations for days, those are the people that are pissed off about Pixel. Not the average user.
> The device doesn't even have IP67 rating.
Pixel 2? Yes it does. It's IP67. It's not IP68, though, like the S8 is.
That I fully agree with. :)
> Sounds like you haven't ever touched a Pixel phone. Bad apps or confusing settings are not accurate descriptions at all. Nor is a bad UX. The phones are superb for an average user. It's the previous Nexus owners, the ones used to settings out the wazoo and customizations for days, those are the people that are pissed off about Pixel. Not the average user.
I haven't owned it, yes. I got a lot of acquaintances who do. Very mixed feelings from 15+ people. Most of us felt alienated by Google's take; barely any improvements over the AOSP except the all-encompassing Google Play Services. It's quite funny how my ancient S4 had 9 quick-access setting buttons which I could customize and put on the top of the settings panel and Nexii / Pixels never had those.
Again, it's a feeling that builds up over time. At certain point you can't help but conclude "well, I guess they don't care much".
If people tell me 3 years later that the first Pixel still doesn't lag on them, I'll be very impressed. Because 99% of all Androids -- including some of the Nexii devices -- inevitably start to lag horribly after 12-18 months. That's one of the reasons I am moving away to an iPhone X. I can't play this guessing game anymore. As much as I loved Samsung devices, they were huge offenders in this regard.
> Pixel 2? Yes it does. It's IP67. It's not IP68, though, like the S8 is.
Sorry, forgot to say I was talking about the first Pixel. Good thing that the 2 finally added it, though, I am glad!
Nexii/Pixels have had user-configurable quick settings for a long time now? Maybe you're referring to something else?
> Sorry, forgot to say I was talking about the first Pixel.
First pixel has a headphone jack, though.
- Profiles where you can set custom volume, vibrate, and sometimes other settings. e.g. "Home", "Vibrate", "Silent". And easily customise + switch between them.
- Alarms that work when the phone is off. Set your alarm to wake you up, turn your phone off, and the alarm sounds in the morning. Lots of old phones had this feature. My Nokia N9 and Jolla smartphone had it too.
There are many Android apps which provide this functionality. It doesn't need to be a part of the system.
We can also treat this as Google not giving much fucks, I think. Not only as "the pure experience". Let's be objective to the both sides of the argument.
IMO though, everything that adds everyday convenience must be a part of the system. Did you forget these phones are sold to people who have trouble tying their shoe laces? All the casual quality of life improving apps MUST STARE THESE PEOPLE IN THE FACE from the get go. They shouldn't jump through hoops.
Maybe you shouldn't look at the Pixels as improved Nexii. Google is aiming for a wider audience now.
The issue you'll run into is that everybody has a different idea of a life improving app. You can't cater to everybody and make their choice the default. Google does a pretty decent job elevating the truly popular apps to the default status: see flashlight, night mode, hotspotting, photo filters, etc. But your life quality app is not my life quality app - and that's ok. That's the place where apps step in.
Maybe things have changed.
Optimizing your life for inferior battery life is absurd.
My former work iPhone could last two days. I'll take that over strange justifications of awful idle battery life, any day.
I've never used an apple device, but does apple give you that ? The problem you are describing is a general one due to overlapping roles of all hardware and software makers. Everyone wants ad and data money.
Yes they don't do it as well. However, Safari claims to block some trackers by default which is still a win for the average consumer who won't ever fiddle with settings.
Safari allows you to use an adblocker (Firefox Focus). Chrome on Android doesn't have such settings and I suspect it won't ever have them. They plan to add adblocking but knowing Google, they'll use that feature to axe their competition, not to protect their users.
As for me, I'll just setup a VPN in my Mikrotik router and will add all widely known DNS blacklists to it (~53000 hosts). As mentioned above, I am not too keen of my devices doing 17000 ad/tracking requests a day, Android or iOS.
So yes, sadly to this day people have to jump through hoops to take back some (most?) or their privacy and not donate their internet traffic to corps who only want to farm your data.
Add to this the current drama with the XL 2 having burn-in screen issues on week one and IMO Google shot themselves in the foot.
I do care about privacy. Google and Amazon care about data collection and ad dollars. They'll do absolutely anything to get those, including stuff we find amoral. Most businesses are like this: "it ain't illegal if you don't get caught". Please deny it! ;) I think we all know it's true. History has shown it time and again.
Simple math, really. I am not losing anything in my life if I spend 20 seconds typing a query in a browser. I don't need to order goods with my voice. Voice assistants have a few good uses but in 90% of the time they are a solution looking for a problem.
I get that some folks feel special and living in the future but that's hardly worth giving up your privacy at your own home.
As you said -- personal priorities.
As an example, in close to a decade of iOS use, I never once had a problem answering my phone or making calls. The phone app (though not the cell coverage) was 100% reliable. I'm currently having an issue where my Android phone can't answer calls. The phone rings, but there's no UI displayed that lets me pickup. It's been reported by many people in forums online and when I've posted here about it, I've had other people say they've experienced the same problem. The only known "solution" is to wipe the phone and start from scratch. It's ridiculous that they can't fix something so basic and essential to being a phone with an OS update, let alone that something like that made it past QA.
My complaints were almost mirrored on every single device I had.
Still, my forgetting to mention this past experience is no excuse for your dismissive message. My "attitude towards Google" is well-founded in reality and is well-documented even on Google-leaning news outlets like Android Central or Android Police. The articles are out there, look them up. Editors who praised Google for years are now disappointed.
EDIT: The Mi 6 is not a cheap phone at all. And it's really good otherwise.
>EDIT: The Mi 6 is not a cheap phone at all. And it's really good otherwise.
I'm sure it is. But, we both know you would rather have Windows phone OS on it, right?
But: Updates that put the phone in a boot loop? Yep. Core functionality disabled without explanation for hours after an update? Yep. Silently dropped text messages? Yep. Paid more for the phone than for my last laptop and expected more? Yep. Tumbleweeds rolling through the app store? When has that not been true on a Windows phone? Abandoned because even Microsoft couldn't justify it as a viable system any more? Double yep.
It's hard to feel cheap when it feels so overpriced for what you get.
This is pretty much what it comes down to. The latest iPhone models aren't really that far beyond any decent Android phone in terms of hardware at this point.The real secret sauce is iOS. Google is well aware of this, which explains the existence of Fuchsia. Once they have a full mobile OS based off of that, Apple will finally see competition in the high end market.
Yea android was relatively bad a couple of version ago, but today its the best competition for iOS and in many ways feels quite as polished.
Android is built by people who think the world needs phone hw/sw updates every 2 days. And the design reflects that mentality.
I can only speculate at the root cause here, but fragmentation of the ecosystem probably plays a large role.
Feel is highly subjective and de gustibus non est disputandum; to me, iOS clearly has a much stronger design aesthetic (not just visual, but especially there), but also a much less appealing one, even after it abandoned it's older, all-in skeumorphism aesthetic to follow the trend (which Apple did not lead) of cleaner, flatter design.
Even though you can't get the simple Google phones any more, any Android device still has the "feature" that you can use it as a general purpose computer and not something that you are only permitted to use insofar as the manufacturer approves.
It's an OS ruined by lack of developer interest which was caused by no small amount of mistakes from Microsoft. But it has (had) a very solid foundation.
Regarding software, it's the iPhone that looks like a phone from last decade. Bezelless screens are the future, and they appeared on Android devices much before the iPhone X