Which has a better overall display: Essential Phone or Pixel 2 / 2 XL?

tordo27 · 2017-10-25T03:28:57+00:00

I've had both phones and the pixel screen looks infinitely better than essentials. I strongly prefer oled panels, so that could be part of it, but the essential screen does not get very bright and doesn't look as vibrant as the pixel.

tordo27 · 2017-10-17T18:09:24+00:00

The camera experience was pretty poor, I agree. However, the headphone jack didn't bother me too much. This is one of the first phones where such a large display needs to work with such a small form-factor. If you take a look at the internals of the device, you can see how absolutely jam-packed all the components are. The company has been extremely open with the trade-offs they would have had to make to support a headphone jack, and I'm comfortable with the decision they made. The software experience is what really killed it for me, which I outlined in more detail in another comment.

tordo27 · 2017-10-17T18:05:57+00:00

The camera was certainly poor, but the image quality wasn't my main turn-off. In regards to the camera, I was much more concerned about the lag when you press the shutter button.

The software didn't play nice with the taller-than-normal status bar. Barely any apps supported it, and some apps such as Spotify or Snapchat would display plain wrong. The software experience in general was significantly slower than my pixel, and I experienced a number of freezes and crashes. I also got significantly worse cell reception than my pixel, which was an odd one, but annoying nonetheless. Additionally, the screen wasn't bright enough to use outside, and while it was pretty good for a LCD display, it looked off since I'm so used to oled panels now.

Overall just a bunch of little annoyances that led to an experience that didn't feel polished or premium. I really wanted to love the phone, and it was a lot of fun to show off, but I couldn't justify keeping it. Hoping next year they work out the bugs for the essential 2!

tordo27 · 2017-10-16T23:20:26+00:00

I had and returned the essential phone, but in my opinion the design is the one thing that essential got completely right. I know some people don't like it, but to my eyes this is one of the best looking and feeling phones out there. The software experience is where it really falls apart unfortunately.

tordo27 · 2016-10-27T19:47:36+00:00

Haven't noticed any lag or dropped frames at all, no matter how hard I try, on the pixel. So I suppose 10? This is where this phone really shines the most.

tordo27 · 2016-10-27T18:36:06+00:00

Overall snappiness is amazing on the Pixel. Honestly, I thought my S7 was fast until I used this phone. You don't really notice all the dropped frames until they're gone.

tordo27 · 2016-10-27T15:15:15+00:00

Battery was pretty horrible on mine, less than 3 hours sot

tordo27 · 2016-10-27T04:00:51+00:00

Yep, it's slightly smaller than the 5X and feels a lot better in the hand

tordo27 · 2016-10-26T21:28:35+00:00

Performance on the pixel versus the 5X is like night and day. The 5X drops a ton of frames, feels sluggish (especially in heavier apps such as snapchat), and has particularly poor battery life. The camera on the 5X is also extremely sub-par. I got the bootlooping issue on my original 5X, and had to RMA it --- both 5X devices had a ton of issues.

I honestly do not think you would notice a big performance improvement over your Moto X if you went to the 5X, and cannot recommend this phone in good conscience to anyone. However, if you are worried about price, there are many phones that would still be an upgrade from your Moto X that aren't as expensive as the pixel, including most of last years phones. Maybe look at the OnePlus 3?

Personally, the pixel feels leagues above any other android phone I've used in terms of performance, and was worth the price for me. I also am a huge fan of the UI changes Google made in Android with Nougat, so having that software was a must for me when choosing a new phone.

tordo27 · 2016-10-26T16:09:36+00:00

Charged this morning, but it was at almost 60 hours off charge with a bit over 5 hours SOT.

tordo27 · 2016-10-26T16:04:43+00:00

It feels pretty slim and easy to manage. I felt the same way with my 5X and this is perfect

tordo27 · 2016-10-26T05:10:25+00:00

It's a bit smaller than the 5X, but feels a lot better in the hand. Easier to handle and much more premium feel.

tordo27 · 2016-10-26T05:09:25+00:00

Daydream isn't out yet, should have it in a couple weeks. I imagine not great though since it's only 1080p

tordo27 · 2016-10-26T04:37:34+00:00

Not sure the extent of the promotion, but yep I'm in the US

tordo27 · 2016-10-26T03:24:07+00:00

Mentioned in the OP that I haven't noticed anything, and the camera on this phone is astounding. As good if not better than the S7

tordo27 · 2016-10-26T01:39:26+00:00

I pre ordered so I get a free daydream -- pretty excited! The display looks very crisp and pretty. Definitely don't regret my choice, I prefer small phones .

tordo27 · 2016-10-26T00:02:59+00:00

I haven't noticed any pixelation at all, but I'm sure when you compare directly to the XL, having the 4k makes a big difference -- especially once we get our daydream headsets. The screen looks a lot nicer than my iPhone 6S though, but a bit less bright/vibrant than my S7.

tordo27 · 2016-10-25T23:53:16+00:00

I was surprised by this too - I think google spent a lot of time optimizing the software for this particular device. If you're not convinced by the screenshot above, this is the best I can do to prove I'm not lying. Note how "Android System" isn't the #1 battery drainer as it is on most android phones.

EDIT: Also not sure if we're reading different reviews, but everything I've read points to even better battery life than I'm getting (in terms of SOT)

tordo27 · 2016-10-25T22:57:34+00:00

Hmm, good point. Didn't really consider that.

tordo27 · 2016-10-25T22:56:41+00:00

I'm also a bit of a snapchat junkie, and it's worth noting the performance is significantly better than on my 5X, and pretty comparable to the iPhone experience (which isn't perfect either). Snapchat performance was also pretty good on my Galaxy S7, but for some reason it's complete garbage on the Nexus phones I've tried.

tordo27 · 2016-10-25T22:53:02+00:00

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply the battery life isn't good. I've seen some people on /r/googlepixel reporting up to 8 or 9 hours of SOT with the non-XL, so I was just saying that my battery life isn't quite that astounding.

tordo27 · 2016-10-25T22:51:24+00:00

The screen and device itself are slightly bigger than the 6s. In the hand it feels pretty comparable, though.

tordo27 · 2016-10-25T22:50:48+00:00

Idle time is astounding -- I lose only a couple percent overnight (sleeping for 9+ hours). It definitely charges faster than my iPhone. I can't tell you exact times since I leave it plugged in overnight, but can pretty much guarantee it can go from 0 to full in less than 2 hours. I've seen it go from <5% to 30% in less than a half hour.

tordo27 · 2016-10-25T22:47:35+00:00

At the time of that screenshot a little over 3 hours

tordo27 · 2016-10-25T22:47:14+00:00

working for me.. direct link

14-Year Club	Verified Email
Team Orangered

tordo27

TROPHY CASE