Google Pixel 5

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A few days on, generally happy, but as I suspected, doesn’t really feel like a huge upgrade from the 2XL, or even a big one. Pretty much what I expected. What is a downgrade though is the auto brightness. It really is quite poor. Generally always setting the screen too dimly, and it doesn’t seem to be learning. I find myself constantly messing around with it on this phone whereas on the 2XL rarely required any adjustment. To be fair, the 2XL is one of the few Android phones I’ve owned where it worked out of the box; looks like a return to form for Android phones there.
 
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A few days on, generally happy, but as I suspected, doesn’t really feel like a huge upgrade from the 2XL, or even a big one. Pretty much what I expected. What is a downgrade though is the auto brightness. It really is quite poor. Generally always setting the screen too dimly, and it doesn’t seem to be learning. I find myself constantly messing around with it on this phone whereas on the 2XL rarely required any adjustment. To be fair, the 2XL is one of the few Android phones I’ve owned where it worked out of the box; looks like a return to form for Android phones there.

I really don't get where you are coming from my 2xl is now my son's Pokemon go phone and it feels sluggish and heavy compared to the 5. The colours are not great in the screen and whites are not that good either
 
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I really don't get where you are coming from my 2xl is now my son's Pokemon go phone and it feels sluggish and heavy compared to the 5. The colours are not great in the screen and whites are not that good either

I can’t disagree on those specific points, apart from the speed issue; the 2XL still feels snappy to me, certainly not much behind in my opinion. The 5 edges it for sure, although how much of it is the 90Hz display making it feel faster is up for debate.

However, any speed benefit is more than negated by the amount of time I end up resetting the brightness :D

It’s an OK phone but I’m not exactly blown away, which is to be expected these days, may as well be realistic about it.
 
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Your 2XL is only a couple of months old isn't it, so I would have expected it to be as snappy as when it first came out rather than after 3 years of use like most of us with our 2s.
 
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Your 2XL is only a couple of months old isn't it, so I would have expected it to be as snappy as when it first came out rather than after 3 years of use like most of us with our 2s.

A year old now. Although I can’t say I ever had any really performance issues with any of them.

Anyway this auto brightness issue is really annoying. Looks like I might have to dig out the old app I used to use back in the early days to sort it out. Not exactly progress!
 
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Happy New Year Pixel 5 owners.

Caved in and got the Pixel 5 as an upgrade over the three year old P2. Just a few questions off the bat as I may have missed something. The camera shoots a cooler temperature then the P2? Took like for like shots and the P2 was more warmer red/orange tones against the room conditions. The Pixel 5 was cooler blue/green. The video seems less noisier than the P2 but really need to put it through it's paces.

The portrait mode is so much better. The edge detection and actual subject isolation is much improved on quick snaps.

The focus at times seemed slower but maybe it was just me over the P2. The app also is slightly different.
 
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I get this weird bug when typing on forums like this and reset era. Basically I can start typing then the box vanishes and it shows me some other website I've been on previously even if all other tabs are closed. Highly annoying.

 
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Has anyone found their adaptive charging to actually work ? On my P5 it displays as working properly (with the required parameters being met) yet seems to charge normally reaching 100% hours before the suggested time.
Seems like yet another example of Google screwing up another relatively simple feature apple attained a while ago...
 
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Stabilisation excellent, noise higher than other phones. Dynamic range good.

Can’t comment on 25fps


Miles behind iPhones.

Having got the Pixel 5 and comparing to the Pixel 2 it is a surprising step up. The colours and dynamic range is as you said much better. It controls indoor light better at night. There is the odd noise and some digital artefacts around some edges but the output is way more workable and usable. Will need to test some more in the upcoming weeks.

There is slight niggle in the head saying try the iPhone but apart from maybe a better camera for video iOS just seems a step back over the Pixel experience.
 
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Having got the Pixel 5 and comparing to the Pixel 2 it is a surprising step up. The colours and dynamic range is as you said much better. It controls indoor light better at night. There is the odd noise and some digital artefacts around some edges but the output is way more workable and usable. Will need to test some more in the upcoming weeks.

There is slight niggle in the head saying try the iPhone but apart from maybe a better camera for video iOS just seems a step back over the Pixel experience.

Having been primarily an android user since the HTC Desire HD days, I can say iOS is a better experience than android. But it is different, so there’s an adjustment period :)
 
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Having been primarily an android user since the HTC Desire HD days, I can say iOS is a better experience than android. But it is different, so there’s an adjustment period :)

Depends what you want. I also go back to the the HTC desire days or Nexus 1 as the 'pixel version' was known. I have also had iPhone as my work phone for the last 8 years.

With Android you have far more options but with that you have a less of a polished feel in some areas and a few qurks

Each os has its pros and cons. With iOS you have minimal customisations and I never really feel like I am an admin of my iPhone. Just a limited access user of a networked device. Similar to my work laptop compared to my personal PC I built
 
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I’ve had mine a couple of weeks now, and tbh I think I’m ready to give in with it and sell it, at least, if a factory reset doesn’t improve matters.

The Always On Display seems to turn itself off when in my pocket, but then never actually comes on when I remove it, and double tapping the screen to wake does not work.

The auto brightness is an utter, utter abortion. Completely useless.

The screen isn’t as good as I was expecting either, just looks a bit flat and lifeless. Even compared with my 2XL, which I personally think had a better than average (for a 2XL) display, it looks somewhat underwhelming, although the colours are definitely more accurate.

The 90Hz thing is a bit overrated especially when the phone still suffers from micro-stutters from time to time, if anything, it makes the micro stutters even more noticeable. Sure, it’s smooth as silk sometimes, but not 100% of the time. At least iphones which are 60Hz seem to run at that consistently.

I thought I’d enjoy having a smaller phone, but it’s not really small enough to have a huge benefit in terms of one handed use, at least for me anyway, it’s still fairly big. This is my problem rather than the phone, but I think if its not going to be a genuine one handed phone, then I might as well go big again - and my ageing eyes will probably thank me for it anyway :D

Problem is, what do I get instead?

I’m put off the Samsungs because of Exynos. I can import a Snapdragon model, but knowing my luck with phones, thats a dangerous thing to attempt. I could also go for the S20 FE 5G, and is the one I did kind of want instead of the Pixel 5 but was put off by the touch screen issues.

OnePlus seem to lag behind in the camera department, and I’ve noticed that their userbase on reddit seem to be getting increasingly annoyed about OnePlus’ support and updates lately.

Huawei phones don’t have the Google Play Store, and I just can’t be bothered to try and work around it.

Asus Zenfone 7 Pro looks nice but no wireless charging is a deal breaker for me.

Sony phones just don’t do it for me, again no wireless charging and the camera seems to be disappointing in auto mode.

iPhones have the reliability and smoothness nailed down but I’m just not sure I can live with iOS and all the restrictions it brings.

Maybe I should just wait for the Galaxy S21 ?
 
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