Mobile Phone Thread S2

[Nu-Eclipse]

Honestly it astonishes me people pick these phones up on release at full price...

Arguably far better to buy a brand new phone all-in instead of being extorted by way of paying your line provider for it via an expensive 18/24-month contract.

[Nu-Eclipse]

I think $999 AUD is probably fine in terms of the pricing. That's ~£550. If it was £999, that would be too much, and I don't think the Pixel can compete at that price level (which really is the preserve of Apple and Samsung only).

I don't think it's going to be a straight exchange rate conversion, tbh. But I do agree in that Google's fight isn't with Apple - trying to go toe-to-toe with them on premium pricing will end in disaster.

[wakka]

Probably not, no. I don't know if Australian prices included taxes in the way ours do, for one thing. But I think it probably puts a UK release in the range of £550 - £700, which feels about right.

[nonny]

Arguably far better to buy a brand new phone all-in instead of being extorted by way of paying your line provider for it via an expensive 18/24-month contract.

Oh yeah it's better than contract if you can afford the initial sting but it's getting to be a serious chunk of change and they seem to depreciate fairly rapidly.

All of my recent handsets have been sub £300 second hand devices and I don't think I'll ever buy a brand new phone again.

[nonny]

Probably not, no. I don't know if Australian prices included taxes in the way ours do, for one thing. But I think it probably puts a UK release in the range of £550 - £700, which feels about right.

Yeah they always include tax (GST).

[speedlolita]

This new Tensor stuff seems interesting. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it, especially if it dramatically improves battery life.

[Nu-Eclipse]

This new Tensor stuff seems interesting. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it, especially if it dramatically improves battery life.

Form everything I've seen to date, Google haven't committed to anything more than at least "all-day" battery life with the new Pixel 6 phones, although we'll obviously find out for sure tomorrow. Poor battery life has been the bane of the Pixel phones so I too am hoping that Google will at least put better batteries in the phones instead of doing what they always do and rely on software advancements to try and get around it.

FWIW Tensor looks like it is a customised Samsung Exynos SoC as opposed to all-original Google silicon, so I'm keeping my expectations low regarding performance benchmarks. For me, the best thing that Tensor will do in the short/medium-term is improve the length of time that Google can support Pixel phones with OS and security updates for going forward - Qualcomm's standard practice was to stop providing support for the Snapdragon chips in Android phones after 2-3 years, which is hugely annoying and inconvenient for users and also means that Android phones traditionally lose resale value far quicker than iPhones do. Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are being rumoured to get 5 years of OS and security updates, which would be a gamechanger for Android if true.

[Nu-Eclipse]

All of my recent handsets have been sub £300 second hand devices and I don't think I'll ever buy a brand new phone again.

That's fair enough.

Obviously, iPhones hold up better than Android devices in terms of support and therefore keep their value longer so trading-up is easier and cheaper-ish to do.

Personally, I could never go the used second-hand route with Android phones. They depreciate far quicker than iPhones because they're simply not supported as long due to Qualcomm being pricks about supporting Snapdragon chips after 2-3 years, and I simply don't consider custom ROMs to be secure enough.

If Pixel 6 and 6 Pro do indeed have 5 years of OS and security updates then that will change things considerably.

[nonny]

I don't find it that bad to be honest. Just be prepared to switch your phone every 2 years, much like people do at the top end anyway.

I think the security updates would be the clincher for this pixel and would make it an attractive buy. You just know it is most likely going to be one of the best camera phones when it drops... if they're willing to support it 5 years that's a great prospect for early adopters. Actually reminds me of when they offered the free photo cloud storage. Nice value add.

Really it does all hinge on that tensor chip in day to day use. We've basically seen everything else at this point...

What I will say is I really like the design. Its like google riffing on the Samsung S10 design but with their own spin.

[Nu-Eclipse]

I don't find it that bad to be honest. Just be prepared to switch your phone every 2 years, much like people do at the top end anyway.

That's the thing though. More and more people don't actually want to change their phones that often anymore, especially given that we're in a pandemic that is affecting people's finances and making splashing out on premium handsets that come up to £1000 impossible.

There is no reason that Android devices shouldn't be officially supported for as long as iPhones are. Qualcomm deliberately choose to make supporting Snapdragon processors beyond 2-3 years costly enough to deter Android OEMs from paying for it. This is partly why the like of Samsung and Google are now moving away from Qualcomm SoCs and making their own like Exynos and Tensor respectively.

[Neon Ignition]

Increasingly it depends on how intensely the mobile is used and what for. My missus dropped her phone a while back and had to use mine till she could get it sorted, this bumped me to having to dig out my old Galaxy S7 which is now 6 years old and the experience was painless. The more that happens the less drive there is to upgrade to newer models but to counter than for me mobiles are convenience items anyway, I don't find them essential in any way

[wakka]

You don't find owning a mobile phone essential? In 2021?!

I've kept my last couple of handsets for about 3 years each. My Nexus 5 needed replacing as it was kinda falling apart and the battery was a goner - build quality was not good on that handset. Then I had an iPhone 6s Plus, which I happily would've kept longer than the 3 years I had it if I hadn't gone and lost it.

Currently on a XR I've had for 3 years. Provided nothing unfortunate happens to it, should be good for another couple of years I reckon. The current gen handsets are clearly better - improved cameras, faster chip, OLED screen - but not to the point I'd actually go ahead and pay for them. At the end of the day the stuff I use my phone for 99% of the time doesn't really great benefit from that stuff (browsing web, messaging, buying groceries, ordering takeaway, putting music on).

It's kind of like buying a laptop or TV or something now, with the proviso that wear and tear is more of an issue (and if you're dumb like me you can lose them).

[Nu-Eclipse]

Then I had an iPhone 6s Plus, which I happily would've kept longer than the 3 years I had it if I hadn't gone and lost it.

iPhone 6s and 6s Plus were released in 2015. I still have my iPhone 6s as a back-up. Both are still supported by Apple today and run the latest version of iOS.

For me, it's shocking that Android has been around since 2008 and still cannot offer comparable user support.

[wakka]

Yeah it's pretty crap to be honest. If you replaced the battery in a 6s it'd prob still be fine as a daily driver.

There were some leaked marketing materials for Pixel 6 that included the info that 5 years of software updates would be guaranteed, though. Which is good.

[speedlolita]

Looks like the 6 is £599 and the 6 Pro is £849. And yeah 5 years of updates now.