Google, We Have a Pixel Problem (Premium)

It’s like watching a horror movie that unfolds in slow motion. Google’s second-generation Pixel smartphones, unveiled just two short weeks ago, are already the subject of an incredible number of complaints and concerns. What the hell is happening?

To be clear, it’s not just Google. Let’s call this malaise Samsungitis, named after last year’s disastrous Note 7 launch. Consider the following.

In May, Andy Rubin’s Essential announced its first handset, the PH-1. It was promised in a few months, was delayed at least twice, and then shipped to lackluster reviews, especially for the camera, and it allegedly has sold very poorly. So poorly that the company just dropped the price by $200, to $499, a far more reasonable price for an unproven device and company. But there are now questions about Essential’s long-term viability. Oops.

In June, OnePlus released its long-awaited OnePlus 5, and the firm was at least smart enough to keep its sweet-spot pricing, undercutting the market leaders by hundreds of dollars. But the OnePlus 5 features an old-fashioned design with massive “forehead” and “chin” bezels, and the company is now rumored to be replacing this design, already, with a new 5T model that mimics the many other bezel-less (or at least bezel-light) designs that have shipped this year. Oops.

In September, Apple announced three new iPhone models for the first time ever. But thanks to a staggered released schedule and lackluster iPhone 8 handsets, the company is now expected to sell fewer iPhones, year-over-year, than it did with the prior iPhone launch for the first time ever. And the design of Apple’s iPhone X, with its unnecessary notch blocking the top of the screen and obvious bezels otherwise, has been panned even by the firm’s biggest defenders. Oops.

And then there’s Google.

Two weeks ago—and seriously, it feels like two months ago for some reason—Google announced the second generation Pixel handsets. Since then, early reviews have panned the PixeL 2 XL display for being washed out and, more recently, for already suffering from burn-in. The thing isn’t even broadly available yet and it’s already a disaster.

Oh, and I have one on pre-order.

In fact, I ordered one during Google’s presentation at which I believe to be the earliest possible time. I know that some early orders are already shipping, but mine is still listed with a mid-November delivery date. It’s fair to say I am watching the news around this device very carefully.

As you may recall, I revealed last month that I was switching to Android. But that statement—“switching to Android”—is a bit simplistic. What I really switched to was a combination of things: Android, yes, but also Project Fi for connectivity and communications. And a Pixel, specifically, because it offers a clean Android experience, works with Project Fi, and provides a superior camera.

Now, I already have a first-generation Pixel XL. And I have to be honest here, had I purchased a 128 GB model a year ago, we would be having a very different conversation today: I would cancel my Pixel 2 XL pre-order and just wait it out. (In fact, I probably never would have ordered the new phone in the first place.) I would use the original Pixel XL until a better, Project Fi-compatible phone appeared. Be it some third party device. Or the Pixel 3. Whatever.

But now, I’m concerned. Concerned that the Pixel 2 XL has endemic, hardware-related problems that cannot be fixed by software. Worried that I’m going to spend an astonishing $1000 on a phone that, quite frankly, should cost $200-$300 less than it does. Concerned that this is another one-year experiment in which I will find myself wishing in the future that I had done something else.

But the thing is, I kind of boxed myself into a corner with Pixel. My three intersecting needs—clean Android, Project Fi compatibility, superior camera—really whittled down my list of possibilities nicely. There are amazing phones, like the Samsung Galaxy S8+ or Note 8, that I cannot use because they meet only some of my needs.

But I have concerns. And to be clear, I had concerns before any of these display complaints arose.

The first is the cost.

Last year, I purchased a 32 GB Pixel XL for about $800, saving $100 over the cost of the 128 GB version. I immediately regretted this purchase: 32 GB simply isn’t enough storage, and Google’s phones are non-expandable.

In 2016, I complained that $800 was too much money for such a device: A comparable Nexus 6P, from a year prior, cost just $500, and that phone delighted me.

Flash forward to 2017, and the Pixel 2 XL starts at $850 (before taxes and fees) for an entry-level 64 GB version. This is more expensive than last year’s entry-level Pixel XL, and much more expensive than the Nexus 6P from two years ago. The price hike is unwarranted, frankly. And it’s going to backfire on Google, I think.

But there’s more. Google—and a weird echo chamber of clueless tech bloggers—keep claiming that Pixel marks Google’s first real, or serious, attempt at competing with iPhone. That Google is finally “building” its own hardware, that the Pixels are somehow better, different, or superior to its previous Nexus devices.

So let me just call bullshit on all of that.

What Google is doing with Pixel is almost literally identical to what it did with Nexus. It is paying experienced smartphone makers like HTC and LG to use existing hardware designs. Yes, I’m sure Google “designs” the Pixel handsets, but it does so within the constraints of the underlying phone they are using. That’s why the Pixel 2 XL has squeezable sides: The phone on which it is based has squeezable sides too.

Folks, that’s what Nexus was. Pixel and Nexus are the same things. Pixel is a lie.

Period.

Then there’s this notion of “pure Android.” I really like the notion. I just wish it were a reality. Because pure Android, too, is a lie.

Don’t get me wrong, pure Android does exist. It’s just that Google doesn’t offer it on the Pixel 2 products. Instead, Google does what other hardware makers do: It takes pure Android and then changes it. The Pixel 2 launcher, for example, features a Google search box that is anchored to the navigation buttons on the bottom of the screen.

There are other examples, but that’s the most obvious one since you’ll see it the second you sign-in to your device for the first time. The Pixel 2s do not come with pure Android. They come with a Pixel-skinned Android. That is not “pure Android.” Pure Android does not look or work like that. It is “clean,” I guess. Just not as clean as pure Android.

Put another way, Google is no better than OnePlus or Motorola, both of which offer clean Android experiences. But it may, in fact, be no better than Samsung in this regard either. That’s no compliment.

The things that still sway me to Pixel—that superior camera, the Project Fi compatibility—still exist, are still important. In fact, the combination of these things is what still puts the Pixel 2 XL over the top, sort of. It’s just that the line keeps moving. And as more problems are uncovered, as I start to reexamine the things that have always bothered me here, the decision gets fuzzier. Less clear. A lot less obvious.

I’ve noted before that we all have our own decision matrices to contend with. Mine still makes sense to me logically. But it’s breaking down in other ways. Emotionally? Maybe. Whatever it is, I’m not so certain anymore about Pixel 2 XL. Am more worried about this decision than I was two weeks ago. And unfortunately for Google, I have a few weeks to go. So I can scuttle this deal at any time.

The truth is, what I really want is a Samsung Galaxy S8+ or Note 8 that can run on Project Fi. If such a thing existed, I would walk away from Pixel 2 XL immediately. But such a thing does not exist. So I’ll wait. And I’ll watch. And I’ll worry about making yet another bad decision. Because that is what I do.

Whatever happens, Google has a disaster on its hands here. And how it reacts to this disaster will determine whether its hardware aims are achievable, or just another Silicon Valley fantasy.