Thinking About the Next Pixel Phones (Premium)

Given the endless series of problems I’ve had with the Pixel 2 XL, I’m perhaps understandably reticent about its successor, which has been revealed in numerous leaks in recent days. But I’m getting one regardless.

Yes, this one is personal.

It’s a lot more personal than my go/no-go decision on Pixelbook 2, which I can already tell is just not for me: It combines the detachable tablet form factor I don’t want with a too-small and 16:9 display, making it a non-starter.

But the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL? Google, you’re breaking my heart.

The issues here are so profound that I almost don’t even know where to start. But dating back to, oh, the Nexus 5, and continuing in sequence through the Nexus 5X and 6P, the original Pixel XL, and now the Pixel 2 XL, I’ve watched as Google has slowly refined its in-house phone designs. And as it has taken major steps forward in photographic prowess. And major steps back in quality and usability.

This is personal because my Nexus/Pixel usage has grown from an experiment into the device I carry with me at all times. That Google has won me over with its phone hardware during a time in which it has shown itself to be incredibly obtuse to the needs of the market is rather incredible. I can explain it, I think. But I’m not happy about it. Even I’m not convinced.

A few things to consider here.

For the most part—but not always—Google’s previous phone lineup, Nexus, delivered on two important aims: These were flagships phones that provided a pure Android experience, showing off Google’s real vision for the platform. And they were affordable, and much more so than the other flagship devices with which they competed.

And then Google lost its mind.

Both generations of Pixel handsets were priced commensurately with the Apple and Samsung flagships of their day. For example, the Nexus 6P started at just $500, and it could be had with double the storage for just $50 more, a comparable iPhone 6S Plus was an incredible $300 more. But with the Pixel XL, release a year later, Google jacked up the prices: That phone started at $770, basically the same price as an iPhone 7 Plus. Ditto for the Pixel 2 XL, which is even more expensive (!), starting at $850, with double the storage setting you back another $100.

Even if the Pixel lineup provided the same quality as the Samsung Galaxy and iPhone flagships with which it allegedly competes, this pricing would be untenable: Despite owning the software platform on which the handsets run, Google is, at best, a boutique phone maker. Pixel sales are so low they barely even register: Pixel accounted for just .26 percent (that’s point two-six) of all smartphones sold in 2017. Even Microsoft Surface can claim about 10 times that market share in its own market.

But Pixel doesn’t match the quality of its competition: As I’ve documented numerous times, the Pixel 2 XL is one of the most unreliable and buggy smartphones on the market today and is surely the only flagship device to suffer from this number of issues.

(I know that this statement will elicit comments from people who are perfectly happy with their Pixel 2 XL. Congratulations: You’re lucky or very forgiving.)

My own experiences with two Pixel 2 XL handsets bear out the issues others have complained about, and when I return from my current trip, I’m going to try and get a third handset to replace the current refurb I got to replace my original, unfixable Pixel 2 XL. The issue this time? USB-C cables will not stay connected to the device. This causes problems with charging, of course. But more problematic is that I cannot use headphones anymore, as they constantly disconnect. One of Google’s genius decisions with the Pixel 2 XL, as you may recall, was removing the headphone jack. So I need to use USB-c headphones or normal headphones with a dongle. Neither work anymore.

So why do I put up with this crap?

Well, that’s where it gets personal. As with any abusive relationship, I see some value in there with the terribleness. And in this case, it’s that combination of Android, which I prefer to iOS, the Pixel 2 XL’s incredible camera, which is still the best I’ve ever used in a smartphone, and Project Fi, Google’s affordable, transparent, and international-friendly cellular network.

Many reading this are probably thinking, right. This is no surprise: You’ve been talking up this combination of the Pixel 2 XL’s camera and Project Fi for a long time. Hell, you can’t shut up about it. You’ve even explained why you keep using the Pixel 2 XL despite its many issues before. This isn’t new.

Well, yes. But there’s been an interesting addition to the value matrix that keeps me using this phone since it was first released.

I’ve really come to love Android.

Android has gone from being a thing that I deal with—as is the case with iOS—to something I prefer, and strongly. Android’s suitability to smartphones is very reminiscent of the way I feel about Windows on PCs: It has survived numerous attacks from competing platforms, all of which I’ve tried and evaluated. And yet I still prefer Android. Warts and all. (Android’s performance creep problems are very real, for example.)

(Another quick side-bar: That Android has never really taken off on tablets is curious to me. I do find myself less interested in using Android on tablets, and I still prefer the iPad. This may be part of what makes Android apps on Chrome OS so interesting.)

We all do this internal debate when we buy or use something. Weigh the pros and the cons. Make compromises in the form of dealing with a problem that is smaller than some benefit.

The Pixel 2 XL’s shortcomings are hugely problematic for me. Look at how something as dumb as Google removing the headphone jack has impacted me personally in recent weeks. The problems are so bad that I simply cannot wait to get rid of this thing. To replace it. To … get a Pixel 3 XL?

What the hell is wrong with me?

I will dream that Google finally gets the reliability issues behind it, that buying the best parts of HTC will somehow turn it into a better phone maker. After all, the (non-XL) Pixel 2 was really an HTC handset, and it, perhaps not coincidentally, does not suffer from the issues that its larger, and LG-made, sibling does.

But no amount of dreaming will change the things that Google will get wrong with the Pixel 3 XL, specifically.

It will still not include a headphone jack, and yes, that makes me squirm in my seat a bit.

It will include a notch, and not just a notch but perhaps the largest notch we’ve yet seen in any smartphone so far. Plus a huge “chin” bezel on the bottom. I’ve come to accept notches—the one on the excellent OnePlus 6 is perhaps the best design yet, in the sense that it’s on the small side—but the Pixel 3 XL notch looks ludicrous.

Indefensibly, it will still be uber-expensive. Worse, there are rumors that Google will actually raise prices this year, again. Google, come on.

It will still include a single rear camera, which is confusing in this era of multi-camera systems. Yes, the Pixel 2 XL’s single-camera somehow managed to out-perform the dual-camera systems in the iPhone X (if barely) and Galaxy S9+. But the Pixel 3 XL will compete with a new generation of these and other flagships, and photographic quality is top-of-mind for buyers.

Some of the complaints I’ve seen about the Pixel 3 XL don’t worry me. It’s apparently even bigger still than its predecessor, but the 19:9 aspect ratio of its notched display will be nice, given my experience with the Galaxy S9+ and the OnePlus 6. It will support wireless charging, finally. Belated, but good.

Here’s the thing.

I am going to buy this handset, without a doubt. And I will almost certainly use the Pixel 3 XL as my personal smartphone through late 2019. But I have never been less excited about this kind of purchase as I am now: Where I went into the Pixel 2 XL indignant about the cost but excited by the possibility, this one just makes me clench up. I’m going to do it. But I am not happy about it.