Google Pixel 2 XL, Replaced. Again (Premium)

Despite my best efforts to time this for my return from Sweden, my second replacement Pixel 2 XL arrived on the day we flew home. No matter: We were able to arrange with a neighbor to grab it off our front porch—apparently, a $1000 phone in a tiny, easily stolen box doesn’t require a signature in my neighborhood—and I was able to get the new handset up and running this morning.

And I have a few observations, and perhaps even a few conclusions about the Pixel 2 XL as a result.

First, the background: As many of you are probably all too aware, I have a love-hate relationship with my Pixel 2 XL.

I love the camera, first and foremost: It is the best smartphone camera I’ve ever used, and its low-light prowess is unmatched. I love the seamless connectivity to Project Fi, with its transparent pricing, monthly charge cap, and (basically) free international usage. And I have come to love Android as well, and now prefer it to iOS.

But I hate how many problems I’ve had with this phone. The performance creep issues, especially with launching and using that otherwise excellent camera. The washed-out display. And, most alarmingly, the ongoing problems I’ve had with the USB port.

When it announced the original Pixel phones back in October 2016, Google mocked Apple’s decision to remove the headphone jack from the iPhone 7. But in October 2017, when it announced the Pixel 2 lineup, Google was suddenly very quiet on this issue: The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL both eschewed a headphone jack and they rely, instead, on USB-C headphones, a USB-C adapter for normal headphones, or wireless headphones.

That decision has come to haunt me. I hope it f@#$ing haunts Google, too. Bastards.

And that’s the first of my conclusions about this phone, which is based on about 9 months of experience and observations: The USB-C port on the Pixel 2 XL is broken. It’s badly designed, and it doesn’t work as reliably as that on other smartphones. And I can say that now having used three Pixel 2 XLs: The USB-C port on the new phone I just got is “better” than the one on the unit it is replacing. But it still has a loose, wiggly feel to it. And I have no doubt that this one, too, will fail over time.

By the time I had replaced my original Pixel 2 XL back in April, I had experienced a growing list of issues related to USB-C audio, where it would work intermittently and then, over time, not at all.

Since then, the replacement unit has exhibited a different—but, I now think related—set of USB-C issues. The USB-C port on the phone has become “loose,” for lack of a better term, and USB-C cables don’t sit cleanly when plugged in. Google’s bundled cable will come out of the port if you jiggle the phone. And using a USB-C-to-headphone dongle is a non-starter: It disconnects all the time, making it nearly impossible to just listen to audiobooks, podcasts, or music while walking or otherwise moving around.

This is decidedly different to my experiences using Apple’s Lightning-to-headphone jack dongle with the iPhone 7 Plus. That was never the source of any issues at all, and while I still understand the griping about dongles, it’s fair to say that Apple has—as usual—delivered a quality experience. Where Google, decidedly, has not.

Is USB-C just inherently not as secure, stable, or reliable as Lightning. I’m not honestly sure. But the most obvious way to test USB-C port connectivity is to compare how well the Pixel 2 XL can grab onto various USB-C cables, headphones, and dongles and then compare it to another phone, like the OnePlus 6.

Let’s just say it’s night and day: The USB-C port on my OnePlus 6 creates a tight and snug connection every time. And the Pixel 2 XL does not. Not even the new one. Though, again, it is better than the unit that is being replaced.

This leads me to my second conclusion: The USB-C issues on the Pixel 2 XL aren’t just problematic. They are endemic, and something that will impact all Pixel 2 XLs after a certain amount of USB-C connections and disconnections.

Because I use USB-C for both charging and for listening to audio, and because I use a headphone dongle that I feel increases the friction on the connection as it wiggles around, I have created a worst-case situation for myself. But it’s worse than that: The headphones I use, the excellent Bose QuietComfort 20 in-ear noise-canceling headphones that I can’t stop recommending, further exasperate the problem because they have a battery with on/off switch right next to the jack. And the weight of that must wiggle the USB-C connection even more than normal headphones. It’s a death-spiral.

Those who use wireless headphones are, on that note, a best-case scenario and may never run into this issue. (The Pixel 2 XL does not support wireless charging, which would further help with this issue.) After all, the cable won’t typically move around while you’re just charging the phone.

Put simply, Google really f@#$ed up when it removed the headphone jack. And there is no excuse for that.

Getting beyond the USB-C issues—and, yes, I’m struggling to do that—the process of on-boarding a replacement Pixel 2 XL, and switching a Project Fi account to the new device, is excellent. This is an area where Google does a first-class job.

Normally, I set up all new phones as new phones. That is, I don’t restore from backups at all, and I manually reinstall everything.

With this phone’s replacement coming in about two months, however, I figured I would finally do what most normal consumers would do, and just restore from the old phone. And it worked great: Google’s wizard lets you choose what you want to pull over and then you tether the two phones together, via a USB-C cable, of course, and perform the transfer.

After that’s over, you have to reinstall all your apps. And, thanks to the timing, upgrade to Android 9 Pie. Which, groan alert, was easy as pie too.

Looking forward, I fully expect my USB-C issues to reoccur. But that assumes that I use this phone long enough. What I’m really hoping to do is upgrade in October/November and trade this thing in during that process.

And then never look back.