Google’s Pixel/Android quality is somehow even worse than Windows’

I’m beyond happy with my iPhone 8 but I like to keep up to date with what’s happening in the Android world, and what’s happening with the Pixel 3 right now is a disaster, much worse than anything that’s happened to the iPhone, which is saying something. Microsoft messed up bad with the Surface Pro 4/Surface Book 1 too, but I’d argue that what’s going on with the Pixel 3 right now is far worse. I honestly think Google did not test this phone, certainly not up to production quality standards. They just shipped it, it’s like a beta phone. Pixel 3 customers are guinea pig testers.

Android Police has a Pixel 3 issue tracker page and they’re struggling to keep it up to date, because it seems every other day there is a new issue. Overall, this makes me sad because the iPhone effectively has a monopoly in the smartphone market 🙁 If the Pixel line was up to the quality of the iPhone, that would be good for everyone, including iPhone users. The Pixel cameras have already pushed the industry forward but I’m not sure the Pixel brands reputation will recover. Google needs to put out a statement or a blog post apologizing to its customers for the laundry list of issues and promise they’re going to get their act together (and actually do it, unlike the Windows team)

Conversation 28 comments

  • Daekar

    14 November, 2018 - 5:12 pm

    <p>It's unfortunate that Google can't get their act together, but fortunately the iPhone isn't even close to having an effective monopoly, even though Apple would love for you to think that. Paul has written about the market share percentages in the past, and they lean overwhelmingly toward Android, not iOS. Thankfully, Google's hardware is barely a drop in the bucket of Android handset sales – most people don't even know they exist.</p>

    • Bdsrev

      14 November, 2018 - 5:18 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#367008">In reply to Daekar:</a></em></blockquote><p>I say effective monopoly because, what phone could you recommend to someone? Samsung? Come on… Nexus/Pixel is the only phone that really stands a chance against the iPhone, and Google clearly is far behind in terms of quality. </p>

      • Daekar

        14 November, 2018 - 5:29 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#367010">In reply to Bdsrev:</a></em></blockquote><p>Uh… yes. Samsung is the vast majority of Android phones, and despite the bad rap they get with tech journalists (they're all too hipster to like anything mainstream), they are generally the best phones available at any given price point.</p>

      • skane2600

        14 November, 2018 - 9:36 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#367010">In reply to Bdsrev:</a></em></blockquote><p>My recommendations would align with the needs of the individual and their budget. Until this year, we never bought a phone over $100 (Lumia 635's and 640's) until the lack of WP apps became an issue after 4 years. We are still using one of the 635's and one of the 640's and the new Android phones were about $250 each. </p><p><br></p><p>The valuations of enthusiasts are pretty much irrelevant to the average user.</p>

        • Minke

          15 November, 2018 - 5:26 pm

          <blockquote><em><a href="#367113">In reply to skane2600:</a></em></blockquote><p>I would agree with you, except for the camera. A lot of people, me included, use their phone as their main or only camera. The difference in quality between even the mid-range phones and the high-range is vast. The mid-range is getting better and may be fine for many people, but not anyone interested in quality photography. On the other hand, judging from the photos I see most people take, they probably wouldn't notice!</p>

          • lvthunder

            Premium Member
            15 November, 2018 - 7:13 pm

            <blockquote><em><a href="#368400">In reply to Minke:</a></em></blockquote><p>If you are interested in quality photography get a dedicated camera instead of a phone.</p>

          • skane2600

            16 November, 2018 - 1:05 am

            <blockquote><em><a href="#368400">In reply to Minke:</a></em></blockquote><p>IMO most people using a phone as their only camera are far more limited by their own lack of skill than they are by the quality of the camera. </p>

  • Minke

    14 November, 2018 - 6:09 pm

    <p>My Pixel 2 is over a year old, works perfectly, never once had a freeze or other serious issue, the photos blow away most other phones, and my battery seems to last longer than ever–I often have 50-60% left after a day. In short, I am very happy with its quality.</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      15 November, 2018 - 10:24 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#367029">In reply to Minke:</a></em></blockquote><p>Pixel 2 didn't suffer from the major reliability issues that are common with Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3, and Pixel 3 XL.</p>

  • carl_taylor

    14 November, 2018 - 6:58 pm

    <p>Never had an issue with My Pixel 2 XL. My entire office has them and no issues, however we get support calls all the time for the iVirus that our Corporate teams use. A collegue has just got a Pixel 3 XL earlier in week and it is fine as well. I think often the complaints about quality etc tend be from people who were over promised by a salesman, i.e my Collegue could have been upset that the Response feature toughted in the Pizel 3 is only currently available in US and UK and not Australia but he's a grown up and knows its coming soon.</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      15 November, 2018 - 10:24 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#367066">In reply to carl_taylor:</a></em></blockquote><p>Or maybe the problems are real and your anecdotal experience is not representative of what's really happening.</p>

      • Minke

        15 November, 2018 - 5:24 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#367321">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>I'm curious. How do you know that your experience is not anecdotal? Where are the statistics on the number of problems?</p>

    • lvthunder

      Premium Member
      15 November, 2018 - 7:11 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#367066">In reply to carl_taylor:</a></em></blockquote><p>I stopped giving your comment any credibility once I read iVirus. You are clearly a partisan and won't be fair.</p>

  • carl_taylor

    14 November, 2018 - 7:02 pm

    <p> Your comment re iPhone have a monopoly is not correct. Globally Android phones outsell iPhones by a substational margin. It is only in the USA that iPhones have a larger share and this is more the carriers. Carriers here in Australia tend to stock all phones even on more obsecure and growing brands like Huawei and the main carriers have lease plans where you get a new phone whenever you want (if &lt; 12 months you pay a small fee, otherwise free) so in Jan I'll be getting a new Pixel 3 XL.</p>

    • Bats

      14 November, 2018 - 9:48 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#367067">In reply to carl_taylor:</a></em></blockquote><p>You are right. Not even in the USA. In the US, iPhone/iOS has 38.7 marketshare. That means smartphones that are not of iOS make up 61.3%. That's clearly not a monopoly.</p><p><br></p><p>I don't know where they get this idea. Fake Newsites?</p>

      • jtyjyj

        15 November, 2018 - 9:31 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#367116">In reply to Bats:</a></em></blockquote><p>If you live in a major city on either of the US coasts, you will predominantly see iPhones in people's hands. So it's easy to have that mental picture that iPhones are the majority when that is what you see.</p>

        • Daekar

          15 November, 2018 - 10:09 am

          <blockquote><em><a href="#367292">In reply to jtyjyj:</a></em></blockquote><p>Even that is highly dependent on social grouping or economic status, particularly the latter. Where we live, if you get away from the local university (where wealth concentrates) the number of Apple products drastically decreases in all categories.</p>

          • Minke

            15 November, 2018 - 5:23 pm

            <blockquote><em><a href="#367302">In reply to Daekar:</a></em></blockquote><p>iPhones totally dominate in professional circles and major enterprise. Go to any major tech company and iPhones are probably over 90%. I used to work for a major supplier of email marketing services for professional associations and well over 90% of all email opens were on iOS devices.</p>

            • Daekar

              16 November, 2018 - 9:48 am

              <blockquote><em><a href="#368398">In reply to Minke:</a></em></blockquote><p>Certainly, that's all our company issues even though a lot of people grumble about it. That actually doesn't disprove my point, however, it simply indicates that corporations and affluent consumers sometimes have the same purchasing habits.</p>

  • dcdevito

    15 November, 2018 - 8:10 am

    <p>It's all overblown. My Pixel 2 XL still runs great after a whole year, no issues.</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      15 November, 2018 - 10:23 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#367261">In reply to dcdevito:</a></em></blockquote><p>It's not overblown. Just saying that is an affront to the thousands of people who have experienced very real issues with these devices. Including me, multiple times.</p><p><br></p><p>You're lucky you've had no issues, or that you can overlook them. But these problems are real and they're endemic. And it is not OK to pretend otherwise. You're just lucky. </p>

    • boots

      20 November, 2018 - 9:09 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#367261">In reply to dcdevito:</a></em></blockquote><p>My eyes work perfectly, no issues. But I see people wearing glasses everywhere. It's all overblown.</p>

  • Winner

    15 November, 2018 - 5:16 pm

    <p>My pixel2xl has never crashed, unlike my Windows 10 systems.</p>

    • lvthunder

      Premium Member
      15 November, 2018 - 7:08 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#368397">In reply to Winner:</a></em></blockquote><p>That's an unfair comparison. Your Windows 10 system is a lot more complex then your phone.</p>

  • Alastair Cooper

    16 November, 2018 - 5:46 am

    <p>The iPhone doesn't have a monopoly. It's market share is about 25% though it's massively profitable on that. The dominant player by far is still Android. It's a lot like the Windows/Mac split in the PC market – Apple scrape huge profits off a minority product sold at a premium.</p>

  • maethorechannen

    Premium Member
    16 November, 2018 - 10:10 am

    <p>Here's what I don't get – plenty of phone makers seem to be able to churn out perfectly reasonable Android phones that don't have serious technical issues. Why can't Google?</p>

  • Bdsrev

    20 November, 2018 - 1:10 pm

    <p>Paul posted about another Pixel 3 issue today, this is crazy now. It's not like there is 1 stubborn, hard-to-solve problem issue with the device, there seems to be a new problem every few days. Google definitely did not put the Pixel 3 through production level QA. Why? Why would they do this? Pixel was supposed to be a good thing for Google/Android's image, it's now done the opposite! Google has to put out a statement/blog post at the very least now. How could someone possibly recommend a Pixel phone? So many pick on the Chinese manufacturers for their inferior QA, but Pixel is far below them. </p>

  • tahj

    07 December, 2018 - 5:45 am

    <p>No quick charge in 2018 (!!), a hideous design, a bad battery life, only 4 GB of RAM on an android phone, no jack. It's a joke</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>________________________________________________________________________________</p><p><a href="https://downloader.vip/torrent-sites/&quot; target="_blank">Torrent</a><span style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17);">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://downloader.vip/vpn/&quot; target="_blank">https://downloader.vip/vpn/</a><span style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17);">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://tutuappx.com/&quot; target="_blank">Tutuapp</a></p>

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