Warming to Android (Premium)

It's been an interesting couple of months of Android usage, and after testing three alternative handsets, I've returned to the Google Pixel XL.

Which, yes, I've already written about. As you may recall, I recently tested three Android-based handsets in various price ranges, and each had its pros and cons. The most impressive, by far, was the Samsung Galaxy S8+, an awe-inspiring look at the future of smartphones that I only reluctantly returned because of financial reasons. But the end result was doubly frustrating because what I ended up with was the Android handset I started with, the Google Pixel XL.

So I reexamined the Google Pixel XL here on the site, identifying some key advantages and disadvantages. Among the former are its stellar camera, its clean Android software image, and Project Fi compatibility, which I love. But the Pixel XL has, to date, disappointed me as well: It's far too expensive, the performance to date has been inconsistent (an issue I find common to Android devices), and the design is bland and derivative.

Less publicly, I've simply started using the Pixel XL more. I'm in the middle of three weeks of travel, and over a long weekend in Fort Collins, Colorado and the surrounding area, the Pixel XL got a nice workout and was, in fact, used more than my iPhone 7 Plus.

I probably should have written up a similar reexamination of the iPhone, given how my poor camera experiences with that device have done a lot to sour my appreciation of the things Apple gets right. But it's also fair to say that improvements to Android, and to the devices that run this mobile OS, have contributed as much, if not more, to my shifting views.

By which I mean, I'm warming to Android. And this is confusing.

So I'm trying to logic through it, if you will. One could provide all kinds of scientific data to support any claim, and as a reviewer, I often have to rely on benchmarks, battery life tests, and so on to help demonstrate the relative merits of one product compared to another.

But I've found, personally, that the more anecdotal experiences are in some ways more powerful. Assuming, of course, that the product in question measures up in more easily described, data-supported ways. For example, the look or feel of a device can heavily bias one for or against it. And the lack of "reliability of performance," as I call it, can likewise weigh down on, and negate, otherwise positive experiences.

But let's get even squishier. Even less logical.

I simply find myself reaching for the Pixel XL more. Again, confusing.

One of the changes I made but didn't communicate publicly (I think) was that I replaced the Google case I had originally purchased with a slimmer Jax case for the Pixel XL. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for---I really like Apple's leather iPhone cases---but it is a huge improvement over the squishy Google case and it only cost $15.

That's not enough to switch phones, of course. But the feel of that Go...

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