Oops, Google Did It Again (Premium)

Google seems incapable of shipping reliable handsets. And I’m tired of being victimized by this.

Yes, I’m returning my Pixel 3 XL.

And seriously. WTF.

I spend a lot of time—too much time, many would say—over-thinking things. One level, I can at least argue that I do this for you: Readers and podcast listeners can hopefully learn from my experiences, from my mistakes, and from my misfortune. And they can hopefully use this feedback to make good decisions for themselves.

But I’m no Jerry Pournelle, he who once famously observed that he “makes mistakes so you don’t have to.” I just make mistakes. And then I’m honest about it. Same impact, I guess. But I don’t deliberately poke bears for the most part. I just stumble into caves and then wonder what went wrong.

Consider my recent examinations of Gmail alternatives. In the wake of my most recent check-in, I heard from Exchange expert Tony Redmond, who noted that I was over-complicating email. “It’s really not that difficult,” he told me.

Normally, I would agree with that. But my observations in that most recent email experiment post was that thanks to multiple levels of spam filtering and consolidating multiple email accounts into a single location had triggered numerous lost emails. What this highlighted, to me, was a flaw that is central to my way of doing things. Which is that I often spend the time to figure out the best way to do something complex—and consolidating email accounts absolutely is complex, given the different ways you can do this—and then I forget about it and move on to other things. In other words, I did the work to make this less complicated. And then was bit by the fact that I wasn’t paying attention anymore. My post wasn’t about making something simple overly complex. It was about paying attention, about revisiting things you’ve settled on over time to be sure your assumptions/expectations are still true.

So yeah, I can beat things to death.

I spend even more time struggling to figure out which smartphone I should use. Last year, as you may recall, I switched to Android. That sounds like a simple enough task, given the fact that I’d long used iPhones and Android handsets side-by-side. But the move to Android was a bit more complex than just picking up a different phone. I switched my primary phone number, which I had obtained in 2007 when I switched from Verizon to AT&T to get the first iPhone, to Google’s Project Fi. So I was changing carriers as well. And Project Fi was a bit of an unknown (at least as my sole/primary cell service).

The Project Fi transition has been an overwhelming success story, and that’s something I want to be sure to highlight before I go down the horrible rabbit hole of my latest problems with Google’s phones. The service is wonderful. It’s affordable. It’s transparent. And it works seamlessly when I travel internationally, a feature I treasure. (I try to spend at least 4 weeks outside the United States every year, and my recent trip to Dublin enabled me to surpass that goal in 2018.)

But. There’s always a but. Project Fi does have one downside, and it’s kind of a big one: It requires you to use a recent Google handset. Or one of a small handful of other third-party phones, none of which are in any way interesting to me. So using Project Fi limits my choices.

But that assumes, of course, that I stick with Project Fi.

This past year, I’ve also been examining smaller carriers, called mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), that resell bandwidth on the bigger carriers for less. Mint Mobile (formerly Mint SIM) and Consumer Cellular (which I’m currently using on a secondary phone) are both excellent, in my experience, and inexpensive.

In my pre-Android switch days, I used AT&T as my primary carrier (with an iPhone) and Project Fi on a Pixel (and before that, a Nexus), which was, at that time, a secondary device. When I traveled outside of the United States, I would use the Pixel exclusively, which worked out well because of its low pricing and the camera quality. I could go back to this system now I switched off Pixel, of course. But I would need to move my primary phone number again. And I’m not looking forward to that.

No matter. Google may have forced my hand.

As you may recall, last year I pre-ordered a Pixel 2 XL on the day the product was launched, but I ended up canceling that order when an incredible array of hardware issues popped up. Google seemed to respond quickly to these issues, fixing some of them in software. So I ordered another Pixel 2 XL, which I received in early November 2017.

I immediately experienced issues, most notably its washed-out display and intermittent USB audio issues. And less than a week later, I decided not to review the Pixel 2 XL.

“There is absolutely no way I can recommend the Google Pixel 2 XL to anyone,” I wrote. “I cannot put that on my conscience.”

But I kept using the Pixel 2 XL. For its combination of “pure” Android, Project Fi compatibility, and best-in-market camera experience. And I suffered for it. Those intermittent USB audio issues became permanent, and in April, after resetting the device a few times, I finally gave in and ordered a replacement unit.

And then it happened again: Now, I couldn’t get any USB charging cable—or the USB-to-headphone adapter—to stay seated in the port. I experienced a non-charged device on mornings and couldn’t walk around with it and listen to audiobooks or podcasts because the connection kept loosening. (And no, it wasn’t lint or whatever. I’m not an idiot.) So I asked for, and after some arguing, received, a second replacement device.

I’ve spent the subsequent couple of months biding my time, and thinking about how I might get past this phone. I experimented with wireless headsets, for example, so I could minimize my use of the third phone’s USB port. And I looked forward to trading it in, for some phone. For any phone.

As you may know, I’ve considered several candidates.

The new iPhones are interesting to me. I reviewed the iPhone XS and found it to be possibly the single-best smartphone on the market today. My only issue was—and still is—the cost: $1150 for a non-base unit is extravagant and, as I’ve pointed out, only the beginning of what you’ll pay to acquire such a device.

I’m not rich. My Pixel 2 XL is worth $300 to $400 on trade-in depending on where I do that, and I have a bit north of $700 sitting in PayPal waiting for my next phone purchase. That almost adds up to the cost of an iPhone XS, close enough. But if I were to choose an iPhone, I would also need to keep the Pixel 2 XL, so I could continue using Project Fi when I travel. That complicates things.

But that’s where the iPhone XR comes in. As I noted last month, the XR is the sweet spot of the new iPhone lineup. And a non-base model is just $800. That’s fully $350 less than the XS I reviewed. And just $100 more than what I have sitting in PayPal. I could afford this phone. And on that note, I have pre-ordered one. It won’t arrive until early November. But I’ll review it, no matter which phone I end up choosing.

Me choosing an iPhone will be unsettling to some. But there are two mitigating factors here that I think are relevant. One, the actual phone platform matters little these days: All of the apps and services I use work on both Android and iPhone, so the day-to-day stuff won’t change much. (I am absolutely never switching to Apple’s apps and services.) Two, given my day job, it may make sense for me to move back and forth between these platforms. After a year on Android, maybe a year on iPhone is the way to go.

But there are excellent choices on the Android side. Next week, I’ll begin reviewing the OnePlus 6T, and I’m looking forward to that. It’s predecessor, the OnePlus 6, is one of the very best smartphones I’ve ever used—only its camera holds it back—and it’s priced much lower than the competition. If OnePlus gets the camera right this time around, I’d be a customer for life.

There’s also the 2018 Samsung flagships, each of which is routinely available at sale prices. The Galaxy S9, S9+, and Note 9 are all excellent, and each is absolutely on my short list.

But all that said, moving to a Pixel 3 has always been my first choice.

The reasoning is simple: Despite the issues I’ve experienced, that combination of pure Android, Project Fi, and camera quality just matters to me. And I’m willing to overlook some issues—like the ridiculous notch on the Pixel 3 XL—to retain those advantages.

Unfortunately, the Pixel 3/3 XL is turning into yet another dumpster fire. Not just for me, either: There are numerous reports of issues with the devices out in the world, just as there were for its predecessor. But in this case, I’m not so sure I care about everyone else. This is the phone I’m going to use. Every day. I need this thing to work.

And the Pixel 3—both the smaller 3 and the larger XL—does not work.

I have experienced at least two major issues so far, and one intermittent issue of which I’m concerned. And I believe that at least one of the major issues is endemic to the hardware and cannot be fixed with software.

The biggest issue is the external stereo speakers. You may have heard that Pixel 3 XL owners have complained that the stereo speakers are heavily biased to the right, and that the left (notch-based) speaker emits less sound. This is true, and immediately noticeable. The effect is reminiscent of mono speaker designs, like that of the OnePlus 6.

That’s not great, but it’s not a deal-breaker. The bigger speaker issue is one I experienced over the weekend, and now I see that others are complaining about it too: The sound is tinny and distorted. It sounds like its rattling out of the speakers, and I’m wondering if it’s not caused by the glass “sandwich” design of the hardware. And you can feel it vibrating in your hand as it plays back audio. I did a side-by-side comparison for my wife, with her Galaxy S8 and my Pixel 3 XL, using both Duolingo and Google Play Music. And the difference was obvious. The Samsung sounded great, and the phone didn’t vibrate or quiver during audio playback. But there’s something wrong with the Pixel 3 and 3 XL. (This problem appears in both.)

The second issue may possibly be solved by a software fix, and I wrote about this over the weekend in Google’s Reliability Issues Continue with Pixel 3: The Pixel 3/XL cannot multitask correctly and it often shuts down apps when you switch away from them. This is most notable in streaming audio apps (where the music stops playing) and in the Camera app, which often won’t save photos you took.

At the time I wrote that article, I had not experienced this issue. But on my morning walk today—you can see the photos I took here—I finally did experience it. And you know what? F#$k this.

Here’s what happened.

As I started my walk, I fired up Audible and began listening to an audiobook. A few blocks down the street, I saw the sun streaming out from behind the clouds, so I pulled the Pixel 3 XL out of my pocket, signed-in, and hit the virtual Home button. Then, I selected the Camera app to take a photo. When the Camera app loaded, the audiobook stopped playing. I took the picture and then waited to see if the audio would just start back up automatically.

Nope. So I switched back to Audible and pressed Play.

Over the course of the walk, this happened each time I took a photo. The difference is that in subsequent switching to the Camera app, I used the app switcher gesture instead of going to Home first. Same problem.

I’ve had a small performance issue, too: That Camera app sometimes comes up slowly, just as it does on my Pixel 2 XL, a source of frustration. But that’s something I’d give time to. The audio playback and multitasking issues are unacceptable.

So I’ve scheduled a return of the Pixel 3 XL. I was originally going to trade-in my Pixel 2 XL, had, in fact, reset the device and packaged it up for shipping. But was too tired or lazy on Saturday to get it out to the post office. Thank God for that.

I’ll keep testing the Pixel 3 XL for now: I have until November 5 to return it, so it’s possible I could review it. Maybe Google will openly discuss the issues and explain how or if they can be fixed in the interim. You never know.

And I do have two more phones—the OnePlus 6T and the iPhone XR—coming here soon. So if I do ultimately decide to stick with Pixel, I can always order one later. There’s no rush, it’s not like these poorly-selling handsets will ever sell out.

And yet I feel a curious sense of urgency if not desperation. This is a choice that should be easy, a no-brainer. But Google’s tenuous grasp of what constitutes hardware quality, at least in smartphones, is making that impossible. And I have to say, I find this whole thing very troubling. This shouldn’t be difficult. But it is.