Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Going to compare this to Google's other phone, the Nexus 6P since it's been my daily driver before owning this phone* and describe the Pixel 2 from that perspective Decided to switch over since I miss owning a 5inch phone and the battery life on the 6P is not as good as it used to be. First thing I like to say is that there is no night-and-day difference between these two phones. The Pixel 2 has better functionality in most cases, but the Nexus 6P still hold up really well as is not outdated whatsoever. Last week, the 6P had its Android Oreo over-the-air software update. Well read on if you're on the fence. *Skipped out on Pixel 1 since it didn't have front facing speakers --Battery Life Pixel 2 wins this hands down, even better than the 6P when I got it out of the box at launch. Can last up to 1.5 to 2 days if you're conservative. Example: Typical 8 hour work day +1 hour commute (half hour to and from work) + 30min lunch break During commute non stop music. 80% volume Lunch 20-25mins on Youtube 15min breaks: some light mobile gaming, Two 2-3 minute phone calls Check e-mail text and notifications throughout the day Doing all of this. Starting from 100%, dropped down to 48% by the end of the day Super fast charging with included charger. Very similar to the Moto X Pure, but the batter life is way longer. Takes about an hour and a half to fully charge your phone from 10% --Camera Better stabilization/auto focus The auto focus on the 6P is horrible, even if you tap on the screen it will not focus accurately. On the Pixel 2 it auto focuses on an object for you without having to touch the screen and does a decent job at it too. 6P does a better job at capturing true real life colors especially in scenery. Pixel 2 makes everything more vibrant and seems like it auto photo-shops everything (which can be a good or bad thing depending on your preference). Pixel 2 has way better front facing camera. Excellent for selfies as it auto blurs the background and do automatic lighting touch ups on your face. Video works way better as there's less camera shake when playing back Did a blind camera test with phones I have available**, borrowed from friends/family and the Pixel 2 had better quality picture hands down. **Nexus 6p, iphone7, Galaxy 7 Edge, Note 4, Moto x pure, Amazon Fire Phone. Note that I don't have access to all high end phones such as iphone X, Note 8, HTC U11, LGV30 along others. --Finger Print Sensor Both very similar. Didn't notice a difference. Was able to detect 100% of the time with dry/clean fingers --Visual aesthetic, build quality Don't know about some people, but I love the camera visor hump on the 6P. Makes it look very futuristic and stands out from other phones. The Pixel 2 on the other hand, looks very generic and plain. The Pixel 2 does not have a streamline look like iphone x or Galaxy edge series as the screen not edge-to-edge. It has large bezels on the top and bottom which i don't really mind since I'm not accustomed to bezel-less screens, but i can see how some people are if they're used to it. Having bezels does have it's advantages as it's great for mobile games where you have to hold your phone horizontally Pixel 2 is also very lightweight. Even lighter than the Nexus 5 and feels very fragile. This is the only phone i bought a case for a week after purchase. Pixel 2 is dust and water resistant. Great for traveling, if you're an extrovert, or an adventurer with no arrows to the knee I don't like the side buttons. For the 6P the power button has this cross hatch metal texture design to it making it easily distinguishable from the volume rocker. For the Pixel 2, all the buttons feels the same, so it takes some time to get a feel for it Personal preference, but i like the 5inch display rather than the 6inch (thus one of my main reason for switching). 6inch is better for viewing cinematic movies/videos, but I already own a laptop and tablet and those tend to do a better job. I find a 5inch phone more portable and less finger travel when using --UI Android Oreo is very smooth. You will not notice a difference from the 6P with Android Oreo unless you compare them side by side. Pixel 2 is slightly faster, but only by milliseconds. Most of it probably have to do with finger travel from larger screen --Front facing speakers At first i assumed it would be muffled compared to the 6P due to the water and dust resistance, but it's surprisingly better than the 6P at higher volumes. At around 80% + volume there's much less distortion on the Pixel 2. Not to say that the 6P is bad, but once you hear the sound quality at near max volume from the Pixel 2 it's hard to go back. No headphone jack on the Pixel 2. So you have to resort to bluetooth for personalized music. This can be troublesome if you are an audiophile especially if you already own a expensive wired headset But if you are a true audiophile, and can afford it, i would get a dedicated mp3 player. Namely the Sony Walkmen brand It does come with a USB-C to 3.5mm cable in box -Software update New android software first on Pixel 2 for 3 years instead of 2. 6P still have updates as mentioned before it updated to Andriod 8.0 last week I also own the Nexus 5 (phone released in 2013) and it still receives security updates from Google, but it stopped getting major software updates (stopped at Android 6.0.1) probably due to hardware limitations. Pixel 2 like other Google phones has no bloatware like ones you see on Samsung phones as is pure android -Active Edge At first i thought it was a throw away feature, but I find it quite useful overtime In the beginning i just used it to set alarms, but after a while starting using it for the Android Assistant. It's very similar to pressing on the google search bar, but much faster. Note that if your phone is off and you use the squeeze feature,you are automatically prompted to the lock screen. Exception being you have no passcode, you have trusted locations or trusted bluetooth devices active. Trusted faces also work, but it takes a second extra for it to boot up. When the phone is on, it's very intuitive, as it's easier to ask the assistant anything from directions and reminders on the fly. You can also squeeze to silence phone calls instead of pressing the volume rocker if you see a spam or phone number of a person you don't' have to talk to at the moment --Google Lens Google lens is similar to Amazon Firefly (on the Amazon phone that no one uses?). It's better at picking up words, number and text than objects -Always on Display/ "Now Playing" Out of the box, the Pixel 2 has an always on display showing the time/date, and app icon notification. You can go to settings and turn this off if you want to save battery life. If you have it off, you can easily access it by double tapping on the screen. Always on display is great when you're sleeping and as you can glace over to look if you have it on a smartphone stand on the nightstand Pixel 2 has a "Now Playing" feature which auto detects music playing in the background with is great as you don't have to ask google assistant for it or use a 3rd party app like Sound Hound. Song has to play in background for 10-20secs in most cases before it's able to display on your phone depending on how loud, clear and popular the song is. --Transfer Process Easy to transfer data use included adapter. If you own an android phone, all apps will transfer over, you just need to re-enter some passwords if it's not connected directly to your google account. You can also transfer iphone data over but it's only contacts, and photos ----Overall a good upgrade if you like the enhanced features. 6P is still a good phone and is not outdated in terms of software and hardware. If you find the upgraded/new features on the Pixel 2 enticing then it's a good upgrade. If you have any questions, please put in the comments.