OT:Smart Phones

[dbdynsty25]

Got my Pixel 6 yesterday and it's as good as advertised. The price, at 599 is absolutely a steal. It's fast, it's built well, the screen is great, the camera is spectacular...I'm not sure why anyone WOULDN'T get one if they are in the Android ecosystem. The Galaxy S21 series is the other option, but for the price, which is cheaper than all of the GS21s pretty much puts it over the top.

[Rodster]

Sounds good DB. I received my free Pixel Buds yesterday and my Pixel 6 shipped yesterday with an ETA of next Friday. I'll be trading in my Pixel 4a as soon as I receive the trade in kit from Google.

[jLp_VaKer0]

Got my Pixel 6 yesterday and it's as good as advertised. The price, at 599 is absolutely a steal. It's fast, it's built well, the screen is great, the camera is spectacular...I'm not sure why anyone WOULDN'T get one if they are in the Android ecosystem. The Galaxy S21 series is the other option, but for the price, which is cheaper than all of the GS21s pretty much puts it over the top.

Saw Flossy's review and he complained about the fingerprint scanner.

Do you have the same issues?

[Rodster]

Got my Pixel 6 yesterday and it's as good as advertised. The price, at 599 is absolutely a steal. It's fast, it's built well, the screen is great, the camera is spectacular...I'm not sure why anyone WOULDN'T get one if they are in the Android ecosystem. The Galaxy S21 series is the other option, but for the price, which is cheaper than all of the GS21s pretty much puts it over the top.

Saw Flossy's review and he complained about the fingerprint scanner.

Do you have the same issues?

It appears the FPS problems are related to those who use a “tempered glass” screen protector. Perhaps Google can look into this and issue a software fix. I should get my Pixel 6 this Friday and my screen protector happens to be tempered glass so I will confirm if that’s the problem.

[dbdynsty25]

In regards to Fingerprint Scanners - I actually found the Galaxy S21 scanner less reliable w/ a tempered glass screen protector. You had to press really hard and make sure it picked up your finger properly. With the Pixel 6, yes, it's finicky, but it reads faster than the one on my old GS21. So neither are good - just average. I much prefer the Pixel 5 rear fingerprint reader. 100% accurate all the time. This one is about a 75% w/ the screen protector (which I always use).

[jLp_VaKer0]

In regards to Fingerprint Scanners - I actually found the Galaxy S21 scanner less reliable w/ a tempered glass screen protector. You had to press really hard and make sure it picked up your finger properly. With the Pixel 6, yes, it's finicky, but it reads faster than the one on my old GS21. So neither are good - just average. I much prefer the Pixel 5 rear fingerprint reader. 100% accurate all the time. This one is about a 75% w/ the screen protector (which I always use).

IMO, 75% is pretty unacceptable in today's standards, specially considering they don't have FaceID-like auth and how rear FPS where nearly perfect.

If you have to "think about it" when unlocking your phone then it sucks.

I was about to ditch the iPhone since I HATED to enter a pin when out of the house with facemask on, luckily they added the feature of auto unlock when you have an Apple Watch.

[dbdynsty25]

IMO, 75% is pretty unacceptable in today's standards, specially considering they don't have FaceID-like auth and how rear FPS where nearly perfect.

I'm not sure what today's standards are, because I have yet to find an on-display reader that's worth a sh*t. I'm sure if I took actual stats on the Pixel 6 it would be much higher than 75% - I've never had to put in my pattern/pin so it's never "failed", it just doesn't work immediately ALL the time. Half of it's my problem because I insist on using a glass screen protector, which of course detracts from accuracy because it's not as designed. I don't want to oversell the fingerprint reader as being great when it's clearly not, but it's perfectly usable, especially when compared to the Galaxy S21 it replaced. That said, they should have added face unlock as well like Samsung did so that it can use both when unlocking...that made the GS21 usable for me.

[Rodster]

My Pixel 6 arrived today, 2 days early. The FPS with a tempered glass screen protector is pretty useless on the phone. It takes at least 10-15 touches before I get lucky. However I never use the FPS even on my Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a 5G. I like the feature where you touch the screen and the display comes on. That's what I have been doing for awhile. The screen is pretty slick and I can tell a big difference in smoothness between 60Hz and 90Hz. I don't even feel i'm missing out on a 120Hz. I hate colored phones but I went with the coral combo because i'm tired of black phones.

[dbdynsty25]

My Pixel 6 arrived today, 2 days early. The FPS with a tempered glass screen protector is pretty useless on the phone. It takes at least 10-15 touches before I get lucky. However I never use the FPS even on my Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a 5G. I like the feature where you touch the screen and the display comes on. That's what I have been doing for awhile. The screen is pretty slick and I can tell a big difference in smoothness between 60Hz and 90Hz. I don't even feel i'm missing out on a 120Hz. I hate colored phones but I went with the coral combo because i'm tired of black phones.

First thing I do with every finger print scanner is make three different finger prints with my main finger I used to unlock it. That gives it more chances to recognize it. 10-15 tries is bonkers.

[Rodster]

My Pixel 6 arrived today, 2 days early. The FPS with a tempered glass screen protector is pretty useless on the phone. It takes at least 10-15 touches before I get lucky. However I never use the FPS even on my Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a 5G. I like the feature where you touch the screen and the display comes on. That's what I have been doing for awhile. The screen is pretty slick and I can tell a big difference in smoothness between 60Hz and 90Hz. I don't even feel i'm missing out on a 120Hz. I hate colored phones but I went with the coral combo because i'm tired of black phones.

First thing I do with every finger print scanner is make three different finger prints with my main finger I used to unlock it. That gives it more chances to recognize it. 10-15 tries is bonkers.

I kind of figured out what was wrong and now i’m up to 95% recognition. My big mistake was that I thought that if I placed my thumb on the screen the display would come on and I would go directly to the Home Screen. The important part realizing that it’s a two process. First I need to touch the screen to wake it up. Then when the FPS icon comes on, that’s when I place my thumb on the screen. So once I figured out the mistake it wasn’t a problem anymore. I guess if I have AOD enabled then the FPS would always be visible but I have my display turn off after 15 secs to preserve the battery.

The smoothness of the 90Hz ranks up there with the iPhone. The Pixel 6 is a ridiculously great phone at $599. No need to spend an extra $300 for the Pro.

[fsquid]

Isn't the main difference between the pixel and pixel pro the quality of the screen?

[dbdynsty25]

Isn't the main difference between the pixel and pixel pro the quality of the screen?

It gets slightly brighter and it's slightly more pixel-dense. So yeah, it's a difference, but I f'n hate curved screens so I actually like the regular Pixel better in that regard. Memory 12gb v 8gb and adding the telephoto camera are the real main differences.

Oh and the latest update has improved the speed an accuracy of the fingerprint reader...enough to make me rarely even notice it.

And if you're looking for a nice case, man that Bellroy leather case is awesome. I tried the official Google one, a generic snap on case from Amazon and the Bellroy and the cost is well worth it. $50 but it's the perfect size and it feels outstanding. I've got a Latercase (the aramid fiber company) that is ultra thin and light...which is what I've had on my last three phones on the way, so I'll get a nice comparison there too.

[Rodster]

i know this isn't a smartphone but I couldn't pass up this deal on Samsung's website. I picked up a Galaxy Tab S7+ 256GB with a free pair of Galaxy Buds 2 for $379 which included them giving me $350 trade in value for my Galaxy Tab S2.

[jLp_VaKer0]

Anyone picking up the new iPhone?

I'm jumping from 12 pro to 14 pro Max. Dynamic Island looks nice (ridiculous name) plus finally a 120hz screen for me.

[wco81]

I will be but more for the camera improvements and the supposedly brighter screen.

Will see about the new notifications but blech, updated to iOS 16 and it doesn't look like an improvement.

They just made things look different for the sake of looking different.