A lost relationship

The relationship lasted for 2 years, 3 months, 11 days. Barring restroom moments, we were together all the time. I’m talking about my Pixel 2, which has provided me a wonderful experience on any electronics gadget that I’ve ever owned.

There are few things, worth mentioning here, both positive & negative.

Software-hardware, made for each other - Even though I haven’t used any flagship mobile till then, I feel P2 showed me how it feels when OS is made for hardware. Literally, there were no lag. The pure android is so much more tasty than any other flavor, particularly better than TouchWiz of Android¹

The Camera - Till then iPhone’s camera is superior to any other Androids, then came P2. The x-factor is the software that runs behind the camera’s hardware². The P2 got series of updates, among them is the nightsight³, this feature might become a basic feature in due course of time, but during the time, it was revolutionary. Few years back, Google acquired Word Lens⁴, it was later added to Google Now. I can scan images and extract texts out of it. This was one of the most addictive features, at least for me.

Availability of Apps - Starting with Google Photos⁵, Google Assistant⁶, being the flag-ship phone, the apps were well tested for it. Also, the apps are heavily integrated with the OS. Excluding the apps, which were discontinued by developers, every app worked just like how it was supposed. The seamless integration allowed me to try wider range of apps, made few of the purchases from Play Store. Also, I got introduced to Reddit, PocketCasts⁷, which I would say one of the best way to spend time with.

With P2, it’s not a sun shine all the time. There were some let downs too.

The power shortage - For so much of features backed into the phone, the battery capacity is not up to the mark⁸. This is huge let down. I was made to carry power bank everywhere just to feed the all too powerful P2.

Brittleness - The phone is slim, sleek and light. And, also brittle. It do last few drops. But, it gave it off when mom handled it once, it got a crack. Till it’s last breath my mom never touched it fearing I may react in a not-so-pleasant way.

The thick bezel - The phone got quite a big bezel, leading to a smaller screen size. This doesn’t goes well compared to the contemporary phones.

Looking back, daily I paid 48₹ for using the phone. For the exchange of experience the it’s worth the money.

Thanks, Pixel. It’s been a wonderful journey.

References

1. My maiden experience with Android - ↩

2. Updated: Google Pixel 2 camera review - link ↩ 3. What is Night Sight and what can it do on the Pixel phone?- link ↩

4.Google Has Acquired Quest Visual, The Maker Of Camera-Based Translation App Word Lens – TechCrunch - link ↩

5.The New Google Photos: Free at Last, and Very Smart - link ↩

6. The future is AI, and Google just showed Apple how it’s done - link ↩

7. Pocket Casts - link ↩

8. Google Pixel 2 – Battery life link ↩