Gadgetory

a lot of the time it doesn't take long for a device to get forgotten once the review period is over but there are some that managed to stand up to the competition and thus stand the test of time these are the ones that get the meaningful designation of daily driver the pixel to excel is one of those phones and with the latest edition of Google smartphone on its way it is time to take one last look at a phone that I have always been happy to revisit even now this is PocketNow and I'm Joshua Vergara what's going on everybody and this is my pixel 2 XL after the buzz you'll notice that my phone kind of has a different coat of paint despite initially wanting the Panda edition of the pixel to the black on black version of the phone was plenty attractive to use as a daily driver until the short wayward drop cracked the only part of the back that is made of glass I've dropped this phone on a few different occasions but it only took that one to change the phone's look for the worse I was devastated but the power of social media got me in touch with D Brant who sent me a skin to cover up the only blemish my phone has gained over the course of a year the rest of the phone has stood up to my daily wear and tear but it's clear that this is a JV device you can even see where the pop socket stuck around for a long time on a related note while I have always loved the usability of the smaller pixel - it was actually never enough to make me regret having the larger addition as I said before I was always happy to return to the pixel to excel over the last year but right now might be the best time to enjoy one of the last Android phones to not feature uh knotch if the incessant leaks of the pixel 3 are any indication a dip at the top of the display can be expected pretty much in every smartphone moving forward and that's fine but it also made me appreciate the screen of the pixel to excel a little bit more for this video I also did not have any of the big color issues that some users experienced during the first few months of the phone's release while a tiny bit of blue shift can be observed in my unit at certain angles it is the only real issue that I've had with this screen could it have been more vivid in the colors absolutely but I still enjoyed all of my media and all of my games even more recently released ones and those recent games are running just fine on the pixel twos and now outdated hardware carried by the snapdragon 835 obviously there are some real games to be had with the 845 in current phones and in the upcoming pixel 3 but I've had no issues with performance even one whole year later it remains one of my more reliable smartphones I can go back to it whenever I need my project fy'y sim activated for travel I can go back to it for the latest versions of Android and I go back to it for a reliable camera experience yep this is Android PI on this smartphone making it one of the most fully up-to-date Android phones currently available part of the reason why Google back devices are sought-after is because of that update cycle after all this 1-year old phone just got a much-needed refresh due to the release of hi this might be a good time to give some hot takes on the new features here are some things I love the volume controls appear next to the volume rocker and even show you different sliders based on your context when you're casting something to chromecast this is really useful also awesome is the smart rotation button and with the new digital wellness layer there is a grayscale screen setting that accompanies the nightlight which is great for reading ebooks through apps like Kindle here are a couple of things I don't like I'm still getting used to the full screen gestures and the muscle memory of the short or long swipes to bring up the app drawer haven't fully sunk in and it just feels like a bit more tuning is needed to make sure the occasional stutters are ironed out which should be the case in the new phone so it should be obvious why being able to talk about Android 9 on here is important a good update cycle breathes new life into a phone that is past its heyday if you have a pixel - chances are you aren't feeling the pull of a new phone quite so hard after the latest version of Android has dropped but there's one more reason why you would feel that way the camera let's take a second and appreciate the fact that the pixel 2 remains one of the most reliable camera experiences without having to resort to more than one camera on the rear or the front extra lenses have their uses don't get me wrong but the pixel put the power of Google behind every frame captured that crazy amount of processing made even low-light photography digestible shaky footage easier to salvage and selfies easier to capture I have taken my pixel to excel on a number of different trips even in the last three months using wide-angle attachments to achieve the looks I want in good lighting taking some care with the exposure slider man great photos and locking it and the focus meant awesome videos even the slow motion capture proved great for my vlogs and selfies were given that portrait mode treatment with mostly great results the only time I have seen the front-facing camera put at odds was due to the beauty Mouse the pixel 2 doesn't provide much control over the different beautification settings and actually goes for more detail in selfies when compared to phones coming out of Asia okay so now might be a good time to address what the pixel 3 might bring to the camera table while the rear camera will remain a single shooter based on the lakes and based on the actual phone that was acquired in Hong Kong dual lenses may actually adorn the front for the purposes of wide-angle selfies this strikes me as a good choice while it might mainly mean more people in your portraitures it could also mean that this phone will be a great blogging tool too many front-facing cameras are too narrow for vlog so hopefully this does well in that situation and consequently becomes a trend aside from upgraded performance specs it seems the latest version of the pixel will be addressing specific needs like in the front-facing camera the pixel 2 still gets the latest version of Android and should benefit from many of the app updates of Google rolls out alongside the new phone and you know what for that reason I think if you aren't about the bleeding edge it might be tough to recommend an upgrade the pixel 2 is still very relevant because it seems not too much will change from 2 to 3 perhaps the best endorsement I can give is that the pixel 2 will probably remain in my drawer forever and if I somehow can't stay current this would be more than enough for me to enjoy as always thank you very much for watching and hope you enjoyed this edition of after the buzz based upon my pixel 2 XL are you still using the pixel 2 let us know in the comments down below how your phone has fared did you crack the glass on the back like I did and how is the performance holding up after all of your usage in the past year also let us know what you think about the leaks and all of the specifications and everything that we've heard about the pixel 3 and to look forward to all of our content on the pixel 3 and the pixel 3 accel after their launch which were really excited to go to there's a lot to look forward to in the coming week so make sure you stay tuned to pocket now and if you're interested in even more perspectives on all of this tech you can also head over to my channel youtube.com slash - Joshua Vergara the links are available right now and in the description down below look forward to a lot of pixel stuff in the coming weeks but with that I'm gonna go ahead and call it thank you so much for watching and I'll see you on the next video