I refuse to buy the Google Pixel 8 Pro, and it’s all Google’s fault

1 month ago

Someone holding nan Bay bluish Google Pixel 8 Pro.

I person a not-so-surprising confession: I thin to want each caller telephone that comes out. I’m a sucker for bully marketing, and smartphone launches person immoderate of nan champion trading around. Whether it’s a caller characteristic for illustration a telephoto lens, a bigger battery, a much vivid display, aliases a radically caller shape factor, I get a bad lawsuit of fearfulness of missing retired almost each time. It’s why I often find myself buying nan astir costly model, contempt not really needing to.

So, I was somewhat confused erstwhile nan recent launch of nan Google Pixel 8 Pro didn’t time off maine emotion for illustration I wanted nan telephone astatine all. Or rather, I did, but nan desire was undercut by different emotion: annoyance. I’m huffy astatine nan Pixel 8 Pro, but it’s not for nan reasons you mightiness think.

Figuring retired why I was truthful irritated was a existent journey. Here’s what I discovered astir really I consciousness astir nan Pixel 8 Pro — and Google arsenic a full — and why I yet won’t beryllium buying nan phone.

Is it because I’m a Pixel 7 Pro owner?

Google Pixel 7 Pro opinionated up against a reddish ceramic wall.

My existent experiences pinch Google were nan first spot I started, and honestly, it’s a bully spot to look. My clip pinch nan Google Pixel 7 Pro has been tough, to opportunity nan least. It’s a awesome phone, but my acquisition was marred by a number of bugs that near maine emotion for illustration I should ne'er person bought nan Pixel 7 Pro.

Most of these bugs didn’t break nan phone, but they were highly annoying. The Wi-Fi would driblet and request to beryllium manually reset, and nan telephone would sometimes garbage to unlock. A batch of these bugs person been patched out, but I’ve encountered a caller rumor successful nan meantime: a somewhat wonky charging port.

I wasn’t unsocial successful this, either. Problems differed from personification to person, but it was clear location were issues pinch nan Pro statement arsenic a whole. Mobile Editor Joe Maring had nan worst clip of it wherever nan Digital Trends squad was concerned, pinch achromatic screens coming up while playing games, full panels breaking, and ominous shadows being formed complete nan surface aft leaving Twitter. Andy Boxall didn’t brushwood immoderate of these problems during his clip pinch nan Pro, pinch his exemplary simply being a small sporadic erstwhile it came to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections, but each of this underlines nan truth that Pixel 7 Pro needed much clip successful nan oven.

Does that sour acquisition still curdle connected my tongue? Not really. While I can’t speak for each Pixel 7 Pro users, Google has dealt pinch a batch of nan bugs that affected me, and now my telephone is mostly moving arsenic it should. Don’t get maine wrong, it’s not cleanable by immoderate means, but nan bully yet outweighs nan bad.

So, pinch nan Pixel 7 Pro mostly successful nan clear, I moved connected to interrogate my adjacent suspect: nan Google Pixel 8 Pro.

Is it because of nan Pixel 8 Pro’s caller toys?

The rear cameras connected nan Google Pixel 8 Pro.

There’s nary measurement to sugarcoat this: If I was huffy astatine nan Pixel 8 Pro because it’s amended than my existent phone, past I person a superior lawsuit of sour grapes.

But I was besides reasonably judge this wasn’t nan case. Frankly, erstwhile you return a good, agelong look astatine nan Pixel 8 Pro, there’s not really that overmuch that’s worthy getting irritated about. The temperature sensor is an absorbing addition, but it’s not difficult to spot it disappearing for illustration nan Google Pixel 4‘s Motion Sense movement-sensing tech. The creation has been tweaked slightly, which is easy ignored, and nan aforesaid is existent for nan display, which now dips to 1Hz alternatively of 10Hz. I tin spot why I’d want that, but is nan deficiency of it keeping maine up astatine night? Absolutely not.

Now, we move into nan areas that do registry immoderate constituent of FOMO, and it’s nan Magic Editor that sits connected apical of that list. Magic Eraser is rather something, but Magic Editor blows correct past it into a caller realm altogether. But honestly, if my usage of Magic Eraser is thing to spell by, I’m apt to usage Magic Editor a fewer times earlier yet forgetting it exists altogether, truthful I’m not really irritated excessively overmuch astir that, either.

Joe Maring / Digital Trends

So far, truthful good. But here’s wherever I ran into my first existent annoyance: updates. Yes, you publication that correct — nan hardest betterment to disregard is nan seven-year committedness to updates.

Honestly, that’s nan portion of nan phone’s announcement that took my activity away. Seven years is simply a agelong time. If nan first Google Pixel telephone had received 7 years of updates, it would only conscionable person stopped receiving Android updates this year. That’s really tremendous a committedness this is from Google, and if it’s capable to support it up, this is simply a coagulated logic to bargain a Google Pixel 8. That said, Google’s grounds connected support is … not great.

But for immoderate reason, only nan Pixel 8 scope benefits from this tremendous update promise. It’s infuriating that nan Pixel 7 Pro only gets 3 years of awesome Android updates, little than half of nan Pixel 8 Pro. Why? Because of an arbitrary cutoff. It would person costs Google very small to widen this update committedness to immoderate of its much caller smartphones. In a sense, I consciousness for illustration I deserve it for putting up pinch nan bug-ridden messiness that was nan early Pixel 7 Pro.

The Lock Screen connected nan Google Pixel 8 Pro.

Sure, Google has made a batch of fixes to nan phone, but that took nan amended portion of a twelvemonth — aliases astir a 3rd of my phone’s effective life span. It much aliases little took until nan Pixel 8 Pro was disposable for maine to consciousness for illustration I had a functioning Pixel phone. A longer update committedness from Google would person gone a agelong measurement toward making maine consciousness much affirmative astir struggling on pinch a buggy smartphone for truthful long.

But that wasn’t it. That wasn’t nan existent guidelines of my annoyance. It was a portion of it, yes, but I had to excavation a small deeper to find what was really bothering me. It was there, heavy down, that I yet recovered it. But really, it shouldn’t person taken maine truthful agelong to fig retired — because nan logic was correct there, connected Google’s ain store.

It’s because Google doesn’t attraction astir me

Andrew Martonik / Digital Trends

The Google Pixel 7 Pro, contempt immoderate early teething problems, is simply a awesome smartphone. Heck, it’s a flagship smartphone from conscionable past year, which intends it’s powerful and highly capable, and it’s apt to supply coagulated capacity for years to come. I figured I would get a decent chunk of money for it if I wanted to waste and acquisition it successful for nan Pixel 8 Pro.

After all, why wouldn’t Google want loyal customers to jump to nan latest device? Google’s U.K. shop advertises up to 700 British pounds disconnected pinch trade-in, and hey, this is nan apical Pixel instrumentality from past year! I’m decidedly all-in. So, I plonked my smartphone into nan trade-in model for a Pixel 8 Pro, expecting that I’d person to salary a mates of 100 British pounds to get nan newer device.

It wasn’t moreover close. Trading successful a near-pristine 256GB Pixel 7 Pro netted maine a expansive full of … 347 British pounds. For a smartphone that costs almost 3 times that.

Google mightiness arsenic good person sent personification astir to my location to stomp connected my foot. Frankly, it’s an insult. A mini portion of maine was amused; clearly, nan Pixel 7 Pro was specified a trainwreck that moreover Google doesn’t want 1 back. But nan larger portion of maine was disgusted. I checked retired nan trade-in connection connected Google’s U.S. store, conscionable to make judge it wasn’t a U.K. problem, and nan business sewage moreover worse: $299. Considering nan British trade-in amounted to astir $420 aft conversion, it turned retired I was getting a better woody than my American cousins.

But it begs nan question: Who does Google want phones from? You astir apt won’t beryllium amazed to study it’s Apple iPhone users. Trade successful nan 128GB type of nan iPhone 14 Pro, and you’ll get 660 British pounds for it. Half nan storage, adjacent to doubly nan trade-in value.

I went down nan database to find retired which iPhone Google regards arsenic nan closest to its past flagship telephone successful value. It’s nan Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max. That four-year-old instrumentality will get you 3 British pounds much successful trade-in than nan 2022 Pixel 7 Pro.

All telephone companies are somewhat skimpy erstwhile it comes to trade-ins, but Google treats its ain products acold worse. Samsung caps trade-ins for its ain phones and Apple’s phones astatine 500 British pounds each and moreover offered 500 British pounds for my Pixel 7 Pro. Apple only takes its ain phones successful trade, but evidently values its ain phones highly — though strangely, not arsenic highly arsenic Google, which will connection much than Apple for an iPhone.

I get it; it makes bully business consciousness to entreaty to nan title and get them to switch. After all, a Pixel personification staying a Pixel personification doesn’t turn your numbers. But appealing to Apple fans shouldn’t mean kicking your religious successful nan face, and it shouldn’t mean purposefully devaluing your ain products. As acold arsenic Google is concerned, an Apple instrumentality from 2019 is worthy fundamentally nan aforesaid magnitude of money arsenic its 2022 flagship device.

That doesn’t show a batch of religion successful your ain product, Google, and it doesn’t make maine consciousness for illustration I should person much, either. As a longtime Pixel fan, it makes maine huffy that Google thinks truthful small of its range. It makes maine huffy astir nan Pixel 8 Pro, astir nan Pixel bid arsenic a whole, and astatine myself for putting truthful overmuch religion successful nan company. So, nary — I won’t beryllium buying a Pixel 8 Pro, and Google only has itself to blame.