Pixel 5 early news

[Vengance_01]

Over the weekend, I did a wipe and refresh of my 3XL. Should'a done it a lot sooner. I'm pretty stoked at how much snappier my phone runs, now. Battery life is better, too. Guess I'll be sticking with this one a while longer.

Does not matter what android phone this always help 🤣

 

[T4rd]

Does not matter what android phone this always help 🤣

Lol, ain't that the truth. Though personally my 2 XL hasn't slowed down enough to ever warrant a reset, I'm sure it would be noticable faster if I did.. for a week maybe.

Android really needs a full overhaul, IMO. The gradual OS degradation has been an issue since its birth.

 

[cybereality]

I found the Pixel 2 XL never got slower. I used it for like 3 years and it was just as fast as when I got it.

My older Android phones from HTC and Motorola got way slower after time, the stock Android on Pixel is the best.

 

[Johnny78]

I found the Pixel 2 XL never got slower. I used it for like 3 years and it was just as fast as when I got it.

My older Android phones from HTC and Motorola got way slower after time, the stock Android on Pixel is the best.

Completely agree. My used my pixel 2 XL for a couple years and I never noticed a drop in performance. My current 4xl has been going strong for a year and if anything, feels even faster after the android 11 update.

 

[Eshelmen]

Just got the Pixel 5 yesterday as I needed a new phone.

Any way to change order of the navigation buttons? I prefer my back button on the right instead of the left.

Agree with the call quality being off.

You'd think that as a phone being the primary purpose, there should be no issues here.

Camera is solid so far and the battery is pretty good too.

So far, it's nearly identical in terms of my casual use and needs that I use a smart phone for. But I really would like to change my navigation button rotation.

Any fix to this would be helpful

 

[Zorachus]

I gave my son my Pixel 5, was too small for me, but still a fantastic little device. To me the Pixel line is the only phone to get for Android, or maybe OnePlus, never LG or Scamsuck.

I agree with you, the nav buttons would be much better if they could be rearranged like on a Samsung Galaxy or OnePlus phone, but that's not an option on Pixel phones. I did switch to the full Gesture nav on my Pixel's a year or so ago, and it really is great, and gives full screen real estate, instead of the software nav keys taking up space on the bottom

Camera is great on the Pixel 5, Portrait mode shots I think are best in the industry, overall still shots the Pixel 5 in my opinion is #1.

Call quality and earpiece speaker blow, at least mine did, and was the main reason I couldn't keep it. It is a SmartPHONE, meaning it's meant to, you know, make phone calls LOL. I'm floored at people that don't use a smartphone to actually call clients, customers, family and friends. Texting only is for kids, not adults. But that's just my opinion.

I don't do a ton of phone calls, but on average 25 or 30 calls a day. And even more texts and e-mails.

 

[Domingo]

Interesting that the call quality/earpiece aren't good. My wife has one, but (kinda like most people) she has probably only made a handful of actual phone calls since she got it.
That's one are where my S20+ has exceled. Call quality is excellent, although I admittedly barely make any calls myself.

 

[Eshelmen]

Interesting that the call quality/earpiece aren't good. My wife has one, but (kinda like most people) she has probably only made a handful of actual phone calls since she got it.
That's one are where my S20+ has exceled. Call quality is excellent, although I admittedly barely make any calls myself.

I got stubborn with buying that. Been using Samsung since my LG G4 - wanted something different. Probably should have gone that route.

I believe I have until tomorrow to swap out if I don't like it.

 

[cybereality]

Call quality is better after the update, I think from December, but it's still not great.

People also were complaining about the notification sounds being too loud, so they updated it, but now it is too low and you can barely hear anything (the haptics also are super weak now).

Hopefully there will be another update, it's not a perfect phone but I like it.

 

[Domingo]

I got stubborn with buying that. Been using Samsung since my LG G4 - wanted something different. Probably should have gone that route.

I believe I have until tomorrow to swap out if I don't like it.

I'm not sure I'd recommend the S20 line other than for call quality. Although I guess if you've been using one for a while the extra Samsung BS probably won't bother you. There is less bloat and it's easier to hide it. I still think the camera in this thing is total trash, though.

 

[Zorachus]

For me there's only two brand of Android phones to get, Pixel or OnePlus. Both have the best OS smooth fluid UI, and the way Android was meant to be. They stay lag free and smooth for years.

LG phones blow, they are great brand new, but after awhile start to bog down like an old Windows 95 PC

Samsung totally blows the most, I'll buy an iPhone before a Samsung Galaxy garbage. On principle I hate Samsung for how they butcher stock Android, no Google News Feed panel on the left. Dumb Bixby crap. Bloatware galore and most can't be deleted. Duplicate apps, is the worst, Google already makes a great text app, and Calandar, etc...but Samsung makes their own and installed be default. I will never buy a Samsung phone

 

[Supersnake]

For me there's only two brand of Android phones to get, Pixel or OnePlus. Both have the best OS smooth fluid UI, and the way Android was meant to be. They stay lag free and smooth for years.

As a Pixel owner, and seeing how the OnePlus OS has evolved, I fully agree with you. For the reasons you stated I would include the Motorola line of phones too. They have been unintrusive and supportive of a clean Android OS ever since the Moto X days.

 

[cybereality]

I liked on the Moto X Pure, you could set a custom command for the voice assistance and it worked even when the phone was locked (before Android and iOS could do that).

I had my command as: "Are you there, Samantha?" from the movie Her. Felt pretty cool actually.

 

[Supersnake]

I had love affairs with the Moto X Pure, I forgot about that capability.

 

[Domingo]

The Moto X Pure was probably the best Android phone I've ever owned, although it was heavy and Lenovo basically stopped updating it when they took over. It went from getting monthly updates to updates every 6 months...if that. The battery eventually hit a wall, too.
Great example of how an OEM could implement a nearly vanilla version of Android, though. Even the Google store version of GCam worked.
The last time I looked, Moto's phones all felt behind the curve of the others. Always about a generation off from what Samsung, LG, and even Google were touting. That and I'm still a little paranoid they'll never get updates like my Pure.

 

[Eshelmen]

Digging this Pixel 5 more and more every day.

Like someone said, an update did improve call quality.

This thing works fantastically for what I need. Glad I made the switch from Samsung overall.

Anyone have a wireless stand up dock station they recommend for this thing?

 

[CHANG3D]

Anandtech’s mini-but-also-in-depth review:
https://www.anandtech.com/show/16442/the-google-pixel-5-a-minireview/
(Anandtech’s mini reviews are better than most others regular reviews)

Conclusion is what I’ve been saying for a while. The price of this phone is ridiculously high that it doesn’t make any sense to get this phone

With the Nord 5G, Galaxy FE (especially), Apple 12 mini, and Pixel 4a 5G, and I’m not even mentioning the flagships from Samsung and Apple that cost just $100 more, you’ve got to be some sort of fanboy to be buying Google’s crap and think it tastes good. Just get the Pixel 4a 5G if you must have a pure Google experience.

 

[T4rd]

Fair enough. Honestly, I would have been fine sticking with my Pixel 2 XL for another year. I already got the 5, and I'm attached to it now, but it was an unnecessary upgrade.

Also, after doing more tests, the graphics performance leaves something to be desired. I knew it was an on older chip, but I did 3dMark and it was far behind the other popular new phones.

And I haven't got the advertised 5G speed either. The main thing I like is the 90Hz screen, and the animations and performance for basic stuff is pretty good. Plus the size/weight is a lot better.

So it was more of a side-grade, but I can be happy with it. Depending on what you do with the phone, it may not be for you.

Just curious how the P5 is holding up for you (and anyone else here) now. I just jumped on a good deal on a used P5 from FS/FT to replace my 2 XL that I couldn't pass on for less than a 4a 5G. I really hate ditching my 2 XL still since it's still going strong, but not getting any more software/security updates now is a big deal to me. I still expect performance to be a bit better than my 2 XL at least, esp. with the extra RAM where I'll occasionally see my 2 XL have to re-load apps that I just used. The biggest things I think I'll miss going to the 5 are the front facing speakers and squeeze gesture for assistant that I still frequently use.

 

[cybereality]

I like the Pixel 5. It's great for day to day use, checking email and the web. Battery life is good and the size is perfect.

Sadly gaming performance is average. I mean, it works, but it doesn't seem any better than the Pixel 2 XL.

So it's decent enough, but not a huge upgrade. It's getting updates, though, so that seems worth it.

 

[Aurelius]

I like the Pixel 5. It's great for day to day use, checking email and the web. Battery life is good and the size is perfect.

Sadly gaming performance is average. I mean, it works, but it doesn't seem any better than the Pixel 2 XL.

So it's decent enough, but not a huge upgrade. It's getting updates, though, so that seems worth it.

The Pixel 5 is a bit of an odd duck in that it's clearly meant to reposition the line rather than advance in every category. It exists more for Google than its fans.

It does a good job for what it is, and if you're looking for a mid-range phone it's dandy. I'm just curious to see where Google goes with the Pixel 6. Will it be more of the same, or will it creep back into flagship territory? I'm hoping Google at least updates the cameras, it's been using the same basic tech for years.

 

[Zorachus]

I gave my Pixel 5 to my son, for his first smartphone. I found it a bit too small for my tastes.

But it's a nice little phone though. Good battery life. Fast enough for the basic tasks of a smartphone. Great portrait photos.

 

[T4rd]

I like the Pixel 5. It's great for day to day use, checking email and the web. Battery life is good and the size is perfect.

Sadly gaming performance is average. I mean, it works, but it doesn't seem any better than the Pixel 2 XL.

So it's decent enough, but not a huge upgrade. It's getting updates, though, so that seems worth it.

I don't game on my phone anymore (used to play Clash of Clans a lot), so GPU performance isn't a big concern for me. My priorities in a phone are; UI performance, battery life, camera (which I'm really glad they put a wide-angle on here finally), and of course software/security updates. I think it will be nice to go back to a smaller phone too, as I do find one-handed use on my 2 XL to be pretty awkward at times. And giving up little-to-no screen area while having a smaller phone is great too, though it seems that in many apps the phone just cuts off the screen short of the front camera, so there's a black bar at the top in most of the review vids I've seen. Can you adjust and zoom in on video apps to just use the whole screen still?

The Pixel 5 is a bit of an odd duck in that it's clearly meant to reposition the line rather than advance in every category. It exists more for Google than its fans.

It does a good job for what it is, and if you're looking for a mid-range phone it's dandy. I'm just curious to see where Google goes with the Pixel 6. Will it be more of the same, or will it creep back into flagship territory? I'm hoping Google at least updates the cameras, it's been using the same basic tech for years.

I think Google will go back to flagship SoC/specs again this year and the main reason they used the 765 this year was for the integrated 5G modem for better power efficiency, which was missing on the 865/865+ has been reintegrated on the SD888 SoC now. I wish they would release the new Pixels in the Spring too to align with the new SoCs being available so they're not already outdated 6 months after they launch. I'm sure if they do go back to the SD 8xx series SoCs again, the base price will go back up to $900+ and will probably still not have much else to show for it with specs that have been standard on many other sub $700 phones and probably still missing a 3rd camera for telephoto or wide-angle shots. But we shall see, I'm just not too confident in Google after seeing them seemingly sandbag on design or specs on all previous Pixels besides the 2 XL IMO.

 

[cybereality]

Yeah, the screen ratio is good, with symmetric bezels. The screen size is actually the same as the Pixel 2 XL, but it appears smaller since the phone itself is much smaller.

This took a little getting used to, but in the end it's nice. Easier to hold in one hand.

From what I've tried, you can use the whole screen. In YouTube you can zoom so it fills the screen past the notch. Also Kindle lets you use the whole screen.

Most apps, though, still show the title bar. I think this is an Android thing, not only because of the notch.

 

[T4rd]

I've had my P5 for a few days now and it's great so far coming from my 2 XL. Main notes are:

• Performance is def a bit faster than the 2 XL in both opening new apps and keeping them in memory. I did a side by side launch comparison and most of the time the 5 launched apps faster with a couple exceptions that may have been network related.
• Battery life is significantly better for sure, though my 2 XL was still getting me through a day just fine, I can tell this would be a 2-day phone for me easily if I didn't charge it overnight.
• Speakers are definitely a downgrade from the 2 XL; not nearly as loud and the top speaker behind the glass is considerably weaker in volume and bass. I use earbuds or headphones most of the time so not a huge deal, but I do miss the front firing speakers still for the 1/4 of the time I use speakers for media.
• I'm digging the size and easy one-handed use for sure. Though it seems the slightly different aspect ratio causes it to crop the sides of videos a bit more than on the 2 XL so you have less usable display there unless you want to zoom in and cut off the vertical sides of the video. Just slightly more annoying than the previous aspect ratio and personally I wish phones would go back to 16:9 still.
• I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere, but I thought I had a defective display for a second due to a small LED light pulsating near the top of the display when I first turn the phone on sometimes. But after searching it's actually the proximity sensor indicator to let you know it's enabled. Not really an issue since it's only for a few seconds usually, just a new thing I wasn't aware of.

Overall it's great so far still, as expected. But I def don't think this is a $700 phone in today's cutthroat market and wouldn't want to pay more than $600 new, but I'm definitely good with it for the well under $500 that I paid for it.

 

[ComputerBox34]

I ended up picking up a S21 Ultra. Wish me luck

 

[T4rd]

I ended up picking up a S21 Ultra. Wish me luck

I think I would have preferred the S21+ or ultra over the Pixel 5 if I could get a decent deal on one. But here in Italy where I'm at, there are no carrier deals (trade ins or otherwise) or subsidies on phones here and I'm pretty much limited to buying fully unlocked phones here and no phone is worth $800+ out of pocket for me.

I always figured the only way the flagship Samsung and Apple phones sold was through carrier deals/financing and subsidies, because here virtually everyone (Italians at least) uses budget Android phones and it's rare to see anyone with a newer iPhone or Samsung. The Italian guy who cuts my hair just got a new phone for like €150 Oppo phone and it looked nice enough to me and he says he even plays CoD with his friends on it a lot. Pretty nifty how well these budget phones look and work and I would probably be fine with one too if I wasn't too concerned about security and camera quality.

Some more findings from my Pixel 5 so far though;

• For some reason my one and only Assistant routine doesn't work. I have a routine that I use every day after work or the gym where I tell Assistant "heading home" and it will send a Hangouts message to the wife telling her I'm on my way. Pixel 5 says "Hangouts messages aren't supported in routines at this time" or something to that effect. It worked fine on my 2 XL up until the last day I used it. I need to test it again on there to see if it's a local or server side issue.
• I was right about this being a 2-day phone for me easily, I ended the day yesterday with like 70% left after several hours of streaming media to my earbuds on my commute to work and back and while at the gym. 1.5 hours or so of SoT I think.
• Adaptive charging only got my battery to like 90% before my alarm woke me up for some reason. Maybe me falling asleep with Youtube up messed with it, as I got up in the middle of the night to pee and noticed the screen still on when I got back. I've never done that before so I must have been more tired than I thought when I crashed. I capped my previous 2 XL at around 80% charges most of the time to save on battery wear, so I think I'll skip that on this phone with adaptive charging enabled. But I'd prefer it gave me the option to cap charges since 80% will surely be enough for me 99% of the time.
• There's no HDR+ mode on the camera on this phone? I actually couldn't find any HDR settings in the camera app. Not that I ever wanted to turn HDR off, but it seems odd they don't have any options for it at all like my 2 XL had.
• Despite no additional "neural core" processor and having a mid-range SoC, picture processing seems to be faster overall than it was on my 2 XL still. That was a concern I had as well.

 

[T4rd]

Yeah, this is a two day phone for me. Pretty nice battery life that I haven't seen since the Moto Z Play that my wife had. Though that thing could do 10+ hours SoT over a day if you wanted and this is more like 8ish.

 

[cybereality]

Yeah, battery life is sick on the P5.

 

[Zorachus]

Man I wish Google made a 5 XL with a large 6.7" screen and shove in a 4,500mAh battery, but keep everything else the same as the Pixel 5. That wouid have been amazing.

 

[T4rd]

Bumping to see if any Pixel 5 users have even got the December update yet (there's no other Pixel 5 thread). I feel like Pixel 6 users now from last December when Google botched that update for them, but I haven't seen any news about why Pixel 5s haven't been updated yet.

 

[ComputerBox34]

Bumping to see if any Pixel 5 users have even got the December update yet (there's no other Pixel 5 thread). I feel like Pixel 6 users now from last December when Google botched that update for them, but I haven't seen any news about why Pixel 5s haven't been updated yet.

Don't know why the update hasn't pushed but you can always download images from here:

https://developers.google.com/android/ota#redfin

You can sideload via ADB. Pretty simple process if you have not done it before. The sideloaded update will preserve your data, apps, etc.

 

[T4rd]

Don't know why the update hasn't pushed but you can always download images from here:

https://developers.google.com/android/ota#redfin

You can sideload via ADB. Pretty simple process if you have not done it before. The sideloaded update will preserve your data, apps, etc.

Yeah, tracking. Just feel like maybe they're not pushing it for a reason so I shouldn't side-load it and introduce more worse bugs than this fixes (which I haven't had any thankfully). So was just seeing if it may have been rolled out and I'm not getting it somehow.

 

[ComputerBox34]

Yeah, tracking. Just feel like maybe they're not pushing it for a reason so I shouldn't side-load it and introduce more worse bugs than this fixes (which I haven't had any thankfully). So was just seeing if it may have been rolled out and I'm not getting it somehow.

You're not the only one it looks like - there's a bunch of threads about it on Google's community pages but they're all locked with no official response from Google.

 

[Enocerous]

Bumping to see if any Pixel 5 users have even got the December update yet (there's no other Pixel 5 thread). I feel like Pixel 6 users now from last December when Google botched that update for them, but I haven't seen any news about why Pixel 5s haven't been updated yet.

Just checked; still no update.

 

[Domingo]

In my experience with 3 different Pixel devices, Google goes through phases where they push updates to everyone and phases where the only option is to side-load. That's with older devices and brand-new ones, too. It's not the end of the world (side-loading only takes like 10 minutes vs. 45 normally), but it's annoyingly inconsistent.

 

[T4rd]

Well I just got the December update today.. in January, lol.

Updates usually roll on the first Monday of the month, but I guess Google took another holiday on Monday this month. Haven't seen anything posted for the January update yet.

 

[Domingo]

The Pixel 6's started getting the January update yesterday. Starting in September'ish, I've been getting the monthly updates as soon as they start rolling out. That's a welcome change after needing to sideload for the first few months I had this thing.

 

[T4rd]

The Pixel 6's started getting the January update yesterday. Starting in September'ish, I've been getting the monthly updates as soon as they start rolling out. That's a welcome change after needing to sideload for the first few months I had this thing.

Well I just checked and now I'm pulling the January update the day after I got the December update, lol. Dafuq.. this is the first time I've seen my Pixel 5 not get the update on the first Monday of the month and it took a full month for it to get it. But I'm sure what you say if true with how this isn't uncommon with other Pixels as well. But it seems usually carrier models are affected more than unlocked phones like mine.

 

[Enocerous]

Apparently, I'm not worthy. Still no Dec. update for my 5a.

 

[kirbyrj]

The Pixel 5 was my favorite pixel to date. I would definitely buy a "Pixel Mini" with the P5 body if they were going to play nonsense iPhone games. I loved the rear fingerprint reader. I gave it to my brother in favor of a Pixel 7, but I miss the size.