Kotas Reviews the Pixel 2

As we gear up for the next Turkey Day, let us give thanks for the miracles of modern technology. Things that would have seemed magical when I was a kid are now common place: Looking up almost endless facts to settle dinner arguments while right at the table, watching video while in a car, playing video games while on the crapper, and many other wonders are literally in the palm of our hands with the modern smart phone. These little techno wonders have certainly changed my life, and probably yours. Then again, that which is common place becomes mundane, eh? Let's take a look at the Pixel 2

Ta da!
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My first smartphone was the venerable Nexus 5 way back in December of 2013. I resisted the call of a smart phone for many years for reasons that mostly amounted to "I don't really need that garbage". Well, I'm big enough to admit that I was totally wrong and I totally need that garbage. That Nexus 5 changed the way I go about living. Browsing while waiting in lines, entertaining my kid while waiting for food in a restaurant, finding my way to new and exciting places via the Maps app, and playing a wide variety of games are all things I do on a near daily basis thanks to these marvels. I cannot count the times I've turned to my spouse (or friends, or random people on the street...) and said "How did I ever get along without smart phones before?". However, as the years rolled by my poor Nexus 5, much abused, began to show its age. A little slower, a little less able to keep up with modern apps, and most noticeably, the drop off in battery life. Gone were the days of "charge it at night and go strong all day", now I had to top it off during days with someone moderate use. Thus, I looked around for a good replacement and after a lot of research I landed on the Pixel 2. I love stock Android, and Google (for a few years anyway) gives near immediate updates on all the phones it sponsors, but dat price tag...well, I splurged for my and my spouse's phone as an anniversary present.

After a bit of a SIM card fiasco involving my spouse's SIM card and a SIM cutter (and then a few package deliveries), the Pixel 2 was in my grubby hands. Transferring my stuff from my Nexus 5 was pretty easy. Turn on the Pixel 2, connect it up with the old phone using the Type-C to Type-A adapter and my Nexus' old charging cable, let Google do its magic, and voila! Most of my apps and stuff were transferred over. Still had to download them, but the settings were mostly preserved along with account info and whatnot. Notably, everything from my Google Authenticator was lost and had to be set up again, so beware when doing that. Also, Super Mario Run didn't transfer data either, which I guess I understand since I don't have a Nintendo account. The process was not as easy for my spouse's phone, since the cable transfer app refused to open on the Moto G4 she'd been using, but an alternative method of "restore from backup" went through without issue. Your mileage my vary.

A lot of people have commented on the large top and bottom bezels this thing has, and yeah, they are noticeable and make it slightly harder to use the phone one handed, since the top of the screen is slightly above where my thumb naturally would rest. The screen is gorgeous though with rich colors and snappy responsiveness. No headphone jack is annoying, but since I only used headphones when I was working out (and thus not charging my phone anyway), the included Type-C to headphone adapter works well enough.

The phone itself feels pretty good in the hand, with the aluminum body covered with an easy grip coating. It's super thin too, which might be good for some people but kind of annoyed me until I got a case to give it a little more heft. The fingerprint sensor is on the back, which is super useful for how I use a phone, but again I kept brushing it without meaning to until I got a case. I don't know how anyone uses a phone "naked", but more power to ya! The selfie camera works pretty darn well, but what I was really blown away by was the standard camera. This thing is freakin' amazing 98% of time, taking great photos in many light conditions super fast. Way better than the Nexus 5 camera, that's for sure. The only flaw in it is the software. For reasons I can't determine yet, it will occasionally throw an error that has to be remedied by closing the app and reopening it. A minor niggle, but one nonetheless.

Processor and RAM are all great, and the phone is incredibly responsive and snappy when opening apps, closing them, etc. The "docked app" feature allowing for split screen use is super cool, and some apps, like Maps, actually work with a picture in a picture mode, which is sweet. The "always on" screen is something I didn't even know I wanted, since I can now look at my phone and see the time and date without having to unlock it. Such a tiny detail, and yet so useful! The battery life is also pretty amazing. Even with heavy use I can go a full day without needed to top up. However, when I DO need to top up, the Fast Charging is actually pretty damn fast. Good work, Google!

I've gushed about this thing for a while, but it does have some problems. The aforementioned "slightly too big for one handed use" issue. The "squeeze to use Google Assistant" is okay, but more often then not I find myself accidentally triggering it, even with the sensitivity turned down. The new Google Assistant screen doesn't let me swipe away stuff I don't like. I now have to hit the ellipsis menu and pick 'Hide', which is a few more steps than it should take. All small things. What isn't small? The Price. This is definitely a flagship phone and it comes with a price to match. I paid full retail for this thing (because I'm on an MVNO Bring Your Own Phone plan) and it hurt me a bit to pay that much for something this small and relatively fragile. Still, as a buddy of mine once said "You are going to use it every day for years. Buy the best you can and enjoy every moment rather than settle and keep being annoyed." I'm pretty sure someone said that anyway. Right?

On the FACE Rating System, this gets 3 Smiley Faces. I love this phone and I have been singing its praises to anyone who has asked me about it. It is a slick bit of tech and improves upon every use I had for my phone in almost every way. It has a few niggles, and the price is pretty high, but its still a great phone and I wouldn't want any other one. At least until next year's model comes out, amirite?

Kotas Reviews The Nexus 5

In 2014, I finally got off my duff and joined the fantastical world of 2007 by purchasing a smartphone for myself and my lovely wife. In order to eliminate any possible barriers to support, we both got the same phone. AT&T has been our cell provider for over a decade, but they wanted to charge my my first born child for data service, so we kicked them to the curb and went with an MVNO (which I will review in a future post). What does all this mean? That we needed to buy an unlocked phone.

Holy Geez have you seen how much those things cost? The phone I originally lusted after, the Moto X by Motorola, retailed for $600 unlocked at the time of my purchase. What was a cost-conscious-yet-tech-loving purchaser to to? After some cursory research (Read: “Hey Internet, what should I buy?”) I ultimately went with the Nexus 5, 32GB edition for $400. This is my review.

First Impressions

The box this came in is remarkably similar to the Nexus 7 (2013) box, which is honestly a pretty good sum up of everything about this phone in general. It comes with the phone itself, a wall charger and cable, and finally the SIM tray ejection tool, which is like a blunted pin with a large round handle.

The phone itself feels good in the hand, light but sturdy-feeling. The soft touch plastic on the back allows for a nice solid grip, and it fits the hand well with the slight curve of the back. The front of the phone is mostly taken up by the screen, and the bezel along the edge is very, very tiny. For $400, it looks good and feels good. It is also not too big for me. I was worried that the current trend of “BIGGER PHONES. ALWAYS.” that it would be oversized, but I could easily manipulate this with one hand, and I didn’t feel self conscious holding it up to my ear to use it as a phone.

After some transfer number shenanigans, I popped a fresh micro-SIM card in, and the phone sprang to life. My very first impression of the device actually on? DAT SCREEN. Seriously, the screen is absolutely beautiful. But, we all know that first impressions are not often a good indicator of overall happiness. Let’s explore further!

Initial Setup

The initial setup is the standard guided process for Google’s Nexus 7, but with a few “phone centric” bits. It still really wants a wi-fi network, though since I have two-factor authentication it went a little weird, as I couldn’t see the text I got to input the code at first. All in all, it mostly just worked.

Interface

The big to-do about the Nexus 5 is that it comes with Android 4.4 a.k.a. KitKat. What can I say about KitKat? I’ll tell you. I kind of love it. Since I’ve already sold my soul to Google I turned on Google Now and all that crap and you know what? it’s pretty neat to have my phone tell me how long my commute will be in the morning...even if it tells me 2 hours earlier than I need or my personal favorite, 2 hours LATER. There are 2 initial home screens, with a 3rd added with Google Now. However, there are actually “unlimited (-ish)” screens available if you want them, created by dragging icons past your last screen. I generally only use 2 or so screens, so this isn’t a big deal for me, but it is a nice feature.

The speed of this phone is evident in the general usage cases. Screen transitions are smooth and crisp, and apps open very, very quickly (with a few exceptions for apps that have to call back to a server). Things just work, and that is very important in a phone. Not all is 100% rosy though. The new dialer app is pretty, and once you get used to it it is very nice, but getting to a straight numberpad involves an extra step that can throw people off. The alarm app is also buried in a “clock” app that isn’t on the home screen, and it uses a radial menu for time selection instead of punching the time into a number bad. This seems very “different for the sake of different” but it is perfectly usable.

Widgets are no longer selected from the “all apps” screen, but instead by “tap and hold” on a home page, and then selecting the widget option from the screen. You can also set the wallpaper here, though there aren’t a lot of good stock options. Lucky for me, I like the default one. It doesn’t take too long to get used to, but it is different from earlier versions.

The much touted voice commands for Google Now are mostly a novelty, though I’ve had great success with using them to set ad-hoc alarms and for calling people w/o having to tap. It’s not 100% perfect, of course. Background noise can make it too sensitive or not sensitive enough, but for the most part? Voice searching and doing minor things works pretty well. Google’s voice recognition has really come a long way. If you don’t have a source of data though, the accuracy drops.

Apps

All the usual Google Apps are there, which I would expect given that this phone is touted as the “pure Android/Google experience”. Not having to delete/move/ignore some sort of dumb reskinning for things was a huge factor in my decision to purchase a Nexus device, and it was nice to have my phone set up the way I wanted to with little effort. Special notice goes out to the Google Keyboard, which has incorporated a “swype-esque” gesture typing and speech-to-text modes that have come in handy on several occasions. The apps are pretty good is what I’m saying...with one exception.

The camera app is kind of bleah. Oh, it takes pictures well enough, but making any sort of adjustment to things is a hefty chore. It LOOKS kind of slick, but it isn’t very usable. I am used to being able to “touch hover” over an item to see what it is, since I am not a huge photography person. This app pretty much throws all that into the garbage so it’s a “guess and hope” sort of affair until you memorize all the symbols. I’ve accidentally turned on or off (or set to some crazy value) a number of options when I was simply trying to figure out what that option was. My solution? Turn on HDR+ and stop trying to change things. Sure, I give up a lot of control over my pictures, but it’s worth the lack of hassle. This should not be the case with a camera app.

Performance

This thing is packed with mostly top-tier hardware and it really shows. The standout winner? The screen. It is simply gorgeous and everything on it is clear and sharp. The internals back it up nicely with no stutter, skips, or other problems outside of the occasional app problem (that is usually the app’s fault, not the hardware). It is just a joy to use. The wi-fi connectivity is very good, and I can even get a bar of wireless from several feet outside my house. There is only one speaker for media (calls have a much tinier speaker near the top of the phone) but it is surprisingly loud. Calls sound excellent, and my mother reports a lot less crackle and static during our phone conversations.

The camera hardware is pretty solid, though it lives in the “mid-range” area of phone cameras. The software doesn't really take advantage of the thing, but the HDR+ mode is good at keeping things looking decent. Am I going to take an award-winning shot with it? Doubtful, but the best camera is the one you have with you right?

For some, a big downside is the lack of an SD card slot. That’s right, there isn’t anything resembling user-upgradable storage on this thing. This is one reason why I spent the extra $50 for the 32GB edition, rather than the 16GB edition. I don’t have a lot of music or anything, but I am taking a lot more pictures these days. I don’t expect to run out of space any time soon, but it’s nice to have it there if I want it.

Battery life is, again, in the mid-range for this class of phone. I’ve gotten a full 36 hours out of it in one go, but that was with minimal usage. With light browsing, notifications, and so forth, it generally gets down to 50% charged over the course of a typical day. If I’m playing a lot of media (podcasts are a new thing, and I enjoy them), keeping the screen on, or making a lot of phone calls the battery drains much quicker, but I still get about 14-16 hours out of it before it yells at me. I get a day’s work out of it no problem, but more than that and I’m pushing it. I did buy a battery backup device just in case.

Overall

How did I ever live without a smart phone? Seriously, why did I not buy one of these years ago? I’m pretty darn happy with the Nexus 5 as a phone and as a networked device. The ability to pull out the phone and check email, in the middle of a state park or at a restaurant or wherever is truly a life-changing experience, however simple it may seem. This phone does everything I want it to do, albeit imperfectly in a few cases. For the price though? It is a bargain. $400 gets you a lot of phone these days, especially with the recent price drop of the Moto X, but the pure Google Experience (and robust history of quick software updates) make the Nexus 5 an excellent choice if you are looking for an Android phone. On the FACE Rating System I give this phone 3 smiley faces. It would have gotten 4, but the camera app is kind of “bleah” and the battery life could be better. Truly an excellent piece of hardware.

Kotas Reviews the Nexus 7 2nd Generation

For my wife’s birthday, I bought her a Nexus 7 (2nd Generation). I got it early, during a “tax free” shopping weekend, because I like to support local businesses when I can. Like my last tablet review, I’ve given it at least a week to get used to it, and see how it works. I got the 32GB model because Asus is notorious for using somewhat questionable parts for storage in their “basic” tier gear. Besides, it can’t hurt to have more storage, now can it?

TL;DR: This tablet is the bee’s knees of 7 inch Android tablets, with an amazing screen and robust software. It has its quirks, but nothing that would prevent someone from using it. Now, for the more detailed review.

First Impressions

The Google branded packaging is pretty nice, and for once it was easy to get open (unlike SOME retail packaging). You don’t get much in the box, just a set of quick start instructions, power cord and wall adapter, and the tablet. The Nexus 7 is surprisingly light and thin, with thicker bezels at the top and bottom than along the edges (when held in portrait orientation). What does this mean? It means I can hold the damn thing one handed, though using the touch screen one handed is much more difficult. It is possible though, which is a plus from my aging Asus Transformer Prime. The back has a really nice surface to touch. Smooth, but with enough uh...grip to mitigate any fears of it slipping easily out of your hand.The tablet feels good in the hand, but it does seem a little fragile, if only because it is very, very thin. It’s a well built piece of technology.

Initial Setup

Initial setup was as straightforward as I remembered it on my other Android tablet, though since I have two factor authentication turned on I needed to use the “web login” to complete the setup. A minor hitch at best. Gmail, G+, Hangouts, etc. all “just worked”. It even came mostly charged, and it connected to my wireless network without issue.

Interface

It comes with stock Android 4.3 and my oh my is this a leap from 4.1 (I haven’t used 4.2). Hands down, my favorite feature is multiple user accounts. I have an account, and Charlotte has an account, and switching between the two is as easy as going ot the lock screen and back. We don’t have any sort of restrictions on the accounts, but there is an option to set up a “limited access” account. I’m sure that will be handy when Sylvia wants to play Angry Birds. The other big change for me is a “favorites” bar kind of area. No matter which “desktop” you are on, this bar exists. No more having to swipe around trying to remember where you put your email app launch icon.

The system settings now swipe down from the top, rather than having to tap a corner, and that’s pretty cool. The settings panel is a bit nicer, but not much has changed here. It’s very workable. The screen is an absolute joy to behold. Seriously it is very sharp, and way outshines the screen on my Transformer Prime.

Software

The default software is what you’d expect: all the Google apps you’d expect (Gmail, G+, Hangouts, etc.), and even Google Keep, which I don’t know if I will use or not. I’m not big on note-taking apps, so probably not, but hey, it’s there. For someone who sold himself to Google years ago, the default software is fine. Web browsing is handled with Chrome. I haven’t bothered with any other browser on this device, but it works good. The new Google Keyboard for screen typing is a nice improvement over the old one and even has some Swype-esque features. Google Play is there in all its glory, and all my previously purchased or downloaded apps were available for me to install.

Performance

I haven’t done a lot of serious work on this tablet, but the responsiveness is really, really solid. I haven’t seen one instance of stutter, slowdown, or other hiccup. It is also nice and bright, and while others have complained of dead pixels, I haven’t seen any. Unlike a lot of tablets, this one actually has stereo speakers, on the “top and bottom”, and they can get surprisingly loud.

The rear facing camera...is certainly a camera. It works about as well as any other tablet camera I’ve used, though the lack of flash is somewhat disappointing. Still, it gets the job done. The 4.3 camera app is weird, but once I got used to it, it works pretty well.

I was excited to test the wireless performance vs. the Transformer Prime, and at first I was pretty disappointed. It was better, but only a tiny bit better rather than the significant performance increase I saw between the Prime and my old Asus netbook. After a little poking around on the Intarwebs, I saw some posts indicating that NFC could be interfering with the wireless reception, so I turned it off. This did improve things to a solid level, but my netbook outshines both tablets for whatever reason. It is much less of an issue now that I’ve bought a powerline Wireless extender, which gives me wireless throughout the entire house, but I can still see a difference between my Prime and the Nexus 7. All in all, it’s perfectly serviceable.

Battery life is pretty good, though I’ve not done any formal testing. If one is good about turning off the wireless, it will go a good while between charges, and even under fairly regular use it only needs charging every 3 to 4 days. Charlotte uses it for reading, browsing, checking email, and watching TED talks and hasn’t complained.

Browsing seems fast, certainly faster than on my Prime for whatever reason, though Flash is no longer a thing without resorting to side loading. Honestly, I haven’t missed it and reading web comics from the comfort of my bed is a fine way to wind down an evening. Apps seem to be quicker to react too, except the Kindle App which has always been slow for whatever reason. Eh, it works.

Overall

I am very impressed with this tablet. The screen is the best one I’ve ever seen, at least as nice as the “Retina” screen on the current generation of iPads, even if it is smaller. I like the 7” form factor a lot more than I thought I would, though I think I still prefer the 10” size for a lot of things. Charlotte can chime in here, but I’m pretty sure she really likes it. Stock Android is a fine experience, and 4.3 is a great way to get into it. The price isn’t bad either ($280 for the 32GB model, $230 for the 16GB model), considering what you get. On a scale of 5 frowny faces to 5 smiley faces, I give this a solid 4 smileys.