Develop Bugs

Got a Tab S and need to upgrade - is the PixelC a great choice and why?

I have owned my Tab S 10.4 since launch but its getting slow and android 5.02 update isn't great making it laggy.
So last week I bought an ASUS Zenpad 3s 10 which was a fantastic screen etc but the wifi connection is poor. So its been returned.
I noticed yesterday that the Pixel C has £100 off. Is it a great buy, or is something else expected imminently from Google hence the discount?
I've been holding off for the Tab s3 but that seems to be a way off.
thanks loads

You will be blown away

I have both the tab s2 and pixel c. I kinda prefer the tab s2. More vivid screen and sd card support and semi up to date. The c is more premium feeling but wifi is quite weak too due to its all alu construction.

I also had the tab s2 and pixel c. Pixel c is better.
Samsung has more of a vivid screen but the pixel c is sharper and more natural
Pixel c is a lot more powerful. Way better graphics and CPU
It's heavier but a lot more premium feel. The tab s2 feels a bit like a stick I had one for a year and it warped.
Software is much smoother and better on the pixel c
You will always get updates on pixel c. Already on 7.1.1
Who knows when or if the tab s2 will get nougat
Sound is better on the pixel c too
Oh and the keyboard is awesome if you ever get one
The tab s2 is a very good tablet no doubt but the pixel c is much better

I got the Pixel C after my tab s was stolen, it's a worthy upgrade in every sense.

brando56894 said:
I got the Pixel C after my tab s was stolen, it's a worthy upgrade in every sense.
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How's the wifi after the latest updates? Has it improved?
My home and work wifi routers are strong and fast, so I'm not expecting much of a problem. I've just been reading a lot of complaining about the Pixel C's wifi...

12paq said:
How's the wifi after the latest updates? Has it improved?
My home and work wifi routers are strong and fast, so I'm not expecting much of a problem. I've just been reading a lot of complaining about the Pixel C's wifi...
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I've never really had an issue with it because I've always been relatively close to an access point. The thing is that various people have been having screen issues (I started a thread where half my screen froze and I had to RMA it, about a month or two later at least ten other people reported the same thing, even on replacements. The volume down button on my replacement died after about two months).

brando56894 said:
I've never really had an issue with it because I've always been relatively close to an access point. The thing is that various people have been having screen issues (I started a thread where half my screen froze and I had to RMA it, about a month or two later at least ten other people reported the same thing, even on replacements. The volume down button on my replacement died after about two months).
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Thanks, man.
I just pulled the trigger and bought one from the Google Play store for $499 64gig.
The play store will be easier to RMA if needed and so will unlocking and rooting. Also Android versions updates will be quick for the time being...
I realise there's little dev support, but just having it rooted with a custom kernel and possibly running xposed, I should be good to go.
Thanks for your input.

No problem buddy. It's a great tablet when it doesn't screw up haha I use mine daily since I got it last year.

I want a pixel C, but I don't want to pay that much for a tablet released in 2015. Looking forward to the next Google tablet.

It's worth the upgrade
Definitely worth it, 3 months and 0 issue with mine so far. I find WiFi seems only problematic with cheap router and crowded WiFi channel. I use a Asus ac5300 and never had a single connection problem and mind you I have a crowded WiFi neighborhood.
The battery life is phenomenal, if you use the magnetic keyboard be mindful I found it's really easy to scratch the screen sliding the kb, I install a screen protector just in case.

Do you feel disappointed by your pixel c? (and google by extension)

First it was speculated to come with chrome OS (at one point it was found to have been originally planned for it), then the thing was sent out with bugs (I had the random reboot and now severe lag) that were promised to be fixed by software and never were.
NOW I read were not even getting Android P even thought the tablet is more than capable in handling it.
I have to be honest Im SEVERELY disappointed in googles newest devices. The Nexus and Nexus S were solid, the nexus 5 was a miracle, the 5x was a slight taper down with the bootloop issue but google made sure to take care of a lot of those people. Now my pixel 2 already had the mic bug, was replaced and now has the loose USB C issue and will have to be swapped again. On top of that the pixel c was being sold new about 3 or 4 months ago and now google is basically telling those people "hey guess what you bought something were not supporting!"
Honestly this was a pretty pricey tablet but between the random rebooting and atrocious lag that never got nor will apparently ever be fixed, I for one am completely disenchanted with googles devices. I see the watch may be coming out in fall but I dont know if I can bring myself to even be curious about it.
How do you guys feel about the tablet? Do you have any of the issues? Do you plan on buying another from them?

I don't own this device (yet) but having only every used Nexus tabs (and I have used them all) and hearing about Pixel devices, google needs to either A: reform their in house hardware development system (fire and hire designers, get more people to scrutinize design, better manufactures, etc.) or B: Scrap in house hardware design and go back to other OEM's and re-open the Nexus program, preferably with Samsung and HTC, because let's be honest, the best Nexus devices were made by them hands down. LG Nexus 5 is the ONLY exception and even then the Galaxy Nexus was better. I know option A would cost A LOT, but that extra cha ching is just an investment really. Better hardware sells better and builds more confidence in your brand, which is pretty much non-existent in the Pixel Line up. Case and point it sucks that you are having these issues, and reccomend you sell your Pixel C for a good Nexus 9 or Nexus 10 if you don't mind leeping back down to android 6.0.1 (or staying at 7.1/8.1 if you don't mind a lack of camera or flash)

I think this is the best Android tablet ever built, even if it is a couple years old now.
Great build quality, great screen quality and dimensions, fast and great battery life.
Nvidia X1 is also the best chip ever produced by the company: great Gpu (as K1) but this time also solid CPU.
It is perfectly enjoyable even stock.
I had no reboot or lag or other problems here.
I am coming from Nexus 9 (previously owned also Nexus 10 and Nexus 7 2012) and Pixel C is a great improvement

I am also quite disappointed:
At least I expected that ChromeOS would be ported to the Pixel C. Reading some discussions here, the Pixel C is already fully prepared for ChromeOS. Even the bootloader seems to be a ChromeOS-Bootloader.
The next disappointment was that the Pixel C wont get an official Android P ROM. I expect that LineageOS will deliver a P ROM. We will see.
I also do not intend to buy a Google device again if I can avoid it. Because of an broken display I recognised that Google has a pretty descent support. But the devices are much overpriced, like Apple. But a Killer-Argument for me is an official Support for a custom ROM. (Because I normally intend to use my devices MUCH longer than the manufacturers intend to deliver updates.) Otherwise I would have an Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (because of the pen). So it is possible that i would by another Google device, but it is not very likely.

Thoughts on the Pixel Slate?

Looking at the Pixel Slate, it seems to me like it's what the Pixel C should have been. The Pixel C seems to have been released as a Surface Pro competitor. However, two key strengths of the Surface Pro were the desktop operating system and pen support. These are both things the Pixel C doesn't have. The Pixel Slate, by contrast, rocks an x86 processor and Chrome OS with Linux app support. As well, it is compatible with the Chromebook Pen. It seems Google has, shockingly, learned something from their mistakes on the Pixel C. Apple could take a hint from this with their iPad Pro, per the OS.
The one area I see as not as good is the keyboard. While backlighting is nice, I feel the hinge design on the Pixel C was absolute gold! I realize they needed room for the touchpad, but the design of the Pixel Slate's keyboard just seems so lame in comparison. It's the usual folding cover trick. If I can't stick my tablet to a fridge, then what's the point?
For me personally, I got my Pixel C knowing full well of its shortcomings. I never intended to use it like a Surface Pro, but instead wanted something to use more like I used to my Nexus 10. I specifically wanted an Android tablet, and for that the Pixel C has been amazing! So I really have no regrets there. But ever since the Pixel C came out, I always remember thinking that, for what it's supposed to be, it really missed the mark. It's cool to see that Google has taken a lesson from that. Had the Pixel Slate come out when the Pixel C did, I think it'd've done really well. Nowadays, we'll have to see. Onenote for Android still is lacking some features. (Although a working equation editor exists, you just can't insert new equations.) That's still a major strength for both the iPad Pro and the Surface Pro.

Bummer its x86. A port of this would be a dream come true

do you think is even possible to bring chrome os to pixel C now that the pixel slate will be released?

alexjzim said:
Bummer its x86. A port of this would be a dream come true
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I heard of people claiming there is a lot of lag with the slate
---------- Post added at 02:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:46 AM ----------
Is the slate capable of rooting phones, and running ADB commands?

it is the first tablet that has several processor options. the i7 is ~$1,800. welcome to the really big leagues. do ipads even get to that price point? how does the most expensive ipad compare to the most expensive slate? this crap is for millionaires and i'm not one of them. i noticed google is pushing payment plans to supposedly allow people who can't pay full price up front to go into debt to own one. how nice. google is dead as far as offering affordable devices. and this is even before we learn about what the problems are. i would be willing to bet that there will be issues on some models that are not on others. maybe the 600 buck one turns out to be a real pain the the ass while the $1,800 i7 runs rather well. socio-economic class distinctions across one device. i remember when the pixel c came they had to offer 200 or 300 buck discounts to get more devs to buy in so there would be apps built for it. maybe early next year after all the initial bumblefrack gets known they start offering the cheap model for 400 bucks or less and the i7 for 1100. once again turning the early bird adopters into early bird suckers. whatever, i learned back in the pixel c days to wait for the 2nd or 3rd revision of the device so the early bugs are worked out and hopefully a lower discounted price. but anyone who wants to jump right in be my guest because we all end up learning from your mistake.

honestly chrome OS is prety much garbage. Im a long time android user, own a pixel c. My girl got me the slate for an xmas gift, I got her the new ipad pro 12". I thought chrome OS was just a learning curve thing but it is just complete trash. most of the apps for android DONT work right, regardless what google claims, the soft typing on this thing is the worst I have ever used on ANYTHING. Its constantly correcting words wrong, it corrects words that dont need to be corrected because it just feels like it and when YOU correct the word it just ignores you and does whatever it wants. The swyping is AWFUL. 90% of the time it never makes a space between the words, it doesnt know what youre swyping and just types what it wants. Its insert function is horrid. You realize it made a mistake so you go back to delete something a few words back and it just gives you the hardest time. I want to get around to making a video for it but I dont want my girl to feel bad watching me trash this thing. I try to use it and enjoy it when were surfing in bed but she cant help but see me getting frustrated.
If I could remove chrome OS and just put android in it, I would be SO happy.

The modern Pixel Slate is FAR better than it was at release or even months later.

Pixel/Google Software Experience on non-Pixel Phone

I have finally made the decision to abandon the Pixel line of phones. This is not a thread to bad mouth Pixel phones; quite the contrary -- I am looking for Pixel-like software experience on a phone with high end specs.
I originally got into Pixel phones on the Pixel 2 XL. I bought mine used, but I *loved* it. It loved it so much, I gave it to my wife, and doubled down on a new Pixel 3 XL order. This was nice for a few months, and then there was some update, and my programs would no longer stay open in the background. That lasted about 6 months, and was completely horrific. There's a thread here in the forums, somewhere.
Google released a fix that made things liveable, but it was never as it originally was on my Pixel 2 XL.
Sometimes in the past few months -- probably the upgrade to Android 11 -- this problem resurfaced. I was running three programs, for example, and then the phone rang. I couldn't answer the phone because the phone program wouldn't fully load. A phone is a primary tool for my job...
I list the above with heavy heart but, again, not to bash Google/Pixel. Low end hardware specs and high end software seems to be the Google design philosophy. It is not mine, nor does it support my (desired?) experience. Therefore, I feel forced to leave the platform.
These things said, and the reason for me opening this thread, is I'd like to know if there is anything out there with high end specs, but the "Google" / "Pixel" software experience? If so, can you please recommend options to me? Please note: I am not a firmware flasher. I do like a lot of the customizations presented in these forums -- and I have nothing against flashing ROMs -- it's just not my bag. One thing I have learned from being in the smart phone world for so long is *my* limitations.
For lack of seeing choice, I am currently in the Samsung world. I have no issues, really, with the Samsung world, but they are slow with updates (rightfully slow -- look at my complain about aggressive memory management, above).
Anyway, I'm hoping you can help.
Thank you!

I'd say go for Motorola Edge or OnePlus.
I've never really liked samsung releasing a new android update half a year (to be optimistic) after pixel has received it.

Question Pixel Fold ROM on Galaxy Z Fold 4

I have been a Nexus/Pixel guy since Nexus 1 all the way to Pixel 6 pro. I got an amazing deal on the Galaxy Fold 4 around 6 months ago and bit the bullet. I love the hardware. Beautiful build and screens both outside and inside. I am happy with the battery life too. But I definitely miss the vanilla Android on the Pixels. Some of the decisions by Samsung are head scratching. And I hate that I have two apps for everything (messages, calender etc. Some of the Samsung apps cannot be disabled). I am running a Pixel launcher and it works fine but now that Google has their own foldable, have any of the smart people here figured out/planning to port the Pixel Fold ROM onto a Galaxy Z Fold. Please tell me that's possible? That would make this already great phone a perfect phone.
TIA

Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely? Well...
The problem is, Google uses only slightly modified AOSP for their devices; device specific info is on a separate /product partition. This helps with fragmentation because they can push the same system image to devices in service, and they don't have to rebuild the firmware for each one.
Samsung on the other hand doesn't really do this. They use heavily modified Android with a lot of Samsung specific stuff to drive all their features. Very little is shared between devices as far as firmware goes. It's one thing to port AOSP over to a Samsung device when that device has only one screen; it's another entirely when it's a foldable device with 2 screens. Successfully porting the Pixel Fold build onto the Z Fold would require reverse engineering Samsung's firmware...which is proprietary, and would likely be getting into copyright infringement territory.

Thanks for that technical reply. I still keep the Pixel 6 pro around as back up and whenever I use it, I wonder why Samsung and other manufacturers spend so much time skinning their OS just to worsen the experience.
I also now understand why iPhone users rage when they switch to Android. Switching from one form of Android to another form made me go crazy for the first couple of weeks where I considered sending back the device several times.

paragordius1 said:
Thanks for that technical reply. I still keep the Pixel 6 pro around as back up and whenever I use it, I wonder why Samsung and other manufacturers spend so much time skinning their OS just to worsen the experience.
I also now understand why iPhone users rage when they switch to Android. Switching from one form of Android to another form made me go crazy for the first couple of weeks where I considered sending back the device several times.
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Each manufacturer wants to present a "unique experience" with Android. This is why they skin them with their own versions of bloatware.
Otherwise they'd ALL be Pixel clones with different hardware.
As much as you might want a constant experience one Android phone to another, this just isn't going to happen. This is one of the great things (and drawbacks) of Android...

Which pixel launcher do you use that works well on the fold 4?

paragordius1 said:
I have been a Nexus/Pixel guy since Nexus 1 all the way to Pixel 6 pro. I got an amazing deal on the Galaxy Fold 4 around 6 months ago and bit the bullet. I love the hardware. Beautiful build and screens both outside and inside. I am happy with the battery life too. But I definitely miss the vanilla Android on the Pixels. Some of the decisions by Samsung are head scratching. And I hate that I have two apps for everything (messages, calender etc. Some of the Samsung apps cannot be disabled). I am running a Pixel launcher and it works fine but now that Google has their own foldable, have any of the smart people here figured out/planning to port the Pixel Fold ROM onto a Galaxy Z Fold. Please tell me that's possible? That would make this already great phone a perfect phone.
TIA
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Care to share some screenshots of your pixel launcher and the name? I'm intrigued.