Ordering

I watched the Pixel launch event live stream.  I pre-ordered the Google Pixel phone within minutes of when it was available on launch day.  About a week later, I talked myself into changing my order from the 32GB model to the 128GB model.  And then I waited.  And waited.  My original order was placed on October 4 (launch day) but after the order change, my expected delivery date was Thanksgiving (November 23-25).

In an exciting surprise, my order was actually processed and shipped earlier this week (November 8).  I received it today – November 10th.  I raced home from work after teaching and a few one-on-one meetings with students.

First Hours

The setup was completely painless.  The phone guided me through step-by-step.  I used the adapter provided to transfer the data from my old phone (Sony Xperia Z2 that I’ve had for a little over 2 years now, since October 2014, and loved).  I waited for all the apps to install and update.  I waited for the operating system to download and install an update.

I set up fingerprint unlock – the new feature I am most excited about.  I set up all my home screens (2 for icons, 1 with just the calendar widget, 1 with just the Google Keep widget).  I unpaired my smartwatch (Moto 360 version 2) with my old phone, paired with the Pixel, and (re)customized the watch face.  I opened all the apps I use the most often to make sure I could easily sign in and that settings and things were saved/transferred properly.

The only things that didn’t seamlessly transfer were my call logs and text messages.  I downloaded a third party app and have that working now.

A few more observations so far:

• There’s been a lot of poking fun at Google because the ads for the Pixel make it look like an iPhone from the front.  The similarity is there visually when looking head-on at the front of the phone, sure.  But holding it in your hand, it feels and looks nothing like an iPhone.
• The display is WAY nicer than any phone I’ve had before.
• The software and hardware (including the fingerprint sensor) are impressively fast.  (As they should be on day one!)
• I’ve only done a handful of test-shots so far with the camera but I am extremely impressed with the pictures I’ve gotten with the default settings.
• The audio, as I expected, is a downgrade.  Music sounds good, but not as good as on the dual-speaker setup I had on my old phone.

A Few Days Later

Everything is still running great. I’m generally impressed with the phone, and I love some of the new features my old phone didn’t have – especially fingerprint unlock and night lighting. Everything feels lightning fast on this phone.

The screen is 0.2 inches smaller than my old phone. I didn’t think this would be noticeable, and holding the phones face-to-face the difference in size is barely visible. However, I’ve noticed the keyboard keys are noticeably smaller and closer together, which is wreaking havoc on my ability to type ANYTHING correctly. I’m leaning heavily on next-word predictions to avoid actually typing. Muscle memory is real, and hard to retrain.

The battery life is way less than what I’m used to. But I think that’s just because I’m spoiled. I’m coming from a Sony Xperia that easily lasted 2+ days. This phone needs to be charged at least once per day, which kind of annoys me. It drains way faster than it feels like it should for how little I use it throughout the day. I keep it constantly connected to my watch via Bluetooth and maybe send 2-3 texts, but otherwise I do everything for work from my tablet or desktop during the day. Which should not drain my phone battery.

I haven’t tried using Google Assistant much. I’ve used it to set a couple of reminders and to have it look up facts for me. It works great for that… But of course I already knew that, because that all worked with voice commands on Android Marshmallow on my old phone. I just haven’t found a need for the new Assistant-exclusive features yet.