Google Pixel 2 XL 64GB with 15GB of data at $49 a month.
24 months contract.
Includes unlimited talk and text.
Minimum cost $1,176. Given the value of Pixel at ~$600 that's $576 for the SIM card which is $24 a month over 24 months.
Google Pixel 2 XL 64GB with 15GB of data at $49 a month.
24 months contract.
Includes unlimited talk and text.
Minimum cost $1,176. Given the value of Pixel at ~$600 that's $576 for the SIM card which is $24 a month over 24 months.
Yeah same. I spoke with telstra chat and they knocked it down to $49 and increased it to 30gb. cant imagine paying the same amount now, regardless of how decent the phone is.
That's lucky. She only uses a few GB a month, but a discount would be nice… How'd you manage to do that on a contract?
Annoyingly her phone reguarly drops out at her house too, wasn't an issue originally. May have more luck bringing that up with them. Definitely not her phone at fault though.
you just have to get the right person on the chat. took me a few goes, but once one of them offered me the deal (hadnt bought the phone yet), i instantly saved the chat and pulled the trigger. went back and battled with the transcript for the discount
Yeah a lot of us done it on OzBargain, I got the idea from here (was reading the threads back then). You jump on chat, ask for the extra data. Then jump on another chat after and ask for the discount of $10 per month (at the very start you didn't even need to jump on two chats, you just did both in one chat). Have had the extra data + discount since first month until now, no issues whatsoever.
My calls were dropping out too at home. You need to switch off WiFi calling in the settings, which will fix the problem.
@agleeson28: Yeah I was thinking wifi calling may be a problem.
Discontinued product, just thought ppl should know.
Thanks for the post. I've been looking for a new phone/plan. Good to consider.
The Mate 30 Pro deal at JB seems incredibly good for a phone just released imo.
P30 Pro
@wangsk: Yeah that one.
paying $699 on top of 69p/m for 2 years doesn't seems like a good deal to me.
@yummypinacolada: For a $1600 new phone it's actually reasonably good as far as contracts go… Better than this anyway.
I don't mind them, think they are the iphones of the Android world, very simple to use without the clutter. Bit concerned about Google dropping support very quickly though.
Think they make a great phone to get someone to switch to Android with. My older sister did, and my younger one will too.
They are not dropping support for them, just no longer selling them as an official product being sold. They should continue to get security updates and I think at least Android Q this year as well.
It was more in reference to the first one which I believe Google has stopped OS updates on. Which is fairly quick, and I believe quicker than Nexus devices in the past…
@scuderiarmani: They're all receiving 3 years of OS updates which is one more year of OS updates than most other phones. They're also all receiving 3 years of security updates.
So many tender hearts. The Pixel is Android as it should be. Clean simple and without clutter apps.
It's not like most that have a skin ontop.
Hence me comparing it to Apple. I haven't had one personally, but have enjoyed setting up and maintaining my mum's device, it's a far easier sell to an Apple fan than any other Android device. Also has a more Apple like design to it… Without the headphone jack, the older dated looking build quality, the notch… But also a fantastic camera.
It's android as it should be for developers. That is literally all it is and all it ever has been. The nexus line was usable by many, had bugs and hardware faults. The same goes for the Pixel but they are much more expensive. THey lack many features other androids have had for years, they limit customisatin and are years behind design and feature trends. Camera lacks basic features like macro/optical zoom/wide angle which most phones have these days.
Apple also support their phones for 5 years, Samsung is currently the longest supporting company of android as far as security updates go. Google is second, but obviously they are providing 3 years of OS updates which is 1 more than Samsung - but going by the complete history of Pixel and Nexus, this often isn't great as battery life and performance often degrades with the more updates you get.
I got my P2XL about 14 months ago. Aside from one issue with the USB port after a firmware update, mine has been great. Moved from an S7 and have been pretty happy.
Has recently been updated to android 9, and security patches are continuing….
Please indicate on the photo where the Pixel touched you.
In all seriousness, from my experience, that couldn't be farther from the truth. I have a Pixel XL, easily the best phone I ever owned, my partner has the 2 XL. I have 3 other friends with Pixels as well. All purchased due to my recommendations. Havent heard anything bad from any of them.
Also wouldnt ever recommend a Samsung phone. I used to be a fanboy, owned multiple Galaxy Notes. But all of them over time turned to garbage thanks to Touchwiz. Spent countless hours playing with custom ROMs. There is much that can be said of the advantage of vanilla android over the mess that is Touchwiz.
turned to garbage thanks to Touchwiz
After the OneUI update, I would easily argue it's one of the best Android OS available.
That's fair, I can't comment either way, I havent used Touchwiz since I got my Pixel XL, and that was 2 and a bit years ago.
From my perspective, the best Android is the one Google released without a 3rd party fiddling with it.
@FuRyZ: agree touchwiz was bad (i wouldn't say horrible). They were packed with features and that was the issue, battery drain for features you'd never use.
But one ui is very decent. I think it's a good balance between function and form. Just imo.
ps, are you still receiving updates? I'd have expected the pixels to be like apple and receive updates up to 3-4 years+
@mbck: No feature updates since end of last year. Did get a camera update this year which was not meant to occur. The update enabled Night Sight which is a welcome addition. Still receive the monthly security updates.
@mbck: Its fair that a company is not releasing new features for a phone that is approaching 3 years old now. Security updates on the other hand are very important, and from that perspective, Google are still supporting the phone.
@FuRyZ: Worth noting that they are still pushing OG Pixel specific enhancements in the monthly patches, not just security.
https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/pixel/2019-04-0…
This month was Bluetooth improvements.
@ashanrath: I stand correct then, I hadn't realised there are still other updates included in the monthly patches. According to releases from Google, there weren't supposed to be any new updates apart from security as of October last year.
I guess the one thing that surprised me most is that even after all this time, my Pixel has been running great. No OS slowdown or any issues at all. Usually as I approach the 3 year mark, I would be seriously considering an upgrade to a newer model but I just cant find any justification to do so. With my old Samsung phones it was almost a given that I would do an annual factory reset just to refresh the phone and get it back up to speed.
I think the only major con with the Pixels is that their current gen phones are really overpriced. There is no way I am shelling out $1500 on a new phone. Which is disappointing, just because Samsung and Apple think its ok to charge that much does not mean that Google should jump on that bandwagon.
@FuRyZ: I'm in total agreement. I'm running a Pixel 2 (non-XL) myself and just can't find anything to really complain about it with. The 3 would be nice, but all it really offers me over the 2 is slightly better CPU and more RAM, neither of which are at all a bottleneck for my usage.
As for the support, I think they've ended guaranteed support but will still include things when it makes sense. Most of the new features these days are distributed via the Play Store anyway. Google Camera is a great example of this.
@ashanrath: You know the 3 has the same RAM right?
@FuRyZ: man that's NOT discontinued product lol. That's amazing support just like I expected for a pixel. IF Google continue to update the phone the at least 3 major updates…I would jump ship.
@FuRyZ: Yea it's changed a lot. The S10 is quite a lot faster and more responsive than even the Pixel 3, it often performs better, has more features, has better quality hardware, better battery life, and holds more in RAM which means less reloading etc.
@onlinepred: Not knocking the S10 hardware. I agree that Samsung flagships definitely have the best specifications on paper out of any phone on the market. And if they offered a Vanilla Android option with no Samsung bloat pre-installed, I would probably consider going back to Samsung.
I think the entire Bixby debacle is a perfect example, why does Samsung feel they need to push their own versions of applications that deliver a worse user experience and are extremely difficult and sometimes impossible to remove. Why release a great phone but ruin it with our branded apps.
I hate that fact I sounds like an Apple fanboy when I say that the best thing about the Pixel is that is simply works out the box. While still retaining the customisability of Android. I can still run things like custom launchers etc.
@FuRyZ: I am using the bixby button to turn the torch on. Bixby buttons uses Google Assistant.
What "Samsung bloat pre-installed"? If it's just facebook it's two clicks to disable it. And it only comes pre installed with a placeholder, it's not the actual app.
Either way, Pixel is so stuck as far as customization, you can't change colours, styling fonts etc. Q are just introducing very basic examples of that now, while you can change system wide themes on most other androids. Not sure about Pixel just working. I've gone through many RMA processes for Pixels and Nexus, my wife and our friends have also done this. It's reduced feature set, reduced customization, high price, and increased risk of bugs/slowdowns and questionable build quality seem a no brainer unless you are a developer. I mean any android phone can be made to look/run like a pixel, but a pixel can't do the other way.
Anyway, the friends that have jumped to pixel from iphone in my group have gone back to iphone, while those that jumped to s9 are loving it. I remember one of them showing me at their house how they connect to two bluetooth speakers at the same time with their S9, went to do it with my phone and realised straight away that simple things like this the pixel can't do.
@onlinepred: These are all Android phones, there is no difference in customisation or feature sets. I myself have disabled Google Launcher and I run Nova Launcher on my Pixel, hard to find a more customisable feature set on the market for the Android UI. The fact you dont have to mess with Samsung Knox makes the Pixel inherently easier to customise if you want to go down the custom ROM and boot loader route.
Of my friends and family, I know of 5 Pixel phones, I use a OG Pixel XL, my partner has a Pixel 2 XL. I have 3 other friends, one OG Pixel, and two Pixel 2 XLs. Not one person has complained about any issues.
I dont see how connecting to two bluetooth speakers is anything to rave about. Connecting to smart devices is not a Samsung specific feature. I have my entire house wired up with Philips Hue smart lighting, my AV Receiver and speaker system play music via Spotify on my phone, my air conditioners are all smart controlled. Every single one of those devices interface and can be controlled via Google Assistant.
As for Google Support and RMA. Easily the best support network on the market. My original Nexus 6P failed on me. I got a full refund after they couldnt get me a replacement phone. I used that refund to purchase my Pixel XL. I owned a Nexus 6P for 6 months, basically for free. I have never dealt with a faster and smoother customer RMA service ever, the entire process from their courier picking up the phone to getting my refund was less than 1 week.
Literally the only con I am willing to accept that you have listed is the high cost. Of which Samsung phones suffer from the exact same issue.
@FuRyZ: Look I'm sorry mate, but most of what you said is bull.
" there is no difference in customisation or feature sets." - samsung has overlay themes. Google does not.
"customisable feature set on the market for the Android U" - nearly any other UI has more options when tied with nova.
"The fact you dont have to mess with Samsung Knox " why mess with knox? If you want to root and install roms you should get a more budget phone right? My work requires knox, I can't use my personal pixel at work.
"I dont see how connecting to two bluetooth speakers is anything to rave about." I don't either, just a simple pointer at how limited Pixels are, as it's just the first example I could think of. Just because your situation relies on other hardware is irrelevant to the discussion.
Example of Google support vs Samsung. My dad accidentally put his S7 through the washing machine, walked into Samsung store and they offered him a new S7 or a half price S8. My pixel (I've had 7 so far and wife has had 2) died after 4 weeks with random reboot of death issue, I had to orgnaise a pickup time where I had to stay at home the whole day for, then took 2 weeks for them to process, then another 4 days to send the replacement phone back. How is that better? I bought OG XL, i got so many broken phones, that they ended up giving me a 2XL, of which I also got duds. From call drops, to mic not working, speaker rattle, unreadable screen in daylight, reboot of death, bluetooth stopped working.
Rigth now I can buy a new S10E for under $900. Pixel 3 is still as $1100. Not sure why on earth people buy pixels except for devs. If you currently are not having issues then count yourself lucky. I would love to have a pixel that worked and persisted its battery life through updates. I am a Google fan afterall. I will wait until they put emphasis on their users though.
@onlinepred: Also Samsung Bloat apart from Facebook? Hahaha, took me 3 seconds to Google this guide, seems like a lot of bloat and a lot of messing about:
https://piunikaweb.com/2019/03/25/samsung-galaxy-s10-remove-…
Also Bixby does not use Google Assistant or its API.
https://www.pocket-lint.com/phones/news/samsung/140128-what-…
@FuRyZ: Got to do a little more effort than that. https://www.xda-developers.com/remap-bixby-button-google-ass…
You know that guide is removing system apps like the launcher etc. It's like trying to delete pixel launcher from a pixel, you can't lol. It's not considered bloat though? Samsung pay? It's better than Google pay? I mean don't you want options? Some of these apps are power user apps for sure, perhaps people who like super basic phones may not like to know they have access to loads of features if they ever needed it. I mean I don't use daydream, but that doesn't mean I consider daydream apps on pixel i can't delete as bloat. Some people have double standards.
@onlinepred: The fact there is a guide that disables Bixby and remaps the button to Google Assistant does not help your argument at all. The fact these guides exist to disable or remove Samsung features so that you can use regular Android alternatives show how little value they add to Samsung phones.
The fact I mentioned that I disabled the Pixel Launcher and I run Nova Launcher seems to have completely missed you and yet you still try to make an argument that you can't "delete the Pixel launcher" when I already refuted your point. I removed Daydream and all the other VR related services, not impossible just like its not impossible to remove Samsung bloatware.
But I digress, if only my "super basic" phone had access to something other than the useless Google Play Store, then I could finally have access to all those epic Samsung features I am apparently missing out on.
So let's sum this up. Your entire argument was the assumption that the Pixel lacks customisability and features, your justification was because the Pixel does not have Samsung apps and you can't remove the much fewer number of bloatware apps included on Pixel phones. Both of which I proved is incorrect.
This entire debate is going nowhere. Look enjoy your Samsung phone, continue to make up whatever assumptions you like if it helps you justify your financial decisions.
@FuRyZ: I have Pixel and S9+. I can clearly tell you are extremely biased, your argument doesn't make sense to me at all. I can't get Samsung apps on my Pixel, I can't get full overlay theming without root on my pixel even with Q beta. You just admitted the pixel has bloat too.
I'll leave this with you since you said that because an article of removing bloat exists, that it must be true. Therefore the pixel is the most unreliable phone according to your logic:
https://www.xda-developers.com/google-pixel-3-pixel-3-xl-iss…
https://www.androidcentral.com/common-google-pixel-3-problem…
https://www.androidauthority.com/google-pixel-xl-problems-fi…
I love all phones, just as I love technology. I understand you don't know what samsung phones have these days, perhaps haven't used one in a while or not any new ones anyway, and I know where you are coming from. ALl you need to know is that the S10 is faster than the Pixel 3, it has more features, more customisations, better hardware quality and is cheaper. You cannot tell me the Pixel 3 is better than the Note 9 ($50 less than pixel 3) or the S10E for $300 less than the Pixel 3. It might suit some random personal preference or brand loyalty for sure.
Most of the negative reviews come from people who never owned a Pixel. Samsung/ iPhone fanbois mostly, you know the lemmings that lineup to buy $2k phones at launch
Having owned P1, P2 and P3, I can unequivocally agree with the lemmings. These are dev phones that should cost hundreds less than what they are charging, you cannot compare them to Samsung/iPhone. Also keep in mind pixels are one of the most expensive androids, currently hundreds more than samsung which are newer and generally better.
@onlinepred: Having owned Samsungs and iPhones I can confirm Pixels are much better in every department. Nothing beats vanilla android
@customundo: Although I love vanilla android, pixels still suck unfortunately.
I've got the Pixel 2 standard, I don't know if it's different to the Pixel 2 XL, but i've had it since it first came out and i've never had a problem with it. Best phone i've ever owned.
I have not had any usability issues with the Pixel 2XL.
What issues are you having?
Lol i honestly could not think of a more buggy flagship than samsung's with their crap UI
You should try Pixel ;-)
Haven't had a problem with my pixel 2XL as of yet. Hope I'm not jinxing myself
@cille745: Wanna swap? I'm on my 3rd P2XL, wife is on 2nd. My brothers in law have had to return theirs after an rma or two each due to call drops and BT connections. My current P2XL has a rattle in the top speaker (straight out of box), and really average call quality. Also getting loads of stutters and slowdowns…..
Exactly. It's hard to tell any software advancements after Galaxy 3, except for the curved screen
It's also nice to know your phone won't catch fire in your pants
Not sure about buggy or not (though certainly not that I've heard). However they're neither discontinued nor poorly supported. At the moment it looks like the Original Pixel is in line to get the Android 10 update (they're part of the Beta program). Pixel 2's should already have 9.
To my understanding they get security updates and feature updates basically as soon as they're available. Good luck getting your updates for Samsung phones within a few months.
It's not always great though, my OG XL has decreased in performance and it's battery life is almost half what is was with Nougat. The more upgrades, the more things can go wrong, this is the history of android. My Pixels have had more performance and update issues than my Note 8 or S9+.
As someone who cycles through phones regularly I completely agree. I was happy with my Pixel 2XL until issues starting presenting themselves. Lag, occasional freezing, Bluetooth pairing lag or misses, tethering drama.
Note 9 is now the best phone I've owned, but I miss that camera from the Pixel series.
As other have said I don't quite see the value considering it was a year ago for $59 (alot of people either got it down to $49 or extra data. I was lucky enough to get it for $49 and 10gb extra data)
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/363865
That was a great deal wasn't it! So happy with the phone and happy so many people benefited from it.
This just emphasises how good the $59 deal was from before. Got a discount and bonus data too!
Trying to find stock though was not fun.
So if they're able to knock another $10 off (not saying this is possible, but might as well try), does this then make this deal worth it? In the market for a new phone for the gf, can either do outright purchase, or a telstra plan (she doesn't want to move carriers).
Anyone down voting the bloke above talking about the bugs with pixel 2 xl clearly hasn't owned a one. I've owned 4. They can't reliably make phonecalls. I have had no problems with my OnePlus 6 under the same conditons.
Great camera. Bad phone.
I've had mine for a year now and have never had one issue. No issue with phone calls, really fast and great camera. For $49 a month when I got it, it's been amazing value.
I have been using pixel 2 xl for year and half.. The best phone I ever got. I have been using Android since the Motorola milestone era. I am waiting for pixel 4 xl to update.
I've had the Pixel 2 and I've seen it reboot on calls multiple times, having a hard time to connect to paired Bluetooth devices once a while and terrible battery life for a "bloat free phone".
4 in the family. Only issues we had around calling was due to WiFi calling on a shitty adsl connection. Disabled WiFi calling, everything worked fine.
Most issue free phone I have ever owned and appreciate the prompt updates. Having wifi calling on by default was the only 'fault'. Once turned off have had no problem in 12 months.
the phone still selling for $999 at Jbhifi I think this plan seems reasonable
Yeah but the phone is available for under $500 plenty of other places.
Have you got a link?
definitely not worth, Qualcomm 835<= $400 in both amazon and aliexpress right now, this is a 2 years old smart phone.
for $999 you could bought Qualcomm 855 :)
Processor is 2 years old… Phone only 18 months….
But.. as Apple proves… You don't always need latest hardware to give a good experience. This phone will still be supported for Android Q and security updates another year after that… And SD 835 still flies on pixel version of Android….I have both 2xl and 3xl and cannot tell difference performance-wise.. main upside of the 3 is the vastly better screen …
Pixel 2XL still a very good phone even now.
As a 2XL user, very glad to hear Google sorted the screen for the 3XL.
Looking forward to the Pixel 4.
There's nothing out there that's better value right now. Phone is great, no bugs here.
Poco
Poco doesn’t have B28, NFC and water protection.
Show me a poco for a better price on an equivalent Telstra sim
Decent deal though the Pixel 3 was $54 a month vis Optus Harvey Norman a few months ago…
I'm currently paying $100/month for the Pixel 2 XL 64 GB with 20 GB data and unlimited local/int phone calls. I got the plan in January 2018. Can I do something to bring the price down? Or just wait for the plan to get over?
Hand in your ozbargain license
Whats the best angle to take in negotiating more data? And potentially a lower price.
I just had a chat with a lovely lady on Telstra chat who said that the offer is available from tomorrow and I will be able to add in a $10 port in discount after signing up!
Brings the plan down to $39 per month! Not bad.
That is phenomenal
That's more in line
I'm just on the phone with Telstra now… how would I go about asking for the $10 discount… as in, what's a "port"?
I advised her that I was looking to move my number from Vodafone to Telstra.
Ah yes, that makes sense. Cheers!
I just got told otherwise. Porting the wife over from optus. Will holdoff now until tomorrow
Based on past comments in the previous deal, some people had to chat with multiple staff over chat before they got the discount.
I got lucky with this lady, I was polite and she was nice to chat with and put me on hold for a while and confirmed it for me.
Maybe try with someone else.
Yeo just continue to try.
Be nice and courteous.
I got mine after the second try.
@mmd: How did they process this for you? Have tried online chat twice and they said because it is an online deal they can't modify it. Did they give you a voucher code to enter into the website?
@AngryEmu: I juts followed this thread here Just say I was told theres a $10 credit for port in.
Be nice, and may take more than 1 time.
Is there a particular time this works better, e.g. When the service centre in Aus vs Philippines time zone etc, anyone successful on 24/7 chat for $39
@Archer12: See my reply above.
I have tried twice and they are saying as the phone is a $0 payment they can’t offer the port in discount.
@sillyhead: See my reply above
They arent budging for me :/
Insisting it is already discounted and at promotional price
When travelling overseas can you use non telstra sims? Or is it 100% locked
Telstra don't lock post paid phones any more
Can confirm. Telstra Pixel 2XL. Worked in Thailand with AIS sim and in Qatar with a Vodafone Qatar sim.
Thanks, domestically too?
I signed my mum up for this at $59 a month at JB, also 15gb, 13 months ago…
Pretty sure it should have dropped a little more than that by now. Considering the phone was only a few months old at the time.