Reckon this is the one to beat! All time low as far as I could see (excluding trade-in offers)
Pixel phones currently discounted on the Google store, and while I couldn't get StudentBeans or Unidays, the 10% discount for signing up to their newsletter does work!
You can also get an additional 10% back via Google One 2TB plan (but this won't work if using Google Store credit to pay for your order)
Hope this helps!
Step into my world have a Note 10+ with a cracked screen and no clue what to "upgrade to". Honestly thought of a refurbed Note 20 Ultra 5G but just haven't pulled the trigger.
Xiaomi 13T Pro 512GB. Around the $920 mark and a solid phone with a decent battery, camera and 120W charging that take 18mins to fully charged.
It even includes CCP spyware!
@sator: If you don't think Google aren't harvesting your data, you're delusional. They're all as bad as one another.
Where did you find it for that price?
@ldd-mn: Picked one up from an Australian seller on eBay. Just had another look and he's sold out.
Spectronic have them for $965.
The pixel software seems to run much smoother than the Samsung jittery and stuttering mess. I have used Z fold 5, s23U, s22u and they all had stuttering UI issues. My wife's pixel 8a is as smooth as an iPhone. Samsung software is not great
If you want to trade your current phone in, Officeworks seem to have better trade in deals compared to Google, and you can get them to give you the 5% price match discount too.
Would they price match if the discount is from the newsletter sign up? Wouldn’t that come under the coupon offers?
Cashback and coupon offers (i.e. supplier cashback or reduced price available via paper coupon or electronic codeword)
any luck with OW price match? Is it possible to bundle trade in with old phones and tablets for better deal? bummed i missed the 850$ p8pro jbhifi deal
these are phone charging simulators, like the 7a
You have one?
I want to go away from samsung for their dodgy business practices. I'm worried a pixel will be crap though. Will it leave me wanting to go back to samsung?
No
You sure?
No
nein
Like anything, there's always going to be a learning curve / adjustment period. I've just moved back to a samsung from pixel and whilst there are differences, fundamentals are the same except samsung has so much more tweaks available.
It's only been a few days, but main differences I've noticed:
1) UI - not just the obvious PixelUI vs OneUI, the way pixel displays zoom/font size is different, arguably neater / more uniform throughout.
2) Pixel has assistant voice typing where you can tell it to "send, delete, clear" messages you're voice typing.
3) Pixel camera is better for shots with moving subjects. If it's stationary, both samsung and pixel will do the job equally.
The last point is so important. Samsung camera will randomly delay the final snapshot while Google has zero shutter lag. (Yes you can download another app to make it prioritise speed but it's still terrible)
So as someone who in the last 5 years has had the Galaxy S21/22/23/24 Ultra and the Pixel 6/7/8 Pro, I now have the 8 Pro as my daily driver and actually bought an S24 Ultra to replace my Pixel 8 Pro, then missed the 8 Pro and sold the S24 Ultra to go back to it.
Main reasons for me going back to Pixel 8 Pro from S24 Ultra - Google's stock UI has a few little touches I like and the camera is better (marginally though).
The main things that made me switch from 8 Pro to S24 Ultra for a short while were - better battery life (though 8 Pro is very good and much improved over 7 Pro), higher quality screen and I have a bunch of other Samsung devices.
In short, if I were still working 5 days out of home, I'd probably still have the S24 Ultra for the better battery life. However, being a WFH guy, I valued the better camera over slightly better battery life. I also prefer the feel of the Pixel 8 Pro in hand vs Samsung phones which whilst higher quality in build, feel heavier in hand. The Pixel 8 Pro doesn't feel like you're holding a phone with that big a screen and I really like that
Anyway, its all subjective which would suit you better based on your requirements but thats just my brainfart of a 2 cents! LOL
Thanks Jay, that's exactly what I was looking for.
I'm nearly 12m in with an iPhone 15 Pro and Apple watch 9 and am chomping at the bit to get rid of them.
You've piqued my interest, thanks very much.
No worries mate :) The other factor obviously is that the Pixel 8 Pro is hundreds cheaper than the equivalent Galaxy phone!
Ughhhhhh I don't blame you. I have an iPhone for work as well and hate using it!
Check the pixel reddit threads. Alot of it is people complaining about battery, glitches, software etc.
Could probably see complaints on the Samsung ones but i feel alot more people complain about Pixels. Especially new users.
Check the pixel reddit threads. Alot of it is people complaining about battery, glitches, software etc.
Check the Samsung reddit threads. Alot of it is people complaining about battery, glitches, software etc.
Check the Apple reddit threads. Alot of it is people complaining about battery, glitches, software etc.
Check the Roast Beef reddit threads. Alot of it is people complaining about lack of marbling, too much fat, not enough vegetables etc.
Who knew that the internet is mostly just people moaning about stuff…
@1st-Amendment: A lot of the comments in a link from another post are people complaining about Google region-locking a lot of capabilities to the US only. Even 5G is turned off if the phone isn't officially for sale in a country. That certainly makes the phone less desirable.
from another post are people complaining
People always complain about anything. Got to learn to take that with a grain salt.
about Google region-locking a lot of capabilities to the US only.
Then a reply said the features are all available here… https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/15340476/redir
So nothing to see here…
@1st-Amendment: @banana365
Got to learn to take that with a grain salt.
Always only use Celtic Sea salt - lots of benefits
Post purchase service worth a thought too. Samsung are in a league of their own dodgy, borderline illegally not honouring 12 month statute warranties - just have a look at some recent Samsung warranty related posts on OzBargain.
I won't say Google is best in class, but they are no where near as bad as Samsung and pretty good if you are buying through the Google store. The volume rocker fell off my Pixel 7 Pro 22 months into their 24 month warranty and they mailed me a brand new phone to exchange.
I’m about 12m into the Apple ecosystem after being an avid pixel fan and honestly can’t see myself going back anything soon. What don’t you like about the 15pro combo?
I went from Note 4 to Note 8 to P7p. Was with Samsung for many years. I miss the pen in Note series. App drawer in Samsung is better. Samsung apps are crap. Pen makes a huge difference as I used it a lot on N8.
While P7p is great but I would go next to an iPhone or back to Note series.
I am also using Nova launcher which is better than the default Pixel UI. Especially for organizing the app drawer.
Will it leave me wanting to go back to samsung?
I switched years ago and still happy with Pixel. Samsung UI to me is goofy, their attempts to run parallel Samsung account and apps alongside Google ones is annoying and their service and support is crap.
Get the Pixel 8 Pro and then put a custom ROM on.
There are a variety of them, but If you put the following OSs,
then you will get a very de-Googled experience, with fantastic battery life :
I used to be well into all the custom roms for my android phones. Remember unlocking my Galaxy S2 the day I got it etc.
I can't say I've felt the need to with the Pixel series but I have also gotten older and more busy I guess.
any of these able to change the way pixel 8 pro do split screen? i missed the one that just like a floating windows and i can open any other app from like realme superzoom x3
Grapheneos posts suggest battery life is about the same on 8 pro
I've run plenty of custom ROMs in many different phone models,
and what I've found is, that removing the Google backend
(ie. the services that talk to your GPS, PlayStore, etc.)
actually does give you more battery life.
There are less instances of phoning home to Google severs
and less wakelocks, so the phone can go into a deep-sleep.
There is an alternative package, that mimicks Google's "backend",
and does not phone home to Google.
It's called MicroG and this can substitute for Google's "backend"
for accessing GPS, etc..
However, there are some things that many can't live without,
eg. Google Translate or Google Lens or Google Maps,
so it gets difficult to use a de-Googled phone.
I've traveled with a de-Googled phone (using iode OS)
and it was a little frustrating using the phone,
but I had great battery life of many days!
@whyisave: This I could get behind. And the ROMs have all the regular and tireless support that some of the popular ROMS used to get still?
but If you put the following OSs,
Bye banking apps?
Most should work fine on Graphene, don't know about the others.
Banking apps work fine,
(eg. NAB, Citi, INGDirect)
but you're right, it can be an obstacle
if the banking app detects your phone is r00ted.
You can use something called MagiskHide
or the more newer method in KernelSU,
but it just depends on the ROM, root method and the App itself.
@whyisave: Just out of interest as someone who used to jailbreak/root his iPhones/Android phones between around 2007 - 2012 or so, why do so now?
The reason I was doing it then was to add features the iPhone in particular was taking forever to add (video cam, copy/paste for example), but now with the phone doing basically anything with apps, what do you get out of rooting it?
@jay889344: With an unlocked bootloader, you are compromising the 'security' of your phone,
but you're giving root access to the apps, etc.
If your phone is r00ted and then you put a customised ROM,
you could have a very optimized ROM with a kernel that manages power well,
so you can have 4+ day battery life,
and the ROM can have many customizations too,
that is not available on a stock ROM.
Then, with certain apps, you can have network level blocking of adverts,
you can take snapshots of your Apps, etc.
I just feel more comfortable when a phone is r00ted,
as I can manipulate the phone and optimize it,
rather than use a phone with bundled rubbish apps, etc.
@whyisave: I am using No Root Firewall on my phone - it creates local vpn on the phone for all connections. Worst part is until you add all apps - asking for allow/deny access. After that it's just fine.
Like podcast app willing to connect to google ad services :)
@localhost: I use Adaway to block the adverts.
It works well enough, however, I need to find some lists
to continually update the advertising links,
because it's been some time now, that there has been no 'new lists'.
eg. https://www.reddit.com/r/fossdroid/comments/1agzdyv/adaway_w…
@whyisave: Adaway is for phones with root access. This simple firewall is better out of the box.
And it blocks everything - call back home,etc…
I use CalyxOS on a Pixel 3, and use both the CommBank and Bank Australia apps.
CommBank works completely fine afaict, including tap and pay/paywave. Which is great, since I don't/can't use Google Wallet.
With Bank Australia tap and pay doesn't work, it doesn't show up to enable in the app at all. According to their website it should be there. But otherwise everything appears to work fine.
Hey I did the same thing with the 6 pro. Biggest mistake, horrible phone. Went and got myself a s23 ultra. Very happy to be back with Samsung.
I've have had a 6 Pro for the last ~2 years and think it's great (other than the slowish finger print reader).
Agree. I had a lot of problems with it when it first came out, but I stuck with it and the bugs were ironed out. Given that most new phones these days are very slight upgrades and the manufacturers are artificially (via software) holding back new features, it's clear that we reached peak smartphone some years ago. I am thinking of getting the Pixel 9 when it comes out, but if I am honest with myself, my P6P could probably go for years longer if I am content with just security updates.
@JayR78: Same. This deal is very temping as a 2nd hand P6P still gets about $350 resale. So only $579 to upgrade phone to a 2.5 year newer model.
Should probably just hold out for the 9 in another 6 months though.
What about Google's dodgy business practices?
Pixels are great though.
Yes imo, I'd hold off until the next stage of Tensor chips which will be made by TSMC and be a lot more efficient. I've used the Pixel 3, 4a, 5, S20 FE 5G, S22 and S23+. Much prefer the smoothness and battery life of the TSMC Snapdragon chips (as well as the power user customisations of One UI, but that's up to you).
Agreed that these chips are rubbish. It's obvious when switching between apps with the slight delay that ive never had before
Agree and its a damn shame that Samsung went back to Exypos for the S24 range (except for flagship S24U). S24U is great but I do not want such a bulky phone and prefer something with a smaller form factor.
The Exynos chips in the S24 series seem to be pretty good though?
Maybe an outlandish idea.. Could you hold out until Oct/Nov for the Pixel 9?
Hopefully by then the battery 'issues' have been resolved - still using Pixel 6 so cannot comment on the battery of the 8.
Yes
The statement "pixel phones are the iPhones of android phones" holds up. You won't have extra "bloat" and you will also miss out on features like floating windows, private space/secure folder (coming in android 15) and.. I can't think of other examples.
Essentially Galaxy offers more customisation but less refinement.
Imo power users would be better suited for galaxy phones.
There is an Android app called Island that gives very similar functionality to private space/secure folder. Its available for any android phone not just Pixel
Plus Android 15 will have a similar feature built in too. But I agree that if you like options galore and like to tinker, get a Galaxy. If you just like Android because its cheaper and more flexible than iOS, then the Pixel is a fine choice.
Google store warranty and customer service is a nightmare though. Better off buying via a local retailer if you want to avoid dodgy business practices.
What about it is bad? I wouldn't call it best in class but I wouldn;t cal lit a nightmare. I mentioned it in another post above but my volume rocker fell of my P7P almost at the end of the 24 month warranty and after a quick chat online they sent me a brand new phone in the mail to exchange. All pretty quick if not overkill, I really just wanted a quick repair but I'm not complaining getting anew phone with a new battery.
Only other time I had to deal with Google warranty was when my Chromecast stopped working and that was the same outcome - a few troubleshooting steps on the phone and a video of the issue and they shipped a new one to exchange.
Samsung on the hand… do a "samsung warranty" search on ozbargain and see for yourself. Or head straight to this post
Then do a "google warranty" search on ozb.
Went from S21+ to P8Pro. The only things my old Samsung did better were:
* fingerprint unlock, the ultrasonic sensor was much faster and more accurate
* Dex, I used this a bit mostly when I was away. Android 15 is supposedly bringing a desktop mode.
* Torch had brightness controls, weirdly the pixels torch can't be adjusted?
Apart from that its all ups, the volume control on the Pixel also has a lot more range, it has a face unlock that's supposedly secure and the battery life is excellent (not talking Nokia 5110 levels of excellence but good for a phone with a massive display).
Depends on you prefer performance or smoother animation, Galaxy has better build quality, battery and performance powered by Snapdragon (still one of the worst compared to Chinese competitors like Xiaomi or Oppo), Pixel has superior software for sure.
Pixel is great
I'm in the same boat. Looking at moving away from Samsung because of how dodgy they are. My partner has had the Pixel 6 Pro for a while, and it seems pretty good so I think I'll move to Pixel.
I thought it was cheaper at JB Hi-Fi when they had the Extra $400 off Coupon with minimum $1 trade in.
It was $849 after the bonus.
How are you getting $929.10. I am getting $1099 for the 128gb?
Did you sign up for the newsletter?
My newsletter subscription seems to be alreday active - It says -You're all set to receive the latest news and offers from the Google Store. You're subscribed.But i am getting $1099. May be new signups only??
Yeah, did you?
Well?
As if Google is reading this I'd upgrade my Pixel tomorrow if it has "Aptx Voice". Funny how even phones with Qualcomm SoCs don't implement it. (I'm looking at you Samsung!)
Is there any phone that has support for this codec?
Yep, some like motorola, sony, vivo, xiami and asus
10% off $1099 is $989.10 or am I missing something.
10% off original RRP
Ah right
You can also get an additional 10% back via Google One 2TB plan (but this won't work if using Google Store credit to pay for your order)
Are you sure? Where does it say it won't work if using store credit?
What about paying partially with credit? What to do if you have like $1 credit store credit? You lose out on receiving the whole 10% credit?
If covering the full cost of the item, it now warns you at checkout saying you won't be eligible for credit. Not sure if splitting payments with credit and card, honestly find it super confusing haiyaaa
You get partial credit based on the proportion of store credit used to fund the purchase. It tells you at checkout how much you will get back.
I signed up for the newsletter and got the thanks for subscribing email, but no discount.
I think it needs to be a new account that has not previously subscribed to the newsletter. My first two accounts got the same message as you, the third received the 10% off code. By the way, all these accounts were existing ones, not newly created.
Can someone please inform, the Google One 2Tb plan says cancel at anytime. Only $3.12 for the first month.
Do you get an extra 10% for signing up to this on top of the newsletter 10% ?
thanks,
You don't get another 10% off, it would be 10% back as store credit for future orders
ok thanks, store credit then so still worth it.
I think if u take the annual plan its cheaper
But then do you have to pay for the full 12 months upfront if on annual plan? Wouldn't it be cheaper to pay 1 month instead to get the 10% credit.
How soon do they give the 10% credit? As soon as item ships?
yes you are right.. I thought they were asking about making the plan cheaper ..
About the same price as the Optus deal when factoring in cost of first month
I think i paid less than this at JB last year. $1 trade in deal.
PS: not sure about the phone. I think the Note 10+ it replaced is still better.