Tech Reviewer Extraordinare - I review mobile technology and accessories. I have been a giant tech geek since I learned how to walk. From playing video games on the Atari 2600, to building my first computer at 11, all the way up to the present. I love all things electronics, and I specialize in phones and phone accessories. I also review other mobile technology and home electronics such as Bluetooth speakers, DashCams, Robot Vacuum Cleaners, and much much more! Stop in and have a look! I'm always working on improving my content and finding new ways to make my content more enjoyable, more engaging, and more educational.
The thing that is the most important for me living in rural Arizona is the phone antenna. So far the best is Samsung phones. I bought a Pixel 8 Pro and was really disappointed in the signal strength. Like the iPhone 13 I have not nearly as good as the Samsung Note 20 I have now. Can you do a comparison between phone brands just based on signal acquisition.
Talk your stuff! 🤣 I've watched many discount or dismiss yours and others comments about this. Most often saying it wouldn't matter because they'll both be discounted at the same time, all of the time. First immediate time it didn't happen though. Fact is, the phones are too similarly priced and speced. Probably why Google appears to be changing it up with the next Pixel 9 lineup. Let's see if they can make it make sense this time.
As someone who has the Pixel 8 and the 8a. I personally prefer carrying the 8a. I get better battery life, the same performance, and maybe it's the beautiful aloe green that makes me want to carry it idk, but I just like the 8a better.
RCS is mandated by my cellular service provider. Forces me to use my mobile data. I don't care about the multimedia b.s. I don't care about seeing if someone is "typing currently" to me. I'm not a Republi...er, terrorist. I'm not a Democr...um, criminal. I'm not a pot head drugg...uh, Libertarian. I don't have a bank account. End to end encryption is useless to me. RCS is bloatware. Just like 99+% of everything in Android, Google apps, & any pre installed software I have ran across. The fact that the June security "patch" included a forced update to Android 14 (that literally I finally got back onto the effing Internet less than an hour ago, after 2 effing days!!!), is pure B.S.! My phone is now sucking battery power like a crackhead smokes a pipe. Every single effing app has to have Internet connectivity to even start the eff up is just stupid. I can't wait to talk to my job, since we have 4 apps we have to download & install -- not from Google's Play Store, but from our company's website to use -- & Android 14 is saying "Nope. Nada. No can do. I can't go for that." So, I can't access health benefits/insurance, check/change my schedule, do effing inventory, or check/change my personal info if need be. Starting in the morning, I get to spend all day looking for an effing TracFone that still has Android 13 on it. At least I never have to worry about weird forced updates with them.
The fact that they put the 8 on sale for 550 and didn't put the 8a on sale doesn't make sense. I remember last year they were both on sale last year and the 7a was about 5 dollars cheaper than the 7 lol
they positioned it $50 more so the higher model would sell. The average person isnt monitoring phone prices. The average consumer doesn't buy a phone till they need to. When that happens they look at whats on the market. They see both models. they like google. they will buy the higher model. ultimately they want people buying the higher models because they are more efficient at capturing data.
The problem is that there are other phones with worse chips and they cost around $300. My pixel 6, with a Tensor G1 processor, is still faster than a Moto G Power 2024 5g, and it also has a better display. So, with how the market is, Google really has no reason to sell a phone with a tensor G3 CPU for less than $500
Do you see GP phones lasting 5 more years?I'd love to see Blackberry partner with Google or LG and make an epic comeback. But I want the blackberry OS mixed in the hybrid.
Just buy the phone you want to now. For 99% of buyers the experience will be pretty much identical. When you buy your next phone it won't matter that you paid 50 dollars more or less. Just use the phone and don't sweat the small, almost meaningless differences. Just get your phone and enjoy it. We lose sleep over little things.
For me the 8a with its matt plastic back is the better looking phone instead of the shiny Pixel 8! I don’t care about the thicker bezels because if you use this device on a daily basis you don’t see them so much being there. The performance is buttery smooth and the battery lasts all day long. Overall it’s fun to use! And I don’t care about the price either! I have the 256 gb version which costs 609€ here in Germany. But hey, I’m a tech nerd, switching between an iPhone 15 Pro, the 8a and S24 Ultra 😁
Glad to hear that you are enjoying it. 8a users are definitely about to get a major upgrade in stability in the coming days when QPR3 releases. Weird that they launched it with QPR1 and kept it there. Especially since QPR2 was arguably the biggest quarterly release in Android history due to the new development model. Numerous bugfixes are incoming though!
Haha yep I agree. I said the same thing about the 7a last year, and thought it was a terrible deal compared to the 7 UNTIL they finally dropped the price to under $400. I believe history will repeat itself again this year and we'll be able to get the 8a for $375 later this year. Maybe even as early as Prime Day 2024. I guess we'll see... Oh yeah! The Google Store has a pretty crazy deal right now where you can get a Pixel 8a for 50% off if you buy an 8 or 8 Pro. The Pro is currently $250 off, so it's almost like a BOGO deal for the 8a when you buy both. On top of that, they're giving out a $50 store credit with any purchase of an 8a. Also, they're giving $500 trade-in credit for a 7 Pro towards the 8 Pro, so now is a great time to upgrade if you can't stand to wait until the 9's come out in 4 months. I've got an unused 7 Pro gathering dust and it's almost tempting to get another 8 Pro for $250 with the trade. I've wanted that Mint 8 Pro since it came out and now might be the time haha
Calling tensor 2 garbage is taking it a bit too far isn't it. For me it's hard to imagine a phone performing much better than my pixel 7. I have good sound, good picture, everything runs smoothly and how it should. What more could I want.
For $1800 it is. That's why I included the context and said for the pixel 7a at $500 it's a Good ship but in the 1800 pixel fold it's not so good of a chip
That’s why I tell people never buy an android at launch or pay full price. 6 months later they’ll be on sale for 50% off launch price or more. Or just buy an iPhone. The trade in and resale value is much higher.
B/C the SOC runs hot, the degradation of the battery, RAM, and storage will stink up the place up long before the SOC runs out of headroom for regular use. IMO, the Tensor G3 will be "fine" long-term. SOCs like the Snapdragon 855 or the A12 Bionic are still plenty good enough for regular use (6 years). I know people who carry devices that sport these SOCs. They don't have any real complaints. I have a Pixel 6 that I pull out as a backup. People said the same thing about that phone, but there is still nothing I can throw at it that will make the entire UX crawl. IMO, as long as a phone has enough RAM, even a midrange SOC will carry the device through indefinitely. My 2020 Tab S6 Lite is proof of that, and that device DOES NOT have the lowest ideal amount of RAM.
Only drawback for early adopters who got it close to launch was that it launched with Android 14 QPR1 and was kept on QPR1 with security backports, which meant they were missing months of bugfixes included in 14-QPR2, which could partially explain a lot of the initial complaints of the 8a. Should change in the coming days when QPR3 releases, should be merged with the other devices or at the very least using a dedicated QPR3 device support branch. There is a lot to like about the Tensor G3 from a security perspective. Really the only SoC that has MTE support on the market that can be in practice be deployed to users in production.
The Titan M2 is a heavily battle tested and thoughtfully designed secure element/chip, and I could imagine someone finding a vulnerability (which is inevitable), whether be it an adversary with deep pockets or a researcher could easily be sitting on a literal million dollar exploit. Google is that extremely confident in the design. If you want virtually uncrackable lock screen credentials by todays standards, and if you want to rule out secure element throttling. Use a 6-8 diceware phrase for the high entropy it provides :)
Lmao your son is an apple fan boy face it 😂 that's definitely interesting the RCS IS coming to ios finally! iPhone only have FaceTime, iMessage, that's it everything else is better on Android!
You haven't certified your other thermometers. It can also measure temperature differences between otherwise identical objects, where it would be similar to your other temperature measuring devices. This feature would be more helpful as a thermal imaging device, where actual temperature is less important than temperature differences.
I got this phone. Two things I don't like (right out of the box) and it all centers around the theme of "being forced to": 1. Being forced to - put my files on the internal HD - because there is no slot for your own SD card I got around that by attaching a mini MicroSD reader with a tiny lanyard to the case. I don't like my files being locked to (or trapped in) devices. I want them to be extremely mobile too. 2. Being forced to - use only blutooth ear buds - vs plugin earbuds
