Hacker News Reader

Don't forget the Nexus 6P. I got more settlement cash out of this one phone than every other class action item, combined, in my life.

The Pixel "a" series is solid. The features that Google reserves for their flagship level is laughable (hey Soli) when all most people want is just a reliable phone with a decent update story and maybe a few "premium" features like water resistance and a headphone jack.

I had a terrible experience with the Pixel 3a XL: Within a couple of months the daughter board with the main microphone on it died, so I could only make calls in speaker phone mode or on Bluetooth. Then the USB-C socket degraded to the point where it wouldn't charge or the plug would just fall out. Sometimes it would half connect to the charger and vibrate every five seconds or so until it eventually died. It seemed like the software was pretty reliable, though.

Did you get either problem fixed? Surely the first one at least should have been covered under the warranty.

On the USB-C, not saying this was your issue but really every USB-C phone I've had I've eventually needed to use a needle or pin and clear junk out of the bottom of the port to keep a good, solid connection. I don't know if that says more about the amount of lint in my pockets or the design of the USB-C port.

> On the USB-C, not saying this was your issue but really every USB-C phone I've had I've eventually needed to use a needle or pin and clear junk out of the bottom of the port to keep a good, solid connection. I don't know if that says more about the amount of lint in my pockets or the design of the USB-C port.

Me too, but as my only phone with USB-C is my Pixel 3, I assumed it was the fault of the model.

I've found a can of clean compressed air to work pretty well for this, with less risk of damaging the contacts than with a sharp object

A toothpick also works fine.

I had an issue with my pixel 2 where something must have shifted in the camera and every photo would blurry on the top half.

Would have been fine to replace it myself but found out that you can not get new replacement parts for the pixel phones and that they are glued up tighter than an iphone with many users reporting that the screen shattered when opening the phone.

Never touching another google product again. While I have had the occasional issue with an Apple product, I have just walked in to the store, they run a few tests and then hand me a replacement on the spot.

I believe you - I have an original Pixel 1 non-XL that I handed down to my kid with a USB-C port that barely works with any cables and even then if you blink at it wrong it disconnects.

FWIW, my 3a XL is working great. I'm might upgrade to a 5a eventually, but only for the water resistance.

My old Pixel runs ok except the camera has completely crapped out randomly while it was in storage. Every time I open the Camera app it immediately crashes and I can’t even turn on the flashlight flash.

Others have noticed the same thing.

>Every time a new Pixel phone comes out, we make a whole article summarizing all the problems people have with them. We don’t do this for any other manufacturer. Google has proven over the years that its phones simply have way more issues than others.

https://www.androidauthority.com/google-pixel-biggest-proble...

But Google isn't even the manufacturer. The Nexus 5 had serious issues... and it was made by LG.

Theoretically, Google is supposed to do quality control for what they pay for.

This is what got me to switch to iPhone. Ewaste is a big problem with Google phones. My wife has always bought iPhones and has gone through half as many phones as me.

On e-waste: I'm not sure if the Pixel 5 has done better in this aspect, but the Pixel 3/3XL's screen is almost impossible to remove without destroying it. There's low-quality hard-to-remove adhesive all over the screen, and you have to handle both the front-facing portion of the phone and the rear-facing portion in order to handle a screen replacement.

IMO iPhones fare a lot better in terms of screen replacement (and therefore preventing e-waste) because lifting the adhesive is more like a fine string around the screen rather than a thick pool of glue. Once the string is pulled, it's easier to mobilize the screen and gain access to the connectors, etc. There's a higher chance of being able to disconnect the screen and still have it be usable, unlike when replacing a screen on the Pixel lineup.

I just attempted a Pixel 3 screen replacement on a dummy phone. Difficult to do it cleanly without breaking things.

I was preparing to replace my Pixel 3a screen and even got the kit from iFixit when I realized that this would never work.

I took it to the local repair affiliate (ubreakifix) and let them break the screen instead. They were apologetic but I wasn't surprised and I got a new screen and glass for next to nothing.

Oh, I have replaced screen for pixel 3a about 3 times with different vendors. Screens were not original as it was difficult to get them in my country. All 3 had the same issue: bright flash when activated (only sometimes), multitouch almost dis not work, and sometimes had ghost touches. I just bought an iphone SE after that, and I’m perfectly happy with it.

I really tried to switch off apple, but no, I cannot handle it.

How do you deal with lack of uBlock Origin? It's Android's killer feature: you can have real browsers with extensions.

iOS allows content blockers now, at least for Safari. While it’s not quite as good, it makes the Internet usable again. Firefox focus’s content blocker has been sufficient for me, as a specific recommendation.

They have supported ad blocking extensions for literally years. Though, these days, I'm 100% Wireguarded to my house when away and everything goes through Pihole anyways.

I find Brave's built in ad blocker pretty good. It's the only way I consume YouTube on iOS as it generally is effective as blocking ads and actively works around Google's preventing background playback.

iOS 15 (releasing within the next week or so) adds extension support for mobile safari. I’ve been using Wipr with it on the beta and it’s great

ios 15 has browser extensions, though that won't bring ublock origin to ios, or safari.

I deal with it using a dns profile, and content blocking extensions.

I fixed the USB port connecting and disconnecting by replacing the USB port.

I fixed the power+volume buttons not working by replacing the entire connector.

The Bluetooth issue remains as I haven't looked into exactly which parts are responsible for it or how to fix it.

I can try to keep at it forever but it's an uphill battle. I can keep replacing parts on the Pixel 3, but one day the motherboard might die. Unfortunately, I don't want to purchase a hot air rework station and handle reflowing those chips as the pitch of the joints is too fine.

Agreed. I was going to post the same thing but I would have expanded beyond phones to all Google and Google related hardware. The amount of ewaste I've generated over the years of buying Google hardware or hardware running Google OSes is appalling. Phones, tablets, media devices, etc... all in the landfill (actually to ewaste facilities).

A few years ago, I finally had enough and switched over to the iphone and haven't looked back. I've had the same phone for the last 3 years and it's still running strong getting the latest updates, performing as well as the day I bought it.

And even if I got rid of it to buy the latest and greatest new version, I would rest easy knowing that it would end up in the hands of someone that would continue to get a lot of use out of it. And even after that, it'll probably end up being used for its parts.

The churn of Google hardware weighs heavier on my conscious than on my wallet, and it hasn't been an inexpensive experience.

I’m sorry but the Nexus 4 had what I called a “study assist” feature. If you tried to use Snapchat, the phone would randomly turn off or reboot. You don’t know when it will happen but it will happen meaning you will not respond to Snapchat messages, meaning you don’t get distracted by friends, meaning you can do your homework.

Pixel 4A: Known for failures of its OLED screen manifesting as quickly-spreading purple smears.

Interesting, I just RMA'd mine because of this and they asked about liquid damage, etc.. I had no idea this was common. It almost looked as though some purple ink got under the screen.

That's oxidation in the OLED cell. Normally there's supposed to be a hermetic seal around the display to prevent this, but manufacturers have to balance quality and durability against cost and bulk. Samsung just didn't quite hit the mark in that generation.

Samsung have made AMOLED for smartphones for about 10 years and such issue isn't very common on most phones. I doubt Samsung doesn't failed but phone manufacturer failed.

Have a 4a. Have never heard of this.

The only Pixel's I had are two that you didn't - the Pixel 2 XL and the Pixel 4 XL.

I've had no hardware issues with either. Interestingly the Pixel 2 XL is another LG one, so that might be another data point there.

> - Nexus 4: No hardware issues

More like "Nexus 4: glass back shatters on contact with barely cold countertops".

I have two or three of those in that state in a box somewhere... plus the glass back was so slippery that it would slide across most surfaces that were not perfectly flat! The same could happen with the front, too: https://youtu.be/-OQVn8xwjkI

It's true that this tends to happen on any new phone without a case that hasn't been smudged much yet, but the N4 was in a class of its own.

> plus the glass back was so slippery that it would slide across most surfaces that were not perfectly flat!

Yes! This happened to me. Ugh, what an obviously terrible hardware design. I recall that they eventually made a rev2 that had tiny rubber feet on the back. ( https://www.starkinsider.com/2013/03/nexus-4-now-less-like-a... )

I had two Nexus 4 die the same way: touch stopped working on the bottom half of the screen only. Pretty wacky failure mode.

Yeah, same for me!

I had 3 different Nexus 5Xs. Bought the first one, it ended up crashing multiple times a day. Got the second one advance-replaced under Google Fi's "device protection plan" (for something like $70 + $100 deposit), it did the same thing even before I had done more than set up my Google accounts on it.

And then I had to fight and cold-email a VP off of LinkedIn in order to get them to replace that one without another fee+deposit since it would reboot itself several times a day (and the power button didn't "feel" right, although it was functional the whole time).

In the end I cancelled my Fi service, went and bought a phone from AT&T, and gave the final replacement to a friend when it came in.

And yeah, I dropped my Nexus 5X tons and all it had were scratches on the bezel. My Pixel (4A? I think?) fell out of my pocket about 2 feet onto the floor and shattered. Now I have a OnePlus.

Yep. For all the problems I've had with apple products, knowing I can call or visit apple to get the problems fixed is fantastic.

Since owning my 2016 macbook, the screen died due to the flex cable issue (while travelling - which was super annoying). And one key on the keyboard got sticky. They offered a free battery replacement while they fixed the keyboard (since battery life was dropping faster than it should). The tech broke another key on the keyboard while they were fixing the first one, so they ended up replacing the whole keyboard & trackpad. And when I got the machine back from being serviced, it started crashing due to a RAM issue. So it went back in for a motherboard replacement.

This machine is the worst apple product I've ever owned. But, despite all these problems showing up outside the warranty period, the repair work was all done for free. They have basically replaced the entire computer at this point. (I think the only original part is the backplate).

I think it makes sense for this work to be free, because these were all design problems. But good luck getting this sort of service out of Google or Dell or HP or something. Dell used to have an excellent service program, but those days have long passed. Just reaching a human at google who can help is like getting blood from a stone.

Nexus 4: partially unresponsive sensor, my very own Nexus collects dust, since it works actually, but it's unusable because of the sensor. I used it to watch some video before, since you don’t need sensor for that, but now it’s just collecting dust.

- nexus s: no issues, after 2 years battery was meh - nexus 4: the only issue was usb port after 2 years of use - nexus 5x: no issues - nexus 6p (owned by my girlfriend): strange issue with battery, the phone just shut off after 20% of use and showed 0%; after warranty repair the phone is still working and had no issues - pixel 2xl (owned by my girlfriend): no issues per see, but was droped in the bus and the screen got cracks - pixel 4: no issues so far - pixel 5 (owned by my girlfriend): no issues so far

all of these phones I still own and store them in the boxes, they still are working.

> with the Pixel lineup, there is a historical quality control issue

I guess it's hit or miss. I've had a Pixel 3 and now have a Pixel 5. The build quality of both has been far better than any of the other two dozen phones I've owned. No problems whatsoever with the 5. With the 3, I had a problem with the charger occasionally not working, but that was because the port was filled with pocket lint. And there was also what seemed like an occasional speaker problem on video calls, but it turned out to be a software problem with feedback loops and not a hardware problem.

I am going to get a Linux phone next as well, they look solidly built and I can handle the occasional hassle, I have a s21 ultra and it's ultra disappointing, I got it because they stopped making notes, had note 10 super duper or whatever but it died. Samsung and all the big phone makers have been getting less and less desirable, I am rooting my s21 ultra to see if they did anything interesting in hardware nobody is using, but I doubt it besides the massive camera. They even removed expandable storage, after making it possible to take a 104mp picture... so dumb.

Linux phone ftw

This matches my experience. I've got a Pixel 3A here which I've owned since July of 2020. I take good care of it, my previous phones have all lasted on the order of 6 years.

This phone has its charging port failing where it will not charge 80% of attempts until I manipulate the cord enough to make it happy. I've tried multiple cables as well as cleaning out the charging port, hasn't helped. I went with the phone to save some money, but in retrospect if it fails after a year I'll come out behind.

Two of my relatives had Nexus 5 and the power buttons on both devices stopped functioning shortly after the warranty expired

On the nexus 5x - it was designed by LG and several non-Nexus LG phones of the same era had the same issues

IIRC the issue was related to how the flash storage device was mounted.

Still have a working Nexus 6P which was a Huawei device. But, it runs really slowly around app startup, as if the built in flash device has somehow slowed down. Wish I had a good way of diagnosing by watching kernel events while phone is in use to give me a clue.

After my nexus 7 became unusable shortly after a year from flash degradation, I have decided not to spend a single ₹ on any Google product or service. They simply do not care about the customer. Buy pixel hardware at your own peril.

I used to have a 2XL and now a 5. To be honest I've never had a single issue. I did sign up for the android 12 beta and while there are some minor hiccups(completely normal phenomenon for any beta), things work pretty smoothly.

Yep, I've actually had every single pixel (XL, 2XL, 3, 4XL and 5). The only one that had issues was the 4XL, with the back peeling. Got a free swap that came in 2 days, and it was fine afterwards. I give my phones down my family afterwards and each one has lived 3-4 years easily.

Nexus S: No issues.

Nexus 4: Battery swelling.

Nexus 5: Catastrophic failure.

Pixel: Could not connect to my computer over USB.

Pixel 3a: No issues so far.

Pixel XL: usb c to c charging doesn't work, slow charge only

I really really wanted the Google phones to succeed, but after following a similar path with 5 completely broken phones (across 3 models) I've lost all hope. At one point with the 5X Google replaced my phone with another 5X that bootlooped within a week of receiving it.

So I begrudgingly switched to Apple. I haven't had a single hardware problem with my family's phones since. I will never pay for another Google phone. In hindsight I can't believe I tried again after the second time.

It's embarrassing that Google is continually having these significant hardware issues. Ultimately Apple didn't sell me on their ecosystem... Google did.