Google Pixel 5 Review

Introduction

    Recently my old phone, a Samsung S8 Active, started acting up.  This was the second time the battery began to act up.  The first time, I had the battery replaced by a good shop.  But the battery began having the tell-tale problem of not charging completely overnight, so it was time to replace the phone entirely.  I had recently migrated to Google Fi over AT&T, a decision that saved me money and gave me more benefits that work for me.

    So I bought a completely unlocked Google Pixel 5 at Best Buy.  This document is sort of like a blog about my journey with this phone, both pros and cons.

Initial Setup

    Initial setup could not possibly have been easier.  My old phone was working, so I skipped the part where I added a wireless carrier, linked it up to my WiFi, and went through setup.  For the most part, the phone did a great job.  However, during the "transfer apps/files from previous device" portion, I had connection problems.  The USB cable I used between the phones seems to be fine because later I experienced the same problems with the provided USB-C to USB-C cable.  The transfer app portion of the initial setup told me about the problems, but at the time I considered that a Samsung issue.

    Then when I was finished with this process, I waited for the setup to add the Google Fi app, and when it did, I logged into the Fi app and went through the process of adding the phone, to replace my S8 Active.  This was very easy.

    Within the first day, it needed to download the new Android version.  Makes sense: it's a new phone.  So I updated, and the update went flawlessly.

Privacy

    In this day and age, you can't seem to use any electronic device that is not collecting some kind of data on you, from visiting a website to using a phone or computer.  (My website does not use cookies or collect data on you: the only thing I ever check is the number of hits, using Apache logs.)

    My long history of using Samsung devices, from S4 to S6 to S8, has taught me that I cannot trust Samsung on privacy.  But here's the rub: using Google apps on a Samsung phone, your data is being seen by both Google and Samsung.  While I can trust Google enough to use an Android phone, I don't trust Samsung.  (See below where I talk about their TouchWiz interface demanding my contacts.)

    So when I set up my device and opened up the list of applications, I was shocked that there are so few applications on the Pixel 5.  No scrapeware at all!  With Samsung, there would be at least two dozen applications I'd have to remove or disable (because Samsung forces you to have these applications on your phone by essentially lying to the operating system, marking them as system or "necessary" or whatever).  If you browse websites like XDA Developers, you can find long lists of applications and services to remove on Samsung phones.  And typically I'd need to go into Linux and use Android Debug Bridge, put the phone in USB Debug mode, and basically "hack" the programs off the phone.  And I couldn't even remove some of them permanently on Samsung phones.  The Pixel 5 is by far superior in privacy.

    Google has done a lot to improve their privacy image and give users more controls.  So when faced with one company that's cleaning up its act (Google) versus one that hasn't really demonstrated they care (Samsung), I think I'd rather own a Google Pixel phone.  The Pixel 5 is better than any Samsung offering.  Don't be fooled by cool features and specs: software can beat hardware, and privacy is more important.

Transferring Files

    So then I began the process of transferring the music and document files that didn't work at the time.  I first tried to use the USB-C to USB-C cable in Mageia 8 Linux.  I got multiple MTP disconnects while trying to transfer files, so I had to switch to using USB sticks to transfer all 32GB or so of my entire (legal and legit) MP3 collection to my phone.  This isn't fun.

    I also noticed that the Pixel 5 absolutely doesn't like MTP on either my Windows 10 or my Mageia 8 Linux.  This is a brand new Dell laptop that has had no other problems with USB-C or USB performance at all, so I'm not sure why it's doing this.  But I also note

    But I slowly, finally, made the transfer.  I once had a similar problem with my Samsung S8 Active, but thankfully where I last lived, a Samsung representative would show up at Best Buy once a week.  So when this happened with my S8 Active, I just went to Best Buy and the representative reflashed the firmware on the phone.  I may see about finding a Google/LG representative to do the same thing.

Using Google Files App

    For the most part, the Google Files app is great.  I'm glad to be on a Google device again, as they have far less bloatware.  I don't have to go around uninstalling Samsung or LG or other second-hand manufacturer bloatware and installing the official Google apps.

    However, when this app thinks or knows that I've entered the Music directory, the way it looks changes to a list of songs, which is highly annoying to me.  I already have my large Music collection in Genre/Artist/Album/Song.mp3 format.  So I had to adapt.

Playing Music

    Using YouTube Music was highly annoying, as it was on the S8 Active.  Really, I only want to play files that are on my device: I'll use the YouTube app for other music.  But the experience of using YouTube Music for my music is absolutely horrible and annoying.  It's mainly the interface.  Also, I don't want to blend the two worlds of online music on YouTube and my own files.  If anything, I'd prefer an app that assumes that I want to play files on my own device.  An app interface that requires me to go to a specific area or place in the app to play online items.  Also, the YouTube Music app doesn't let me choose where my music files are stored (i.e. to not look elsewhere) and doesn't let me deny it scanning for music files on start-up.

    So now I use VLC for my music use.  It does what I want and isn't annoying.  VLC works with Android Auto, also, so I can play files in my car.  However, my MP3 collection seems to be a set of version 1 versus version 2 information tags embedded in the files, so I'm going to need to fix some of my tags to make sure my VLC music collection is good.  But I can also set up and access playlists.  To be fair, my 2019 Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen S's information/entertainment center does a better job here: my SD card full of current MP3s works great because my library is already in Genre / Artist / Album / Song.mp3 format.

The General Pixel 5 Interface

    I'll be honest: I sort of prefer a phone to stay out of my way rather than try to be immersive.  So the Pixel interface was already chafing me by the time I even finished initial setup.  I like how cool the gestures and such are, sure, but I don't like those as much.  Either because I'm clumbsy or get into weird situations with my phone, I'm not sure.  I can get used to the gestures.  But many of them I don't need.

    When I first got out of initial setup, there were no home/back questions on the bottom of the screen.  Sure, I already had to adapt to the minimal-looking triangle/square/circle ones that Pixel has, but I had to go look up how to enable them in the settings.  So I honestly miss the Nova Launcher interface.  And I don't like how displaying the circle/square/triangle buttons on the bottom results in not being able to "close all applications" easily (i.e. you have to drag up to close them all, one by one).

    This is not the full story, and here's why.  On my S8 Active, when the Samsung Touchwiz asked for permission to use my contacts after an update, I got angry at the perceived invasion of my privacy and used ADB on Android to remove it and then installed Nova Launcher.  I'd strongly recommend people do this because, historically, with every Samsung phone I have owned, Touchwiz, the "desktop" interface of the phone, absolutely sucks.  Nova Launcher is absolutely awesome.

    Overall, the interface on this new phone is good.  But I can't begin to describe how smooth and fast the interface is, and the overall experience using it.  Samsung phones quickly begin to show their jaggedness in how their interfaces work.  With the Pixel, the experience is incredibly smooth and fast, to the point where it feels like all the apps are built into the phone.  I even went into Developer Mode and turned down all the animations to 0.5x to increase the speed, and still, the phone is incredibly smooth.

    This is probably the most compelling reason to buy a Pixel phone: because its software is pure, unadulterated Android, it works incredibly well and doesn't require constant fiddling like a Samsung.  It gets to the point where it almost feels like an iPhone in terms of intuitiveness.  The list of applications isn't miles long like a Samsung.  Samsung isn't constantly pestering you.  Worth it!

    I didn't subscribe to Google One, but it seems like it's a competitor to iPhone because it also synchronizes your files across devices.  It's tempting, to be honest, but if I was going to want to subscribe, it would need to come with a Linux client.  If it worked equally well across my Pixel, Linux, and Windows, I would subscribe (hint, hint, Google!).

Form Factor and Physical Phone

    This is secondary to me, which is why it's down here.  I've had both big and small phones before, and used Otterbox "max military spec" cases, so to me, physical interface is secondary.  To me, a phone is a tool first.

    When I opened the box, I was very impressed with how the phone looks.  Mine is black.  It's very sleek and the aluminum casing is very nice.  I generally hate plastic phones.

    The screen has absolutely no physical interface on it: no physical buttons.  It's very beautiful.  But I can't imagine using the phone this way: either I'm a clutz or the phone is slippery.  So while in Best Buy, I bought a screen protector and the Pixel 5 case (fabric).  The Google case isn't very good, as the phone doesn't feel like it sits all the way down inside the case.  Or the lower portion of the case (towards the charger) doesn't have much of any case extending past the screen (which is intended to protect the screen).  So the Google case is decent, and the washable fabric is definitely a plus, but I'm not as happy with it.

    The Invisible Shield screen protector is ok but not as good.  I followed the instructions with OCD-like perfection because I don't like bubbles.  I still have far too many bubbles, and the protector didn't come with a plastic "scraper" for this.  So I'm not very impressed with it.  But a screen protector is a sacrificial item intended to protect the screen and not much more, so I will tolerate it.

    The fingerprint reader is decent, but looks almost camouflaged.  And unlike the Samsung S8 Active fingerprint reader, I feel like adding fingerprints wasn't as robust because it seemed to want less surface area of my finger.  I'd rather give a full, almost police-fingerprinting level print to unlock my phone.  I still use the fingerprint reader for unlock, but I felt like maybe the reader's surface should've been made larger.

    The phone could use more tactile buttons, however.  I say this coming from the S8 Active: I would follow the steps to disable the Bixby button because the apps that go with it, even if they only exist to launch other apps, are garbage.  On this phone, I have only the buttons that work, but it would've been nice to have another button I can assign (through the device settings, not an app) to do something.

    As for where the buttons are placed, I don't like this one bit if I want to take a screenshot.  With the S8 Active, it was almost intuitive because the volume and power buttons were on opposite sides of the phone: you could take a screenshot with one hand.  With the Pixel 5, it's awkward and requires two hands, or at least for you to shift your hand significantly.

A Tale of Two Cases

    Pictured below on the left is the Google Pixel 5 case, and on the right is the Spigen Tough Armor for Pixel 5.  The Spigen instructions say you can just cram your phone into the case, and the case is two parts soft rubber and hard plastic (sort of like an Otterbox).  However, I found that the phone fits better if I separate the Spigen into two parts, apply the soft rubber, then the hard plastic.

    The Google Pixel 5 case is reminiscent of cheap government carpet in terms of what it looks like.  But it's far from that: it looks and feels (and smells) much better.  The Spigen was cheaper.

    I've been trying both cases out.  I brought the Google case to the gym on arm cardio day, and I was pleasantly surprised that it had enough grip to stay propped up on the Sci Fit display and not fall off.

    This is the smooth surface where I usually prop it up.  The Spigen would surely also prop up just fine.  But the kickstand on the Spigen would not have likely worked on that surface.

    But the sad part about having a Pixel 5 is that it's smaller than the S8, meaning I can no longer prop it up facing me in the infotainment storage area as easily.