Three months with the Google Pixel 8 Pro, Google Pixel Buds Pro & Google Pixel Watch 2

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It’s been about three months since I replaced my iPhone 15 Pro Max (1Tb) with the Google Pixel 8 Pro (256Gb), and I do not regret it one bit. I have not wanted to change back. Despite only having 256Gb of storage, it’s been plenty for my needs so far – with the Pixel automatically uploading photos to Google Photos where I have 5Tb of Google One storage.

Google Photos provides a very straight forward web and device-based user interface for working with the photos. I take Google Takeout snapshots of the photos every two-three months and download them to the PC for safekeeping (which is then also replicated to my afi.ai Microsoft 365 backup via OneDrive, as well as regular backups to Wasabi S3 storage AND an external SSD AND a 512Gb microSD card – backups managed via MSP360 Backup). The photos taken with the Pixel 8 Pro are exceptional – and I’d even go to say that the depth of field is much, much better than the iPhone photos I’ve taken.

The two photos below were taken from the office (hence the reflection!) at 50 megapixels, the left with the standard lens and the right taken with the 5 times telephoto lens. I’ve got the phone set-up to take both 50 megapixel JPGs and RAW files. It’s slower to take photos this way (presumably given the processing time), but so far hasn’t been a problem.

I would ask EE and Google, however, if they could make future Pixel phones available beyond the 256Gb models that carriers keep in stock because if I want to record video, I’ll need some reasonable local storage for that. The Pixel 8 Pro does a decent job with video recording, but I’m still experimenting with it as I find that it occasionally produces jelly-like video in some situations. Working with H264 rather than H265 seems to help, but it may just be case that the bitrate needs to improve.

The “Video Boost” after-processing option is pretty good, but you have to remember to enable it every time you want to record it, can only work with single clips up to 9 minutes in length, and can’t be applied afterwards (I can’t find a reason why not, but simultaneously the processing costs are probably quite expensive – though I’d prefer THAT then the Gemini Advanced feature supplied with the Premium edition of Google One).

One of the best and most attractive features for me is the 7 years of OS updates. This means that this phone could potentially last me until Android 21. With everybody producing new phones every year, usually with only incremental hardware updates, this commitment from Google is very welcome to help reduce e-waste. Updates have been regular, pain-free and haven’t caused any problems – so far.

The very best feature – and the reason I swapped to the Pixel 8 Pro – is the call screening features. Not only can this screen incoming calls on device with the ability to provide a written transcription of the caller responding to the automated prompts so you can make a choice of whether to accept the call or not, but a feature called Direct My Call which will provide you with a written transcript of the automated system at the other end and present you with the menu options. An additional feature called Hold For Me will then listen in for on-hold music and will notify you immediately when somebody has picked up the phone. I find these features invaluable, and a big reason for me ditching the iPhone.

While Apple has been investing huge amounts of development time into their cameras and multimedia on the iPhone, it has neglected the main core of what the iPhone should be about – being a phone. It has only the very basic call handling functions and I found that third-party apps were absolutely useless. The Pixel, on the other hand, does a magnificent job. Google has prioritised appropriately.

Another feature I like is that the phone can utilise both fingerprint scanning as well as face recognition (which is now rated secure enough to support banking apps). Accuracy with both is pretty decent – certainly never had any major problems with it.

I’d ask Google to consider incorporating Dolby Atmos for standardised surround sound, since many other Android phones seem to be doing this. Having gone the full Google ecosystem on this – the watch and the earbuds – it’d be nice to take advantage of Apple Music’s Dolby Atmos surround system. Alas, I’m not ready to move fully to Spotify until:

  • They work on Dolby Atmos support
  • Make it possible to start and/or stop tracks at a specific point (like Apple Music)
  • Produce a better genre listing, featuring all new releases within a month or two
  • Better searching

The Pixel Buds Pro case remind me of Mork’s spacecraft from Mork and Mindy – it’s vaguely egg-shaped, but they fit better within my wallet than the AirPods Pro USB-C edition. The earbuds themselves are certainly not as easy to get into my ear like the AirPods do, but once they’re in, they’re certainly more comfortable than the Sony WF-1000XM4, which I bought two years ago. But the sound they produce is very good, however. Google has done well here. What I would like to see (well, hear) is support for Auracast.

The Pixel Watch 2 is a bit of downer, though. The small size isn’t a problem. It feels as if I’m wearing a smooth pebble on my (large) wrist. It’s comfortable and despite it’s smaller-than-I-usually-would-wear size of watch, the display is super sharp. Battery life is okay. Charging it up to 100% in the morning (~30 minutes from 34%) makes it last all day and night until the next charge – assuming I don’t do too much.

What the Pixel Watch 2 is absolutely rubbish at, though this isn’t something that Apple was much cop at either even with their Apple Watch Ultra 2, is sleep tracking. It either doesn’t record my sleep activity, says I’ve only slept for 30 minutes, or a combination of the two (didn’t record the main sleep, but recorded a nap). With a Premium subscription to Fitbit thrown in for Google One users, it’d be nice to take advantage of this – but the watch doesn’t seem to know when I’m awake or asleep. HA! And speaking of Fitbit, the user interface is bloody awful – especially the web interface which has a whole section to it I didn’t know about until I raised a support ticket with Google’s Fitbit division.

Other health monitoring functions (such as the heartrate) seem to be okay, however. I can use Google Pay with the watch, which is convenient, and also make and receive phone calls. As the watch comes from EE, it’s the cellular edition, so can stay connected away from the Pixel phone.

Other things I dislike about the Pixel Watch 2 is the the Watch app for Android is a load of rubbish. It’s extremely minimal. I found that it order to update apps manually, I need to do that from the watch, nor the app. Similarly for system updates. While this isn’t a big deal, it’s still something I’d expect the app to be able to do – especially as I’m coming from the Apple ecosystem.

I’ve also found that the screen can be overly sensitive and have found my watch either in battery saving mode or aeroplane mode when I haven’t deliberately selected those functions. It seems to occur whenever I wear a jacket.

It is also slow to change from Bluetooth to Wi-Fi to Cellular when needed – and I often find that I need to give it a bit of a nudge. Also note: setting up the Wi-Fi connection had to be done on the watch which was a pain in the arse.

I also have a Garmin Instinct 2 which is non-touchscreen, solar, lasts 3/4 of the month without a battery recharging, costs £150 less than the Pixel Watch 2 (though it is not cellular), and not only does it do sleep tracking properly, the companion Android apps does everything I’d expect it to do and more. I swap out the watches every few days. Sometimes I feel that the Pixel Watch 2 is too deliciated whereas the Instinct 2 is built like a brick s**t house, capable of withstanding almost anything.

I must admit that I am very disappointed in the Pixel Watch 2. Google can do so much better than this. At a basic level, it’s fine. But when competing with the likes of Apple or Garmin, it simply cannot compete at this time. On the plus side, its support of WearOS apps and transferring audio books from Audible via Wi-Fi is a significant bonus over the Apple Watch.

Updates..

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The Office

After a month of various consultations and whatnot, one of my colleagues volunteered for redundancy, which means that I am still working for SMG. It comes as a relief, since job hunting is not very pleasant and despite having some strong leads, the whole process was enormously stressful.

My heart goes out to those that are looking for new positions, of course, and sincerely hope that this industry does better to accommodate growth responsibility from now on. That said, Take-Two Interactive, the publishers of a certain much-anticipated game called GTA VI, are planning layoffs too – potentially up to 579 jobs.

So, for me, the answer is still 42 and I’m still not from Guildford after all[1] but a small town called Woking. As for the question, well, only the mice[2] can figure that one out.

[1] I just work there.
[2] Pan-dimensional beings.

Music for the soul

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Not much to say here, other than these are perhaps two of the greatest performances of film music I’ve seen to date.

First up is the late Ryuichi Sakamoto performing the theme to
Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (in which he also appeared). He won the Oscar (along with David Byrne and Cong Su) for best soundtrack in 1987. I love the use of traditional instruments at the start and building up to something epic before putting everything together in a powerful resolution.

The second performance is from Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke (the English edition adapted by Neil Gaiman). It’s a glorious suite featuring the main theme, a wonderfully percussive action theme (The Demon God) and the main theme reprised, but featuring a vocal performance.

What strikes me about this is how beautiful the chorus is – particularly towards the end when joining the main vocalist. To have been there and heard this live would have been wonderful. Joe Hisaishi is one my favourite composers of all time, having composed many of Studio Ghibli’s works. A true master of his craft.

An informative and useful AV package

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Ever since switching over to Microsoft 365 Business Premium for my personal email, I’ve removed Sophos Home Premium and BitDefender and replaced them with Microsoft Defender XDR. And I’m pretty, pretty, pretty impressed.

Not only does it have a significantly lower footprint and doesn’t slow up disk I/O (which was evident having plugged in an external SSD and measured performance with BitDefender and Microsoft Defender – Microsoft Defender significantly beating BitDefender by some margin), but having adjusted notifications for vulnerabilities on my personal Dell Inspiron Plus 16 (7630), I now get emails whenever I need to update software on my system.

And if I do encounter malware, I get native Windows notifications for it. It’s really well integrated within the OS, and all controlled and managed through the Defender web portal.

Time to update Google Chrome!

Overall, the past two months using Microsoft 365 Business Premium have been terrific, with excellent support that’s easy to find and with quick resolutions. I feel that Microsoft have certainly added value for money here over the Enterprise edition of Google Workspace.

Planning for a 50th birthday

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On May 22nd, 2026 I will turn 50. Half a century old. One foot in the grave. Things of that nature. And on that same date, the next Star Wars movie since 2019 will be released:

The Mandalorian and Grogu

Whether this is a replacement for season 4 of the excellent Star Wars TV series, The Mandalorian, or whether it’s in addition to – I just don’t know. But what I do know is that I want to watch it on the big screen. I’ve been a Star Wars fan ever since I was a little kid (even if Yoda scared the living daylights out of me when I went to see Empire Strikes Back at the local Gants Hill Odeon back in the early 80’s).

All these decades later I still love the original trilogy and everything else that’s been going on long ago in a galaxy far, far away. Being 50 (which, ironically is the same age that Grogu is when he’s found by Din Djarin, the Mandalorian) does not change the fact I still love this franchise. These films have meant so much to me that it made me want to work in the film industry (and eventually I did), and has always been a part of my life in some way.

I’ve already seen a movie with George Lucas. Literally. He was sitting a few rows back from me when I attended the New York world premiere of Peter Jackson’s King Kong. It was truly a star-studded affair and I even wore a tux for the occasion. The fanciest, most expensive trip to the cinema I’ve ever experienced. But – and this is my crazy thinking – what if I were to get premiere ticket(s) for this new Star Wars film? Would that be in LA, New York or London? Would George Lucas and/or any of the surviving actors from the original trilogy be there?

If nothing else, I’d like to do something that doesn’t define what it means to be 50. Maybe a party with Star Wars cakes and everybody wearing masks (me as Darth?). That would be both sad and hilarious. Mainly sad, I suspect.

Well, I’ve got a bit of time to think about what I want to do. In the mean time, live long and may the Schwartz be with you!

Tax(i) Credits

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As I await my fate with SMG – the details of which should be next week – and with the news that Dreamworks are about to layoff a significant amount of people, I want to mention something which one of the commentators in the above article mentioned: “Thank goodness for Uber and Lyft. You can immediately start making money while you wait for another gig.“

LOOK! A BRITISH TRAIN! They actually EXIST!

Well, a good few weeks ago – just before we received the news about what was going to happen, I took an Uber into work (train strikes). The driver works in the film industry (and actually lives abroad for personal reasons which I won’t divulge here) and has worked on many of the recent big hit TV shows currently airing on Netflix, Apple TV (such as Masters of the Air) and Amazon Prime Video. But at the moment they were Ubering to make a bit of money, and it suited their schedule.

We were nattering about the state of the industry as a whole, particularly the dominance of the streaming services and how it’s affecting British production – the good and the bad – and the level of influence the big companies (streaming or otherwise) have on our film and TV industry – especially when it came to government support through tax credits. It was fascinating to learn more about the production side of things given that I’ve generally been post-production (which is kind of changing thanks to virtual production, which absolutely fascinates me and has restored my interest in VFX again especially given its close ties to the gaming industry).

But I could never become an Uber driver. Firstly, I can’t drive. Secondly, when you hear about the stories about the requirements that Uber puts on its drivers (I’ve had some very interesting chats with other Uber drivers over the years), the expense seems to outweigh any benefits. From what I remember one driver telling me, they’ve had to put their all electric vehicle plans back a bit due to a variety of factors. But then again, maybe if Uber either owned the cars or gave a massive discount to drivers, that plan may have accelerated by now.

But back to the present, I had a rather nice surprise when I got a call back from a company I had previously contacted but the salary on offer was somewhat lower than I’d have liked. Another Guildford games company has reached out to me after I put in a speculative application, so that’s another potential lead too. A few rejections – which is to be expected – but they probably weren’t right for me anyway. Maybe I could put an end to all this later this week? Who knows.