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Google's Pixel devices are great, but this is why you might want to pass on them.

In the tech community, devices with Pixel (and previously Nexus) branding are seen as the ultimate smartphones for fans of Android. These are gadgets with pure, unadulterated Android experiences showcasing the way Google wants the OS to look and feel, and while plenty of our readers are fans of this, an argument was recently made against it.

Android Central forum user billykac created a thread outlining their experience using the Galaxy Note 5 and Note 8 compared to the Pixel XL and Pixel 2 XL. You can check out the full post here, but essentially what it boiled down to was billykac's preference of Samsung's design, display technology, and refined software.

Here's how some of our forum users responded.

tatootie67

10-28-2017 09:20 AM

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You echoed my exact thoughts. Same as you, I was a die hard Google fan. But it Google wants the reputation its trying to achieve, being the king of android, it has to give us the best hardware too. Or price its phones way less than 1k. I'm actually glad the display gate issues popped up because i wouldn't have gone in to even look at the phone in person before buying it. And thankfully the n8...

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Trees

10-28-2017 10:08 AM

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Thanks billykac, helps to hear from someone who has used Note 5 and Pixel OG (I remember seeing you around both AC forums). My wife has the Note 8, and is super happy with it. She went through the Note 7 ordeal after moving from the Note 5. I have the Pixel 2 XL on order, but may cancel. I do miss the S Pen (I used Note 2-5 as Note 1 was not available on Verizon at the time), and the screen...

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toenail_flicker

10-28-2017 12:21 PM

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there are enough workarounds for the baked-in bloat that I think you will be happy. ecstatic even. I'm hard to please after the Note 7, and I love it. not out of the box, except for the screen, but now I full-on love it.

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tatootie67

10-28-2017 12:28 PM

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Gotta add one thing about the edge apps. I didn't think I'd use it or like it but I really do. Especially how you can set up the edge lighting to glow when notifications come in. There's just a lot of really cool features. I run nova with any phone I get, same as this n8. And I've debloated. Its as close to pure android as I can get and I get all the additional features that just make this a...

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There's still plenty more that could be said on this topic, so we'd like to know – do you think Google's Pixel devices and pure Android experience are over-hyped?

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