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Welcome to Pixelated episode 119. I'm your host, Will Saddleberg. This week, Ben Shonne fills in for Damian as we kick off by discussing our first leaked look at next year's upcoming Pixel 11a. Does it look exactly like last year's device? Do we immediately date ourselves with some very bad pricing predictions? The answer to both of those questions is yes, but you'll still want to hear our discussion anyway. Then we turn back to the Pixel 11, now 50 days out from its launch. What did Google's latest flagship series nail? And what would we consider a fail? Plus, some thoughts on Amazon's new Kindles and their $80 button-packed cases. It all starts right after this message from our sponsor, Proton.
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version. It has a little well I guess it has a soft spot in everybody's heart and I've taken on the mantle a little bit like Abner in his quest to try and get a Nexus Q a sealed Nexus Q. I'm trying to do the same currently for the LG watch. So yeah, that's why I'm not here this week. So if you don't ever hear from me again, please alert the authorities for the first. Secondly, I'm very much aware that Abnner Will and their special guest, they've got you in good hands. So enjoy the episode, have some fun, and hopefully I'll be back next week in all one pieces, all my digits attached, everything, all that kind of stuff. I've not been kidnapped or anything like that. Hopefully. Fingers crossed. Yeah.
Speak to you guys next week. Well, Damian is out this week uh attempting to one up Abner's Nexus Q purchase by uh by finding an unopened LG Gwatch box. But in the meantime, uh, to talk about various Pixel leaks, Pixel updates, 50 days since the Pixel 11 launch, it's been, it's our own very own Ben Shown. How's it going, Ben? It's good. Good to have you. And of course, Abner's here, too. Hi, Abner. For the record, um, the LG Gatch was the original Android Wear watch that we should we should have all bought. And I kind of regret getting the Moto 360. I do not regret getting the Moto 360. I was right. That watch was The Gwatch was ugly.
The Gwatch had an always on display. What was the third one? I can't remember. Samsung. Yeah. And I know I've I had the Gwatch and the 360. The Moto 360 is the only smartwatch I've ever gotten compliments on. No, I've ever gotten compliment. That's true. I still have instruments. I still have mine. The stupid Texas Instrument processor. Yeah, the performance was from day one. It was terrible. But what a nice looking smartwatch. No, no, it was horrible performance. Horrible. My this we're not talking about that. It's just for the lack of video. This is the Moto Watch Ultra, which is a kick in the face to the Moto 360.
Yes, it is. But yeah, the Moto 360, I used mine in the ocean and it obviously broke because it was not that high IP rated, but still I managed to get a brand new one for Motorola support, customer support. That is a win. That's the kind of win you don't hear about uh these days. It's it's the kind of customer service that just does not uh exist anymore. Uh, speaking of not existing anymore, uh, per purple phones not really a thing right now, but they will be if this Pixel 11a leak uh, tells us uh, anything. Uh, Ben, you wrote the article. Uh, tell me a little bit about this Pixel 11. So, as per usual, we have, you know, the CAD-based renders, which is, you know, the case uh, basis for a new phone. Uh, and it shows the Pixel 11a and it looks
exactly the same as the 10A which looked almost as exactly the same as the 9A. Um, so Google seems happy with that design which I know Abner's happy about. Mhm. I am absolutely happy. And the fact that it's rumored to be a Tensor G6 that should bring all the AI features from the past few uh gens that we've missed out. Um yeah, I am absolutely ready to switch that as my daily driver. I am still using a 10A as my work phone alongside the um Pixel 11 Pro and I absolutely prefer the 10A feel. I don't blame you. Um and the change this time is that it's said to come in purple. Um they mocked it up in like a dark
purple, but you know, who knows what it'll actually look like, right? I wouldn't mind if we get purplish back, but whatever. The panto people have apparently decided that this year it's all darker shades and as seen by the iPhone and I guess by the Pixel kind of disagree with that trend, it's too not vibrant. There's such a it's such a like hard line to toe I guess because it's like on one hand I get so tired of the pastels sometimes and the bright like every phone looking like an Easter egg sometimes can and I don't mean it I
don't mean like a hidden secret I mean a literal Easter egg can get a little tired I guess. Um but at the same time I don't disagree with you that the darker colors sometimes just don't look as good as the p like there's a reason they that these companies do lean on pastels. I think they look generally better even if it's easy to get tired of. Um I like this darker mockup. Like I don't know if that's what the phone will look like, but I kind of vibe with it. The only question would be would I get tired of this after, you know, maybe not a month obviously, but would I after 6 months kind of be in the same way that like I liked the red Pixel 10a? Uh that's that's the model I have, but it is Yes,
it's Yeah. Barry. Uh it is very loud. It is like a very like vibrant like in-your-face device that not everybody's going to vibe with. And also you might not just want all the time, which can make some of these louder colors a bit controversial. Again, quickly jumping in here as I edit to say that the pricing theorizing you're about to hear the three of us do, despite being recorded less than 30 hours before this episode is going to be released is already wolffully out of date as Google raise the price of the Pixel 10a to $600 on the morning of Friday, October 2nd. I'm leaving it in for posterity sake, but if you don't want to hear us try to guess something that seems guaranteed to at least start
at $600, you can jump ahead to 1337. How much do you think this is going to be? It's not going to be $4.99 again. No way. Inevitably, it's going up. I just I think Oh, man. Okay. Uh I think 550 is a win. 550 128 gigs at 128. Yeah. I just don't Yeah. I mean, I would love to see them do 256 at 550, obviously, but I Yeah. I think if they can nail a $50 price bump and it's got a better processor and maybe a slightly larger battery and maybe a slightly
better camera sensor or something and like that's it. I mean, magnets would be huge. Um, you know, I would justify that. I could see 50 bucks in this. I mean, look, literally right before we started recording, Ben published an article about the Galaxy S26 uh going up $100 in price. So, like, it's if Google can just raise its budget device by 50 bucks, I think that's a really big win. Um and will only attract people who are going to complain about any price hike no matter what. If it's 600, I don't even know what to say because like I want to be like 600 for an A series device would be ridiculous. But also I need to acknowledge that like the market is completely out of whack.
Like just because I can look at something and be like that's a stupid price. No one should pay it. It's also like, okay, but if someone needs a phone next year, this time next year, is this going to still be the like, well, these days a mid-range budget phone is $600, so that's what you're pay. Like, I don't know. Like, maybe. Yeah. And it's only getting worse. I saw something the other day about uh you know, through 2027 and 2028, like it's only going to get tighter the supply. Yeah. I don't see an ending. Yeah, same. I don't see an ending either. I think if they can hit 550, I think they keep the camera exactly the same. I think it's literally just a processor bump at 600. I would want some camera
upgrade or larger battery or whatever. So yeah, I at least swap a camera upgrade if it's at 600, but I think it doesn't happen either way because I think the processor is just what I think a processor ends up being a $50 upgrade and they justified with all the software features it unlocks. You're you're right. It's it's a market. It's just so annoying cuz it's like you just have to rethink the market that we have lived in for I mean realistically like a decade now. Like I you know I know we've watched the A series go up in price over the 2020s, but those price hikes kind of came with the leaps I'm sort of describing where I'm like, "Oh, better sensor. Oh, better blah."
Honestly, if it's 599, it's still kind of a win. Like if you make a, you know, direct comparison, uh, Samsung's comparison is the S26 FE, which is $700. Yeah. For objectively a worse phone, and even the A57 is $600. Like, if they can keep it at 600, especially if you know they throw in magnets or something, it's fantastic. That's my next question. I don't think there's magnets. I don't think there is either. Is there anything that hints at this device being physically larger? No, it's going to be the same thickness.
They wouldn't necessar the Pixel 9 to 10 kept essentially the same thickness or maybe went up.1 I think.1 mm but like the fold thinner. They made the fold thinner and I think also maybe this is what I'm thinking of. I'd have to go back and check but I think maybe the 11 series shredded that.1 mm back down. So I So it can be done without increasing the thickness too much in theory. I don't know the exact like I don't know the architecture of the Pixel 10a so I'm not going to pretend but my gut says no. My gut says they want to keep that as a premium feature. They want to be like if you
want that you have to upgrade out of the A series to the regular Pixel 11. But also the iPhone added it. Yeah, that's true. The iPhone did add it in their six and that Oh my is that phone actually $600 anymore? Is that phone $700? the um 17 17e9 $6.99. See, that gives Google a lot of leeway to be like, we're still $100 cheaper than Apple. Um and probably can even still just do what we're describing with just a processor bump and then nothing else and get away with it other than from, you know, people who like to yell in the internet like me. Uh but yeah, man. I mean at 600 what I would tell people to do is to go buy a 10A while you can because obviously it's going to be significant like even post
launch like if the 11A is out at 600. No, the processor is giving the fact it's a 2-year-old G4 at this point that's giving me a bit of pause. Okay. Again, if you don't care about the AI features, perfectly fine. But I feel like we're getting to a point where Yeah. No, that makes sense. Let's jump back in time a little bit then. Let's go from the 11 A2 uh the Pixel 11 which as we're recording is uh hitting 50 days since uh launch since the launch event I think right? Yeah 50 days since the launch event.
Um and I wanted to touch base with both of you and Ben I know you have not been on the Pixel as your daily driver as much as Abner and I have but um how are we feeling 50 days into the 11 series? How are we feeling? I am so bored with the physical design. I am. So, this is what we left out the uh out of the bonus. This was in the bonus episode rather. Um I put on a case uh on my UN Pro because I am just tired about how it feels. And I'm slightly ruined by um like I'm still holding the iPhone there every single day. So, that's kind of has a knock on effect. But I am just so bored of this design and I'm sure I'll be bored of the iPhone design too. Um, can I ask you this, Actually, cuz I have
not asked you this. If Google and I don't think they will. I don't think this will happen, but if Google in the next generation came out with a with an iPhone Pixel, would you would that be your daily driver? If it had all the same let's say it has all the same sacrifices as the current Air? Yes. Would you switch to Okay. And if that was the only one they would make, I would keep using it the next year, too. Wow. Yeah. I don't like blame you. Like it's the you know, I've held your Air and then I've held like one or two others, but uh have not used one myself, but it's like it is a striking design. It is nice to have a thin and light phone that is still big.
Like it's I get the appeal, you know, like it's I wouldn't say no to seeing what Google did with that kind of idea, you know? That being said, they absolutely should not do this. Even I No, they should not. Oh, well, that's the thing, right? Is that it's like But also, I would need it to not be running on Tensor because I do feel like even with the efficiency gains that I think the last couple generations have made, you would feel Tensor through a thin and light Pixel. you would feel that heat in the way that I felt. Maybe not this to this degree, but the I'll never forget just like I felt like I was touching the chipset.
The Pixel the first gen Pixel Fold would get so hot. It was like I could feel it through the glass. It's terrible. Yeah. I will say that the 11 Pro Fold tensor heat was never an issue. I actually feel like I've had more heat issues on my Fold 8, my Samsung Fold 8 U than I had on the 11 Pro Fold. What else? [clears throat] just a thinner chassis or is it a processor thing? No, I think uh I think the current Snapdragon just runs warm sometimes. Interesting. Cuz I every Snapdragon phone I've used this year has been it's run a little bit warm. Like it's not hot. It's not tensor G2 and a Pixel Fold hot. But it's it gets warm.
I would be more concerned about the battery life personally. Yeah. I don't think Google would be able until they do silicon carbon. I don't think Google can fit a big enough battery in a thin and light phone to make it work even as well as an Air. So, yeah. Will, how is the Pixel you haven't going? I like it. Like I This is my first uh this is the first, as I said, uh big Pixel I've been on since the Pixel 8 Pro. So, I' I've waited three generations to come back around to a to a large screen Pixel. Um I like it. It's not uh it's it's not a revolution. It's a design that I'm that I think we're all very familiar with.
Obviously, Abner is bored by it. I'm a little bored by it, too. But it's like it's it the magic of Pixel in my opinion on the Android side of things is that it's just unlike even Samsung and certainly other brands go listen to me rant about briefly about a Lenovo tablet I'm reviewing in the bonus episode last week. But like the amount of times that sometimes you're like my okay my software expectations have are pretty high these days. Like I no longer am really willing to forgive like annoying quirks or bugs on various builds of Android. And this is like Pixel is by far the cleanest of these. Like there's very few major hiccups you will run into and probably of any brand including Apple frankly. Like I think iOS is
buggier than uh or at least I haven't really used iOS 27, but iOS 26 definitely buggier than the last couple uh Pixels for sure. Um yeah, absolutely. So, so there's something to be said about like just how reliably like I can pick up this phone and just know the experience I'm going to get is like good and reliable and like I'm not going to get some weird like pop-ups or annoying notifications or bloatware outside of like unless you want to call like some of the AI stuff, but you know, I don't. Um yeah, I it's just like such a reliable phone that it's difficult for me to like it's impossible for me to hate. It's also difficult for me to like find things to like really heat praise on. Even the camera system, which I
like a lot and I think it's the most fun camera system Google has shipped in ages. You know, after a while it's like you kind of settle. You're like, "Yeah, I found the I found the style I want to shoot with. Like I'm not going to swap it up very often." And so like even that excitement kind of dies down. That is absolutely the under underrated overrated. It's like Yeah. Once you pick a style, you pick a style. you don't really switch. So, in some sense, you just set a UI and you just set a filter and be done with it.
Um, which is it's not as Okay, so my context for this and why I was so excited going in was like the very earliest days of Instagram when you had like all those when like filtering your photos was like a thing people did all the time. That was fun before posting, but that's that's not what we have today. I'll kind of build [clears throat] on what Will was saying is, you know, how it's kind of for me, I think what I've realized is it's become like the standard. Um cuz I'm the only one of us three who's been like actively pushed off of the Pixel 11 since it came out. Yes. Um for a little while, I when I started it, I was trying the 11 Pro Fold. is like I want that to be my daily driver cuz it is nice to have a
foldable as my daily that I don't have to carry an extra phone with me, right? Um but the Fold 8 got me back cuz it's just very good. I like the new form factor. Um but I was carrying the 11 Pro XL as my secondary as like my better camera. Uh really enjoyed it and I did kind of slip into this like it's just on my person. It's just the Pixel I have on me, which is nice because it is predictable, reliable. You know, I'm going to have my good camera. I'm going to have all the features that I want to have on me. Um, as you and I have discussed on numerous occasions, will I still find little quirks in every other Android phone that the Pixel gets better, like the notification history shortcut and
the uh being able to use the fingerprint sensor to open the phone even if it's face unlock unlocks it. the phone I was pushed on to, which I can't publicly talk about even though it's officially announced at this point. Um, so you can figure out which one that is, um, has both of those issues. I can't access my notification history quickly. I can't press the fingerprint sensor to unlock the phone. And more on that in the review. Um, I like the Pixel a lot as my secondary phone especially because it is that predictable reliable thing, but when I get pushed onto another phone, I find myself like weirdly enjoying it more cuz I'm like finding the things I like or the I'm figuring out the things that are different versus the Pixel is
just such a known static quantity at this point. Yes. So yeah, I think before we jump on to the 11 Pro Fold, which I also have as a personal unit, the 11 the base that is feels a lot like the 11 Pro, but I just would have to say that the minimal camera bar is nice. You barely feel it. Um, I still think that the future of pixel design is moving to a completely fat uh fat look and I welcome that. Yeah, I hope they do because um I mean everyone is copying the Pixels camera bar design poorly I am editorially but they are doing it. I don't expect the, you know, I don't know if the big flagship, the Pro series will ever fully lose
Hammer Bum just size, you know, dimension wise, but like No, I agree. It's really nice to see. It's not just that Google is like the only company even trying to ship a phone without a camera. You know, only putting the bump in that needs to be there, which was actually one of my big complaints about the base 10 was that I didn't feel like the camera performance was on par with the size of that camera bump. And obviously it wasn't based on the 11 this year. Um but but uh you know you look at all of the you look at Apple and you look at you know we've seen S27 Ultra leaks and third you know Samsung's camera bar redesign which is just a blatant iPhone pro knockoff. Like I don't what are we
doing guys? Like do you have any ideas that are your own Samsung? Like you got out of this bubble at the end of the last decade. Why are you so far back into it? Anyway, it's a different rant for a different time. They all do it poorly and it's like you set it down on a table and they all still wobble except the Pixel. I don't understand why. Like why do these companies all think like phone is it just a case thing? Is it that if you put a case on any of these case thing? I just don't get it. Like you can make your users life better. It doesn't like stop the case from still going on the phone. I just don't understand. Like I really wish these companies if they're going to copy would do it properly.
Yes, I agree. Cuz again, that phone that I'm using right now has a giant camera sensor on one side and then has another thing on the opposite side and they made the opposite side thinner for no reason when they could have just had the whole thing uniform. Just not in terms of making things thinner, you have an Fold. It is so noticeable that one half is thinner. Um, yeah. So, I mostly use it, well, I used it as a phone for a few days. Uh, but I then I kept it open and it's now a tablet. Uh, world's most expensive tablet. Um, it's not that much more expensive than Samsung's new tablet. Just saying. It feels weird that the other side is thinner. Like, it just feels weird.
I wonder if that's how you end up with uh with the iPhone Duo being thicker than like its competitors. Is that is that they wanted it to be uniform, which I don't even think is a terrible decision. Uh because any foldable I've ever used where the two sides are not uniform in thickness like it is noticeable. It does kind of bother me. And so like I want I don't know. I'd have to look at the measurements of each side and compare it to the thicker side of the Pixel. uh 11 Pro Fold. God, three years in and still such a mouthful of a name. Yep. Yeah. I don't I could totally see Apple being like, "We're just going to take the hit on this being a millimeter and a half thicker than the competition,
but then it won't be like Google's and it'll be uniform." Now, obviously, Google is not the leader in this category. So, to compare it, you know, it's it's not a great comparison because you can look at Samsung, etc., etc., Chinese OEMs, and be like, "Well, what about them?" But yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. The thing I still find interesting like every time I look at the 11 Pro Fold is that the thinner half is the one with the magnets and you wouldn't expect Yeah. Right. Like that's the part that always push all the components to the other side. Maybe I maybe it's just cuz you know you already have a camera bump so you have some more room to play with. But it's just it that's the part that always
gets me is like and still infuriates me about Samsung's, you know, t take on magnets. Um is that like why is that the thinner side? How did you pull that off? Hey folks, if you're enjoying Pixelated, don't forget to sign up for 95 Google Pro for ad free episodes and to gain access to our weekly bonus show, Pixelated Pro. This week, I tell Ben and Amnner all about the custom TV service I've built on my NOS to bring back that cable feeling. We discuss the sense of relief that 2025 laptop purchases have brought us throughout 2026 and explain why it's a bad idea to hire Simon Kinberg to write Star Wars Episode 10. I'll give
you a hint. It rhymes with Bark Helix and he adapted it both times. Sign up today for just $5 per month or about $1 per episode at 95google.com/pro. So yeah, that is the hardware at the grands. So diving straight into software highlight. This week, Google released QPR 2 beta 6.1 and it finally brings messaging support for highlight I which I is absolutely it's still pixel grow ingrained into my mind. Um yeah and honestly it's kind of useful. I've been using it for the past 2 days or so and I have absolutely responded to notifications using uh because I saw the light flash and it is more prominent than the AOD.
Yeah. Uh I'm not on the beta um so I've not used it. How like is it easy is it as easy to customize as like the phone call stuff? Is that Yeah, you can pick you can turn off one or the other for each contact. Uh it's still five colors. Um it blinks twice, which I was kind of curious like how they would adjust that or whether it would be like a continuous glow or something, but it works. Uh two flashes seems pretty prominent. Catches your eye. Um yeah, I don't know. It's again, this should have been there from day one and we're not expecting this to launch until Decemberish.
Um, but yeah, this is like finally reaching the 1.0 status of highlight and I just Yeah, I just don't understand why this wasn't ready for launch. like it's such a basic like I have never I have not been able to get over it. And not helping things is that highlight is the Pixel 11's ad campaign right now. Like I'm watching a lot of football and I'm seeing a lot of advertisements and the phone ads I'm seeing are the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. I assume the duo ads probably start this month ahead of launch. Um although who knows? They ne I never really saw an iPhone air ad during football. So maybe they're just not going to do it.
Yeah. Um and then uh the Pixel well and then the Fold 8. Samsung's really pushing the Fold 8 and the Pixel 11. But the Pixel 11 ads are all that highlight ad where they're knocking on the glass at the cafe or whatever. Like that's the one they keep showing over and over again. And that ad is like it's not bad. I think it's like a I've kind of warmed up to it as a concept. The problem is that, you know, the feature doesn't really it kind of will once messages there, but the feature doesn't really line up with like the promise of the ad like fully silencing everything. Like I know it ends with a phone call from the babysitter or whatever and therefore it is establishing that it's a phone call notification
light at least at the moment. But you mentioned the two blinks that should be customizable. Like all of this should be customizable in a way that like Google does not seem to want to allow for. And I just it's it's just I wish I had a better understanding of the philosophy Google wants to do here because they are they have always pushed Android as this like open space for you to make it what you want to be. But the pixel experience feels very locked down and curated in a completely I it's just how like they want you to use the tools how they've designed them. Yeah. No, I don't mind that opinion.
It's opinionated and I feel like the Pixel extension over Android allows that. But when you're opinionated, you have to the ideas that you choose for people have to be good. They have to be solid. They have to be fully thought out and fit people's lives. And I think um it's the that still some requires some tweaking. Yeah. It's it's I also just think it's a it's it's a market thing like because I the thing this compar in my head what highlight is the closest to is the action button on the last few generations of iPhones in that it is a button that does I mean it can do a bunch of things but it does one thing at a time and you would think like oh certainly I mean put aside that it's Apple but certainly a company building the shortcut button would allow
me to assign uh the whatever app I want to it or you know very yeah double tap along like whatever long you know triple tap various shortcuts and I can make this like a really powerful like uniform button. No, it's one thing you press and hold for whatever the one of eight actions that you've assigned to it are. And that's how highlight feels where it's like even with the messaging thing, it's like, "Oh, did you want like a wide reaching notification light back on your phone, even though we've kind of built this as a quote unquote like digital well-being feature?" Like, too bad, man. It's a digital well-being feature, and it's designed to only alert you to a handful of people uh through a handful of and by handful, I mean one
soon to be two forms of communication. I don't know. It's just it's it's weird for me as a longtime Android person and a longtime Pixel person and an Nexus person before that to look at this and be like, why did this why does this phone series keep reminding me so much of the iPhone more than other Android devices? Yeah, the Speaking of the action button, it's I set mine to open Google Lens. I always found it ironic. Um, can you set it to open apps? I actually don't know this. Yes, you can. the shortcuts actually pretty you can do it. You can open well Siri shortcuts is nuts. That's that's the thing about Apple is that they'll either go full restraint or they'll do shortcuts where you're like yeah it's just a macro app built into
iOS and I'm like huh it's really is just all or nothing with you guys isn't it like it's so strange. So yeah. So what's crazy about that is that means that Apple's version of that action button is like more advanced than the clones cuz like I know the one that sure OnePlus and Oppo were doing you can't set it to open. No, you couldn't. It and it was the same it was otherwise the same UI and the same options except for there was obviously no Siri shortcuts because there are no Siri shortcuts on a OnePlus one. I still I man should I switch back to the OnePlus 15? No, I shouldn't. It's not a very good phone to go out on, is it? Um I know there's a OnePlus 16. It's not real. So, [snorts] yeah. So, yeah, that's high, right? Um Lamba,
is that how is everybody's adoption of it? Ben and I, I feel like, are going to have very different answers on this, so I'll let I warmed up to Rambler more than I thought I was going to, and I do miss having it on everything else. Um, it was a noticeable step up in terms of just let it, you know, just speak and let it be done. Uh, I found myself like talking more and more instead of sending quick messages with it. Um, although I still was not a huge fan of like it changing the words I was using. Uh, like if I gave an explanation of something and then it shortened it or lengthened it or whatever, I wasn't ever a fan of that. But being able to
just tap the button, start talking, and trust that it's going to send a message that is what I was saying thought-wise at least uh was good. And I do miss it on everything else and wish that it would at least to the full date. Yeah. In terms of accuracy, it's it's a step up over the previous one. Um I don't think I've had a typo from Rambler, which is saying something. And I think that is a tradeoff I'm willing to have over not having it stream in real time and getting a transcription. Um I 50 days in I've mostly gotten over that I think. Uh but yeah it's it's goo I'm surprised it's not being advertised more. Let's put it that way.
Will look I'm I'm not a voiceto text person in general. like it's just not how I have ever been my phone. Um, but e even at home, I it's it's rare. The car is really where I do this the most. Um, for as far as Rambler goes, I think it's I haven't used it a lot since the review period, and it's it's sort of twofold. It's not because it's a bad feature, just to like get that out of the way. I think Rambler's impressive. The first thing is that I think I need the like on screen text appearing just like how my brain works. I start to like lose my train of thought as I'm talking. I'm sure that's a learning curve and I could get used to it. But it's
as someone who is already not really using this like doesn't use voice to text very often. It's it's an even bigger ask for me to be like learn to use it all the time and also learn to get used to not seeing your words as you're using it. And then the second thing was that my vision of Rambler was oh like you can open like the notes app and just start like stream of conscious like just get you know I was trying to do it for my D and D campaign is what I was trying to do and I spat like two and a half notes of uh or two and a half minutes of thoughts into it and it's it lost a bunch of context and summarized a bunch of stuff and like I basically had to like rewrite half of it anyway. way
and it sort of killed my enthusiasm for it because I saw it as a better way to like get stuff down on paper without having to like type or have to think about what I'm saying. And it's not really there yet or and or I'm using it wrong. It might just maybe it's just not for that. But yeah, again, it's a good feature. I just don't know if it fits what I'm personally looking for. Ironically, keep live, which they recently added to the workspace apps, is what it sounds like you want um in that and in that specific scenario. But yeah, it's again, I'm surprised it's not advertised as much as it's a good feature. It's like a genuinely good AI feature that taps all into the potential of AI. But yeah,
like well you were saying that hasn't really appeared in ads, has it? No, it's really just highlight and I'm I'm surprised because a big advancement in how you like text your friends would feels to me like a better selling point or at least a more fully rounded selling point. But I think highlight is just easier to show. It is. It's it's a look, like I said, I don't know if I liked that ad much during the event itself, but I have warmed up to it in terms of I've seen it. I've seen it like a dozen times now and I'm like Google addressing a point of complaint that a lot of people have in terms of how their phones invade their personal lives uh these days and just how annoying notifications are.
And it's presenting a real uh solution uh that doesn't require you to go through mountains of settings menus to get your phone working how you want it to both get the alerts you need and get none of the ones you don't. Lambber is like the biggest Gemini intelligence feature, which otherwise I still haven't really found myself deraggating uh like using the app action stuff. Not really there yet. It's probably it's more so of a thing doing trips. Um have you anybody been using Magic Capture a lot? No, I have not. I still can't even think of a place I would use that.
I used it um outside the like last week I used it once to capture a most a mostly video thing. Um it was somebody using like a machete to do a champagne bottle. Um that was kind of fun. Um and ironically I really like how minimalist the magic capture UI is. Um, but yeah, in terms of like Gemini, what is this? Pixel Revenant Pro or Gemini Intelligence. I feel like that's how they're selling it. Not the biggest. The AI stuff hasn't hit. Yeah. Again, beyond Rambo, which is under advertised. Yeah. I don't know what to make of Google's like, you know, we don't have a lot to say about Gemini 4 necessarily. So I'm I'm not talking I'm
not talking so much about the underlying models but um it's been a busy week or so week and a half two weeks of like consumer AI products like from meta and then these dots from open AI and it really it continues to feel a little bit like at least on that front of I don't know like a cute little agentic AI thing on your pixel feels like a Google feature to me like I'm I'm surprised that they haven't figured this out and it'll probably come, but it's another way that it just feels like Google is still playing catchup and or launching, you know, tools that feel just like very look, they're all throwing spaghetti at the wall, but Google really feels like it's throwing spaghetti at the wall and it's aiming for places that other people
have already hit. That's a sweaty analogy, but there you go. Um, I don't know. I'm I'm I'm It's It's strange to say that Google feels behind on the consumer AI race when this phone is only 50 days old and like there's nothing like I'm not signing up for Dots or for Muse necessarily, but that's the talk of the town right now. And it just feels like you compare it to what how people are talking about Gemini. I don't know if people are talking about Gemini. It's just it's weird. Yeah, it's I'm kind of surprised we didn't see OpenAI's hardware prey um this week, but yeah, this the just to touch on the craze that is Muse and Open AI dots. So, Gemini Spark exists. It was the major IO announcement in May. It is
currently still only available to AI Pro and AI Ultra. Um, so it's still a paid feature. Um, I conceptually I never the split within Gemini. So there's a chat tab and there's a Spark tab. Um, I've never that hasn't really made sense to me. It does appear that they're they're aiming they're about to simplify it and integrate Spark more closely, but I just think it should be a built-in Gemini feature. Muse being a hit is really surprising for me to me. Agreed. One from a privacy perspective because apparently we're never learning what kind of company Meta is. We're always forgetting and Muse has was launched as a separate app because Meta AI is nothing.
Yeah, there is a Meta AI app. It has gotten no traction. any traction that it does have is done by shoehorning into WhatsApp and Instagram. So yeah, Meta was able to do a clean straight app because the original one was doing nothing. Um is getting zero traction. Um right, I'm sure Muse is like a good simplified experience right now, but for how long? Because the boat always comes with uh meta as seen by Instagram. Also, the new icon has no personality. The bloat, the privacy problems, the security problems. I mean, we've already seen some of that. I've seen horror stories of Muse like accessing your messages. Yeah.
I am not at a point like I'll I'll just be straight up. I'm not at the point where I'm ready and I think I said this with Allison Johnson on the side load this week when we were talking about Muse, but I'm not at a point where I'm ready to hand uh you know full control of anything over to any kind of agentic AI system. Like I have used them like I have used agentic AI applications. They are always on ask for permission every time. I don't care if I have to if the prompt sits there for 20 minutes waiting for me to say okay go for it. Like I do not understand handing I Yeah, I think it was not sorry to mention John Gruber on an Android podcast, but I think it was John Gruber who made a comparison to like handing
someone your laptop. Would you be comfortable just handing someone your laptop and like walking away? And the answer is like no. Absolutely not. So like it's the same thing even though you know it sure it's ones and zeros but it's the same sort of level of unpredictability and like not knowing what this like bot is going to do with what you're handing them. So I yeah I'm I'm very concerned about like or not concerned but like I wouldn't do it like I don't see the security protocols in place that would make me feel comfortable just being like yeah I'll just let this robot do whatever they want on my computer. Um, so I just but like people don't care. Clearly people are just excited to do this.
They're signing for Muse and Instinct and all of these other, you know, freshfaced like we're going to manage your life. We're going to book you a reservation at a popular restaurant, which is the example all of these companies keep using for some reason. Is it that like is that is it that much of a problem in New York, LA, and San mostly San Francisco? Because that's apparently everybody's main concern in San Francisco is getting into the hottest restaurant is the lesson I'm learning from how agent is. Look, here's the thing. I will say uh a few years ago, I went to God, I don't remember the place. Just look up whatever ramen place in SF has a Michelin star and lines down the street. I've been
there. It was delicious and worth the wait. Not that we really had to wait. We got there early. Um we got there right before closed or open. But uh I get it. But also, you know, it's like travel itinerary. It's just like guys like this is not a problem that most people actually face in their lives. You got to broaden this out. So I don't know. I and maybe that's why Google hasn't struck in this to bring it to bring it back to Google and the Pixel. Uh you know, their agentic AI stuff is like pretty slim at the moment. Like they're they're dancing around it and they're promising more to come. But maybe they really want to just like nail the consumer side properly, but I don't know. I'm I'm I'm skeptical.
Yeah, I've been back and forth on, you know, being like, "Oh, Google's leading consumer AI and Google's behind in consumer AI." And I would say I'm pretty squarely in the latter camp right now. Even though I think it's the playing field itself is a bit of a mess. Yeah, it's it's every it's it's back and forth every week. Nobody's it's it's just it's back and forth. I'll put it that way. I maybe they move it's cuz they move slow. Like Google clearly moves slower than open AI and Anthropic. And at the moment I met Meta's just meta just has a lot of noise going on right now. So it's easy for them to be up there. But like at the same time I Google's better off than Amazon which feels like an also ran at this
point for whatever they want to do with Alexa. So there are worse places. Aren't they killing that branding? Didn't I see Did I see that? They k they're killing the co-pilot plus PC branding which was always stupid and meaningless. [snorts] Yeah. I man let me into give me a week at all of these companies. a week each at all these companies. I will straighten it out. I would walk in. I'll be like, "Co-Pilot, I already forgot. What was it? Copilot Plus PC." PC. Yep. That's nothing. That's less than nothing. Like Google Book is better branding. And I think that's it. It's so much less than nothing cuz literally all it was a measure of
how much NPU power they had and the only feature it unlocked was recall which they delayed for a year. And it's amazing how they messed that up. They could have had something. They could have genuinely had something. I just I that is just a company that I think is lost in the sauce right now. I have no idea what gets a viral hit in Allah Muse. I will be shocked. They just they don't have product sense at the end of the day. You can't you can so they did hire a lot of people to get to like build up the AI or but it's a management issue.
Yeah. Institutionally they don't have product sense. Like Amazon has no product sense because they just put everything on the homepage. It's wild. They Amazon has no product sense cuz they launched Kindles today. Their big new feature is that you have to buy a case to get your buttons back. They like they're like, "We hear everybody. You all want buttons back on your Kindles. Here is an $80 case for the new Kindles that brings your buttons back." You're welcome. That's what you wanted, right? That company is That companyy's another one where I just wanted to make a small one.
Oh my god. They made a remote. They made a Kindle quick. Oh, this is amazing. I think the remote is the remote not old or not like a second gen version. I don't know. It looks like it kind of looks like the daydream remote. I guess I just don't understand why they don't just give us buttons back. I don't know. These companies I again give me a week at all of them. I'll straighten it out. I'll bring buttons back. I'll get rid of co-pilot. Uh no buttons. Oh, I Oh, I couldn't disagree more. I give me a thousand buttons. I love a button. Give me a click. Give me a physical tactile solid state is the
solid state stuff doesn't for everything. Not for everything. But if we're as long as we're talking a physical thing that I can click, Abner, I'm fine with it being like Yeah. Like I assume when you say solid state, you're talking like the MacBook trackpads kind of thing, right? Yeah. I'm fine with that. Those are fine. I'm fine with that. God, we are way off topic. This should have been a bonus feature for the record just to I'm just I'm the idiot that buys every Kindle. Um for all reasons I get it. I'm always tempted. So um you know what and maybe we can talk a little more about this and other stuff in the bonus. Let's let's let's wrap up here. Any final uh Pixel 11 at 50 days thoughts?
No, not on Pixel 11. I they're they're good phones, but it's it's um it just feels it feels like Google's treading water a little bit uh with this generation, which makes it good if you're upgrading from older devices, but you know, after 50 days, like more so than even other recent Pixel launches, like it really just even all the new stuff kind of blends into the background and you're just left with a another new Pixel. All right, uh that does it for the main episode this week, guys. We are going to head on over to beat the bonus show. Uh you can sign up for that at uh 9to5google.com/pro I believe. Uh we'll have already done an ad read for it anyway. Uh so we will see
you over there. I want to thank Ben for joining us uh on this journey uh which is not complete but uh you still got a half an hour to go buddy. But uh yeah, Ben, thank you for filling in uh for Damian this week. Um and uh yeah, we will talk to everybody else in the next one. Bye. Thanks for listening to Pixelated, a 9to5 Google podcast. If you enjoyed the show, we ask that you rate and review it on the podcast platform of your choice and help spread the word by sharing the show with friends or on social media.
