4 ms·

Feeling like my Pixel 9 Pro was the best timed hardware buy I've made in recent years. The 10 dropped the physical SIM slot and Google started with their devic

Feeling like my Pixel 9 Pro was the best timed hardware buy I've made in recent years. The 10 dropped the physical SIM slot and Google started with their device tree shenanigans that year, with little to no improvements in exchange. I've got 16GB of RAM and 512GB in an ecosystem that shows every sign of regressing in capacities due to component price inflation. Very interested to see what Motorola does next year, however.

trollbridge 28d ago
The 11 is a complete turd. Less RAM than the 10. Sticking with a 9 Pro or 10 Pro is the smart move right now. I’m actually considering spending $400 to get a broken 9 Pro XL fixed…
- wolvoleo 28d ago
  Yes but all phones coming out now are going to be complete turds really. They're all going to cut corners to offset the exploding cost of storage and ram.
sieabahlpark 28d ago
[dead]
codethief 28d ago
> The 10 dropped the physical SIM slot Not sure about the 10, but at least the 10 Pro still has one.
- MattTheRealOne 28d ago
  Not in the United States. Only the Fold still has a physical SIM slot.
- grapheneos 28d ago
  It was removed from the whole non-folding Pixel 10 series in the US. It still has the SIM card slot elsewhere. We had to return a Pixel 10 bricked due to a firmware bug and it was the US model since we'd bought it in the US and sent it overseas with a forwarding service. Google's repair partner shop was quite confused about the lack of a SIM card slot to get the IMEI and we only had a serial number but they figured out using the serial number instead. There's still dual SIM support either way and you can store dozens of inactive eSIMs. The main downside of eSIMs is widespread lack of transfer support by carriers.
  - Grombobulous 28d ago
    After switching providers with a recent phone with eSIM, I would say I’d never want to go back to physical SIMs ever again. They’re going to go away worldwide eventually, they’re just more easily removed in the US where the carriers are more bleeding edge on features and there are only 3 providers to think about in a very large homogenous market. The difference between waiting for a SIM card to arrive in the mail or traveling to a store, fiddling with a paperclip, tray, and impossibly tiny nano-SIM versus switching providers in 10 minutes via an app is night and day. Most SIM/dual SIM solutions also involve removing both SIM cards at once even to swap out one of two, and they tend to require device restarts. In the past I’ve also had network problems as a result of bad/damaged SIM cards.
    - monksy 28d ago
      ooo I can't wait for the CDMA carrier locking boogaloo all over again.
    - drnick1 28d ago
      You seem to forget that moving an eSIM between phones isn't nearly as straightforward as moving a physical SIM, and often must be requested or approved by the carrier. If for some reason you intend to use the same SIM in various phones for one reason or another, it's a huge inconvenience.
      - Grombobulous 28d ago
        Technically, the same thing can happen with a physical SIM. I tried that with a Nexus 5X on Verizon and that's how I learned their network has an allowlist system.
        drnick1 28d ago
        How does the carrier even know what phone you are going to use? My last SIM was bought in store at T Mobile, for cash, and I can freely move between phones. I never buy phones from carriers. My Pixel as bought directly from Google and immediately flashed with Graphene.
- esalman 28d ago
  Can confirm, pixel 10 is esim only.
  - grapheneos 28d ago
    It was removed from the non-Fold devices in the US. They kept it for other countries due to only considering the US carriers to be ready for eSIM-only.
- dathinab 28d ago
  it might be worth considering that for many Phones different hardware is sold _under the same marketing name_. The most common versions (in the "west) are AFIK: - US version vs. international version (just the most common divide of Phones you will see "in the west", e.g. if a brand sell to China, that also is normally it's own sub-versions.) the most common differences include: - different modems - US phones being carrier locked (which is not normal outside of the US and a few other countries) - US phones not having sim card slots, the international version of the same (Android) Phones, often still has a physical sim card slot
esalman 28d ago
Pixel 10 was so bad I had to trade it in after using for a month. The version I got was 128GB for a whopping $600. This was my first Google device after Nexus days and I was bitterly disappointed with weird performance bugs and battery drain issues. The software does little to make up for the issues. The replacement I got is a Motorola razr ultra folding phone.. similar perf point with 16G RAM and 512G storage. This phone is legit.
- port11 28d ago
  Ahm… phones have as much memory as my laptop? Man, here was I thinking a Pixel 7 would make a good Graphene device.
  - jmaksv 28d ago
    I have multiple Pixel 7 phones GrapheneOS in my family with close to zero issues. It's a good choice for GrapheneOS IMO, except that support ends in Oct 2027. The Pixel 8 is still great also but has a more fragile screen. I haven't used any newer devices with it yet.
    - port11 28d ago
      Sounds good, thank you. The Pixel 8 is way outside my budget, it’ll mostly be a testing device for my mobile apps (gotta make them work on GOS).
      - grapheneos 28d ago
        Get a used Pixel 8a instead of a Pixel 7. Pixel 8 and later have 7 years of support from launch instead of 5 along with MTE. The 'a' series devices are cheaper but have a variant of the same SoC for 6th through 9th gen. A used Pixel 8a or a new Pixel 10a are both very good value.
    - deleted 28d ago
      [deleted]
    - joshspankit 27d ago
gertrunde 28d ago
"The 10 dropped the physical SIM slot" I'm assuming that's a country specific/dependent thing? (My pixel 10 does have a physical sim slot).
- grapheneos 28d ago
  It was removed from the non-Fold devices in the US. They kept it for other countries due to only considering the US carriers to be ready for eSIM-only.
  - wolvoleo 28d ago
    True, here in Europe they're definitely not. Especially on prepaid. I wouldn't buy a phone without dual physical sim. eSIM is nice for travelling but I want physical for my daily numbers. This way I can stick them in any phone I want and even in my 4G backup modem.
glitchbot 27d ago
Concur. I purchased the 9 pro fold specifically for the mutli physical/ esim and profile features to compartmentalize tools. Solid construction and material. Runs a lil hot but I push it. Its also through Above phone so a few extra bells and whistles.
avipars 27d ago
The ironic thing is, the tagline for the Pixel 11 is "Ask more of your phone"

trollbridge 28d ago

The 11 is a complete turd. Less RAM than the 10. Sticking with a 9 Pro or 10 Pro is the smart move right now. I’m actually considering spending $400 to get a broken 9 Pro XL fixed…

wolvoleo 28d ago
Yes but all phones coming out now are going to be complete turds really. They're all going to cut corners to offset the exploding cost of storage and ram.

sieabahlpark 28d ago

[dead]

codethief 28d ago

> The 10 dropped the physical SIM slot Not sure about the 10, but at least the 10 Pro still has one.

MattTheRealOne 28d ago
Not in the United States. Only the Fold still has a physical SIM slot.
grapheneos 28d ago
It was removed from the whole non-folding Pixel 10 series in the US. It still has the SIM card slot elsewhere. We had to return a Pixel 10 bricked due to a firmware bug and it was the US model since we'd bought it in the US and sent it overseas with a forwarding service. Google's repair partner shop was quite confused about the lack of a SIM card slot to get the IMEI and we only had a serial number but they figured out using the serial number instead. There's still dual SIM support either way and you can store dozens of inactive eSIMs. The main downside of eSIMs is widespread lack of transfer support by carriers.
- Grombobulous 28d ago
  After switching providers with a recent phone with eSIM, I would say I’d never want to go back to physical SIMs ever again. They’re going to go away worldwide eventually, they’re just more easily removed in the US where the carriers are more bleeding edge on features and there are only 3 providers to think about in a very large homogenous market. The difference between waiting for a SIM card to arrive in the mail or traveling to a store, fiddling with a paperclip, tray, and impossibly tiny nano-SIM versus switching providers in 10 minutes via an app is night and day. Most SIM/dual SIM solutions also involve removing both SIM cards at once even to swap out one of two, and they tend to require device restarts. In the past I’ve also had network problems as a result of bad/damaged SIM cards.
  - monksy 28d ago
    ooo I can't wait for the CDMA carrier locking boogaloo all over again.
  - drnick1 28d ago
    You seem to forget that moving an eSIM between phones isn't nearly as straightforward as moving a physical SIM, and often must be requested or approved by the carrier. If for some reason you intend to use the same SIM in various phones for one reason or another, it's a huge inconvenience.
    - Grombobulous 28d ago
      Technically, the same thing can happen with a physical SIM. I tried that with a Nexus 5X on Verizon and that's how I learned their network has an allowlist system.
      - drnick1 28d ago
        How does the carrier even know what phone you are going to use? My last SIM was bought in store at T Mobile, for cash, and I can freely move between phones. I never buy phones from carriers. My Pixel as bought directly from Google and immediately flashed with Graphene.
esalman 28d ago
Can confirm, pixel 10 is esim only.
- grapheneos 28d ago
  It was removed from the non-Fold devices in the US. They kept it for other countries due to only considering the US carriers to be ready for eSIM-only.
dathinab 28d ago
it might be worth considering that for many Phones different hardware is sold _under the same marketing name_. The most common versions (in the "west) are AFIK: - US version vs. international version (just the most common divide of Phones you will see "in the west", e.g. if a brand sell to China, that also is normally it's own sub-versions.) the most common differences include: - different modems - US phones being carrier locked (which is not normal outside of the US and a few other countries) - US phones not having sim card slots, the international version of the same (Android) Phones, often still has a physical sim card slot

esalman 28d ago

Pixel 10 was so bad I had to trade it in after using for a month. The version I got was 128GB for a whopping $600. This was my first Google device after Nexus days and I was bitterly disappointed with weird performance bugs and battery drain issues. The software does little to make up for the issues. The replacement I got is a Motorola razr ultra folding phone.. similar perf point with 16G RAM and 512G storage. This phone is legit.

port11 28d ago
Ahm… phones have as much memory as my laptop? Man, here was I thinking a Pixel 7 would make a good Graphene device.
- jmaksv 28d ago
  I have multiple Pixel 7 phones GrapheneOS in my family with close to zero issues. It's a good choice for GrapheneOS IMO, except that support ends in Oct 2027. The Pixel 8 is still great also but has a more fragile screen. I haven't used any newer devices with it yet.
  - port11 28d ago
    Sounds good, thank you. The Pixel 8 is way outside my budget, it’ll mostly be a testing device for my mobile apps (gotta make them work on GOS).
    - grapheneos 28d ago
      Get a used Pixel 8a instead of a Pixel 7. Pixel 8 and later have 7 years of support from launch instead of 5 along with MTE. The 'a' series devices are cheaper but have a variant of the same SoC for 6th through 9th gen. A used Pixel 8a or a new Pixel 10a are both very good value.
  - deleted 28d ago
    [deleted]
  - joshspankit 27d ago

gertrunde 28d ago

"The 10 dropped the physical SIM slot" I'm assuming that's a country specific/dependent thing? (My pixel 10 does have a physical sim slot).

grapheneos 28d ago
It was removed from the non-Fold devices in the US. They kept it for other countries due to only considering the US carriers to be ready for eSIM-only.
- wolvoleo 28d ago
  True, here in Europe they're definitely not. Especially on prepaid. I wouldn't buy a phone without dual physical sim. eSIM is nice for travelling but I want physical for my daily numbers. This way I can stick them in any phone I want and even in my 4G backup modem.

glitchbot 27d ago

Concur. I purchased the 9 pro fold specifically for the mutli physical/ esim and profile features to compartmentalize tools. Solid construction and material. Runs a lil hot but I push it. Its also through Above phone so a few extra bells and whistles.

avipars 27d ago

The ironic thing is, the tagline for the Pixel 11 is "Ask more of your phone"