Comment by encryptluks2 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by encryptluks2 | Hacker News Reader

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I've been on the fence since release about whether I should get the Pixel. I'd much rather get it from a seller other than Google though, because in the past I've had terrible experience with Google customer service. Unfortunately, most deals that I've seen are exclusive to Google. Right now you can get the Pixel 6a for $349 from Fi, but it is $399 on Amazon. Fi also appears to have a better "insurance" option that covers theft and loss, and my experience with Amazon is that their warranties do not cover theft or loss. The other issue is that the unlocked version from what I recall only supports Sub-6 5G. I'm not sure if Fi carriers even support mmWave. I believe Verizon is the only carrier to do so at the moment, however for my first 5G phone I really want to experience a significant benefit. I'm not sure if Sub-6 5G will provide the experience I'm looking for.

Fi is definitely the way to go if you're buying a Pixel.

But you should know that 5G only really shines in really crowded places like sports stadiums and music festivals.

The other noticable difference is the faster battery drain; I disabled 5G entirely on my Pixel 6.

FWIW, when I last bought a Pixel phone through Fi (first gen Pixel), you got support through Fi for your device and not through the Google store. Fi’s support at the time was much better and they replaced my phone without much trouble when I had an issue with it, whereas every experience with the Google store I’ve had has been terrible. Hopefully things haven’t changed much for the worse since then.

T-Mobile has band 71 (600MHz), and is using 1/2 of it for 5G. Band 71 is excellent for areas where range and obstruction penetration are important.

If you buy a phone, first make sure you know what bands it supports, as the 5G bands are all over the place, and the millimeter bands only do well line of site with no obstructions.

Unless you’re going to a lot of highly crowed but localized places I don’t think you’ll see the benefits of mmWave beyond showing off to friends at a special street corner.

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