October 2017: Google announced the Pixel 2 XL, and I spent a couple of days jumping through hoops trying to order the phone’s panda version to ship to Lebanon. My first few orders didn’t go through because the Google Store was refusing my Lebanese credit card, so I switched to Amazon, got the black version since the panda one was out of stock, and shipped the phone to my US forwarding address. Then, on top of the local US taxes, I paid the shipping and import fees to forward the phone to Lebanon and register it on my local network.
It cost me about $300 extra and took several weeks to land in my hand, but I did not regret the long wait, hurdles, or extra expense. Forget the dull display or the chunky forehead and chin; the Pixel 2 XL was the best Android phone I’d used in years and the best camera I’d ever experienced on Android.
