Google Pixel Full review
Design
Let address the Google in the room – the Pixel XL is basically the closest you’ll ever come to an iPhone running Android. Somewhere in Cupertino, there’s likely to be a team of lawyers pouring over Google’s latest flagship and looking at every patent, which is likely what Google did when coming up with this design.The build of the Pixel XL leaves a lot to be desired for me; despite not being dropped at all since I’ve had it, there are a few dents on the body already and a couple of scratches as well. In a bid to ensure the software and camera elements are great, it does seem that Google has cut corners with the design, at least in my Opinion, and honestly, I wouldn’t expect these concerns from a flagship, let alone one that costs as much as the Pixel XL does.The Nexus line-up has always offered quirky, unique designs (though sometimes closely inspired by Google’s partner OEMs designs) that stood out amongst a sea of competition, and the generic design of the Pixel XL removes this. The front especially doesn’t stand out at all, and you could easily mistake it for another generic smartphone, especially with the bottom chin beneath the display essentially being wasted space.
Display
The displays, both AMOLED panels, manage to impress as well. The regular Pixel packs 1920x1080 colored dots into a 5-inch panel — a perfectly reasonable 440 ppi display density — while the XL ups it to 2560x1440 over 5.5 inches, for 534 ppi. The AMOLED panels in Google's Nexus phones were decent but never trailblazing, with the Nexus 6P in particular being disappointing in bright daylight.Running the Pixel XL’s AMOLED display through our display tests reveals a slightly cooler color temperature of 7859 Kelvin, which essentially means the screen has a blue tint. Interestingly, at least according to our spectrophotometer readings, the when the display is set to the standard mode (rather than the default adaptive mode), it scores 7131k, which is much more accurate compared to the recommended temperature of 6500k
Battery Life
There a 3,450mAh battery powering the entire Pixel XL experience, which is slightly more than the 3,000mAh unit inside the Pixel. The extra capacity doesn’t deliver any different battery life (thanks to the larger, denser display) and Josh, Lanh and I have all had mixed results when it comes to the battery life.Lanh handset generally lasts an entire day and consistently achieves around 10 hours’ screen on time, even with very heavy usage. Meanwhile, the battery life on Josh’s handset is on the lower end of the average, with around 8 hours’ screen on time, again from a day of heavy usage
Camera
It's been just a couple of years since Google was genuinely bad at smartphone cameras, but the company is learning (and improving) at a rapid pace. The Pixel phones pack a 12-megapixel rear camera with dual-LED flash, laser autofocus and 1.55-micron pixels behind an f/2.0 lens. If that sounds familiar, it's because the Nexus 6P also boasts all those specs.
But let's be clear about a few things: to start, this is an upgraded version of the sensor from the 6P (Sony's IMX378, as opposed to the older IMX377.) And that gets you native phase-detection autofocus and SME-HDR technology for faster HDR exposures. All this stuff, combined with a faster processor and improved tuning, elevates this year's Google camera to new heights.Google has gone from having the worst to the best cameras in a phone and I would say the Pixel phones are easily in the top 3 for smartphone image quality.
Price or Specifications
The biggest issue with the Pixel and Pixel XL is the price. To own the Pixel XL is going to cost you a large amount of money and with the handset also exclusive to Verizon, your carrier options are also rather limited.Both devices are available in three colors – Really Blue, Quite Black, Very Silver – at a cost of $699 for the 32GB Pixel and $799 for the 32GB Pixel XL. If the 128GB version is more your style, you’ll need to add $120 to the price, making them $819 and $919 respectively. For those wanting to use it on another carrier, the handsets do come unlocked so you’re able to use them on any carrier after you’ve bought them.
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