The reviews of Google's Pixel and Pixel XL are out and they have divided the tech reviewer community.
The first set of reviews for Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are out, and almost everyone is waiting to see if Google has finally found the right formula to take on Apple. We were quite impressed with the new smartphones when we spent some time with them at the launch event earlier this month. Let’s now take a look at what the reviewers are saying now that they have spent more time with the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones.
Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are currently up for pre-orders in India on Flipkart and Croma. Prices for the new smartphones start from Rs 57,000, and the deliveries are expected to start next week by October 26. Both the devices are pretty much the same in terms of features and design and are only differentiated in terms of the overall size, display resolution and the battery capacity. The Pixel comes with a 5-inch full HD display and 2,770mAh battery, while the Pixel XL comes with a 5.5-inch QHD display and 3,450mAh battery.
Design
Google had said that it planned to be more opinionated about its phones, but the hardware design is not to everyone’s liking, and in fact Engadget‘s Chris Velazco has gone ahead and called it ‘yawn-inducing’. “The iPhone comparisons are inevitable and not out of line, but even beyond that, there’s a distinct lack of character on display here,” Velazco writes. “As I’ve said, though, Google’s true art is software, and one could argue this low-key design was meant to let that software really own the spotlight.”
Even Ars Technica‘s Ron Amadeo has a similar observation. “The phones’ metal sides are flat, with a wide chamfer handling the transition to the display, while a round corner handles the transition to the back,” Amadeo writes. “Mixing the two design motifs feels a little weird, and the look suffers in comparison to the iPhone 7’s rounded sides, which transition seamlessly to the glass panel.”
Writing for The Verge, Walt Mossberg is a little less harsh. “It’s a pleasant, familiar design that feels good in the hand. But it isn’t an attempt to show off any design or hardware chops and it gives Apple a break in a year when the new iPhone has the same body for a third year in a row,” he writes.
Display
The Pixel flaunts a 5-inch full HD (1920×1080 pixels) AMOLED display, while the bigger Pixel XL flaunts a 5.5-inch QHD resolution AMOLED display. The reviewers all agree that the displays as beautiful, and even the Pixel with its smaller and 1080p display does a fabulous job.
Android Police‘s David Ruddock writes, “It [display] offers adequate brightness outdoors, the superb viewing angles we’ve come to expect of AMOLED displays, and vivid contrast. Google also hasn’t tuned the display to rigid color accuracy, instead seeming to end up somewhere between the typical oversaturation of, say, Samsung, and the highly-calibrated iPhone. Comparing to a Galaxy S7 edge in the “basic” mode, which is exceptionally accurate, the Pixel XL clearly provides more saturation of colors to give them the “pop” factor that most other OEMs using AMOLED displays do.”
Power
Under the hood is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821 chipset paired with 4GB of RAM. Needless to say the combination is enough to handle every task thrown at it. “The Pixel and the Pixel XL feel snappier and more responsive than most of the other flagship phones I’ve tested this year,” Velazco writes. “Nothing, and I mean nothing, during this testing period managed to make the Pixel or Pixel XL break a sweat. Sure, they got a little warm from time to time, but their performance left me with no complaints.”
Cameras
This is among the most important aspects for the Pixel smartphones, especially since the Nexus was never known for its camera prowess. Google is quite proud of the cameras, and couldn’t stop talking about them during the launch event. The Pixel smartphones are equipped with a 12.3-megapixel rear snapper with PDAF, laser auto-focus, and 4K video recording support. Up front, there is an 8-megapixel fixed-focus selfie camera.
The Verge‘s Dieter Bohn writes, “The [camera] results on the Pixel are very, very good. I put it in the same ballpark as the iPhone 7 and the Galaxy S7 in most situations, which is not something I expected to say going in. The distinctions between all three of these phone cameras are more about the stylistic decisions each company is making. Both Google and Samsung are slightly more aggressive at processing the image into something pleasing, while the iPhone seems to give a more natural look. The camera app opens fast and takes pictures immediately.”
Mossberg concurs, saying, “The Pixel has a very good camera that should please almost every user in almost every situation.”
Battery
The Pixel sports a 2,770mAh battery that is said to be good enough for 26 hours of talktime, and up to 19 days on standby mode, while the Pixel XL sports a 3,450mAh battery that is said to be good enough for 32 hours of talktime and up to 23 days on standby mode.
PhoneArena‘s Stephen S. writes, “In our custom battery tests, that [the battery capacity] translated into a little under seven-and-a-half hours of continuous screen-on time. Compared to other phones with similar hardware, that’s in the right ballpark of expectations; it’s nothing game-changing, but nor does it disappoint.”
“I would say this [battery life] is comparable to what I typically get with the Galaxy S7 edge (SD820 version), a device that has been lauded for its battery life,” Ruddock writes. “As such, I’m actually pretty happy with the Pixel XL in this regard.”
Software
Apart from running on the latest Android Nougat 7.1 out-of-the-box, the highlight of the Pixel smartphones is the deep integration of Google Assistant. Going through the reviews, the entire experience is a bit polarizing to say the least. While some were clearly impressed, others have simply called it “too stupid to be meaningfully helpful.”
“The Assistant blew away every competitor I’ve tried. It shredded Siri, which has a five-year lead. It not only did on-phone tasks reliably — like launching an app, or creating reminders or notes or playing music — but it understood most of the wider-world questions I asked it. Even more impressively, it remembered the general subject I was asking about, so I didn’t have to repeat the topic with every question,” Mossberg writes.
Gizmodo‘s Michael Nunez writes, “Google’s AI is too stupid to be meaningfully helpful at this stage. Google’s is better than what’s offered by competitors. [But] smartphone assistants aren’t smart enough to be defining features.”
Similarly, Bohn too writes, “And like all [digital] assistants, this Assistant is kinda dumb. It still has ways to go but it’s probably the best there is out there right now. That just doesn’t mean that it’s amazing.”
Verdict
Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL are really creating a divide when it comes to reviewers’ opinions. While some are impressed, others are clearly not.
WSJ‘s Joanna Stern was clearly impressed, “Android people, please step forward. Good news! Your next phone-buying decision just got a heck of a lot easier. The Google Pixel is now the best Android smartphone you can buy. The other leading contender was disqualified due to spontaneous combustion.”
Mossberg too was visibly impressed — “If you’re an Android fan, willing to buy a premium phone, the Pixel is your answer. To repeat: it’s simply the best Android phone I’ve tested. If you’re an iPhone user thinking of switching, the Pixel will seem physically familiar, but you’ll have to overcome the sticky links you’ve developed with fellow iPhone users, things like iMessage (which Google can’t match yet) and iCloud Photo Sharing (which Google is trying to copy).”
Nunez though isn’t of the same opinion. “Would I recommend this phone to the average person? The short answer is “no.” If you’re like me, and have avoided the iPhone all these years, it’s time to give in. The iPhone is definitively better this year. The current roster of flagship Android phones are a complete joke,” he writes.