Last year's Pixel 6 was something of a game-changer for Google. With its innovative CPU, magic camera technology and complete design overhaul, it was a landmark device that elevated the Pixel range from an off-beat alternative to a genuinely market-leading brand.

As such, there is a bit more riding on the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro as the expectation has been raised. With a new Tensor G2 chip and a tweaked design, the question is, can Google make an even bigger statement with the Pixel 7 Pro?

Google Pixel 7 Pro review: Design

It's fair to say that the design of the Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro wasn't for everybody. That ridiculously large camera bar, for instance, was hard to love. But the Pixel 7 Pro has taken that basic shape and refined it with a more streamlined design. The camera bar hardly protrudes at all and blends into the rest of the handset so that it now sits flush on a surface – it won't annoyingly rock as you press the display when it's on a table.

The tweaked design has made it bigger; the 7 Pro is 0.6mm wider than the 6 Pro at 76.7mm and 2g heavier at 212g. That is still less than the 228g of the S22 Ultra, but it's a chunky device in its own right and it makes the iPhone 14 Pro sound quite trim at just 206kg. The extra bulk matters as it can be unwieldy to use single-handedly and you will find you need both hands just to take photos. We nearly dropped it on a few occasions as we tried taking landscape shots, for instance.

Thankfully, the handset is a little tougher this year as it is encased in Gorilla Glass Victus and the metal chassis certainly feels a bit more solid. The only negative aspect of the design is a more traditional range of available colours. The 7 Pro comes in 'Obsidian' (black), 'Snow' (white) and 'Hazel', which is basically green, but not the fun 'Sort of Seafoam' green from last year – the peachy 'Kinda coral' is also sadly missing.

Google Pixel 7 Pro review: Display

There's little change with the display, which isn't necessarily a bad thing; The Pixel 7 Pro has a 6.7in AMOLED display with a 1440 x 3120 resolution and HDR10+ capabilities – practically the same as last year's Pixel 6 Pro. For the refresh rate, there is also LTPO technology which helps the display switch from as low as 1Hz to 120Hz depending on the content. This helps conserve battery life, while also giving you a super smooth scroll on social media.

Colour accuracy is a little down on last year's Pixel 6 Pro but not noticeable so. The 7 Pro scored 96.4% for sRGB gamut coverage compared to the Pixel 6 Pro's 99.1%. This is also a little lower than the iPhone 13 and the Samsung S22 Ultra, but, again, not enough to really suggest a massive difference in quality.

We found the Pixel to be a vibrant and luminous display with a good depiction of colour across all types of content. And it also managed a peak brightness of 608cd/m2, which is a significant improvement on the 6 Pro.

Google Pixel 7 Pro review: Specs and performance

With the Pixel 7 models, we also have a new Tensor processor. This time it's a 5nm G2 chip, developed in partnership with Samsung, that's matched with 8GB of RAM. As with the original Tensor in the Pixel 6, it doesn't produce particularly impressive benchmark scores. But the idea behind the Tensor is to take processing power and tailor it to specific tasks, such as machine learning workloads and image editing.

In Geekbench 5 the Pixel 7 Pro notched single-core scores of 1,030 and multi-core scores of 3,166. These are a decent improvement to last year's 1,034 and 2,767 on the Pixel 6 Pro. Unfortunately, they look pitiful compared to the iPhone, the S22 and Huawei's P50 Pro, but it's also true that a benchmark score doesn't really explain what the phone can do. There is nothing about the phone that would suggest it is more sluggish than the iPhone 13; it runs applications quickly, can handle multiple tabs, split screen mode, rapid image editing and much, much more.

Google Pixel 7 Pro review: Battery

Under our looped video test, the 7 Pro's 5000mAh battery lasted 18hrs 53mins, which is a good, if not fantastic, score. There are devices, such as the OnePlus 10 Pro and the S22 Ultra that are getting that little bit closer to 20hrs, but the Pixel 7 Pro has improved on the 6 Pro's 17hrs and 5mins.

It also does well in real terms, generally lasting a full day. Heavy use of the higher refresh rate (social media) and excessive gaming will deplete the battery super quick, but otherwise, it has staying power. When it comes time to charge, the Pro supports both 23W charging and the same calibre of wireless charging.

Google Pixel 7 Pro review: Features

Unsurprisingly, the Pixel 7 Pro comes with Android 13 and the upgraded 'Material You' interface. This is far and away the most customisable and recognisable version of Android with its changeable themes and simplistic navigation controls.

The 7 Pro also features an IP68 dust and water resistance rating, Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6, a 30W USB type-C port and biometric security. We have to point out here that the fingerprint sensor is a big improvement on the 6, which suffered from an annoying glitch. However, over two weeks of use, we are yet to have any issues.

One of the more overlooked features of the Pixel 6 is back as the 7 Pro can automatically translate your voice recordings into a Google Doc. We used this a number of times and, while it is depending on the quality of the recording, it does transcribe as well as Otter.

Google Pixel 7 Pro review: Cameras

When it comes to camera specs, the 7 Pro has the same number and resolution of lenses as the 6 Pro. That is a 50MP f/1.9 wide lens, a 48MP f/3.5 telephoto one, and a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens. There is a change to the front camera which has a 10.8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide lens instead of the 11.1MP one in the 6 Pro.

The main 50MP lens does a lot of the heavy lifting with this triple lens setup, though the 48MP wide lens is great for capturing details at super wide angles. Picture quality is crisp with each of the lenses, no matter the lighting conditions. The telephoto lens is a little lacking, certainly compared to the Huawei P50 Pro and the S22 which both make better use of AI to focus subjects captured from long distances.

It is slightly odd that this phone doesn't quite get the best long-range shots because it is full of clever machine-learning capabilities. The Magic Eraser tool is back, the night photography features are as good as ever, and the whole point-and-shoot capabilities are on par, if not ahead, of almost everything else on the market. However, our favourite new feature is the unblur tool, which even seems to work with old photos – ones not even taken on the Pixel.

Unblurring is also used with video; one of the newer features is the 'Cinematic Blur' – Google's version of Apple's 'Cinematic Mode – which essentially adds a bokeh effect (background blur) to your video. There's also an 'Active Stabilisation' function that steadies video shots. Both features are impressive and further indication of the capabilities of the Tensor G2 CPU.

Google Pixel 7 Pro review: Verdict

With the Pixel 7 Pro, Google took all the problems with the 6 and 6 Pro and fixed them. Well, almost. There are still some software glitches; they're very subtle, but we noticed the navigation controls can occasionally get stuck when closing apps.

Beyond that, however, the 7 Pro is a massive improvement on the 6 with its longer battery life, Tensor-powered camera software, and streamlined design. The only issue here is how does Google top it next year. The Pixel 7 Pro is pound for pound, the best Android phone around.

Google Pixel 7 Pro Specifications

One can accuse Google of being many things, but ‘predictable’ is rarely one of them. Its latest flagship smartphone has shaken things up in a number of ways; firstly in its looks, but more importantly by being the first product to use Google’s new custom-made Tensor processor, rather than a Snapdragon chip.

The search giant claims this is the smartest Pixel ever, but it’s the kind of intelligence that keeps to the background and only reveals itself under specific circumstances, like at a pub quiz. Most of the time, the Pixel 6 is a highly competent yet relatively unassuming device – but it’s laced with flashes of brilliance that belie its true nature.

Google Pixel 6 review: Design

Straight out of the gate, the Pixel 6 sets itself apart from its predecessor with a design that’s about as unique as it’s possible for a mainstream phone to be. While everything looks fairly straightforward from the front, flip it over and you’ll find the back bisected by a whopping great bar. This is where Google has put the camera array, and, while it may look a little odd at first, we were quickly charmed by it. It gives the phone a vaguely sci-fi aesthetic, sort of like Robocop by way of Geordi LaForge.

It’s available in three colours – Stormy Black, Sorta Seafoam and Kinda Coral – all of which have a two-tone palette, separated by the camera bar. They’re all attractive in different ways, but the black version is the most subtle, and to our eyes, the most business-friendly.

The other thing that stands out about the Pixel 6’s construction is how chunky it is compared to its predecessor. Google lists the phone’s thickness as 8.9mm, which is already more than most other flagships on the market, but that’s not including the camera bar, which pushes it to just over 1cm. Combined with a weight of 207g, it makes the Pixel 6 one of the meatiest specimens around.

By contrast, the Pixel 5 was 2mm thinner and more than 50g lighter, and Samsung’s Galaxy S21 is similarly svelte compared to this device. The phone still feels pleasant enough in the hand, though, and we never felt like it was unwieldy or cumbersome, even with a case on it. In fact, with Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus on the front and Gorilla Glass 6 covering its rear, you may not even feel a case is necessary.

Google Pixel 6 review: Display

The construction might have its quirks, but we have no qualms about the display. The 6.4in OLED panel is exemplary, and the 1,080 x 2,400 FHD+ resolution ensures images look crisp without unnecessarily sucking up battery power. As well as support for HDR and 24-bit colour, it includes a maximum refresh rate of 90Hz, and just like the OnePlus 9 Pro, this intelligently changes based on what you’re doing – another battery-saving feature. It can’t quite match the Samsung Galaxy S21’s 120Hz refresh rate, though; you’ll need the more expensive Pixel 6 Pro for that.

The display’s technical quality is equally impressive. The Pixel 6 has three distinct colour modes – natural, adaptive and boosted – all of which covered more than 90% of the sRGB colour gamut. The adaptive and natural settings had the best coverage with 98%, but colours look rich and deep across the board and content is a joy to behold. Natural mode is best for colour accuracy, funnily enough, with an average Delta E of 1.3, although you’re unlikely to be using this for any professional-grade video editing. The maximum brightness of 478cd/m2 is also more than adequate for brightly-lit conditions, even if it can’t keep up with the S21’s 866cd/m2 result.

Google Pixel 6 review: Hardware and specs

The phone is powered by Google’s homebrew Tensor chip, a 5nm octacore model that’s been custom-tailored to support a variety of snazzy AI and machine learning capabilities, mostly focused on the camera. It’s backed up by 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, but while we won’t delve into the engineering of the chip itself, Google has clearly made a decent fist of it.

According to its Geekbench 5 test results – 1,040 for single-core performance and 1,864 for multi-core – it significantly outrstrips its predecessor’s performance, and single-core speeds keep pace with the Samsung Galaxy S21. Admittedly, Samsung’s flagship pulls ahead in the multi-tasking tests, but that’s not necessarily a dealbreaker, as modern phones have much more performance headroom than the average user needs anyway.

In short, performance is everything you’d expect it to be, even when using the fancy new machine learning features. It’s not all rosy, however. The battery life was distinctly disappointing, which came as a surprise given its result of 19hrs 44mins in our video playback test more than keeps up with the competition. Many of Google’s AI enhancements, too, are designed to quietly improve battery performance.

Despite this, we frequently found ourselves having to top up the 4,600mAh battery towards the end of the day, and it even died on us altogether on a few occasions. That’s frustrating in and of itself, and it also led to a particular irritation – but more on that later.

Google Pixel 6 review: Features

The Pixel range has historically been a testing-ground for Google to flex its AI muscles, and the Pixel 6 is stuffed to the gills with intelligent features of varying usefulness. Among the less practical is a ‘smart themes’ feature, which automatically changes the colour scheme of your phone’s UI elements to match your wallpaper. While it’s as far from necessary as it’s possible to be, this feature is nevertheless aesthetically pleasing, and pairs nicely with the Pixel’s built-in wallpapers, which can be set to change on a daily basis.

What’s more essential (albeit in an abstract way) is the Titan M2 security co-processor, which works with the security core of the Tensor chip on protections such as secure boot and key encryption. It’s helpful for ensuring peace of mind about your corporate data, especially in an age where threats are becoming more and more prevalent.

It’s a shame, then, that one of the phone’s core security protections is so problematic. The under-display fingerprint reader (which is a first for the series) often seems to require a few attempts before it unlocks the device, and the interaction takes a bit of getting used to. When the screen is locked, double-tapping the screen brings up the passcode entry, rather than prompting the fingerprint reader, which makes a change from most other Android devices.

Google has issued a number of updates aimed at fixing the fingerprint reader, but we ran into one particularly infuriating bug which occasionally disables the fingerprint reader if the battery fully depletes, requiring a complete factory reset to fix. This is annoying enough but, as mentioned above, the Pixel 6’s lacklustre battery life makes it an even greater issue.

Software aside, there’s the usual suite of added extras on show, including wireless charging and fast-charging, which will deliver around 50% charge in 30 minutes or up to 80% charge in around an hour. There’s also support for Wi-Fi 6, 5G and 6G, NFC and Bluetooth 5.2, as well as IP68 water and dust resistance.

Google Pixel 6 review: Camera

As noted above, the camera is where most of Google’s AI wizardry is focused, and the results speak for themselves. The dual-lens setup – which consists of a 12MP ultrawide lens and a 50MP main camera – works well to capture fine detail even in low-light conditions, and the software remains as effective as ever at rendering colours naturally. Google has also worked to make the Pixel 6 better at accurately capturing a range of skin tones.

Google prioritises the ‘point and shoot’ experience, so most of the new improvements are carried out automatically behind the scenes, invisibly applying features like HDR and its new ‘Face Unblur’ tool to subtly tweak photos for the best result. Existing features like Night Sight, portrait mode and Top Shot are all well-signposted and well implemented, but the Pixel 6 camera’s most impressive new feature is bizarrely easy to miss.

The much-touted ‘Magic Eraser’ tool is among the newest AI-powered enhancements and allows you to instantly remove objects from photographs, be they an unwanted photobomber or an unappealing building in the background. To access it, you’ll need to open up a photo, select the ‘edit’ option, scroll over to the ‘tools’ menu, and then select Magic Eraser.

It may be a bit of a chore to access, but once you’ve found it, you’ll be captivated for hours. Once you’ve launched the function, it’ll analyse the photo and suggest objects to remove, which you can then tap to get rid of – or you can circle objects to select them yourself. This feature works amazingly well, although it’s not perfect. It struggles with backgrounds that are particularly busy, and you can often spot some unnatural artifacting where objects have been removed – but it’s incredibly impressive for an automatic process performed on the fly.

There’s also the usual suite of video features, including support for 4K at up to 60fps, slow-mo at up to 240fps and ‘cinematic pan’, as well as optical image stabilisation, video stabilisation and upto 7x digital zoom – although you won’t get optical zoom unless you splash out for the Pixel 6 Pro.

Google Pixel 6 review: Verdict

There are few aspects of the Pixel 6 we can call out as particularly impressive. That isn’t the damning indictment it sounds like, though; the reason no one element stands out above the others is that most of its constituent parts have been polished to a mirror shine. The smart background features, attractive display and sophisticated camera all come together to create a device which quietly excels at almost everything you’d ask a smartphone to do.

The one glaring exception is the troublesome battery life, which is the sole dent in the Pixel 6’s otherwise unblemished record. It’s frustrating, but ultimately not enough to dampen our enthusiasm for one of the most well put together smartphones we’ve seen in a long time. It may not be particularly flashy, but the Google Pixel 6 is a do-it-all device that really delivers.

Google Pixel 6 specifications

After only launching a standard-sized handset last year, Google is back and bigger than ever. At 164mm tall, the Google Pixel 6 Pro completely dwarfs last year’s puny Pixel 5 and is filled with a lot more ‘premium’ qualities.

When it comes to hardware, Google isn’t shy in trying radical ideas (anyone remember the short-lived Project Soli?) and the latest of these comes in the form of a brand new first-party chip design, enabling a number of new features. The company has previously gone on record to say the world doesn’t need £1,000 smartphones, and it’s still putting its money where its mouth is; with the Pixel 6 Pro, it’s managed to keep the cost down to £849 including VAT, and still keep it full of innovation.

Google Pixel 6 Pro review: Design

Both the standard and Pro models of the Pixel 6 are quite eye-catching - and not necessarily in a good way. They’re giant square-ish slabs of glass with a rather prominent camera bar across the back that gives the phone a distinctive look. But this is quite a leap from the Pixel 5 and 4, both of which were much smaller and softer-looking. The Pixel 6 also seems very different with each colour scheme; the red and peach model, for instance, seems to suit the black bar, but that’s only an option for the standard 6. The 6 Pro comes in white, yellow and black (like our review unit), none of which really look that nice to our eyes.

These are also very unwieldy handsets; the Pro is 76mm wide while the Pixel 5 was a more hand-friendly 70mm, making it much easier to hold or fit in a pocket. What’s more, the new bulk doesn’t seem to allow room for a 3.5mm headphone jack or a microSD card slot, which is now seemingly the default for all major flagships. They’re also fitted with Gorilla Glass Victus, front and back, which makes them very slippery customers, so you’ll most definitely want it in a case. Despite the enhanced protection of the Victus glass, it will only take one sizable drop for a crack to appear.

Now, while the back won’t be to everyone’s taste, the front half of the screen is quite pleasing, with a slight curve at the edges of the screen. There’s no real practical benefit here, but it does look nice and smooth. Add to that a very unobtrusive selfie camera, housed at the top of the screen, and you have a very attractive phone - so long as you don’t turn it around.

Google Pixel 6 Pro review: Display

Sticking with the display, the Pro 6 features a 6.7in AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. 120Hz has quickly become the default, certainly for plus-sized smartphones, with even cheaper devices like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro capable of silky smooth scrolling. The Pro also comes with a 1,440 x 3,210 resolution and support for HDR10+, which is another sign of a ‘premium’ device.

Unsurprisingly, the display is great, offering 99.1% coverage of the sRGB colour space and 117.2% colour volume. That actually beats the iPhone 13, and matches up well with the OnePlus 9 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. It also packs a punch with brightness, which peaked at 475cd/m2.

Google Pixel 6 Pro review: Specs and performance

In addition to 12GB of RAM, the Pixel 6 and the 6 Pro are powered by Google’s Tensor processor, the first in-house chip from Google, developed using Samsung’s Exynos processor as a template. It features a series of Arm cores - two high-performance, two middle and four low-end cores - in an unusual 2+2+4 configuration. For context, both the Exynos 2100 and the Snapdragon 888 only house one larger Arm core, favouring three middle-tier ones instead (1+3+4). The reasoning behind this is a little sketchy, but Google wanted a chip that prioritised specific operations such as image enhancement and machine learning tasks (more on that later).

As a result, the Tensor isn’t necessarily a ‘winner’ when it comes to benchmarks: in GeekBench 5 it notched up 1,034 for single-core performance and just 2,767 for multi-threaded. That’s miles off the likes of the S21 and the OnePlus 9 Pro, and nowhere near the iPhone 13 - or even the iPhone 12, for that matter. However, this isn’t a ‘bad’ chip in the slightest - it’s a smart one that effectively optimises what it has.

There could be an argument here that smartphone chips are housing more computation power than they need. There certainly isn’t much noticeable difference between the speed and responsiveness of the iPhone 13 and the Pixel 6 Pro, and, from our experience, the Pixel 6 Pro is fantastic on almost all performance fronts.

Google Pixel 6 Pro review: Battery life

That 120Hz display is a double-edged sword, though, and while it looks buttery-smooth, it drains the 5,003mAh battery somewhat. Higher refresh rates need lots of power, and despite using an adaptive refresh rate that matches the on-screen content to help conserve charge, only Samsung’s S21 Ultra managed to house one and keep battery life above 20 hours.

In our looped video test the Pixel 6 Pro only lasted 17hrs 5min, which isn’t terrible, coming in just under the OnePlus 9 Pro. But users of the Pixel 5 will be disappointed, given it offered 22hrs 54mins under the same test.

In real terms though, the Pixel 6 Pro will get you through a whole day unless you absolutely hammer it with gaming and constant streaming (and who has the time for that?). Should you run short earlier than expected, the Pro’s fast-charging feature can recapture 50% of its charge in just over 30 minutes.

Google Pixel 6 Pro review: Features

One of the benefits of being a first-party Google device is that the Pixel 6 Pro comes loaded with Android 12 straight out of the box, and users can enjoy up to five years of security updates, according to Google. The ‘Material You’ interface is lovely and intuitive and comes with a very handy navigation feature. Users can simply swipe the edge of the screen to return - with or without the default navigation buttons activated - which doesn’t sound all that impressive, but it’s something users will miss when they switch to a device without it.

Ease of use is a big plus for the Pixel 6 Pro, and one of the most impressive examples of this is its implementation of the Google Assistant. Using your voice to compose text messages - even asking for emojis - has never been as good as it is here. It recognises your voice clearly with little error, and this is also the case for the AI-powered Live Translate feature, which is impressively quick. The ‘Now Playing’ song recognition feature also remains as handy as it was on previous pixels, identifying any music it hears without the need to press anything. It even appears on the lock screen and it’s an oddly useful trick.

Google Pixel 6 Pro review: Camera

There is a triple camera array on the Pixel 6 Pro featuring 50MP f/1.9 wide-angle, 48MP f/3.5 telephoto and 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide lenses. The telephoto lens, which isn’t on the standard model, has a 4x optical zoom, which can be enhanced with Google’s digital “Super Res Zoom” up to x20. It’s pretty good, but worth noting that it isn’t quite as extreme as the “Space Zoom” offered on the S21 Ultra.

However, it does extract lots of details for objects that are closer. While it doesn’t have a dedicated ‘macro’ mode, the Super Res Zoom does use multi-frame capture technology, where it takes a number of shots from different ranges to fashion one suitable shot. This pulls out the details of subjects that are just over an inch away, with just a little bit of cropping on the finished shot.

The main 50MP lens comes with an improved sensor that lets in more light than the Google Pixel 5 could muster. This is as good as anything offered on the market, particularly in low light settings, where it captures beautifully detailed images with little noise.

However, the real interest in modern smartphone camera systems is always the underlying software. And what Google has, powered with its Tensor processor, might be one of the best around. This is most noticeable with its collection of new tools where users can edit and tweak their images. Here we find the ‘Magic Eraser’ which is some kind of black magic that will kill off the photobomb for good. You just use your finger to rub out unwanted participants in the background, leaving only minor artifacting that can only be seen on close inspection.

Google Pixel 6 Pro review: Verdict

There were a number of fantastic smartphones launched in 2021, such as the S21 Ultra, the iPhone 13 and the OnePlus 9 Pro (not to mention a really good foldable in the Galaxy Z Fold 3). But the Pixel 6 Pro has something on all of those: it’s cheaper than any of Samsung’s top releases, it beats the iPhone with its smoother display and trounces the OnePlus 9 Pro in the camera department.

The only issue we have is that unsightly black camera bar, but it’s beautiful on the inside. From its innovative Android 12 OS, to those phenomenal camera tools, the Pixel 6 Pro has the good stuff where it matters.

Google Pixel 6 Pro specifications

If you come to Google’s latest flagship smartphone expecting a top-of-the-line device, then think again. Instead of the usual all-singing, all-dancing handset stuffed with cutting edge components, the company’s latest device is a rather more stripped-back affair, eschewing flashy flourishes for a more modest specification.

Accordingly, it’s also cheaper than its predecessor, putting it in stark contrast to Apple’s recently-unveiled iPhone 12 Pro Max flagship, which starts at £916 exc VAT. It’s refreshing to see vendors coming round to the idea that not every device needs to cost as much as a 1990 Ford Focus – but what cuts has Google made in service of this, and does the Pixel 5 still retain the series’ unique charm?

Google Pixel 5 review: Design

The first change to note is the design; gone is the sleek glass finish of the Pixel 4, replaced by a recycled aluminium chassis that’s almost identical in design to the Pixel 4a. The main differences are the larger camera housing, and a slightly speckled finish, which adds an intriguing texture to the shell. Our review unit came in ‘Just Black’, but it’s also available in a light green colour scheme, officially dubbed ‘Sorta Sage’.

There are a few other, less noticeable tweaks, too; the 6in screen makes the Pixel 5’s body marginally larger than both the Pixel 4 and 4a, and at 151g it’s also a tiny bit heavier. Elsewhere, subtle accents - such as the power button and the discreet Google logo on the rear - have been highlighted with an attractive chrome effect.

Oddly, despite using a metal chassis, the Pixel 5 feels notably cheaper and more plasticky than the Pixel 4, which is a slight shame. It’s not enough to turn us off the device; it still looks smart and elegant, and the dimensions allow it to fit nicely in the hand compared to larger devices, but it does mark a slight downgrade.

Google Pixel 5 review: Display

Happily, one thing that hasn’t been downgraded is the screen. Still sporting a ‘FHD+’ resolution of 1,080 x 2,340, the 6in edge-to-edge panel is a cracking performer, with a maximum brightness of 468cd/m2 and 95% coverage of the sRGB colour gamut. It also supports HDR video and a 90Hz refresh rate for buttery-smooth scrolling.

In short, it’s everything you could want from a smartphone display; images are crisp, colours are vivid, and the 90Hz refresh rate makes swiping through menus an absolute dream. Solid brightness also ensures that bright outdoor conditions aren’t likely to prove a problem.

Google Pixel 5 review: Specs and performance

The biggest area that Google has compromised in is internal hardware; the Pixel 5 is fitted with one of Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 765G processors, as opposed to the more powerful Snapdragon 865 chips found in other flagships like the Oppo Find X2 Pro. This is paired with a respectable 8GB of RAM.

Sure enough, the Pixel 5’s benchmark scores lag behind the X2 Pro and others in the same bracket. Its single and multi-core results of 597 and 1,609 are dwarfed by the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G’s score of 948 and 2,869, and are on par with the Pixel 4a’s results. However, these figures don’t tell the whole story.

We’ve long said that modern flagships are far more powerful than any average user has need for, and all that extra headroom does is drain the battery and add unnecessary expense. It would seem that Google agrees, and the choice to opt for a less-powerful chip actually serves the Pixel 5 well; the difference isn’t actually noticeable in practise, and both the cost and the battery life are very agreeable as a result.

Google Pixel 5 review: Battery

On that subject, the Pixel 5 has the best battery life of any phone in the series by quite some distance. The 4080mAh cell powered it to a total time of 22hrs 54mins in our video playback test - more than 10 hours better than the Pixel 4, and a solid four hours in front of the 4a, the previous reigning champ. That’s more than enough to see you through a full day of fairly intense use, and some ways into the next day to boot.

It also benefits from the same smart battery management software built into previous Pixel devices, including a new ‘extreme battery saver’ mode that throttles all non-essential apps and limits processing and extra features for additional longevity. Not only that, but in addition to wireless charging and fast-charging, Google has stuffed in a cool new feature, in the form of wireless power-sharing - meaning that you can use your phone’s battery to charge any device that’s compatible with the Qi wireless charging standard.

Google Pixel 5 review: Camera

The camera is always a major selling-point of the Pixel series, and the 5th-gen model continues to uphold Google’s excellent record. The company has changed things up once again for this outing; while the rear camera still uses a twin-lens setup, the second lens has been switched from a 16MP 2x telephoto lens to a 16MP ultra wide-angle lens.

Whether you’d rather have improved zoom capabilities of wide-angle shots will likely come down to personal preference, but for our money wide-angle is the more useful of the two. Sadly, however, Google has done away with the front-facing wide-angle camera seen on the Pixel 3, which was a genuinely useful feature; as with the Pixel 4 and 4a, it’s just a single 8MP lens this time around.

Nevertheless, photos are as crisp, detailed and colour-balanced as you’d expect from the Pixel range, and Google’s clever camera software is once again the icing on the cake. Night Sight has been set to automatically activate in low-light conditions, making it even easier to get good shots in the dark, and the already-impressive portrait mode has been even further enhanced with a new Portrait Light feature. This adds an adjustable effect simulating the kind of ‘fill light’ you’d use in a professional studio portrait; it’s added automatically when using portrait mode (with AI calculating the best angle and intensity to use, naturally) but it can also be added to any portraits you’ve taken outside of portrait mode, too.

The results are simply stunning, and work particularly well for black and white portraits, giving them an arresting chiaroscuro effect. As usual, delving into the Pixel’s inbuilt photo editing tools allows you to tweak the results - but in all honesty, they’re so good that you won’t need to.

Elsewhere, video capabilities are well-represented, with the ability to shoot upto 4K resolution at upto 60fps. There’s also some new video stabilisation tools, including a new ‘cinematic pan’ effect for smoother and more impressive-looking footage.

Google Pixel 5 review: Features

The biggest new feature of the Pixel 5 is its support for 5G; alongside the newly-upgraded Pixel 4a 5G, it’s the first Google phone to support the new technology. This means faster downloads, more reliable streaming and even the ability to create a 5G mobile hotspot - assuming you’re on a plan that supports it, and in an area with strong enough coverage. With the rollout of 5G now starting to gain pace, this is a nice bit of future-proofing if nothing else.

There’s also improvements to several integrated Google apps, such as Duo video calling, which now benefits from HD screen-sharing, and Google’s excellent Recorder app with automatic transcription - an incredibly handy feature for journalists like us - now includes improved search and editing features.

Elsewhere, there’s IPX8 waterproofing to help it survive accidental dunks, and Google’s Titan M security chip for hardware-level protection. There’s also a number of software safeguards built in to automatically flag suspected spam calls and phishing links for added safety. As with all Pixel phones, the Google Assistant is baked into the device, and it works just as well as ever - although the ‘Active Edge’ feature, which allowed you to summon the Assistant by squeezing your phone, has been consigned to history.

Google Pixel 5 review: Verdict

With the Pixel 5, Google is aiming for a more sensible pricing strategy, and for that we commend it - but it does raise the question of whether this phone has much to recommend it over Google’s other midrange device, the Pixel 4a. The 4a, after all, is just over £200 cheaper than this handset, and although at £416 the 4a 5G is much less of a bargain, the original is still a compelling proposition.

On the surface, it looks like the difference between Google’s flagship and mid-range devices is much less stark than with previous generations; the main camera lens is technically identical, performance is identical, and there’s not much difference from a visual perspective either.

Look closer, however, and you’ll notice that Google has made small tweaks in the right places, which add up to a drastically improved experience. First up, the battery life is the most impressive we’ve seen on a Pixel device, and up there with the best Android flagships around. In concert with wireless charging and powersharing, that alone is enough to sway the decision in the Pixel 5’s favour, but it’s also backed up by improved camera software and 5G compatibility.

All told, it’s an incredibly impressive package that sets a new bar for smartphone manufacturers, proving that a phone doesn’t need to cost the earth in order to be genuinely excellent. Google may have taken a step back in terms of hardware, but in doing so it’s made one giant leap forward.

Google Pixel 5 specifications

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again; in this day and age, there’s simply no reason to spend more than £500 on a smartphone. While dropping the best part of a grand on the latest Samsung Galaxy may get you an array of flashy bells and whistles, the midrange market offers all the core functionality you could ever wish for - and in the case of the Google Pixel 4a, even more besides.

The Pixel 4a is the latest iteration of Google’s budget-friendly line, taking the mainstream Pixel 4 and trimming a bit of extra fat to make it easier on the wallet. What you’re left with at the end is a phone that has all of the Pixel 4’s most impressive features, with almost no drawbacks, and a much lower cost.

Google Pixel 4a review: Design

Unlike its higher-end progenitor, the 4a doesn’t opt for a glass-based design. Instead, it features a rounded shell constructed from polycarbonate. While this does have some drawbacks (which we’ll explore later) it’s undeniably attractive to look at, and sits pleasingly in the hand.

Unlike previous generations, the 4a is only available in the ‘Just Black’ colour scheme - with previous white and lilac options having been unceremoniously dumped - but fortunately, the classy and understated matte-black finish has always been our favourite option anyway. The rounded finish does make it slightly slipperier than the Pixel 4, but not so much as to be a dealbreaker. However, despite having the same 8.2mm thickness, it feels a little thinner than the Pixel 4, and weighs in at 143g, making it just a tad lighter.

In short, despite the price drop, this phone looks and feels every inch as premium as its bigger brother. Be warned, though - while the 4 uses Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 to protect the screen, this only includes Gorilla Glass 3, so you may wish to invest in a screen protector for extra safety.

Google Pixel 4a review: Display

Another area where the 4a goes one better than the 4 is its display, which has been expanded into an edge-to-edge panel, complete with hole-punch camera cut-out. This pouches the screen size from 5.7in to 5.81in, and the effect is surprisingly striking. It’s reminiscent of much more expensive phones, like Samsung’s recently-released Galaxy Note 20.

The display itself is only 1080p, but that’s not much of a hindrance on a screen this size, and it’s fully capable from a technical standpoint. The AMOLED panel delivers perfect contrast, and a 93.7% coverage of the sRGB gamut is outstanding for a phone this cheap - as is its average Delta E rating of 1.05. The 437cd/m2 brightness is similarly good; not topping any charts, but certainly respectable.

It also supports the HDR standard, although the actual results when watching HDR content aren’t quite as impressive as we’d hoped.

Google Pixel 4a review: Specs and performance

As you’d expect from a more affordable phone, the 4a isn’t packing the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chip that you’d expect to find in a premium flagship device. Instead, it uses the cheaper and less powerful Snapdragon 730G. This doesn’t hold it back as much as you might think, though.

Looking at its Geekbench 5 scores (552 and 1,591 for single- and multi-core operations, respectively), you may be tempted to assume that it’s a bit weedy. However, although it’s lagging a fair bit behind the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S20 and the original Pixel 4, the 4a doesn’t feel remotely sluggish in practice. There’s nothing the average business user will be doing with it that’s likely to cause any serious struggles in terms of speed or performance.

One handy benefit of using a lower-powered processor is that it’s much less taxing on the battery, which results in a massive improvement in usability. While the Pixel 4 managed a rather dire 12hrs 7mins in our standard battery tests, the 4a racked up a comparatively whopping time of 18hrs 43mins - an improvement of more than six hours.

It’s still not quite as impressive as some of the most efficient devices we’ve seen, but this result puts it on even footing with the vast majority of modern flagships. It also ran rings around this year’s iPhone SE. On top of that, it’s also compatible with Google’s Quick Charge technology for rapid fill-ups - although the polycarbonate shell means it lacks the Pixel 4’s wireless charging.

Google Pixel 4a review: Camera

Another Pixel 4 feature that its cheaper cousin lacks is a second rear camera lens, despite having a similar-looking square module. Like the first three generations, the 4a sports a single snapper, but don’t be discouraged; thanks to Google’s software wizardry, it’s just as good as twin-lensed devices. Portrait mode and Night Sight are particular highlights, with the former producing crisp, evenly-lit and expertly bokeh-ed pictures, and the latter serving up clear and noise-free low-light shots.

The lack of a zoom lens also doesn’t prove as much of an issue as you might think, thanks once again to Google magic - this time in the form of the Super Res Zoom feature, which pulls off digital zoom better than most other examples we’ve seen. It’s easily a match for any other smartphone at this price point, and can comfortably compete with the likes of Apple’s iPhone 11 range.

Google Pixel 4a review: Features

As you’d expect from a device more aimed towards the budget end of the spectrum, there’s a distinct lack of additional bells and whistles with the 4a. That means no official water resistance rating and no microSD card slot for memory expansion. This current version also lacks any 5G support, although a 5G-enabled model will be launching later in the year alongside the Pixel 5.

What it lacks in hardware capabilities, however, is more than made up for by Google’s excellent software. This is where the Pixel series really shines, and it’s as impressive here as it is on the main-line devices. The highlight is the customised Pixel launcher, which puts a slicker and more appealing skin over the standard Android 10 experience.

By default, it uses a gesture-based navigation system; we find this to be a little confusing and unintuitive to operate, but thankfully you can switch it back to the more familiar and comfortable three-button navigation in the settings. Here you’ll also find options to measure screen time and set app usage limits, control power management, and more.

Various Google Assistant integrations are built directly into the device too, such as Gmail’s Smart Compose feature, an AI-powered suggested apps shelf and a host of other clever tweaks.

One significant difference between this device and the Pixel 4 is that the 4a uses a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor (like the 3a before it) rather than the newer facial recognition unlocking seen in the Pixel 4. Whether this is a positive or a negative likely depends on your own preferences, but for what it’s worth, the fingerprint reader ever-so-slightly edges it in our view.

Google Pixel 4a review: Verdict

As soon as Google introduced its cheaper a-series variants with the Pixel 3a, it immediately became one of our favourite options - not just for those seeking an affordable mid-range handset, but overall. While technically not as powerful or as feature-packed as flashier handsets boasting £1,000-plus price tags, the a-series does pack a punch. In particular, what the a-series delivers is the best of Google’s industry-leading software engineering and image processing technology at a much more attractive price than the mainstream Pixel series - and with a better battery life, to boot.

We’re happy to report that the Pixel 4a continues this tradition, offering not just one of the best-value smartphone experiences around, but one of the most pleasant overall. There are one or two minor niggles - the lack of wireless charging is occasionally frustrating, the display’s HDR support is underwhelming and this version has no 5G support - but these qualms pale into insignificance when you consider the sub-£300 price.

The Pixel 4a is the perfect package; a smart shell containing a quality camera, intuitive user interfaces and a belter of a battery, all offered at a preposterously penny-saving price.

Google Pixel 4a specifications

According to a recent report from The Information, the Google Pixel team has undergone a shakeup following the disappointing launch of the Pixel 4. Led by former Motorola executive Rick Osterloh, the team has seen two major players leave in the past year. Pixel general manager Mario Queiroz and "the mastermind behind Google's Pixel camera," Marc Levoy, have reportedly left the team in recent months.

Queiroz reportedly made his exit from the team just two months before the launch of the Pixel 4. Though he transitioned into a role that reported directly to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Queiroz later left Google altogether, choosing to join Palo Alto Networks as its executive VP covering special projects. As for Levoy, he ended his tenure with Google in March, which is reflected on his LinkedIn page.

Unfortunately for Google, the Pixel 4 hasn’t enjoyed much success and has sold less than the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3a in its first two quarters. According to The Information’s reporting, the IDC estimates Google has sold a mere 2 million Pixel 4 phones. In comparison, Apple sold nearly 74 million phones in Q4 2019 alone.

Reportedly, Osterloh wasn’t confident about the launch of the Pixel 4 either. According to reports, in an all-hands meeting ahead of the Pixel 4 launch, Osterloh aired his misgivings about the phone. He reportedly "did not agree with some of the decisions made about the phone" and that "in particular, he was disappointed in its battery power."

With regards to the future, all eyes are now set on the upcoming release of Pixel 4a, which is scheduled to launch next month. According to Tom’s Guide, the Pixel 4a is expected to deliver a larger display, an improved processor and a better camera. It’s anticipated Google will announce the device during the Android 11 Beta Launch Show on June 3, 2020.

As Halloween, winter and (dare we say it) Christmas approaches, 2019 is set to end as a very good year for smartphones. From January onwards we've been spoilt for handsets, starting with Samsung's Galaxy S10 and Huawei's P30 Pro and finishing with the iPhone 11. Now, as people start thinking about their list to Santa, Google has launched the next iteration of its flagship - the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL.

Ironically, this has also been a tough year for the market, with global sales down. Each of the big companies have reported drops in revenue; Apple being the first to announce a fall in January, quickly followed by Samsung. Huawei has begun to feel the pinch of the US government after it's blacklisting and let's not forget, the two foldable devices announced at MWC that are still to be released.

However, what has been released is of a ridiculously high standard. Now Google brings the Pixel into the fray, with two cameras, 90hz refresh rate and a special motion sensor. If you've got your heart set on a phone this Christmas, is the Pixel 4 XL worth writing to Santa about?

Google Pixel 4 XL review: Design

There's a very iPhone 11-esque look to the Pixel 4 XL, which is largely down to the camera array. The similarity is that it's square and strangely personified due to the layout; two cameras and a sensor positioned like eyes and a mouth. This is an unintended consequence of the design being refreshed, with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 front and back covers and a black matte-finished aluminium outer rail. However, it's not a total doppelganger; for starters, it's slightly taller than the 11 Pro at 160mm, but it's also not as wide at 75mm.

It doesn't take itself so seriously either; the traditional names for handset colours have always walked a fine line between the pretentious and the just plain stupid; think of 'Pink Gold', 'Breathing Crystal' or 'Midnight-Green', all of which sound sillier than what you'll find on paint tins. Google has always poked fun at this with names like 'Clearly White' and 'Just Black', and this year it's added 'Oh So Orange' which is funny, but also a limited edition. It looks a little bit like a tile from a 70's kitchen, but it does stand out in an otherwise predictable market.

Whatever shade you opt for, however, you'll have the other colours incorporated in some way. They all come with a black matte-finished edge and camera square. The power button will be a different colour from the rest of the device (our review model is black, so the button is white) and sits above the black volume buttons.

Google Pixel 4 XL review: Display

There isn't a notch on the Pixel, but because it has to incorporate its new motion sensor with a camera and speaker bar, it's brought bezels back from the dead. This is arguably the first drawback considering Samsung, Apple, Huawei, OnePlus, and virtually everyone else has made edge-to-edge displays the norm. What's more, the top bezel is twice the size of the one at the bottom, which creates an asymmetrical display - not a huge problem, but once you notice it, it's a little jarring.

Which is a shame, because the screen is rather lovely. It's a 6.3in QHD+ display with 537ppi, a 3,040 x 1,440 resolution and a 19:9 aspect ratio. What's more, it has that 90hz refresh rate which basically means the screen refreshes 90 times per second, like the One Plus 7T. It all sounds very impressive, but there is a small hitch. The refresh rate is tied to brightness levels and drops to 60Hz when those levels drop below 75%. You can set it to stay at 90Hz in the settings, but this will add more strain on the battery.

In daily use, the Pixel showcases colour rather well (although a product named after pixels kind of has to). This was backed up in the lab with our display tests, where the 4 XL produced a perfect sRGB gamut coverage of 100%. Its max brightness of 407cd/m2 wasn't as impressive, not even half of what the P30 Pro managed at 854cd/m, and that did show with streaming apps like Netflix. Lots of the detail is lost in direct and bright sunshine, but aside from that, this is one area the Pixel can be really proud of.

Google Pixel 4 XL review: Specs and Performance

Inside the 4 XL is a Snapdragon 855 processor backed up with 6GB of RAM. You can have it with either 64GB or 128GB storage - but sadly no option for expansion. In Geekbench 5, it scored 595 for single-threaded tasks and 2,304 for multi-threaded. These are rather low compared to Samsung's Galaxy S10+, which hit 805 and 2,068.

While the scores were low, there isn't any noticeable lag or sluggishness in real terms. The Pixel 4 XL feels snappy enough and actually very fast with certain tasks. The face unlock is a good example of this, which we'll go into more detail about later on.

Google Pixel 4 XL review: Battery life

Battery life has always been an area that Pixel phones could improve on, to say the least. For the 3 XL, Google fitted a 3,430mAh battery which lasted 13hrs and 8mins under our looped video test. Now, the 4 XL has done slightly better. It's housing a 3,700mAh battery, which lasted 15hrs and 55mins under the same test. That improvement still isn't good enough, though. Almost three hours more would sound great for any other device, but then almost every other device is pushing - or breaking - the twenty-hour mark.

In descending order; the Huawei P30 Pro lasted 21hrs, 22mins and the Samsung Galaxy S10+ reached 21hrs, 17mins. Google could argue that those are intensive tests, or that the device can be customised for efficiency, but we can fire back that from our own daily use of the Pixel, its battery dies quickly. Without recharging, it just about makes it into the evening under normal use.

Google Pixel 4 XL review: Features

The big showpiece on the Pixel is the motion sensor, developed under 'Project Soli'. It's a form of sensor technology that works by emitting electromagnetic waves in a broad beam. There was a similar feature on the LG G8, but what sets this apart is that it's a radar sensor and not camera-based and as such not restricted to a field of vision. It's worth noting that as it's still in its infancy, all you can do with it is skip songs on Spotify, shut off alarms and wake the phone, all with a wave of the hand.

You can see how it works from Google's strange partnership with The Pokemon Company; The two have developed a demo game just for the new sensor, to teach people how to, essentially, wave at a phone. We assume that with updates this may get more advanced, but for now, it's just waving.

You can also squeeze your pixel at the sides to bring up Google's assistant. The problem is, it often activates when you don't want it to, and although you can reduce or increase the sensitivity of squeeze, it still seems to happen - it's as annoying as Samsung's Bixby, or Cortana on Windows machines. This, along with a few other features, make the phone a bit of a chore if you leave it on the default settings - and it's worth noting that you also save a little bit of battery by turning some of them off.

Other shortcuts include a two-fingered swipe up that opens a transcribe feature. It starts instantly typing out what it can hear, with varying results, it has to be said. It struggles to keep up with normal talking speeds, misses lots of sentences and mishears words (it seems to hear lots of expletives). To put it in perspective, even Otter.ai hasn't got it totally right, but the Google version is somewhat behind that.

Sadly, there's also no fingerprint sensor, which takes a while to get used to. This is particularly annoying when the facial recognition fails in low lighting and you're back in the dark ages, tapping your passcode in by hand. This also means you can't open certain apps with biometric security - annoying if you have a banking app that relies on it. During the day, however, the face unlock is potentially the fastest we've ever used - perhaps on par with the iPhone. However, it's a chore to set up; it'll ask you to keep moving your head here, there and everywhere while it maps your visage. Strangely, it doesn't need your eyes though, as it can be unlocked while they're closed. This has caused some brouhaha with security experts and forced Google to issue a fix in the next software update.

Google Pixel 4 XL review: Camera(s)

With previous Pixels, Google has seemed content with one camera, even a bit overconfident at times, suggesting it could do more with one lens than all the other companies were doing with two, three, four and five. But it's somewhat caved on the 4 and added a second 16MP 2x telephoto lens to go with the 12.2MP main camera - these both have an f/1.7 aperture. If you follow the trends with smartphones, you'll notice the lack of an ultrawide lens, which is odd as most flagships come with both as standard.

In its defence, however, the telephoto lens is quite superb. We can't say it beats anything like the iPhone 11 or Huawei's P30 Pro, but it's close to that quality, if not matching. What the Pixel 3 XL managed with one lens was impressive, and the same looks to be true with the two lenses on the 4 XL.

Google Pixel 4 XL review: Verdict

It seems that adding innovative extras on the Pixel 4 XL has robbed it of the basics. The battery life is woeful, there's no fingerprint reader, Google Assistant keeps popping up like an annoying neighbour and there are those great big bezels making the screen look untidy. All that would have been poor two years ago, let alone in 2019.

But then, there are a lot of bits to love, such as the display and its 90hz refresh rate, or the extra camera (Google hasn't gone OTT here; it's about quality, not quantity). But our favourite addition is the motion sensor, which could play a big role in the Pixel's future. However, it's only a minor feature at the moment, and doesn't do enough to recommend it, we're Soli to say.

Verdict

There is a lot to love about the Pixel 4 XL, such as the display or the extra camera, but our favourite addition is the motion sensor which could play a big role in its future. However, it doesn't do enough to recommend it, we're Soli to say.

We've long been fans of Google's first-party hardware, particularly the company's flagship Pixel phones thanks to their excellent cameras and market-leading software. However, with rivals rapidly catching up, and the class-leading iPhone 11 now cheaper than ever, the Pixel 4 has more competition on its hands than any of its predecessors.

Unfortunately, despite having some tricks up its sleeve in the form of an improved camera and some fancy new features, there are too many foundational issues holding it back from reaching its potential.

Google Pixel 4 review: Design

Looking at it face-on, the Pixel 4 isn't really all that different from the Pixel 3. The screen bezel on the bottom edge is smaller now that the speaker has moved to the bottom of the handset, but other than that it's virtually identical to its predecessor. Flip it over, however, and it's a different story. The unique two-tone frosted glass rear is no more, replaced instead by a single sheet of polished glass that looks oddly reminiscent of the iPhone 4.

That impression is furthered by the fact that the Pixel 4 features a chunky plastic rim around the edge of the device, rather than the rounded look sported by last year's model. This makes it easier to hold, and somewhat less slippery than the Pixel 3, but it's not quite as attractive as the dual finish it used to have.

The Pixel 4 also uses a new camera layout; it's fitted with a dual-lens camera for the first time, housed in a square enclosure not unlike the one seen on Apple's iPhone 11 Pro Max. We're not fans of this layout, though; not only does the look of it rub us up the wrong way, but it's one of the thickest camera bumps we've seen in a while, and exacerbates the age-old problem of phones not quite sitting flush with the desk when placed face-up.

That (admittedly minor) quibble aside, the Pixel 4 is a relatively well-designed phone. Its 5.7in screen size means it's not too unwieldy while also having enough screen space to be useful. With a weight of 162g and an 8.2mm thickness, the handset is also respectably insubstantial, if not class-leading.

One thing we should note is that the Gorilla Glass 5 (which is used on both the front and rear) has already picked up a few scratches in the brief time we've been using it. That's faster than most other phones we've tested, and we haven't been especially punishing with this device.

Google Pixel 4 review: Display

The display itself is also a bit of a mixed bag. While it's attractive enough, with vivid colours and a sterling maximum brightness of 430cd/m2, the actual accuracy of the display leaves something to be desired. Our tests measured a 90.5% coverage of the sRGB spectrum, and although this isn't a big problem - it's still a high score, and it's unlikely that you'll be doing anything requiring professional levels of colour accuracy on a phone to begin with - it's a drop of just over 5% compared to the Pixel 3.

That's unfortunate, but it does make up for it in one key area - the screen itself supports a 90Hz refresh rate. The main benefit of this, apart from for gaming, is that it makes scrolling through apps and documents smoother and more pleasing on the eye. It's a subtle difference and one you probably wouldn't notice unless you were specifically looking out for it, but it does make the Pixel 4 a nicer phone to use for day-to-day apps, assuming they support the faster refresh rate.

The Pixel 4 also introduces 'Ambient EQ', an almost identical feature to Apple's True Tone that adjusts the display's colour temperature to optimum levels based on ambient lighting conditions. Like the 90Hz display, it's a subtle change but one that works well to create an enjoyable overall experience.

Google Pixel 4 review: Specs and performance

Google has equipped its latest flagship smartphone with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor and 6GB of RAM - another first for the Pixel range. However, as we've stated a number of times in the past, performance isn't really an issue for phones these days. Mobile processors are good enough that you'll rarely struggle to run apps, and high-end devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ can even power entire desktop environments without issue.

While the Pixel 4 doesn't support desktop environments, it's perfectly capable of doing everything else you'll need it to without breaking a sweat. It's roughly 75% faster than its predecessor according to the Geekbench 5 benchmark, and it averages out to something comparable to the Galaxy S10, with slightly slower single-core performance but faster multi-threaded speeds. In short, it's fast enough to cover basically all of your needs.

One element that may not cover all your needs is the storage, which starts at a rather meagre 64GB for the base option. In 2019, that feels a little stingy and although the free photo storage for Pixel owners may alleviate the strain somewhat, it's still a shame.

Google Pixel 4 review: Battery

Sadly, speed isn't really the Pixel's biggest problem. That honour, once again, goes to its absolutely woeful battery life. The previous generation took a fair amount of flak for not lasting terribly long between charges but, for some reason, Google decided that the best response to these criticisms would be to actually reduce the size of the capacity from 2915mAh in the Pixel 3 to 2800mAh for the new device.

As a result, the Pixel 4 managed just 12hrs 7mins in our battery tests - a quarter of an hour shorter than the Pixel 3, despite the increased power-efficiency of the Snapdragon 855 processor. That is a monumental disappointment. We're used to the Pixel 3 needing a quick top-up in order to make it through till bedtime, but on multiple occasions, we needed to charge the Pixel 4 up before we'd even left the office, lest it die during our 40-minute commute.

This is one of the worst experiences we've had with a flagship's battery life for quite some time, and it loses the Pixel some serious points. You can extend the battery life by turning off some of the more unnecessary battery-sucking features (more on those later), but you shouldn't really have to. The Galaxy S10, for example, manages 17hrs 44mins, while the Pixel 3a - which, lest we forget, is meant to be the cheaper and less capable variant - outlasts the fourth-generation Pixel by a full three hours.

Google Pixel 4 review: Camera

With that in mind, the camera suddenly has some heavy lifting to do. This is usually the highlight of the Pixel range, but that's not down to the photographic hardware. While the likes of the Galaxy S10 5G use multiple lenses to capture their shots, the Pixels have traditionally used a single lens backed up by powerful AI-driven software to pull off fancy tricks like image compositing, artificial bokeh and the ever-impressive (and now widely copied) Night Sight mode.

For the Pixel 4, Google has finally added a second lens: a 16MP 2x telephoto lens to augment the pre-existing 12MP lens carried over from the Pixel 3. We're happy to report that not only is Google's camera as strong as ever, but the groundbreaking behind-the-scenes software is also still working its magic. Not only is Night Sight better and more impressive than ever, but its HDR+ algorithm has also been tuned up to give even better contrast.

More importantly, the camera app will now show you a more accurate representation of what the results will be after HDR+ has been applied before you take the picture. You can also manually change the exposure in the foreground and background, independently of one another.

This is a seriously impressive feature, as is the new astral photography mode. This works by taking a series of 15 long-exposure shots and combining them, just like real astral photographers do with DSLR cameras. You'll get the best results with a tripod or stand, and you'll need to be pretty far out in the sticks before the light pollution levels become low enough to get any good shots - but it works just as well propped up against any stable surface, and the results can be seriously impressive.

In short, for those who just want to snap away in auto, secure in the knowledge that their photos will come out looking superb then the Pixel is still the phone to beat. Other phones are catching up fast - the iPhone 11 Pro, in particular, is edging a win in some areas - but for fire-and-forget finesse, the Pixel 4 is still king of the hill in our eyes.

Google Pixel 4 review: Motion Sense

Besides the camera, another key Pixel selling-point is its weird and wonderful software. This time the headline feature is a new suite of gesture-based controls, split between on-screen swipes and physical motions. The latter, which Google is calling Motion Sense, is familiar enough; the Pixel uses a radar system powered by a custom-built 'Soli' chip to detect things in the phone's vicinity.

This allows it to detect when you're away from the phone and turn off the 'always-on' display in order to save power. It also detects when you're picking up the phone and activates the new facial recognition unlock feature (which we'll talk about shortly). In certain cases, it also allows you to control various functions by waving your hands over the phone - wave your hand forward or back to skip between tracks on Spotify, for example, or flail at it to silence an alarm. These work well enough and can occasionally be convenient, but for the most part, they're rather pointless. It's rarely much quicker or more intuitive than just reaching over and tapping the phone itself.

The other element of this is the new gesture-based navigation system introduced with Android 10. Google has experimented with this previously - the Pixel 3 included elements of it, which were relatively easy to use after a brief adjustment period - but the Pixel 4 is on another level.

Swipe up from the bottom of the display to go back to the home screen, followed by another swipe from the bottom to open the app drawer. To access your recent apps, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and hold for a second or two. To go back to the previous screen, swipe from the edge of the screen into the middle. Oh, and the Google Assistant can be invoked by swiping in from one of the corners, in addition to squeezing the device.

This navigation system is unintuitive. Your mileage may vary, but we could not get on with it at all. Not only did we have to keep looking up how the system worked, but we also had to unlearn years of painstakingly developed muscle memory. Thankfully, you can switch back to the old three-button system in the settings - which we did within two days of grappling with the gesture-based imposter.

Google Pixel 4 review: Features

The usual range of features is present and correct. The Pixel 4 supports both fast-charging and wireless charging, and it's IP68 rated which means it's resistant to dust and immersion in water. The 3.5mm headphone jack is absent once again, but there's still a set of Pixel USB-C Earbuds and an adapter in the box.

Another clever little feature which deserves a mention is the recording software. This is a built-in feature with Pixel that captures voice recordings and automatically transcribes them using on-device AI. It's a feature similar to other auto transcription apps, including Otter, which is something that we personally use quite a lot.

The above paragraph was transcribed entirely using the service - the only edit we made was to capitalise 'Otter'. The fact that it does it on the fly - with no internet connection required - is especially impressive. It may not be hugely useful for the average user, but for journalists or other people that take copious notes, it's an incredibly handy feature to have.

One thing you may notice when handling the Pixel 4 is the conspicuous lack of a fingerprint sensor. The absence of a physical sensor module is nothing new, of course - the Galaxy S10, OnePlus 7T and Huawei P30 Pro don't have one either. However, while those devices have switched to in-display fingerprint sensors, Google has jettisoned the fingerprint sensor altogether, replacing it with facial recognition unlocking.

The face recognition works fairly well. It's not as rapid as examples like the most recent iPhones or the Galaxy S10, but it does the job. There's a slight security issue in that it will unlock your phone even when your eyes are closed, but that's not exactly key to most people's threat models - plus, fingerprint readers themselves are hardly foolproof.

What they are, however, is widely supported by third-party apps. You'd be surprised how annoying it is, after the last five years of growing biometric adoption, to suddenly not have a finger reader any more. Our password manager, for example, does not support facial recognition, so we have to use our ridiculous and awkward password every time we want to open it. Our banking app similarly relies on either a fingerprint scan or a PIN code to open, which is both less secure (in general terms) and less convenient.

In all honesty, this is probably the most frustrating thing about the Pixel 4; the lacklustre battery is irritating but we can mitigate it with regular charging. This, on the other hand, is a constant, regular source of annoyance that we're powerless to do anything about.

Google Pixel 4 review: Verdict

Google's Pixel 4 is an equal mixture of delight and frustration. It's impressive in all the ways we've come to expect from Google's devices; the aforementioned camera is the unquestionable highlight, and some of the software features are incredibly clever.

Unfortunately, it's let down by all of Google's usual foibles, most notably the battery life, which has been the Pixel's consistent Achilles heel. None of these issues are deal-breakers, but equally, it's no longer the must-buy that some of its previous devices have been. In fact, on balance, we'd still recommend the Pixel 3a over the new model - it's much cheaper, with better battery life and minimal compromises. As far as we're concerned, roll on the Pixel 4a.

Verdict

The Pixel 4 is a clever little phone that’s undermined by a series of rather basic flaws, including one of the worst battery lives we’ve seen on a modern flagship. The camera is still outstanding, but you’ll have to look past a few irritations to get the most out of it.

Last year, we reviewed the Pixel 3 XL, and gave it a glowing endorsement. There was one major drawback: even with the VAT-free business price, the Pixel 3 XL is an expensive handset, starting at 724.17.

The Pixel 3a XL manages to lop 46% off that price, but somehow leaves us with a device that is, for most people's needs, barely any weaker. This is how you make a 'lite' handset and other manufacturers should take note.

Google Pixel 3a XL: Design

One of the few drawbacks of the Pixel 3 XL was its design. While perfectly functional, it had one of the biggest 'notches' we've ever seen for the front-facing camera, and was weirdly asymmetrical with a far wider chin bezel at the bottom than at the top.

Oddly, it's one of the Pixel 3a XL's cuts that makes it look better: there's only one front-facing camera here, meaning you lose the ability to take in wider scenes from the front, but also lose the notch entirely. Yes, that means there's more bezel, but somehow it looks all the better for it.

Another change with the design is the material it's made from. While the Pixel 3 XL was all glass and metal, the back on the 3a XL is polycarbonate plastic. Yes, it feels a bit cheaper (because it is), but it's still comfortable in the hand and looks the part. This change does mean that wireless charging isn't supported, however, which in turn means that the Pixel Stand is an accessory that just won't work with the 3a family.

Another change which is both a blessing and a curse: the Pixel 3a XL welcomes back the 3.5mm headphone jack. On the surface, this is excellent news as you no longer have to rely on Bluetooth headphones or an easily losable adapter, but it does no doubt contribute to the Pixel 3a XL losing its IP68 water-resistance rating, meaning Google makes no guarantee of its ability to withstand a soaking.

It also uses Asahi Glass' Dragontrail glass rather than the usual Gorilla Glass. It feels the same on initial assessment, but obviously its long-term ability to withstand scratches may differ.

Finally, it's a bit smaller than the 6.2in Pixel 3 XL, coming in at 6in across. Whether you see that as an improvement or a drawback depends on how you feel about big handsets, but it does potentially make the 5.6in Pixel 3a look more appealing, if you want to save 58. You wouldn't really call the Pixel 3a XL 'extra large' in any real sense, any more.

Everything else is the same, which is basically good but does come with the same problem as every other Pixel device: there's no expandable storage. That means that the 64GB internal storage space the Pixel 3a XL comes with is all you'll ever have - and there are no configurations with more to opt for, either.

Google Pixel 3a XL: Display

Perhaps surprisingly for a cheaper phone, Google doesn't opt for LCD tech, instead using the same OLED panel technology found in the Pixel 3 XL. No, it isn't HDR-certified, but it's still an excellent 1,080p screen.

How excellent? Well, it reaches a decent 415cd/m2 brightness for a start, but the real achievement is in the screen performance. In the 'natural' setting, coverage of the sRGB gamut is amongst the best we've measured, and the average Delta E of 1.34 is very impressive too.

In short, this is a far better screen than you've any right to expect for the price, and it's a credit to Google that it hasn't cut any corners here.

Google Pixel 3a XL: Specs and performance

Where it has cut corners is in what's powering the handset, of course. While the two flagship Pixel 3 handsets use Qualcomm's top-end chip from 2018 -- the Snapdragon 845 -- the Pixel 3a and 3a XL both make do with the midrange Snapdragon 670: an octa-core chip clocked at 2GHz. All four have 4GB RAM.

So how does it do? Pretty well, actually. While clearly no match for the Snapdragon 845, the Pixel 3a XL feels perfectly snappy in day-to-day use. On Geekbench 4, the Pixel 3a managed 1,619 in single-core use and 5,168 in multi-core -- the Pixel 3 XL got 2,370 and 8,343, respectively.

So it's undoubtedly a weaker chip, but perhaps not weak enough for you to notice, depending on how you use the phone. Although you likely won't be using the Pixel 3a XL for gaming, it's a useful benchmark and here we found it managed a very respectable 29fps on the tricky GFXBench Manhattan test; a score only slightly dampened by the fact that the original Pixel 3 XL managed 83fps.

Google Pixel 3a XL: Battery life

Despite having a slightly smaller screen, the Pixel 3a XL manages to fit in a bigger battery than the original Pixel 3 XL: 3,700mAh to 3,430mAh. That, presumably combined with a smaller screen to run and a less power-hungry processor, results in battery life that's much improved.

While the Pixel 3 XL lasted 13hrs 8mins in our battery test, the Pixel 3a XL added a whole three hours to this, coming in at 16hrs 58mins. That's not the best battery life we've ever seen, but it should be fine for most people's needs.

Google Pixel 3a XL: Camera

We don't typically comment much on smartphone cameras at IT Pro: their business use still isn't that clear. But given so much of the Pixel family's appeal is in the camera, it would be wrong not to mention it at all.

And the key thing is that Google hasn't cut any corners here, either. You have exactly the same 12.2-megapixel camera with a f/1.8 aperture, dual-LED flash and optical image stabilisation. That means you get the same superb results as the Pixel 3 XL -- which is among the best smartphone cameras out there. Pictures are sharp, with a nice, natural colour balance and they're packed with detail. Most phones can manage that outdoors in good lighting conditions, but the Pixel 3a XL copes admirably in darker lighting too.

It can't shoot 4K video at 60fps - but then neither could the original Pixel 3 XL. If that's important to you, you should look to the iPhone Xs or the OnePlus 6T.

Google Pixel 3a XL: Features

One of the best things about buying a Google phone is the software -- not just Android, which obviously powers the vast majority of smartphones, but the apps and environment. The Pixel range use a unique custom UI, dubbed the Pixel Launcher, which is different to 'stock' Android but follows the same ethos of simplicity and functionality. Here, Google excels: it's a very clean, pure experience, without any bloatware to speak of.

And because it's a Pixel phone, you'll be first in line for updates and security patches, which is quite a big deal for business use. Previously you had to pay top dollar for that privilege, but the Pixel 3a family has just made that a whole lot more affordable.

Of course, it's very Google-centric with email from Gmail, web browsing via Chrome, storage via Google Drive and cloud photo storage via Google Photos. You may need to unpick that if you work for a Microsoft-favouring company.

Google Pixel 3a XL: Verdict

It's hard to see anything the Pixel 3a XL does wrong for the price. No, it's not as powerful as the flagships of last year, but it leaves the main strengths of the Pixel 3 XL untouched: the best-in-class camera and a smooth, bloat-free installation of Android, first in line for updates.

The fact that it does this for nearly half the price of the Pixel 3 XL is wonderful. The cuts are in all the right places, and Google has just set a new benchmark for how 'lite' versions of handsets should be done.

Verdict

The cuts are in all the right places, and Google has just set a new benchmark for how ‘lite’ versions of handsets should be done.

Google has moved into the mid-range smartphone market - a decision which could prove almost as intelligent as the AI technology inside its new devices. The initial Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL devices impressed us with the intelligent, software-enhanced hardware they featured, but they're now joined by new versions at an even cheaper price point.

The Pixel 3a is Google's new flagship mid-range phone and is the smaller cousin of the Pixel 3a XL. Both of the new devices come with mid-tier components but retain Google's intelligent software enhancements to give its new rivals in this market a real run for their money.

Google Pixel 3a review: Design

Google has made many changes under the hood of these new devices but one thing that persists is the design. Google has made a point of keeping the appearance of the Pixel 3a the same as the Pixel 3. The two-tone design returns, the circular fingerprint sensor is in the same position and you still see a splash of colour on the lock button with all colourways other than Just Black.

Perhaps to be expected with a scaled-back version of an existing phone, but the screen also hasn't changed. Fans of current smartphones such as the iPhone Xs, Samsung Galaxy S10 and Huawei P30 will note that there's no notch, but this means it has thick black bars that top and tail the screen, which date the device and give the impression of a device born years previously.

One significant difference that will be welcomed by many is the addition of a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top of the phone so now users will be able to charge their phones and listen to music or podcasts at the same time, going against the unpopular standard set by Apple with the iPhone 7.

The Pixel 3a comes in three colourways: Just Black, Clearly White and a brand new one exclusively for the Pixel 3a line called Purple-ish. The latter is a light pastel shade of purple with a noticeable and pleasing pop of green on the lock button to create a refreshing colour combination that gets our seal of approval.

Google Pixel 3a review: Display

The Pixel 3a's 2,220 x 1,080 OLED screen is simply stunning, especially for its price. Measuring 0.1in bigger than its pricier predecessor, the 5.6in screen offers decent image quality that can beat others in its class and the pixel density of 441ppi narrowly beats that of the Pixel 3a XL too.

Google warned us at a preview event that the hardware is definitely not top-spec and that's because it's not designed to be a top-spec phone. You wouldn't know it from the display's performance on-test, though. The screen performed exceptionally well in terms of colour accuracy, covering 95.6% of the sRGB colour gamut on the phone's 'natural' colour setting, the most colour-accurate of the three available.

The panel scored well in the brightness and contrast department too. We measured an admirable peak brightness of 416cd/m2 and the infinity:1 contrast ratio helped to accentuate those inky blacks. Displays on the newest phones will be slightly better and if displays really matter to you when choosing your smartphone, then you might feel a little short-changed with the Pixel 3a's. Just know that you'll pay a premium for the dazzling displays of the Galaxy S10 or Huawei P30.

Google Pixel 3a review: Specs and performance

Powering the Pixel 3a is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 670, backed up with 4GB of RAM. This is a step down from the 845 used in the pricier models but in terms of the overall perception of the device's performance, there were no noticeable performance drops during normal daily activity. Apps loaded and switched without any perceived lag and it was overall a smooth and enjoyable experience. By definition, the Pixel 3a will be less powerful than the Pixel 3 and its rivals, but honestly we'd be surprised if you noticed much of a difference in day-to-day use.

There's only one option in terms of storage and that's 64GB - no ifs, no buts. Perhaps in a bid to expand users of Google Drive, the Pixel 3a doesn't benefit from the 128GB option of the pricier version and there's no SD card slot for optional storage expansion either.

The poor battery life was one of our biggest complaints about the Pixel 3, but happily this has been fixed here. The 3,000mAh battery, combined with a less-demanding processor, managed to last 15hrs 7mins in our tests, beating the full-fat Pixel 3 by around two and a half hours. It comfortably lasted us throughout the day, and it should do the same with you.

In terms of charging, sadly the Pixel 3a lost the wireless charging feature boasted by its more expensive siblings, but the USB-C charger will fully charge the phone in about an hour and Google claims that just 15 minutes plugged-in will give you 7 hours of usage.

If you like a good comparison, there's no doubt that you'll be wondering how it fares against other phones in its class and the Pixel 3 before it. We've already said that the Pixel 3a has weaker components compared to the Pixel 3 and while the naked eye won't really notice much of a difference, the gulf in class was evident in our benchmark tests.

Using the cross-platform processor Geekbench, we tested the phones in single-core and multi-core parameters. The Pixel 3a scored 1619 and 5146 respectively whereas the Pixel 3 scored 2430 and 8007 - the higher the score represents better performance, in this case.

In terms of how it stacks up against its rivals, we selected the Galaxy S7 Edge and the Honor 20 Lite as two worth adversaries in terms of price-performance. When compared to these two, the Pixel 3a scored marginally better than the Honor 20 Lite and slightly worse than the S7 Edge - the differences were negligible. While the Pixel 3a might be pricier, it certainly comes in a prettier package, and boasts Google's AI features to boot.

Google Pixel 3a review: Features

One of the standout new features comes in the form of AR implementation with Google Maps. The feature aims to combat the common issue of your cellular network being unable to accurately determine the direction you're facing when starting a navigated route. Google's AR feature interoperates with Street View and allows you to use the Pixel 3a's camera to scan nearby landmarks, such as Nelson's Column in London and use that as a reference point to accurately start a route. Within Maps, superimposed direction signs will appear to clearly navigate your route too.

The feature works very well but is only limited to major towns and cities as of now. For example, you'll be able to enjoy the feature in London but not in Shrewsbury - you'll know if your area is supported as the feature automatically appears when in compatible regions.

If security is a priority for you then you'll be pleased to know that the Pixel 3a comes with the Titan M chip embedded within the phone, Google's most secure form of multi-factor authentication to date. Your phone will act as a physical security key rather than a 2FA text - part of an initiative first announced at Google Cloud Next 2019 - which aims to reduce the risk of phishing, a method of attack which has vastly increased in prevalence and sophistication in recent years.

Most phone manufacturers have now realised the importance of limiting screen time in a time where everyone is glued to one screen or another. A returning feature from the Pixel 3, Google's Digital Wellbeing dashboard allows you to limit time spent on certain apps, monitor general screen time and pause notifications in given situations such as when your phone screen is positioned downwards.

Google Pixel 3a review: Camera

It would have been a shame to see the Pixel 3's incredible camera reigned in for the cheaper model, but fortunately, that's not the case. The Pixel's camera technology has become even more intelligent in the latest device. The hardware inside is nothing particularly special, but the AI-driven software that powers the camera and all its bundled modes and features is something to behold.

There aren't a lot of things different with the camera when compared to the Pixel 3, and that's a good thing. The rear still sports a 12.2MP (with an 8MP lens at the front for selfies) which shoots the most beautiful photos you'll see on a smartphone at this price.

The portrait mode was the standout feature for us. Seen on every previous generation of Pixel phones - as well as devices from other manufacturers - it uses AI to detect the subject of the shot so the background can be blurred for an impressive depth of field effect. The mode also shoots two pictures, one with and one without the depth of field effect so you can decide which you like best.

Another returning feature from the Pixel 3 is Night Sight, another AI-driven capability which claims to capture images in rich detail and colour even in the dark, all without a flash. We found the feature to be quite hit-and-miss, though. On the occasions it did work, it worked well and the subject of the shot was indeed richly detailed and coloured but in some instances it had next to no appreciable effect.

Elsewhere, the rear camera has multiple modes of shooting video, everything from 720p at 240fps to 4K at 30fps. It has a field of view of 76 degrees and an f/1.8 aperture while the front camera has a bigger field of view of 84 degrees and an f/2.0 aperture which can record 1080p video up to 30fps.

Adding to the enviable list of brainy features in the camera is the Super Res Zoom, which can decipher details such as words reasonably clearly from a modest distance. It's by no means on the level that the Huawei P30 Pro's camera is on with its unbelievably clear 50X zoom, but it's still nice for under 400.

Google Lens makes a return too. The feature, first introduced in preview to Pixel customers last year, lets you point your phone at an object and use Google Search to recognise and show you search results for it. It works in real-time and is pretty accurate. It can identify the brand and line of trainers and works pretty well with consumer electronics. The object that you wish to scan should have a contrasting background, as having a similar one will decrease the accuracy of detection.

Google Pixel 3a review: Verdict

The Pixel 3a is an unbelievably impressive phone, considering the price. Google has managed to retain all the things that made the original Pixel 3 great. The trademark Pixel camera remains which will please the brand's faithful, and it returns with even more intelligence than before, without compromising on performance or usability. In fact, it's even managed to address our primary complaint by improving the battery life.

It's a good move from Google to drop down into the mid-tier market where it will shine among its new competitors. While Nokia and Motorola were once the royalty of the mobile sphere, they've found success since dropping down into the more budget-friendly realm. Now Google will almost certainly do the same, packing decent components into a phone and bundling it full of some of the industry's most impressive AI.

As mid-range devices go, this is unquestionably the pick of the bunch but more importantly than that, it's even managed to surpass its supposedly more premium sibling in our estimations. You'll struggle to find such an enjoyable smartphone experience at such a great price, and the baked-in security measures make it an ideal candidate for your next workplace device.

Officially, the Pixel 3 XL didn't exist until a week ago. But for a phone that didn't exist, it sure had a habit of showing up unannounced, from blackmarket sales in Hong Kong to the backseat of a Lyft.

It's tech's worst-kept secret, but fortunately discretion isn't necessary to develop a top-notch smartphone, as the Pixel 3 XL proves with aplomb. It's a fine handset which maintains that sense of Google magic while somehow being greater than the sum of its (widely-leaked) parts.

You pay a premium though and you can get a lot more bang for your buck elsewhere.

Google Pixel 3 XL: Design

The Pixel 3 XL is not a looker in the conventional sense, leading many to believe that the early leaks were an elaborate prank by Google designed to throw 1,000 tech bloggers off the scent. Sadly that wasn't to be the case: it really does have a giant notch and an even bigger chin at the bottom.

This doesn't look as offputting in the flesh as it does in press shots, you'll be pleased to hear, but it's still a bit disorienting. The iPhone X introduced a notch in order to create a display that covered the entire front of the phone here not only is there a big chunk cut out of the top, but a thick bar along the bottom. You can't help feeling Google would have been better off having a full black bar at the top for symmetry's sake if nothing else.

That questionable design decision aside, it's all good. The Pixel's two-tone calling card on the rear of the phone is back with a lightly reflective area around the camera turning to a matte finish below. The back of the handset where the fingerprint reader lives feels quite plasticky to the touch, despite its glass construction. That may seem disappointing in a handset that costs this much money, but all we can say is it's very comfortable in the hand despite its 6.2in frame.

That said, there are a number of design decisions that we're charitably going to call disappointing' for the price. First off, despite mocking Apple two years ago for removing the much-loved headphone jack, it's still MIA on the Pixel 3 XL. True, there are some headphones that look suspiciously like wired Pixel Buds in the box, as well as an adapter for your existing wired pair, but it's still a big anti-consumer move. Secondly, the built-in storage you get (64GB or 128GB depending on your budget) is all you're getting. There's no microSD slot. Still, Apple gets away without those features without much scrutiny, so why not Google as well?

On the bright side it has IP68 waterproofing and wireless charging. The latter is particularly interesting, given Google was an early adopter of the technology with the Nexus range, only to abandon it after the Nexus 6. Clearly the company now thinks it's ready for mass adoption and it probably helps that it's ready to sell its own 69 wireless charging stands too.

Google Pixel 3 XL: Display

The Pixel 3 XL's large 6.2in display is an OLED panel, which guarantees deep inky blacks and perfect contrast. Colours are also suitably bright and vibrant, but although it's a big improvement on last year's Pixel 2 XL, it's still not the best example of an OLED display out there.

For starters, the colour accuracy isn't great. According to our display colourometer, the Pixel 3 XL manages 90.5% of the sRGB colour gamut. That's high, but you'd expect higher for the price for comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S9 manages 99.3% while the iPhone Xs gets 96.1%. Likewise, screen brightness only hits 393cd/m2. That will be fine in all but the brightest sunshine, but is some distance behind the searing 668cd/m2 the iPhone Xs achieves.

It's not all doom and gloom: viewing angles are excellent, and the 1,440 x 2,960 resolution means a pixel density of 523PPI. In other words, everything you look at looks wonderfully sharp, just as it should.

Google Pixel 3 XL: Specs and performance

The specifications of the Pixel 3 are identical whether you get the standard version or the XL for that matter, they're identical to pretty much every flagship smartphone from the OnePlus 6 upwards. That means you're getting Qualcomm's latest 2.8GHz Snapdragon 845 processor backed by 4GB RAM and either 64 or 128GB storage.

And that means performance is pretty much as you'd expect. Superbly fast, but no more superbly fast than anything else with that setup and it's worth remembering at this point that the OnePlus 6 goes for 390.83 plus VAT

It's also worth remembering that the Snapdragon 845 is nearly a year old, and that most likely means that Qualcomm has an even faster chip just around the corner. If you want the latest and greatest, in other words, then it may be worth hanging on a few months to see what Samsung, LG and Sony have up their metaphorical sleeves.

That said, in a more practical sense, the Snapdragon 845 is plenty fast enough for most people's' needs, and it'd be surprising if you found it slugging over the duration of a standard two-year contract.

On top of this, there are advantages to buying Google that go beyond raw specifications. You get Android 9 Pie out of the box here, and will always be the first in line for new versions of Android, and all the security bonuses that implies. Pretty important if you're buying for business use.

Google Pixel 3 XL: Battery life

Like almost every phone released in the last five years, batteries that you can replace yourself have been sacrificed at the altar of a swish-looking unibody design. The Pixel 3 XL is no different here, and a 3,430mAh battery powers the show a fair bit bigger than the 2,915mAh cell in the smaller Pixel 3.

Unfortunately, in practice this presents results that aren't too inspiring. In our standard battery test a looped video running at a screen brightness of 170cd/m2 in airplane mode the Pixel 3 XL lasted just 13 hours, eight minutes and 16 seconds before powering down. That's a touch on the low side, though anecdotally you should still comfortably get through a day if you're not a super-heavy user.

Plus this is the first Pixel device to feature wireless charging. Any Qi charging panel will work with this, but the Pixel Stand is worth considering if you do buy the XL. It's a 69 stand that will not only charge your device, but turn it into a smart display, where it shows your photos, the weather and offers quick access to Google Assistant. If you want it to, it'll even slowly brighten your display to a warm yellow in line with your wake-up time to ensure you're (theoretically) better rested for the day ahead. A nice touch.

Google Pixel 3 XL: Camera

The camera isn't something we typically pay much attention to at IT Pro as its business uses are less clear than a long-lasting battery or an accurate screen, but reviewing a Pixel phone without touching on the camera is to do it a disservice. For years, Google has been the smartphone camera champions, and the Pixel XL's snapper continues in this fine heritage.

Initially, you may find yourself disappointed. While most flagship devices have a dual-camera array on the back (the Huawei P20 Pro even manages a triple-lens effort), Google has stuck resolutely to one: a 12.2-megapixel snapper with a f/1.8 aperture, dual-LED flash and optical image stabilisation. This means you won't be getting any hardware zooming or monochrome features, but you still manage to get snaps which are nothing short of spectacular.

The resulting pictures are sharp, with a natural colour balance and packed with detail. They are, for stills, as good as it gets in low light or in well-lit conditions, but it's important to note that the margins are getting smaller. There's not a great deal between this and the Huawei P20 Pro and that's a phone that offers three lenses for telephoto zoom and monochrome shots. Something the Pixel 3 XL doesn't offer.

For those that care, it also doesn't shoot 4K video at 60fps. For that, you might be better off looking at the iPhone Xs.

Google Pixel 3 XL: Features

So far, camera aside, you may be feeling a little underwhelmed by the Pixel 3 XL. All we can say is that as a package it feels greater than the sum of its parts, and a lot of that is down to the software, which Google has finetuned to be intuitive and useful. While lots of the features will likely either be cloned by other manufacturers, or rolled out in a future Android update, it's hard to argue that the Pixel 3 XL isn't anything but as user-friendly as Android gets.

We're not just talking about Android 9 Pie here, but the little software extras that Google has added to the mix. You can flip over your phone to silence all but urgent notifications to keep things quiet in a meeting, or check up on your digital wellbeing' where the phone will tell you how much time you spend in any apps, with options to help you cut back if you find the results troubling.

By far the cleverest is call screening. This lets Google Assistant pick up the phone for you. When it does, the phone will transcribe what's being said at the other end. It's typical that the one time we wanted scammers to phone us nobody did and even dialling our own phone from a withheld number didn't do the trick. Still, it's a very clever idea for those that are bombarded by nuisance calls, but have a nagging sense of worry when they ignore suspicious numbers.

A phone made by Google is unsurprisingly Google-centric. Email is from Gmail, the browser is Chrome, Storage is Google Drive and Google Photos is baked in too. Most people will see this as a pretty strong selling point, but if your business is all tied up with Microsoft, then you'll have to unpick this with Outlook, Teams and OneDrive via the Google Play store.

What is undoubtedly advantageous is that Pixel phones get the latest version of Android the fastest and that means security updates as well as software goodies. For some businesses, that may be worth the price of admission alone.

Google Pixel 3 XL: Verdict

The Pixel 3 XL is undoubtedly one of the best phones you can buy right now, but it's still a tough one to give a wholehearted recommendation to for two reasons.

The first is that as an October launch, it's likely the last of the big players to release a flagship this year. Despite this, it's no faster as it still has the same Snapdragon 845 processor its big rivals have been using for the last six months. Wait a little longer and new chips will be upon us, powering phones that leave the Pixel 3 XL in their dust.

In itself, that's not really a problem: phones have got fast enough that there's no need to get het up about speed bumps. The problem is the high price here isn't really warranted: 869 (724.17 exc VAT) is an awful lot for a phone which in most ways is merely a match for the OnePlus 6 (390.83 exc VAT). Even the Samsung Galaxy S9 has come down in price to the point that it can be had for around 500 exc VAT if you shop around.

The camera and the software make the Pixel 3 XL a very tempting option, but most businesses will be better looking at something a little cheaper, unless getting those OS updates as quickly as possible is worth paying a premium.

Verdict

The Pixel 3 XL is one of the best phones around, with a spectacular camera and some great software under the hood. Unfortunately, it doesn't do enough to justify its high asking price - especially not in the face of such stiff competition from other brands.

The Google Pixel 3 is upon us. However, despite falling victim to months' worth of juicy leaked, on first glance, it doesn't appear that Google's latest flagship has much new to offer. There's no major attention-grabbing features, the design has barely changed and the hardware has been upgraded modestly at best.

So, what makes the Pixel 3 special? As with last year's Pixel 2, the answer lies in Google's tightly-woven software - the whole endeavour is underpinned by the Google Assistant, which acts as the public face of some impressive AI technology. This impressive tech is baked-in throughout the Pixel 3, and this has resulted in a rather special device.

Google Pixel 3: Design

With the newest Pixel, Google has maintained the same essential design as its previous phones, with a couple of key differences. The rear of the device still features a two-tone appearance, but rather than being a plastic chassis with a glass panel across the top, the phone now has an all-glass rear with the two-tone effect achieved through a combination of frosted and glossy finishes.

The result is a phone that feels noticeably higher in quality and is immediately more attractive. However, the move from textured plastic to glass means that it's more slippery in the hand - something that isn't helped by the fact that the edges are much more rounded than the Pixel 2 - but the overall effect feels much more impressive.

Weighing in at 148g and measuring 7.9mm thick, it's pretty much identical to its predecessor in terms of its dimensions. In other words, it's about as thin and light as one can reasonably expect from a flagship phone.

While it's very much in keeping with the aesthetic of previous Google Pixel devices, the whole thing screams quality. It's clear that a lot of thought has gone into the exterior of this design, and as a result, it's among the most striking devices Google has ever produced. If you had any doubts that the Pixel range is intended as a flagship device, the third generation will put those to bed.

There are a few sour notes, though: Google has now joined the ranks of manufacturers who have deemed the headphone jack surplus to requirements. Personally, we're not overly bothered - cheap, good-quality wireless headphones are plentiful now, and there's an adapter included in the box for anything that absolutely needs a physical jack.

Beautiful though it is, the rear of the device is also prone to picking up unsightly scratches, with the black version being a particular offender. You'll most likely want to pick up a case to keep it looking pristine.

Google Pixel 3: Display

If the Pixel 2 had one Achilles heel, it was the display; while most of its competitors had moved to edge-to-edge panels, the Pixel 2 still had thick bezels surrounding the screen, which lost it points over the sleeker and more attractive screens of rivals. With Google finally having waved goodbye to bezels and got with the times, we can look at its technical merits.

The 5.5in OLED panel uses an FHD+ (1080 x 2160) resolution, with a pixel density of 443PPI. It's covered with Gorilla Glass 5 for durability and includes HDR support. We measured the maximum brightness at 408cd/m2 - roughly on par with other Android flagships like the OnePlus 6, although still trailing behind the Apple iPhone Xs' scorching 668cd/m2 result.

The sRGB coverage is good too, with a coverage rating of 93.5% - functionally identical to the Pixel 2, and more than good enough for a display of this size. The iPhone is once again technically better, but there's hardly anything in it. What's more, the screen itself looks great in practice, with even tones, clear definition and effectively perfect contrast.

Google Pixel 3: Specs and hardware

To be perfectly honest, internal components are becoming less and less important for modern flagship smartphones. Cutting-edge phones are now several times more powerful than most users need - even without testing it, we can be confident that you're not likely to feel it slowing down or acting sluggishly, and it'll be more than capable of keeping up with whatever you throw at it.

If you really must know the specs, it uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 - a bang up to date octa-core processor clocked at 2.8GHz - and 4GB of RAM. The latter figure is surprising, as many of the Pixel 3's rivals ship with 6GB of memory, or even 8GB in some cases.

Accordingly, the Pixel 3 didn't do quite as well as some other devices we've tested when we ran it through our performance benchmarks. It beat the Huawei P20 Pro and last year's Pixel 2 by around 20% in Geekbench 4's single-core tests, but the Galaxy S9 - which, let's not forget, is now significantly cheaper than the Pixel 3 - beat it by around 50%. This is to say nothing of the iPhone Xs, which scored more than double.

The results were similarly uninspiring in the multi-core tests, which showed that the Pixel 3 is beaten by not only the Galaxy S9 and the iPhone Xs for multi-tasking operations, it's also slower than the OnePlus 6.

The real question is, does this matter? Truth be told, the answer is 'not really'. It's still more than fast enough to keep up with you, and there are very few times when it's ever going to feel underpowered or slow. We can't recall a single instance when we were bothered by slow load times or lag, and we doubt the average user will be overly vexed by them either. If you absolutely must have the fastest phone on the market, then this isn't the device for you, but if you're worried about practicality rather than by abstract benchmark scores, then don't feel too put off by it.

Google Pixel 3: Battery life

Unfortunately, there's another area in which the Pixel 3 lags behind other, cheaper phones, and it's arguably more important than performance: the Pixel 3 doesn't have a great battery life. In fact, in our battery tests, it lasted a total of 12hrs 22mins, which is distinctly disappointing.

The Pixel 3 lagged behind the Galaxy S9, P20 Pro and even its own predecessor by around two hours, and the OnePlus 6 blazed past it with a battery life that lasted more than five hours longer. It was even outperformed by the iPhone Xs, which we criticised for its somewhat weedy battery.

What's worse is that this discrepancy is distinctly noticeable in day-to-day use. We found ourselves frequently having to charge the Pixel mid-way through the day, or risk being caught short while still out and about. This is even with all of Google's fancy battery-saving tweaks and algorithms in use, which is somewhat disappointing.

The only saving grace is that Google has introduced wireless charging, so keeping topped-up shouldn't be too onerous if you've invested in a couple of charging pads. We'd recommend keeping one in the office and one at home, just to get yourself into the habit of keeping them charging when not in use. Beware, though - not all wireless charging pads are created equal, so if you don't get one with a high enough power output, you may find that your phone charges much more slowly than you were expecting.

Speaking of charging pads, the company has also launched the Pixel Stand, a fast-charging stand that unlocks some neat UI tweaks. These include displaying pictures from Google Photos while locked, or providing easy access to Google Assistant, allowing its in-built bedtime routine to turn off your smart lights, set an alarm and tell you your appointments for the next day. It's a neat accessory (if a somewhat frivolous one), and it's an easy way to turn your pixel into a functional clock radio.

Google Pixel 3: Camera

The big news, as with virtually every other phone launch of the last few years, revolves around the camera. One of the Pixel family's standout features since its inception, Google is betting on the improvements it's made to the camera to be the main selling point of its 3rd-gen model.

Unlike other manufacturers, who are adding more lenses to their phones than you can shake a selfie stick at, Google has stuck with a single-lens configuration for the rear camera. Google claims that it doesn't need to use multiple lenses, as its HDR+ algorithm and image signal processor (both of which have been improved from the Pixel 2) do all of the heavy lifting that other phones need multiple lenses to do.

Instead, the actual hardware is largely the same, with a 12.2-megapixel lens with OIS, dual-LED flash and an f/1.8 aperture at the rear. As with the Pixel 2, shots look great; the camera captures plenty of detail in both high and low-light conditions and the HDR+ works amazingly well, ensuring that darker areas are well-lit without washing out lighter sections. Colour accuracy is good too. The Pixel's similarly great at video recording, with impressive stabilisation technology at play - although the lack of 60fps 4K recording is a slightly sour note that may sour its appeal for some video enthusiasts.

Google has also introduced even more clever tricks to the Pixel 3's camera, using a combination of software processing and machine learning algorithms. First up is 'Night Sight', a new feature that radically improves low-light photography - we haven't been able to test this yet, as it doesn't launch until next month, but assuming it lives up to the examples shown off by Google at the Pixel 3's launch, it should be a huge improvement.

Improvements have also been made to the Pixel's already-outstanding Portrait Mode. As well as being able to change the focal point of a Portrait Mode photo after the fact, you can also adjust the level of blur in the background and foreground, and even desaturate the background to make the portrait's subject really stand out. It's very, very impressive, and makes it simple to get great results even if you're a relative amateur photographer.

Other new features include Top Shot, which captures a series of still images when you take a photo and suggests the best ones based on the framing and focus. There's also Motion Auto Focus, which locks the focal point to a specific object, enabling you to move around it without losing focus, and 'Super Res Zoom', which uses the natural shake of your hand to improve the Pixel 3's digital zoom capabilities by combining the subtle differences across a number of simultaneous images.

The biggest change in terms of the hardware is the front-facing camera. Unlike the rear camera, this does include a dual-lens setup; it includes a wide-angle lens in addition to the standard 8-megapixel RGB sensor, which means you can zoom out when taking group pictures or landscape selfies to fit more in the frame. It's a useful feature, although it does mean that quality is somewhat distorted.

Google Pixel 3: Features

Alongside the aforementioned wireless charging, Google is launching a number of cool features with the Pixel 3. Unsurprisingly, there are a fair few AI-based bells and whistles, including Google Duplex, the company's somewhat creepy AI chatbot that will make phone calls on your behalf, be it to book an appointment or to make a reservation. It's rolling out on a city-by-city basis, however, so it's currently unclear when it'll make its way to the UK.

There's also a new 'Call Screen' feature, which allows Google Assistant to answer incoming phone calls, check who the caller is and give you a set of potential responses based on the answer. Again, this is launching initially in the US, and we don't yet know when it'll be available elsewhere.

Fans of Gmail's autocomplete-style 'Smart Compose' feature will be gratified to know that it's also coming to the Gmail app on Pixel. This is a seriously useful (and almost spookily accurate) feature that anyone who spends a lot of time managing their inbox on the move will be grateful for.

There's also tighter security through the incorporation of Titan Security, which Google developed for its data centres, and new digital wellbeing tools to help you monitor and control how much time you spend online. As before, there's also a fingerprint reader for biometric login. Storage comes in two flavours - 64GB and 128GB, with unlimited photo and video storage to help keep it from filling up. There's also IP68 waterproofing, which means it's rated for immersion in depths of over 1M.

Another one of our personal favourite Pixel features has made the cut too: the 'Active Edge', which allows you to squeeze the device to summon the Google Assistant. It sounds silly, but it's surprisingly handy, and we miss it when we're using a non-Pixel device.

Google Pixel 3: Android Pie

Just like Apple, Google is using the launch of its flagship device to show off the capabilities off its latest and greatest operating system: in this case, Android Pie. There are a couple of notable changes, some of which will be more warmly-received than others.

The most immediately noticeable change is in the way navigation works in Android Pie. The 'recent apps' button has disappeared altogether, and has been replaced by a gesture-based system. Swipe up from the bottom of any screen, and you'll be greeted with a horizontally-scrolling list of recent apps, along with the inbuilt Google search bar and a selection of five suggested apps. Swipe up again, and the app drawer opens up.

You can also swipe right along the bottom of the screen to scroll backwards through your most recent apps, although we found this to be temperamental, and somewhat tricky to get to grips with. It may become more easier once we've had some time to acclimatise to it, but we have to confess that we found the old system easier to use.

Elsewhere, there's a bunch of 'digital wellbeing' features designed to help you keep a handle on how much you use your phone. You can set daily time limits on how much you're allowed to use specific apps, after which it will lock you out for the day, and your phone will also suggest muting notifications that you tend to dismiss frequently.

Another smart AI implementation, Android Pie will display contextual actions, like starting navigation for your commute home or opening a specific WhatsApp conversation, at the top of the app drawer, based on your device usage. It's a very clever feature that we're already getting use out of.

Google Pixel 3: Verdict

There's no single aspect of the Google Pixel 3 that would make it stand out as one of our favourite phones of the year. The performance is good but not outstanding, the screen is somewhat average, and the battery life is a downright disappointment. On top of that, there's devices out there that do all three things better, for less money.

What's truly special about the Pixel is the way all of the constituent parts are woven together. All the various features and functions seamlessly flow into one another, from the Google Assistant, to the camera, to the user interface and the notifications. It's built like a Swiss watch, where every little cog and gear makes up a single, efficient whole.

It's filled with a thousand useful little touches that come together to create a device that genuinely feels useful; one of the advantages to giving Google visibility over basically all of your personal data is that it makes Google very good at knowing what I need at a given moment.

The Pixel 3 may not be the best in the world at performing any individual function, but what it does excel at is combining all of those separate functions into a cohesive experience that feels valuable and personal. It's not the top of the charts technically, but it's smarter than the rest of the competition put together - and in our book, brains beat brawn every time.

Verdict

The Pixel 3 doesn’t stand out in any specific areas - and lags behind in one or two - but what it does do is bring together all of its functions to form a whole that feels genuinely smart, deploying clever AI and software tweaks to create something that’s genuinely useful.

Google has officially taken the wraps off its newest hardware products at a launch event, including two new phones, a new Chromecast, a new smart screen hub and an all-new Chrome OS tablet.

The New York City event was largely dominated by the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, the latest in Google's line of flagship Android smartphones. Featuring wireless charging, an improved camera and a host of new software features, the two devices will go on sale in stores from 1 November and can be pre-ordered right now. Prices start at 739 for the Pixel 3 and 869 for the Pixel 3 XL.

Also on display was the Google Home Hub, an Echo Show-style smart hub with a 7in screen, which is aimed at tying together Google's smart home portfolio and the company's AI Google Assistant. It'll launch for 139 and is available to pre-order from today, or available in stores from 22 October.

The most interesting announcement for businesses, however will be the Google Pixel Slate. A brand new tablet device running Chrome OS, the Slate marks Google's first foray into tablets since the Pixel C back in 2015, and helps address two areas which are less well-served than smartphones or laptops: Chrome OS devices and premium tablets. With an iPad-esque smart keyboard cover, the Slate is designed to take on the Surface Pro and iPad Pro, and will be available from 549. Pre-orders start on 1 November, with full availability beginning 22 November.

While this event marks the first time that the new devices have been officially revealed by the company, fans have already had a good look at them, as the new hardware has been widely leaked. The Pixel 3 in particular has been subject to a number of embarrassing leaks, such as when one of the new phones was discovered in the back of a taxi. Google acknowledged the leaks, with EMEA hardware marketing director Yasmina Brihi joking "we're better at making hardware than we are at keeping secrets".

Google's Pixel 2 XL is arguably the Google phone Android fans have been waiting for since the debut of its predecessor, the Pixel XL, some twelve months ago.

Amid a strong lineup of Android handsets this year, such as Samsung's Galaxy S8, the Pixel 2 XL brings its A-game to the mobile arena, offering a new and refined design, boosted processing power and a more capable Google Assistant.

However, the hype surrounding the Pixel 2 XL means it has a lot to live up to, particularly when Apple's iPhone X is being released in the same month.

02/02/18 UPDATE: We have been using the Pixel 2 XL for around four months now and have encountered a few issues with our review handset.

Most prominent is speaker distortion when playing audio through the phones stereo speakers or making calls. When watching a video with the volume set at 50% or higher the audio has a distinct and distracting crackle; ramp it up to maximum and there a rattling quality to the sound that's rather unpleasant.

The distortion when making phone calls is less noticeable but it presents an annoying fuzzy tone that sounds a little like there is a bad connection, when in fact the call quality on the phone the Pixel 2 XL was connected to remained clear.

There are numerous reports of speaker problems from other Pixel 2 XL users, though the handsets our sibling sites Alphr and Expert Reviews had to test did not suffer from such speaker distortion. As such, the issue appears to affect some but not all handsets.

We also experienced some problems with connectivity with the USB Type-C port. When plugged into a laptop, the connection would sometimes struggle to maintain a steady link to the machine it was being used with. Then when using the bundled headphone dongle, our Pixel 2 XL ended up crashing a few times and refused to recognise our headphones despite them working fine with the smaller Pixel 2.

Looking around on various support forums, we noticed we were not the only ones encountering such problems. These issues could be resolved through a software update, but at the time of writing there was no fix available.

While we feel the Pixel 2 XL is a very impressive Android phone, if you are looking to buy one we'd recommend giving it a thorough test within the cool-off period of mobile contracts or within the phone's warranty.

Design

Whereas Google's Pixel 2 had a very 2016 design with big bezels and a squared-off screen, the Pixel 2 XL is bang on 2017's trend of bezel-eating display.

The 6-inch display runs edge-to-edge on its sides, while bezels are still present on the top and bottom of the handset, though they are greatly reduced over the original Pixel XL. These bezels now house a stereo speaker array too, meaning the Pixel 2 XL makes better use of the extra space it has than its predecessor.

Chamfered edges have been dropped in favour of a rounded design that feeds back into some nicely textured aluminium, which feels very lovely in the hand.

Around the back, the glass panel that marks out Pixel phones is still present and correct - except it has been reduced by half so it now only holds the camera module, which protrudes slightly from the phone's back due to holding a more sophisticated camera than its predecessor.The Pixel 2 XL's fingerprint scanner is still well-positioned in the middle of the phones rear top-half and is easy to find when unlocking the phone in a hurry.

While the handset is a tad taller than its older sibling, it's lost a little of the Pixel XL's girth which gave the original handset a pleasant heft, though the Pixel 2 XL still feels solid and capable of surviving a few drops.

Just as it has done with the Pixel 2, Google has left the 3.5mm headphone jack on the wayside with the Pixel 2 XL, forcing users to either opt for Bluetooth headphones or use the bundled USB Type-C adapter. This may seem like a pain, but neither option is very intrusive to use, and by removing the headphone port the handset gains its brace of speakers which have a solid audio punch.

While the headphone jack has been dropped, the Pixel 2 XL has gained IP67 water and dust resistance, which should help it survive a British downpour.

Another new feature that's not so easy to spot is the HTC U11-inspired Active Edge: squeezable edges on the bottom part of the handset's sides which, when given a quick grip and release, activate the Google Assistant. It might seem a tad odd, but actually works quite well once you find the right way to squeeze the Active Edge.

Available in two colours - 'Just Black' and the rather fetching 'Black and White', which has an striking orange power switch - the Pixel 2 XL is rather spartan in its colour options, and overall the Pixel 2 XL, while a step up in design over its predecessor, is not exactly the flashiest phone around.

The Galaxy Note 8 is more striking with its Infinity Display and glass construction. But the Pixel 2 XL feels more like a phone you can use without worrying about damaging its fancy exterior, rather than the more fashion accessory-like iPhone for example.

The large screen with its rounded design and the lack of flashiness of the chassis draws focus to the Pixel 2 XL's smart abilities and excellent take on stock Android, making it a phone that can be used hard and fast rather than a device to fondle and admire; something that we appreciate when it comes to tapping out emails and working on the go.

Display

On paper the 6in, 2,880 x 1,440 resolution pOLED display (with the p standing for the plastic panel the screen uses) looks set to be pretty good display. After all, the Pixel XL's display was impressive, so Google can only do better right? Well, not quite.

At first glance the Pixel 2 XL's display is definitely striking, with rounded corners that help make the handset's bezels fade into insignificance. However, despite hitting 99.8% sRGB coverage and offering excellent contrast in our tests, measuring in at a ratio of Infinity:1, the Pixel 2 XL's colours appear muted - if not close to washed out. Even with the display's brightness cranked up, the colours are not as vivid as they are on the AMOLED-toting Pixel 2 or the original Pixel XL.

This could be a calibration problem that Google might be able to solve with a software update, but the pOLED panel throws up another gremlin that's harder to fix; its viewing angles are pretty poor. Unless you look at the display head on then the colours fade out and and take on a distracting blueish hue.

This is not great for a flagship phone, particularly as during our hands-on experience with the handset at the Pixel 2 launch event, the Pixel 2 XL's display looked a lot more impressive. There's a chance that we have received a handset from a faulty batch, but our sister site Expert Reviews reported similar issues with its review model.

While the display is disappointing, in longer use with the brightness - which is admittedly excellent - on full and the adaptive display mode turned off, the Pixel 2 XL is still pleasant to watch video on, and its size makes scrolling through web pages and bouncing between apps in split-screen mode a joy.

The Pixel 2 may offer better colours but its smaller bezel-flanked display still makes the Pixel 2 XL's larger screen more desirable on the display front, as it really showcases Android at its best and offers a 'phablet' experience that really means you can get the best of both a smartphone and tablet.

For some the flaws in the Pixel 2 XL's display may be too much of a sticking point, but we found you can learn to live with its shortcomings and enjoy its pleasantly curvy design and the fact that Google's own take on Android Oreo feels fantastic on a bezelless 6-inch screen.

Hardware and performance

The Pixel 2 XL packs the same hardware as the Pixel 2 - a Qualcomm 835 chipset paired with 4GB of RAM - and it delivers the same level of performance.

In our Geekbench 4 tests, the Pixel 2 XL scored 1,895 in the single core test, while the multicore score was a very decent 6,263. This is pretty much around the same performance as the Galaxy Note 8, which like the Pixel XL 2 has a octa-core chip.

But these benchmarks don't do justice to how well the Pixel 2 XL actually performs, thanks to the fact that it's optimised to run near-stock Android Oreo. Google has put in a lot of work to making sure that in practice, the Pixel 2 XL is buttery-smooth to use. The only change that Google has made to the base OS is that it's added the Pixel Launcher on top, which adds a few light interface additions, such as app tray and the ability to quickly launch the calendar app from tapping on the data on the home screen.

With the Pixel Launcher on top of Android Oreo, Google is presenting its best vision of its mobile OS, and with the Snapdragon chip, everything from browsing multiple web pages to watching video and using services like Slack at the same time is very slick indeed, and we encountered no slowdown despite running multiple apps and multitasking.

Battery life

According to our benchmark testing, the 3,520mAh battery delivers just over 15 hours of power, but in real world use this can vary. On a full charge the handset's battery can last more than a day with average use ranging from web browsing and messaging to watching the odd video clip on social media.

Heavy use of the phone with its display on full brightness will see the battery drop. For example, we saw our handset bleed 5% of its battery life after 10 minutes of heavy use, which included opening multiple apps and watching videos. Use the Pixel 2 XL heavily for a working day and you'll be reaching for the charger come the late evening, which is about on par with the Pixel XL and other powerful smartphones.

There's a power saver mode which aims to get more life out of the battery by reducing performance and background services. However, when we engaged the mode and kept using the handset we noticed a drop of 4% over ten minutes of continuous use, which we feel wasn't worth the dip in performance which makes flicking through Android feel a little jerky. That being use handset lightly when in power saving mode and the battery life is can keep going for well over a day and a half.

Fast charging is on offer as well and can give the Pixel 2 XL enough juice in 15 minutes to last an evening of emails and web browsing, which is more preferable than trying to eke out every last drop of battery life.

Features

Aside from the stereo speakers and Active Edge, the Pixel 2 XL is a tad light on standout hardware features. It has an electronic SIM which allows for connection to Google's Project Fi network without a SIM card, but this is sadly limited to US users.

It's on the software side that the Pixel 2 XL has brought out the big guns, in the form of the Google Assistant and its machine learning smarts. We've had the Google Assistant in our lives for a year now thanks to the previous Pixel phones, and it has proved to be the smartest mobile virtual assistant when pitted against the likes of Siri and Cortana.

Like its smaller sibling, the Pixel 2 XL comes packing an even smarter Assistant. You can now ask the Assistant to listen to songs and identify them, where previously it was limited to the Google voice search app.

Even more impressively, the song identification happens automatically with the always-on ambient display mode, which not only automatically identifies songs played in the phone's vicinity but also displays notifications on the lock screen without needing a user to pick up or unlock the phone, essentially providing snippets of information at a glance. It's a neat feature and didn't appear to have much impact on the battery life, though some may find a display that's partially on all the time to be a distraction.

Other smart tools include the debut of Google Lens, which uses the search giant's machine learning expertise to identity what's in a picture and serve up relevant information. Snap a picture of a book cover and Lens, which is built into the camera and will soon come to the Assistant, will serve up snippets of information about the book and its author.

Lens is far from infallible and trips up a fair bit, but it has real future potential for using computer vision to serve up genuinely useful information to a user, rather than forcing them to rely on search-powered guess work.

Overall, the Pixel 2 XL simply feels like a very smart phone; little snippets of information are served up seamlessly and rapidly based on how the Google apps and your Google account are used.

Some may be put off by having Google's algorithms effectively watch them, but those who are less concerned will be able to experience a phone that feels like it's a vehicle for practical machine learning, rather than just another phone for snapping slightly better selfies.

This review was originaly published on 17/10/17 but has been updated most recently on 02/02/18 with our latest thoughts on our review handset.

Camera

Speaking of smartphone cameras, the Pixel XL had one of the best mobile cameras around, and thankfully the Pixel 2 XL continues that legacy.

Photos snapped through the 12MP, f/1.8 aperture lens are detailed and have nicely balanced colours. There is a small but noticeable improvement in contrast and detail over the camera of the original Pixels, too.

However, video at 4K/30fps is a weaker point, with captured footage appearing to have less detail when compared side-by-side with a video caught on Pixel XL. This issue is likely down to poor video compression though, which is something that Google should be able to patch out.

Optical image stabilisation is now available in the Pixel 2 XL, helping achieve better macro and low light photography, but things get smart when the optical image stabilisation is combined with the handset's electronic image stabilisation. Machine learning stitches the two techniques together and smooths out any bumps and jerks when recording video; if you need to shoot a video one handed or after a lot of coffee, the smart stabilisation really works well to iron out any jittery movement.

And the machine learning doesn't stop there. When taking stills, the Pixel 2 XL captures multiple pictures from a single shot and uses smart algorithms to form the best possible picture out of the images. It also records a three second clip to create a form of 'live photo' with smartly selected beginning and end points for the clips.

The Pixel 2 XL's camera also has a novel approach to snapping photos with impressive depth of field, thanks to the use of a lens that has pixels made up of two smaller pixels, forming a dual pixel camera that uses machine learning to measure the depth of pictures, without needing a second lens like the OnePlus 5 or iPhone 8 Plus.

This is the tech behind the Pixel 2 XL's portrait mode, which helps keep the subject of a photo in focus while artistically blurring the background. Working on the 8MP front-facing camera as well, the Portrait mode produces some very nice pictures that achieve some of the fancy bokeh effects that would normally be the domain of DSLR cameras.

Without a doubt, the Pixel 2 XL has one of the best cameras out of any smartphone, and if Google can improve the video compression then that camera will go from excellent to sublime.

Verdict

While it's getting difficult to actually buy a bad smartphone these days, there has been a clutch of impressive handsets that made their debut this year; were it not for them the Pixel 2 XL would be the best Android handset around.

Despite our disappointment with the display, the size of it combined with the performance of the hardware and the Google's smart software means the Pixel 2 XL is great for work and play.

On the other hand, if you value your privacy then the Pixel 2 XL is not for you, as it's smart features are at their best with free access to your apps and data.

The sticking point is really the price. When the Pixel 2 XL hits stores, Google will want 799 for the 64GB version and 899 for the 128GB model, which is a rather high price for a utilitarian smartphone.

The mighty Galaxy Note 8 is in that price range and offers a more striking design and mesmerising display, and the Galaxy S8+ is now available for a little more than 600 and offers excellent performance as well as a great 6.7-inch display and a refined software experience.

Fans of pure Android who want a well-made, big-screen workhorse of a smartphone will want the Pixel 2 XL, which is worth the extra cost over the smaller and less impressively-designed Pixel 2.

However, for those who are less fussed about smart virtual assistants and near-stock Android, Samsung's Galaxy handsets are likely to be the better fit thanks to their superior design and displays. And Apple fans are not likely to be swayed when the iPhone X is on the horizon and is only (comparatively speaking) a little more expensive.

Nevertheless, the Pixel 2 XL is Google's attempt to showcase its machine learning chops and present the best take on Android around, and it succeeds with aplomb. If Google can keep improving upon its Pixel phones each year, then we could soon be seeing a new smartphone champion to knock Apple and Samsung off their pedestals.

Verdict

The Pixel 2 XL is the best pure Android phone in the market with a smarter Google Assistant and a large curved screen. Unfortunately, the display is a nasty disappointment, with poor viewing angles and dull colours which keeps Google's phone from achieving greatness.

Google-branded smartphones first made their debut with the Nexus One handset back in 2010, made in collaboration with HTC and designed to offer a pure Android experience. Several years later, Google dreamed up the Pixel phones - handsets manufactured by HTC but 100% designed by Google.

The Pixel and larger sibling the Pixel XL introduced Android Nougat and, more importantly, the machine learning powered Google Assistant; the result was a brace of well-received (if not ground-breaking) smartphones featuring a genuinely smart virtual assistant.

Now Google is looking to build upon its Pixel prowess with the Pixel 2. And in that it succeeds - mostly.

Design

The Pixel 2 sports a design that's very much an evolution over its predecessor, rather than a revolution. It's now slimmer and with less chunky chamfered edges, adding up to an altogether tidier appearance.

The aluminium-and-glass aesthetic is still present and correct, only this time the glass panel that gave the original Pixel its distinct look has been shrunk down so it takes up less than a quarter of the phone's rear panel, harking back to the design of the Nexus 6P.

The fingerprint scanner now sits amid the textured aluminium back-panel. While not as nice to the touch as the smooth metal or glass found in other flagship smartphones, it fits the Pixel 2's tweaked design nicely and helps make the lighter phone still feel sturdy, comfortable to hold, and less likely to escape your grasp.

Available in four simple, two-tone colour schemes, Clearly White, Kinda Blue, and Just Black, the Pixel 2 is hardly flush with colour options. Our review handset came in Just Black which added to the utilitarian feel of the Pixel 2.

Unlike a good few Android phones that made their debut this year, the Pixel 2 eschews the edge-to-edge screen design and has rather chunky bezels, which make the screen feel a little cramped despite sitting at 5-inches; while not ugly the bezels certainly keep the Pixel 2 from looking as sleek as other 2017 Android phones.

The upside to the bezels is they hold a set of stereo speakers that give the handset a much punchier sound than the original Pixel, though headphones are still the best option for audio.

Speaking of headphones, Google has aped Apple with the Pixel 2 and done away with the 3.5mm headphone jack. Instead, audio will be piped through the handset's USB Type-C port, meaning people without Bluetooth headphones will need to use the bundled adapter or invest in USB-C headphones.

With the removal of one feature comes the addition of another; the HTC U11-inspired Active Edge. A quick squeeze of the solid-feeling lower quarter sides of the handset activates the Google Assistant without the need to bark 'Ok Google' or long-press the virtual home button. What felt like a gimmick at first, is actually genuinely useful if you use Google's virtual assistant regularly.

Overall, the Pixel 2 has a design that's nowhere near as flashy as other Android handsets, such as Samsung's Galaxy S8. Rather, the Pixel 2 in some ways feels as though it has drawn influence from Scandinavian furniture, with a pragmatic and unassuming design that almost melts away with use as focus is drawn to the tactile feel of the handset and its smart features.

Display

Measuring 5in across and sporting a Full HD AMOLED panel, the Pixel 2's 441ppi display is the same as the first Pixel's on paper, but given the latter had a vibrant and bright display, that's no bad thing.

The Pixel 2 keeps up the good work of its predecessor too, with top contrast ratio of infinity:1, and excellent brightness when compared to other modern Android handsets, but this time the Pixel 2 presents more natural colours, with 96% sRGB coverage, over the original model. It lacks a little of the punch of its predecessor but avoids displaying colours that look unnatural or overblown in videos and photos.

A 5in Full HD display with a traditional 16:9 aspect ratio is fairly standard in modern mobiles, but to help jazz things up, Google has added a Samsung Galaxy-style 'always on' display, which will display the time, date and incoming notification without needing the user to wake the handset. It's a useful feature, but it can get a little distracting at times.

While the Pixel 2's display is up to the standard of most flagship Android phones, we can't help but feel Google could have pushed the envelope more with the screen. We would have preferred it to aim for a bezel-less design, but that energy was saved for the larger Pixel 2 XL.

Performance and battery life

Under the Pixel 2's chassis sits Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip, a powerful chipset found on most of 2017's other flagship phones. The chip has eight processor cores running at 2.35GHz and is paired with 4GB of RAM, giving the Pixel 2 plenty of compute power in its slim frame.

Our benchmark tests yielded a Geekbench 4 score of1,914 for the single core test and 6,303 for multicore performance; pretty much on par with other high-end phones available; for example, the OnePlus 5 with the same chipset scores 1,944 and 6,698, while the Galaxy S8 hits 1,994 and 6,629 respectively.

But the real-world performance of the Pixel 2 is where it really shines. Thanks to using Android Oreo with little more than the Pixel launcher interface added on top of it, the Pixel 2 has no heavy skins, overlays, or flabby third-party software to slow it down.

Instead, the Pixel 2, much like its predecessor, is highly optimised and Android runs wonderfully, though you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference in performance between the Pixel 2 and its predecessor.

Flittering through apps and web pages is super smooth; even with numerous apps open at the same time Pixel 2 seems immune to any slowdown. Graphically-intensive software like games pose no problem for the phone's internals, and watching high-resolution videos while texting in split screen mode is handled with aplomb.

This performance, helped by the lack of flabby software, make the phone a great productivity workhorse, alongside being great for general use.

Storage starts at 64GB and goes up to 128GB. Coupled this generous allocation with the company's offer of free Google Photos storage for all Pixel 2 customers, and you should have absolutely no problems with local storage.

In everyday use, there's not much to see the Pixel 2's performance as much of a step over the original Pixel. But its beefy innards should give it a degree of future proofing when more graphically demanding apps crop up, such as virtual reality games for the Google Daydream headset.

Battery life

Battery life clocks in at just over 14 hours in our testing, though in real-world use will see the 2,700mAh get you through a good day's worth of average use, including emails, messaging, calls and social media browsing. Set the brightness on full and stream a lot of video and that battery life drops; heavy use throughout a working day will see the Pixel 2 need a charge before bedtime.

Fast charging is present and correct, so when we found ourselves with a battery nearing empty, a mere 15 or so minutes on the charger and we had more than enough power to see us through a good few hours of solid use.

A power saving mode can extract out more life from the battery, but adds an annoying red overlay and slows performance down a little, so that swiping through menus feels a little jerky.

It also doesn't seem to have a great deal of effect in reducing battery consumption while the phone is in heavy use. But use the Pixel 2 sparingly with battery saver enabled and you can make it last a lot longer.

For example, we put the handset into power saving mode at 11:45pm with 51% of battery life left and come 1PM the following day, the battery had only dropped to 45% and all the time it had been recieving data and pushing notifications.

Overall, the battery life in everyday use is on par with many mid to high-end Android smartphones available; it is neither impressive or disappointing.

Software

It's on the software side that the Pixel 2 really begins to shine. Rather than offering a 'pure Android' experience, the Pixel family uses a unique, custom launcher, which offers a more polished, premium experience than the stock version of Android Oreo.

The Pixel Launcher has been given a nip and tuck to be slightly slicker on the Pixel 2. For example, the Google Now widget is now sitting at the bottom of the home screen, rather than as a thick icon in the top left-hand corner.

Such tweaks have made using the Pixel 2 very smooth and slick, compared to the rather clunky experience Android used to offer. Even with the Pixel Launcher, Android is arguably not quite as immediately intuitive as Apple's iOS, but the flexibility of the software more than compensates, and the edge Apple has with its App Store ecosystem is getting slimmer every day.

Where the Pixel 2 really stands out from the crowd, however, is with the Google Assistant. The Assistant made its debut with the previous Pixel, but with the Pixel 2, Google's virtual assistant really stretches its legs.

Not only has the Google Assistant become smarter and more capable over the past year, it's tightly integrated into the Pixel 2's native apps, meaning you can ask it to do all manner of things, such as identify music you are listening to without the need for the Shazam app, something that wasn't possible with the older Pixel beyond going into the Google Now voice search app. It will also display song information automatically when the display is in its Always On mode.

The Pixel 2 also sees the debut of Google Lens, which uses machine learning to identify what's in a picture and serve up information about it - for example a shot of a shop sign will present opening hours, or a picture of a book cover will bring up snippets about the author. In practise, Google Lens can be a little hit and miss, but it's still early days and the potential of the machine learning Google has built into the Pixel 2's software and its Assistant is pretty impressive.

Features

Google's machine learning prowess is really the main feature of the Pixel 2, designed to showcase how smart the search giant's software has become. As such, the Pixel 2 is hardly flush with additional standout features.

IP67 water and dust resistance is thankfully now included, and the handset has a built-in electronic SIM that allows users to the Google Project Fi network, meaning the Pixel 2 can be used without a SIM card. However, Project Fi is only available in the US, so had a limited appeal to people outside of the States for the time being.

Alongside the addition of stereo speakers, Active Edge, and the removal of the 3.5mm jack, the rest of the Pixel 2's feature set is the same as its predecessor. Fast charging is present and correct, and while there's no microSD slot to expand storage, Google's offer of unlimited cloud storage for photos and videos should ensure that the built-in memory is more than enough for most people.

Camera

The camera on the Pixel 2 has been improved, build-in upon the impressive photography capabilities of its predecessor.

On paper, the 12.2MP f/1.8 aperture rear-camera is nothing special, but the results it delivers are. Even photos snapped at speed with little concern for focus points still present detail rich pictures, with more vibrant and accurate colours over the original Pixel's already excellent photography chops.

The difference between the old and new Pixel phones is not night and day, but there's no doubt the Pixel 2 offers a superior smartphone camera.

Rather than go for a dual lens camera array, Google makes use of dual-pixel phase detection, which means every pixel in the lens is made up of two smaller ones. With the use of machine learning, the Pixel 2 effectively overlaps multiple shot to deliver the best possible photo with plenty of depth and detail.

This technique also crops up in the new 'Portrait' mode which blurs the background of a portrait photo while keeping the subject in sharp focus. Working on both the rear and front-facing 8MP camera, the machine learning can serve up nice 'bokeh' effects in portrait photos, and is genuinely impressive to view while being intuitive to use.

In fact, machine learning filters into all areas of the Pixel 2's camera setup. Optical image stabilisation is now added into the mix alongside electronic image stabilisation, which can not only improve low-light photography but also be combined to make shooting video smoother, by having smart algorithms to combine the two stabilisation techniques and iron out any jerky hand movements and jitters when filming.

The technique works admirably too, delivering smooth videos even from shaky one-handed shooting. However, when blown up and viewed back, video captured at 4K/30fps lacked finer detail when compared to the original Pixel. This was disappointing, but suggests there's likely a problem with software compression rather than with the camera itself, given the still shots it takes are superbly detailed.

Hopefully Google will patch this pretty quickly, as if the problem is fixed then the Pixel 2 will have one of, if not the best smartphone cameras around.

Verdict

In many ways, the Pixel 2 is a little disappointing; it has a slightly dated design for a phone making its debut at the tail end of 2017. While the hardware is powerful and in keeping with the standards of other Android smartphones, and the handset is well built and lovely to use, it still feels a bit out-of-touch.

The flipside to this is the Pixel 2 is a joy to use. With unfettered Android Oreo and the intuitive and slick Pixel Launcher, the Pixel 2 is less of an Android mobile and more of a Google phone, presenting the search giant's mobile OS in the best light possible.

Moreover, with the Google Assistant and its machine learning-powered features, the Pixel 2 genuinely feels like a smartphone that's actually smart and will continue to get smarter over time.

For business use, the display feels a little small, due to being flanked by its chunky bezels and by 2017 standards it is perhaps not the productivity powerhouse of phones like the Galaxy Note 8 with its phablet footprint. But its smart features, superb camera and slick user experience go some way to compensate.

The real problem for the Pixel 2 is its high price. For the 64GB model you'll need to part with 629, while 729 will get you the 128GB handset. That's only 10 shy of the innovative Galaxy S8 at launch, and considerably more than the 449 OnePlus 5, a mobile with the same processor, Google Assistant, and software that arguably improves upon base Android.

As such, the Pixel 2 is expensive for the hardware it offers, and even though its presents the best take on Android around, we don't feel it justifies its steep price tag - unlike the Galaxy S8 with its Infinity Display and exclusive Bixby virtual assistant.

Die-hard Android fans will already be champing at the bit to get the Pixel 2 or the Pixel 2 XL. However, for people who are happy to wait patiently for the new, smarter Google Assistant features to roll out onto other Android handsets, the Pixel 2 doesn't offer enough over the other Android flagships from 2017 to justify its current high-price.

Nevertheless, the Pixel 2 is still an excellent smartphone, and while it can't quite hit the high notes in terms of design, which make rival handsets more appealing, it shows that Google is serious about its own hardware and promises a bright future for the Pixel 3.

Verdict

In a vacuum the Pixel 2 is a great Android smartphone, with a vibrant display, and a solid construction with innovative squeezable edges. However, in the face of stiff competition from Samsung, LG and OnePlus, the Pixel 2 looks outdated, with only its excellent camera and lovely Android experience making it noteworthy.