Google Pixel XL Review: World’s Best Camera Phone at High Price but Low on Storage

Google already showed its purest form of Android in Nexus phones and now it's offering a greatly optimised in terms of both hardware and software with new offering Google Pixel. The idea behind the Nexus was to give different flavour and experience of the smartphone to Android users. Following the same ethics, Google brings the premium smartphone to compete with Apple's iPhone.  Also like iPhone, Google has come up with two models pixel and Pixel XL, let's see what's capabilities it has and whether it will be able to offer a great experience to its consumers as well as can attract Apple's fan.

Google Pixel XL look and feel

The pixel designed by Google in-house team and manufactured by HTC. The front face has very clean design protected by gorilla glass 4 with large bezels above and below the display. The top bezel houses ear speaker, front camera and sensor whereas the bottom space is blank and useless. The Gorilla glass 4 protects it from various smudges and scratches. The back panel has half metal half glass finish. We don't understand why the Google has used this large patch of glass, but this patch gives it a unique and different look.

The camera and LED flash are placed at the top and the fingerprint sensor is placed at the patch glass. The power and volume buttons are on the right and for SIM placement there’s a tray on the left that can fit a single Nano-SIM – microSD card is not supported. A 3.5mm audio jack sits on the top, and a USB Type-C Port is on the bottom between two grilles, in which one is a speaker and another is the mic.

Google Pixel XL software

Although Google is the one who can offer the best Android experience, but with Pixel, you won't get the stock version of Android N. It comes with custom launcher and numerous other tweaks. The home screen has a tab with Google logo which hides Google search bar with recent searches of yours.  Swiping inwards on the tab pulls in Google Now with different functions such as weather, news updates, and another sort of information. For Google Assistant, you have to long-press on the Home button. It comes with lots of wallpapers to choose from, including dynamic ones that use live Google Earth imagery. Google Assistant isn’t much different from the voice search feature on existing Android phones; it just aims to be more contextually aware and it is much closer to Apple Siri. Google also now natively supports split screen option in Android N, so as in Google Pixel as well.

Google Pixel XL cameras

The Pixel is paired with 12.3MP rear camera with phase detection and laser autofocus technology along with dual tone LED flash. The camera app looks like the stock Android app but with some extra options including a photosphere mode, burst, and slow motion. You can record 4K video at 30fps, 1080p at 120fps, or 720p at 240fps for slow-motion effects. Even in the challenging light condition the autofocus capture photos extremely quick.

On the side of picture quality, its picture quality is similar or slightly better than iPhone 7 and Samsung Galaxy S7. Close-up shots come with extreme details which are truly spectacular, for example, shots of leaves and flowers. The video is also clear and sharp, with smooth motion at various resolutions and frame rates. For best selfies, it has 8 MP front camera that can shoot at the 1080p Full HD resolution.

Images Sample

Google Pixel XL Performance

Google Pixel is using the latest and fastest Snapdragon 821 Quadcore 2.15 GHz processor offering flawless performance. We test it against different benchmarks and workload but we didn’t find any glitches, heat or lag. We used it to play heavy 3D games, high-def video streaming, and 4K recording. The Pixel has a 5.5-inch AMOLED panel that is bright and crisp, with natural-looking colours. The display is brilliant and enough bright to read text even under the direct sunlight and same with viewing angles which were also enough good to watch videos. The fingerprint sensor worked perfectly, and we had no problem with calls or network connectivity either. All in all, the Pixel XL was a pleasure to use.

Pixel XL review unit comes with 32 GB and there is no storage expansion slot. 32GB is neither too much not too less, but it completely depends on the user. A few can use the entire space withing few days and for some, it will be useful. It offers unlimited storage for images and videos over the cloud, but it troubled us when the storage filled with images and videos then we weren't able to add apps.

To power the system, it built with non-removable 3450mAh battery. It really did well and we successfully got 14 hours backup from this phone on normal usage. Quick charging is also supported, and we were able to go from zero to full in around two hours.

Verdict: Google continuously trying to build an ecosystem to connect each and every device, first from software and now with a combination of hardware and software. But the price of Pixel is 67000 which is still very expensive for Google's Pixel and it is very hard for it to convince the Apple iPhone users to move on Android. But what you going to pay for the pixel is not just for specs, you will get one of the best Android smartphone camera and performance along with some future apps such as Google Assistant and sure Android patches & updates. Also, right now the premium smartphone space is good for Google as the Samsung is not in the game right now.