Test Google Pixel XL

Smartphone class S ("Mercedes" scale A, B, C, E, S)

Rating scale 1-6 (6 - excellent)

Admission

King is dead long live the king! Thought that might be the way to start. Eight years after releasing its operating system on mobile platforms, Google killed the Nexus line of smartphones. Pixel smartphones were born. Previously, Pixel was just a "sub-brand" of Chromebooks.

Differences? Well - first of all Pixels are fully branded by Google - from the design phase through the production process. Google commissioned the production of the HTC phone, but the manufacturer's logo does not appear anywhere. Google takes all responsibility. Rumors say that the lack of branding was the decision of Huawei to withdraw from the talks, which was to produce Pixels.

Second - the price. Unlike the first smartphones in the Nexus line, Pixels are not cheap.

Third - uniqueness. Here I mean the exclusivity of certain features, e.g. Google Assistant or the Android Nougat 7.1 software version, which is only available on Pixels

Additionally, Google offered its devices to operators. The phone can be purchased from Sprint and Verizon in the US and from Carphone Warehouse in the UK. Unfortunately, the equipment is not available in Poland.

All these factors lead to one conclusion - Pixel is a "Google iPhone". It's hard to disagree with that. For the first time in the history of Android, we have a device for which Google is responsible both in terms of software and hardware. Pixel is also very similar to the iPhone.

Let's take a look at the Pixel XL. Does the device stand a chance against the best flagships on the market?

The main advantages and disadvantages of the Google Pixel XL smartphone

Advantages

Defects:

Set: 5-

In the box you will find, in addition to the device and documents: an 18W charger that supports fast charging, a USB-C to USB-C cable (for the charger), a USB-C - USB type A 3.0 cable (for a computer), a USB OTG adapter (USB-C to USB a female type) and of course a tool for removing the SIM card. Unfortunately, the set does not include headphones.

Construction and design: 4+

Pixel is boring at first glance. In the front we can see a 5.5-inch display, a proximity / lighting sensor in the center above it and a loudspeaker above it. On the left side of the loudspeaker there is an 8 megapixel camera. Pixel has no physical buttons. However, there is a lot of space under the display that seems to be wasted. The front, however, is symmetrical and this is probably what the designers wanted. The frames around the screen are quite large by this year's standards. Remember, however, that iPhone users are not disturbed.

The phone is made of aluminum in combination with a glass pane, as was the case with last year's Nexus 6P. This time there is more glass. The rounded corners of the device and the antenna strip at the bottom evoke associations with the Apple design. Glass, taking up 1/3 of the height, is associated with Samsung, while the fingerprint reader on the back resembles well-known LG or Huawei devices. Placing the reader in this place has its advantages and disadvantages. I personally believe that the functions it has justify its location. The reader is not only used to unlock the phone, but also to download the notification bar. The Google logo is located at the bottom of the aluminum pane on the back. The HTC logo is nowhere to be found. There is an inscription "Made in Taiwan - Phone by Google". At the bottom we find a USB port that supports the 3.0 standard, a loudspeaker (on the left) and a grill with a microphone. There is a 3.5mm mini jack on the top.

The glass pane used supposedly allows for easier signal emission, because the antennas are located underneath it. However, it is a fingerprint magnet, and it looks nasty after a while. The white version looks better. The glass on the back is not Gorilla Glass and is quite prone to scratching.

The volume and power buttons are located on the right side of the device. The trigger button has a rough texture, which makes it easy to locate.

The camera does not stick out from the housing, it is located in the upper left corner of the phone, next to it on the left side there is a double LED lamp and on the right laser AF sensors and an additional microphone. The manufacturer used a trick when designing the device so that the camera does not protrude - the entire device is shaped like a wedge. It is unnoticeable.

The downside is the lack of waterproof certification and the lack of stereo speakers. Pixel is only splashproof. The device fits very well in the hand and gives the impression of a very solid device.

Display: 5

The display in the tested XL model has a diagonal of 5.5 inches, QHD resolution and a density of 534ppi. The screen is made in AMOLED technology. The color reproduction is very good, the display has a maximum brightness of 403 nits - a good result for its class, beating the Samsung S7 in this respect, but worse than the iPhone 7 (603). In all laboratory tests performed by Anandtech, the panel mounted in the Pixel XL is in the middle of the pack, so you can say that it does not stand out in any particular way. Robust high-resolution display. It is worth noting that Google has introduced the so-called "Night mode", which can be turned on manually or scheduled to be turned on at times that suit the user. This mode cuts off the blue color, which significantly affects the production of melatonin, making it easier to fall asleep. Configuration options - there is little calibration. The manufacturer allowed us to turn on the automatic brightness and select the option "Screen adapted to the environment" - the screen wakes up showing notifications in shades of gray. You can also reduce the font size and the so-called "display size". Thanks to the latter option, we have the option of increasing the scaling of the elements on the screen - that is, simply reducing or increasing the DPI. Great thing if someone uses the multi - window option. In addition, it is worth mentioning that Google advertises Pixel as a tool adapted to VR Daydream technology. This option in the display settings menu could not be missing - we can turn on the blur compensation in motion. The screen is calibrated to the NTSC scale, but after turning on the development options it is possible to switch to the sRGB mode. Then the colors look more natural, not to say pale. Unfortunately, it is not possible to adjust the color palette at a more advanced level, or even to choose several saturation options.

Processor / memory / technical parameters: 6

Most of this year's flagships are equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip. Google was one of the first on the market to release the phone with its refreshed version of SD821. The SD821 chip is an overclocked version of the SD820, clocked at up to 2.4GHz per core. In the case of Pixel, however, the clock speed reaches 2.15 GHz per core, i.e. as in the Snapdragon 820. Apparently, such a move (apart from the marketing one) was dictated by the increase in efficiency. Google and Qualcomm agree that the SD821 is 10% more efficient than its predecessor, but lowering its clock speed helped increase battery life by about 5%. From my point of view, the SD820 is a very efficient chip and if I had to choose between performance and battery life (bearing in mind that there are 5-10% increments in each direction), I would definitely choose the working time.

The device is available in versions with 32 or 128GB of internal uFS 2.0 memory. In synthetic tests, Pixel fares very well, placing it in the forefront of Android phones. On board is the Adreno 530 chip, which turns out to be the leader when it comes to graphics performance. Pixel gently beats devices with the older Qualcomm chip in the GFXBench off-screen tests and in the Slingshot ES3.1 3Dmark test. This test normally scales the 1440p image down if necessary, so it is not dependent on the native resolution of the device. If we test at factory resolution - only devices with native 1080p resolution and SD820 chip perform better (example of OnePlus3). It is quite important not to achieve high results in one test, but to maintain the performance at a high level with repeated tests. In this case, the SD821 is doing slightly better than its predecessor, showing less susceptibility to thermal throttling. The system does not get warm enough to be very noticeable. After a series of tests, the temperature varied from 43.1 degrees Celsius to 43.6 degrees C. In a series of GFXBench tests at 1440p resolution, which was carried out one expensive for about 30 minutes, a decrease in performance of 5 to 20% maximum, averaging 10 %. The device has not heated up to a temperature exceeding 44 degrees Celsius.

When it comes to gaming performance, it's safe to say that this is one of the best devices for gamers to consider. Framing in AsphaltExtreme stays at 30 FPS. The temperature when playing for about 15-20 minutes did not exceed 43 degrees in the vicinity of the fingerprint reader, but it should be mentioned that the area around it heats up the most - the heat is not distributed evenly, which can cause discomfort.

Pixel works very smoothly and that would be the end of the conclusions. Everything opens up without any "lags" or cuts. The system does not crunch. The apps open in the blink of an eye and there are no problems with them at the moment. Memory management works very well. In everyday use, the phone works perfectly, while still remaining cool. The device did not freeze even once in almost 2 weeks. No application quit unexpectedly.

Buying a Pixel, we get one of the most smoothly operating phones on the market without any system division. In this category, Pixel can easily compete with the iPhone 7. The only Android device on board that can approach Pixel is OnePlus 3.

The fingerprint reader is virtually infallible and very fast.

Google optimized the system for the hardware, thanks to which we received an uncompromising product.

System, home screen: 6

Google Pixel is the first device on the market with Android 7.1. With the premiere of the device, we learned that Pixel will always get the latest version of the system, not available for other devices. This is sad news for Nexus phone owners, as certain features will be reserved only for Pixels from now on. Google makes it clear that it wants to create its own ecosystem and is slowly moving away from openness to other manufacturers and leaning towards the model adopted by Apple.

Nougat version 7.1 is on board with a new launcher - Pixel Launcher. The system is devoid of third-party applications - only applications from Google are installed. We can find here, among others: Phone, Calendar, Maps, Messenger, Clock, Calculator, Play Music, Hangouts, Gmail and Photos. This is the minimum necessary. The home screen is a brand new app - Pixel Launcher. Launcher looks great. Google says goodbye to the app drawer we know. Now we have access to all applications after dragging the bar from the bottom to the top. Transparencies available in the system in many places are beautifully presented here. The classic search bar has been replaced with a button. After dragging the screen to the right, we see the Google application tailored to our needs (calendar reminders, news, weather, sports results). It looks the same as in the Google Now launcher. On the home screen, in addition to the Google button, there is also a clock with the weather. When you touch the weather icon, the forecast screen opens. Launcher comes with a new set of wallpapers. Their selection is also refreshed and looks great. Live wallpapers have returned to the new version of the system. They give a sense of three-dimensionality and change depending on our location and time of day.

The system will, of course, receive at least one update a month - the one related to security. Updates are downloaded and installed in the background without affecting your phone's use. The system notifies you when the update is complete and asks you to restart. This is all thanks to an additional, inactive partition on which the update is installed. Google uses internal memory for this purpose.

The system takes about 5.4 GB and about 1.3 GB for system applications. Let's add a cache for applications and data. In the smaller version, the user has about 23GB at his disposal. So it is worth considering the purchase of Pixel in the 128GB version.

The settings menu has been redesigned in the latest version of the system. It is more readable. Each section has a short description of the current setting. In the upper left part we have access to shortcuts to the main menu.

Fans of tinkering in the system will be dissatisfied, because Pixels are not the easiest to modify (Root, custom Roms etc ...).

Google Assistant

When talking about the latest version of Android, it is impossible not to mention Google Assistant. For now, this is a (another) exclusive feature reserved for Pixels. In the latest version of Android, there is no longer Google Now available by holding down the home button or Now on Tap. We have Google Assistant instead. Google emphasizes that the assistant will be developed all the time. The more we "feed" him with inquiries, the more he will be able to convey to us and adapt to our needs. The assistant is able to converse with the user without losing any sense. For example: we ask who won the 2016 Superbowl. The answer is: Denver Broncos. We ask: who did they play with? The answer is given. We do not have to repeat who it is before, because the Assistant knows what question we asked at the beginning and does not lose the thread. The assistant, of course, is not perfect and still lacks perfection a little. However, considering the resources of Google, we can be confident about the further development of this service. As Google Assistant, he wants to compete directly with Siri and from the very beginning it can be seen that he has a very good chance to win this fight. Unfortunately, the assistant is not available in Polish.

Sound: 4+

The phone is equipped with a Qualcomm - Qualcomm Aqstic chip capable of processing lossless audio in 24-bit sampling at 192kHz. The system has a 4 watt amplifier. This is definitely a step forward compared to the layout of the previous Nexus that played poorly. Unfortunately, there are no headphones in the set. We also cannot configure the sound characteristics "for ourselves", we rely on the manufacturer. Pixel plays very correctly. There is no noise or distortion here, the sound is very natural, slightly warmed. I connected the Shure SE500 earphones, Audiotechnica M50x and Bowers and Wilkins P5 earphones to the phone. Pixel was able to play loud for everyone and the effects were very satisfying. The stage was wide, none of the bands stand out above the others. Pixel does not stand out on a downside and sounds very well for the factory chip. It is certainly not equipment for audiophiles, but discerning listeners will not be disappointed.

The downside is the use of a monophonic speaker, which is not the quietest, but the competition in the form of the iPhone is ahead of the phone from Google in this field.

Telephone (application) and call quality: 5

The call quality is at a good level, the microphone catches the sound well and none of the interlocutors complained about the poor sound quality. The signal is excellent and I have not noticed any loss of communication. Dialer from Google has an interesting option to recognize the number, even if we do not have it in the contact database.

Camera: 6

When presenting its flagship, Google did not fail to emphasize that the camera was rated 89 points by the DxOMark portal. More than any camera in mobile equipment. This ranking is not very popular among specialists, but I must admit that there is something to it. So far, the cameras in the Nexus line have always lacked something, the photos have never been as good as, for example, in Samsung. This was changed by the Nexus 6P and its ability to take good photos in lower lighting conditions, mainly due to a less packed matrix. This year, this trend has continued and we can finally conclude that the battle for megapixels is over. Most cameras this year fluctuate around 12-16 megapixels.

Google has supplied Pixel with an IMX378 sensor from Sony. The camera has a resolution of 12.3 MP and the size of a single pixel is 1.55 microns. The AF system is a combination of phase detection and laser autofocus. The camera has no optical stabilization. The camera application can be opened by pressing the power button twice. The camera is very fast, it catches the focus perfectly and photos are taken with virtually no delay. You can easily compare the speed of the camera to that of the Samsung Galaxy S7 / S7 Edge. The application is simple, it has several modes: Auto, Panorama, Spherical Photo, Lens Blur and Slow Motion. There is no Pro mode, allowing manual control of the exposure. There is a slider for exposure compensation. We can also include lines to divide the frame. The shutter can be released both by touching the button on the screen and pressing the volume button. A very important gift from Google is the unlimited disk space in the Photos service for photos and videos in full resolution. Thanks to this, we can store movies in 4K in the cloud without worrying about exhausting the limit.

The camera takes great photos in both good and low light conditions. The HDR + algorithm works great, the matrix captures many details without damaging the image with excessive sharpening. I recommend that you turn the HDR + algorithm ON - the effect is very visible. The camera in Pixel is definitely at the forefront of mobile devices. It is safe to say that it is of the same class as the camera in the iPhone 7 Plus, Samsung S7 / S7 Edge and LGV20. In some respects, even surpassing them.

Pixel records the image with the rear camera in 4kK resolution. The system does not have optical image stabilization. Instead, Google decided to use electronic stabilization. The image captured by the camera is coordinated with the movements of the gyroscope and then corrected. The effects are very satisfactory. The microphone picks up the sound very clearly, but it could operate with higher gain.

Pixel has one of the best cameras on the market.

Sample pictures:

Battery

The battery in which the Pixel XL is equipped has a capacity of 3450 mAh. Compared to the competition, it is above average. On average, I ended the day with 20 percent or more of the battery. Screen times range from 5.5 to 7.5 hours on average. When it comes to devices with a display around 5.5 inches, this year I had the opportunity to test S7 Edge, Note7 and OnePlus 3. I can honestly say that Pixel in this field simply outclassed all rivals. However, OnePlus offers the fastest charging in its class, so you can enjoy a long working time after several minutes after disconnecting the device from the charger. Pixel also supports fast charging - from 1 to 100% the device charges in 2 hours, which is quite a good result. In standby mode, times are just as impressive. By leaving the device overnight, I didn't lose a single percent, and we also have an energy-saving mode that can turn on automatically or manually.

Summary

Back to the beginning of the article. Nexus is dead, long live Pixel? Well, the device is very expensive and it is in the segment of the killed Note 7 or iPhone 7 Plus. Is the price too high? For a potential client, especially in Poland, certainly yes. Over the years, Google has accustomed consumers to the fact that their products are cheaper than the competition. This will surely be a huge obstacle for some.

But let's focus on something else. For the first time in history, Google is selling a device that designed and controlled its production. For the first time we are dealing with a "Google smartphone". In my opinion, this is a project with enormous chances of success. Despite a few shortcomings, such as a more interesting design or the use of a waterproof housing, we are dealing with a complete product. A good smartphone should mainly be characterized by:

1. good battery,
2. good screen,
3. smooth operation,
4. an excellent camera
5. solid workmanship

Pixel meets these conditions. Of course, there is still some room for improvement, e.g. a speaker, better use of space, or more screen calibration options. This may change with the next edition of this series.

It is worth adding that Pixel is a phone whose advantages are evident in everyday use. The longer I have it, the more I like it and I don't want to "switch" to anything else. It can be easily recommended to current iPhone users.

Who is Google Pixel for:

Who is not Google Pixel for

Alternative devices:

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, iPhone 7 Plus, Huawei Mate 9, OnePlus 3T, Xiaomi MiNote 2.

Other information about the Google Pixel XL smartphone:

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