Smartphone Google Pixel 3 XL - advantages and disadvantages

In the fall of 2018, two highly anticipated new items were released Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. The excitement before the release was no less than during the presentation of the new Apple or Samsung. These smartphones have been waiting as the popular second generation Pixel models were very successful. Especially a lot of controversy flared up around the Pixel 3 XL model. This review is dedicated to her.

Differences between Pixel 3 XL and Pixel 3

Pixel 3 XL is the older version of the third generation of smartphones from Google. As the name implies, XL differs primarily in size and, accordingly, in screen characteristics. It has a display of 6.2 inches versus 5.5, and a resolution of 2960 x 1440 versus 2160 x 1080.The XL also has a more powerful 3,430 mAh battery versus 2,915 mAh. The rest of the filling is the same.

In terms of looks, the XL is certainly bigger and heavier. The design of the front panel of the classic “troika” is rather ordinary, without bangs, in contrast to the controversial XL design with a large unibrow.

Equipment

The delivery of the smartphone includes quite a lot of adapters and a good branded headset. In the box, in addition to the smartphone itself, you can find the following:

• charging that supports fast mode;
• wired headphones;
• USB Type-C cable;
• adapter to 3.5 mm jack;
• adapter to USB Type-A interface;
• a clip to remove the SIM card;
• instruction.

Appearance

The first thing that immediately catches your eye on the front panel is a large unibrow and a rather big chin. Reviews about bangs and chin on the Internet are already numerous and extremely unflattering. In the end, design is a matter of taste, someone will like it, but someone will not pay any attention to it. You can probably somehow explain the large screenless areas above and below by the fact that the phone has a dual front camera and stereo speakers. But other manufacturers managed to solve the issue with speakers more gracefully, and modern cameras do not take up too much space. The bezels around the edges of the screen are very narrow.

Body materials - glass and plastic. On the rear glass panel, there is a glossy strip on top, and frosted glass below. The device is pleasant to the touch and comfortable in the hand. The back panel, unlike the front, looks good, but the matte surface is very prone to scratches. At the top left is a single video camera and a flash. In the middle is a fingerprint scanner. The sensor is easy to feel because its texture is different from the rest of the panel's glass surface.It works clearly and quickly.

On the left is the SIM card slot. On the right is a volume rocker and a power button that stands out in color in all color options except black.

The phone is dustproof and waterproof. Machine dimensions: 158 x 76.7 x 7.9 mm.

There are three color options:

• black;
• white;
• light pink.

Specifications

The table below shows the main technical specifications of the Google Pixel 3 XL

Screen

The smartphone has a large OLED screen, diagonal - 6.3 inches, resolution - 2960 x 1440 pixels. Very good ppi - 522 pixels per inch.The aspect ratio is claimed to be 18.5:9, but in reality it is closer to 2:1, as the rounded corners and unibrow take up a lot of space. Only official information fits next to the bangs.

Perhaps the screen is not bright enough for a flagship. Not everything is visible in the sun. The brightness is only 424 nits, which is even lower than the second generation Pixel. And the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is about one and a half times brighter. But this is the only drawback of the display. Otherwise, it surpasses everything that was released for the fall of 2018. Here are record viewing angles for the smartphone market, at least slightly, but superior to both the Galaxy Note 9 and the iPhone XS Max.

Color reproduction is very accurate, almost perfect white. In addition, in the settings it is possible to choose from three color saturation modes. The Pixel 3 XL has the best anti-glare coating on a smartphone, which is close to the record set by the latest iPads.

In general, the display (with the exception of one indicator) tops the list of quality flagship screens. It is great for playing games, and for watching videos and photos.

Operating system

Software is, of course, the strongest point of Google smartphones. As usual, Google has a clean and newest Android 9 Pie on its smartphone. Supports face unlock. There is also a touch frame with which you can control your smartphone, as was the case with HTC devices. When you click on the frame, Google Assistant is launched, connecting all its functionality. The sensitivity of the sensor can be adjusted.

The gesture control system that started back in the Pixel 2 has been further developed.If you get used to it (and it will take no more than a few days), it will turn out that it is more convenient than traditional button control.

Android 9 has many new features based on the use of artificial intelligence. Android monitors and analyzes the user's actions and tries to adapt to it. For example, if a user constantly rejects messages of a certain type, then after a while the operating system will offer not to show such notifications at all. If in some applications the user constantly performs the same operations, then Android itself will offer to do this action.

A useful new Digital Wellbeing feature has appeared, which keeps statistics on the time spent by the user on each application. This allows you to analyze where the time goes and do time management. This will help App Timer, which allows you to set a limit on the use of certain programs.

Here, for the first time on a smartphone, the Gmail Smart Compose function is implemented. It is a continuation and extension of Smart Reply. It's hard to say how useful this can be in real life, but, in any case, it's interesting.

And a nice bonus - when you buy a new Pixel, you get unlimited space on Google Drive until January 31, 2022, where you can store videos and photos.

Performance

The flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, along with pure Android 9, gives excellent performance. In 2018, many of the best manufacturers present their popular models based on this chipset. The processor has only 8 cores, 4 with a frequency of 2.8 GHz plus 4 - 1.8 GHz. GPU - Adreno 630. The chipset is very fast.Already well tested, suitable for active games and for working with many different applications. In addition, to help with video processing, Google added its Pixel Visual Core processor, which was first used in the second generation Pixels.

With enough time spent playing games, the phone heats up a little, but not too much. Without brakes, everything goes even at the maximum game settings, and everything looks great on a large high-resolution screen.

RAM is only 4 GB, which is enough in most cases, but not much for a flagship. External memory 64 or 128 GB. This is also not much, considering that it cannot be increased in any way, since there is no microSD slot.

autonomy

The Pixel 3 XL has a 3,430 mAh battery that is not very capacious by today's standards, and even with all the Android optimizations, mediocre autonomy. With continuous use, the battery lasts about 10 hours, in games it lasts about 5 hours.

The charger that comes with the kit allows you to charge your phone very quickly. In an hour and a half, it is possible to charge the device by about three-quarters. Along with the third-gen Pixels, Google released its own wireless charger for $95, which is not cheap to say the least.

cameras

The popularity of previous generation Pixel models is largely due to the exceptional quality of the cameras. Some buyers bought smartphones just because of them. Let's see how the device takes pictures, whether it was possible to keep the high bar set at the time by Pixel 2.

Main camera

Google goes against global trends and puts a rear camera consisting of only one module, while most manufacturers put 2 or 3 modules each, and Samsung released a model with 4 optical modules. Google is trying to prove to the whole world that the main thing is not the hardware, but the software part in this process. And indeed, the camera parameters are modest - a resolution of 12.2 megapixels, f / 1.8 aperture. There is optical stabilization, which, of course, helps artificial intelligence to correct the flaws in photos.

During the day the image quality is excellent. Autofocus works flawlessly. Color rendition, detail, sharpness - everything is on top. The quality of shots during the day is comparable to those that the iPhone XS Max produces.

Budget models now differ from top models not in how they shoot during the day, but in how their camera photographs at night. And here it is immediately clear that the Pixel is the flagship. Detailing is not lost, focus remains on top, and artificial intelligence skillfully finishes what the optics could not see. In night shooting, the Pixel even outperformed the iPhone.

But the physical limitations of a single camera can not always be circumvented. Lacks, however, a real optical zoom and real background blur. Google has undeniably the best solution for a single camera, but it’s hard for a flagship to get by with a single camera. And contradicting itself, Google has already used two optical modules in the front camera.

If the Pixel 3 is ahead of the “deuce” as a photo, then the video shoots about the same. An interesting innovation is the ability to switch from 30 frames per second to 60 frames without stopping shooting, which, however, has already been implemented on new iPhones.

Selfie camera

The front camera has two modules of 8 megapixels, one regular, the second wide-angle. The second module is designed for group selfies. A curious Photobooth function is implemented here, which allows you to take a photo without pressing a button, simply by recognizing a smile.Selfies are of very good quality, wide-angle portraits look especially fresh.

Photo examples

Wireless interfaces

With modern technologies, everything is fine here - there is NFC, dual-band Wi Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS. But Dual Sim is not supported. Instead of a full-fledged second SIM card, an electronic e-SIM, which is far from being supported everywhere. This, of course, can be understood - Google initially focused its smartphones on the American market. But it's hard to forgive, even the indestructible Apple has already given up on this issue. There is also no radio.

Sound

The stereo speakers are not only loud, but also good in sound quality. The phone vibrates a little at low frequencies. The sound from the speakers is comparable to the iPhone XS and better than the Galaxy Note 9. The sound from the headphones is good, they are comfortable enough, but they have almost no noise isolation. In addition, they support Google Assistant. Therefore, when you hold down the volume button, you can receive voice messages.

Price

How much does the Pixel 3 XL cost? The average price is $899 for the 64GB version and $999 for the 128GB version. Expensive, considering the characteristics of the phone that are not outstanding for a flagship. Where is the best place to buy Pixel? Unfortunately, official deliveries to the markets of Russia and Ukraine are not planned. This is another disadvantage of this smartphone.

Comparison with other models

Is the Pixel 3 XL worth the money, and which model is better to buy? If we discard some of the Google software bells and whistles, it turns out that many inexpensive Snapdragon 845 models differ little from the Pixel 3 XL. In this row, Xiaomi Mi 8, OnePlus 6, Meizu 16, LG G7 and others. Many of them have a more attractive appearance, more memory, and even the cameras of some are closer to the Pixel (for example, Xiaomi Mi 8).And they are all much more attractively priced.

Compared to the flagships of Apple and Samsung, the Pixel 3 XL, approaching them in terms of cost, can hardly compete with them in the technical part. Although the camera is still very competitive. How to choose the right model? Everyone determines the selection criteria. The third-generation pixel is still only buyable because of the camera, although the competition has come a long way, of course. The question of which company’s smartphone is better for many is also not worth it, since Google certainly has its fans.

Results: advantages and disadvantages of Google Pixel 3 XL

• high performance;
• latest reference Android 9;
• large screen with high resolution;
• excellent cameras;
• good speakers and headphones included;
• support wireless and fast charging.

• controversial design;
• only 4 GB of RAM;
• there is no possibility to expand the memory;
• support for only one SIM card;
• insufficiently powerful battery;
• high price.

The Pixel 3 XL is a step up from Google's second generation models. This is a reliable performance smartphone with a very good screen and cameras and a price on par with the flagships of Apple and Samsung.