The Pixel and Pixel XL Reviews

[anon(9227267)]

Yeah, I may end up going with the Moto Z Play. People are literally getting 2-3 times the screen on time of the Pixel XL. Unfortunately, it appears to have a bad camera (as all midrange phones do) and Verizon and Best Buy don't have any Moto Z Play demo units.

The perfect phone in all areas does not exist - my suggestion - read the reviews on Z forums - they should give you a pretty good idea of what they are like. I know the Z Force I have does all I want and then some. As far as the camera, it is my opinion the goodness/badness of the camera is in the eyes of the beholder. I don't think one can judge the quality of the camera with out using it in person - JMO. Good luck on finding a phone to put a smile on your face...

 

[trekk]

Re: Reviews

That is kind of what most reviews do for me as well. Though you do have the return window to factor in. Aside from going to Verizon you cannot get the phone right now from what I have seen. So by then there will be many more reviews & comparisons.



The Verge review was really impressed with the battery life saying it was better than iP7 & nexus 6p.

Yeah I read it, but on Phonearena they did battery benchmarks and the 7+ beat it by a good 2 hours

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Marques Brownlee has an LG V20 video that has some initial impressions. Most of it is nothing we haven't heard before, but he does talk about the standby time and says it is pretty incredible. I think he said it lost 4% in standby over the course of two days or something ridiculous like that.

Pretty sure that was without a SIM card in it.

 

[EnemiesInTheEnd]

I'm seeing a lot of on par or better than the S7 Edge and for some reason I think that the S7 Edge is the current battery life champ on Android.

I also am under the distinct impression that the smaller Pixel's battery life goes toe to toe with my 6P and stomps on my Nexus 5X.

Maybe for 5.5" phones at 2K resolution, but the Moto Z Play absolutely destroys these phones on battery life with a 1080p resolution and Snapdragon 625. Most people are reporting around 10 hours of screen on time and are only needing to charge their phones every 2-3 days.

 

[Aquila]

Pretty sure that was without a SIM card in it.

If that's the case, just about every modern phone can go for a long time without radio and screen drain. My Nexus 6 amazed me the other day after sitting idle for a week - then it ran into child induced catastrophic screen failure.

 

[klau25]

Maybe for 5.5" phones, but the Moto Z Play absolutely destroys these phones on battery life. Most people are reporting around 10 hours of screen on time and are only needing to charge their phones every 2-3 days.

For me, if I can comfortably get through a whole day, I am happy. I don't need 2 to 3 days. 1 and a half is fine for me. haha. so a moto z play won't work for me. since I think the overall experience I get with the pixel xl will out weight the battery advantage of the moto z play.

 

[Aquila]

Maybe for 5.5" phones at 2K resolution, but the Moto Z Play absolutely destroys these phones on battery life. Most people are reporting around 10 hours of screen on time and are only needing to charge their phones every 2-3 days.

Good point, I should have specified flagships. Although the Z Play per reviews performs like a flagship, it still has a number of its own drawbacks so I can't say I'd ever choose it over any other device regardless of its battery life.

 

[Stang68]

I'm not trying to find reasons not to like it, I'm just not ignoring the reasons not to like it. Some people are so hyped up that they're missing the drawbacks or misrepresenting the positives.

In that case, make sure you look at the negatives of the Samsungs, too. When you weigh them both, the Pixel becomes obvious, let alone the fact it's 7 months newer. And if you're considering a Moto phone, you should likely steer clear as it seems Moto is (still) an endangered species, what with Lenovo firing hundreds of Moto staff. Doesnt bode well for software updates.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Maybe for 5.5" phones at 2K resolution, but the Moto Z Play absolutely destroys these phones on battery life with a 1080p resolution and Snapdragon 625. Most people are reporting around 10 hours of screen on time and are only needing to charge their phones every 2-3 days.

You can work around battery life, but you can't make up for a poor camera.

 

[Jeremy8000]

You have to be critical of it because it's a phone that doesn't offer much for its price when you consider that the phone's only standout area is really just Google Assistant. It may be strong as an overall package, but so is every other device in its price range and they have more features.

Google Assistant is hardly the only standout feature. What about guaranteed updates? Seamless updates done in the background? Compatibility with all major networks as well as Project Fi? Lifetime unlimited full resolution backup for photos and videos? All of these are unique to the Pixels and contribute to its value in a way no other offering does.

Sure, it's not as waterproof as some, doesn't have expandable storage like some, can't be used to start a campfire like some, but while it can be criticized for not having EVERY feature collectively offered by its competitors, it has tremendous functionality and, per early reviews, extremely competitive performance. Arguing that it doesn't provide value for its cost is a highly subjective matter, influenced by one's personal priorities - one could as easily make the same comments towards iPhone 7 or Galaxy S7.

 

[EnemiesInTheEnd]

For me, if I can comfortably get through a whole day, I am happy. I don't need 2 to 3 days. 1 and a half is fine for me. haha. so a moto z play won't work for me. since I think the overall experience I get with the pixel xl will out weight the battery advantage of the moto z play.

Well yeah, I'm not trying to compare the two phones as if they are equals. The Pixel XL is the better phone overall for sure, but the Moto Z Play's insane battery life looks pretty good to someone that spends a lot of time on their phone.

 

[klau25]

Google Assistant is hardly the only standout feature. What about guaranteed updates? Seamless updates done in the background? Compatibility with all major networks as well as Project Fi? Lifetime unlimited full resolution backup for photos and videos? All of these are unique to the Pixels and contribute to its value in a way no other offering does.

Sure, it's not as waterproof as some, doesn't have expandable storage like some, can't be used to start a campfire like some, but while it can be criticized for not having EVERY feature collectively offered by its competitors, it has tremendous functionality and, per early reviews, extremely competitive performance. Arguing that it doesn't provide value for its cost is a highly subjective matter, influenced by one's personal priorities - one could as easily make the same comments towards iPhone 7 or Galaxy S7.

Yup, and you can easily say that the other flagship phone doesn't have this or that too. Siri can't touch google assistant, Samsung sucks on update, pixel doesn't have waterproof. you just have to pick what is the most important features for you.

 

[klau25]

Well yeah, I'm not trying to compare the two phones as if they are equals. The Pixel XL is the better phone overall for sure, but the Moto Z Play's insane battery life looks pretty good to someone that spends a lot of time on their phone.

haha, and trust me. I am someone who spends A LOT of time on his phone. Just ask my wife. haha. but I charge my phone every day, while I am at work, and while driving so that's why I say I don't need 2 to 3 days worth of battery. to me, if the phone can get me through a day without too much issue, I am happy with that.

 

[T48]

Re: Reviews

Yeah I read it, but on iPhonearena they did battery benchmarks and the 7+ beat it by a good 2 hours

Fixed. Am joking & is something to consider. But you also have to weigh whether Android or IOS is a better fit for you.
Also something else to remember, though it should not be much of an issue. The iP7+ is a 3 hour charge time. Where as Google is claiming 7 hours battery life in 15 minutes or something crazy like that? Even if it is 3.5 hours of real world use in 15 minutes. That is workable for a worst case scenario.

 

[EnemiesInTheEnd]

Google Assistant is hardly the only standout feature. What about guaranteed updates? Seamless updates done in the background? Compatibility with all major networks as well as Project Fi? Lifetime unlimited full resolution backup for photos and videos? All of these are unique to the Pixels and contribute to its value in a way no other offering does.

Sure, it's not as waterproof as some, doesn't have expandable storage like some, can't be used to start a campfire like some, but while it can be criticized for not having EVERY feature collectively offered by its competitors, it has tremendous functionality and, per early reviews, extremely competitive performance. Arguing that it doesn't provide value for its cost is a highly subjective matter, influenced by one's personal priorities - one could as easily make the same comments towards iPhone 7 or Galaxy S7.

If the software isn't your priority, the Pixel XL is a hard sell compared to others in its price range that deliver more. Personally I don't often like software updates because the newer versions always seem to degrade battery life. I like the Pixel Launcher but I don't need a Pixel to use Pixel Launcher. Project Fi is really the main draw for me to the Pixel XL.

 

[klau25]

If the software isn't your priority, the Pixel XL is a hard sell compared to others in its price range that deliver more. Personally I don't often like software updates because the newer versions always seem to degrade battery life. I like the Pixel Launcher but I don't need a Pixel to use Pixel Launcher. Project Fi is really the main draw for me to the Pixel XL.

I don't know, with Doze, the battery life has definitely improved. maybe not while you are using the phone, but during screen off time, I see an improvement on the standby time.

 

[SteelGator]

There is no consensus on the camera. In the reviews I've seen, two reviews said it was the best smartphone camera, three said it wasn't as good as the Samsungs. It doesn't offer the best battery life either - just average - along the lines of an S7 Edge.

I have to say, I agree with what others are telling you. You just are not going to like this phone, for whatever reason. You read the most negative thoughts into every statement.

On the camera, a few have called it the best. Those that have not have said it is as good as. Not sure what more you want. At this stage, no camera is going to win on every metric. All of the reviewers like the camera, and have said it is a very good experience.

On battery -- all the reviews I have read have been cautiously optimistic because there is not a lot of data. The S7E is thought of as having good battery life, so I see that comparison as a positive. Others (Verge) have said "Stupendous" and "Best" and very good.

Again, you only seem to hear the negatives, and dismiss the positives. Generally I'd say that means you will not be happy with it ever.

 

[jkarg00]

https://www.cnet.com/products/google-pixel-phone-review/
cnet review

 

[LeoRex]

If the software isn't your priority, the Pixel XL is a hard sell compared to others in its price range that deliver more. .

All the phones in the Pixel's class are a hard sell. But you can't arbitrarily discount a phone's strengths when comparing to other phones. The Pixel's software is a HUGE component here ... Google Assistent, unlimited photo and video storage, excellent technical support, the most reliable software support, etc... its sort of disingenuous to just throw out "if software isn't your priority" because other than the touchscreen and volume and power buttons, software is what you interface with. You can pick out bits of each of the top phones and say the same thing.... "If an SD card and water proofing isn't your priority" with the S7... "If a stock camera app and removable battery isn't your priority" with the V20, etc...

Most all of these phones give you roughly the same bits and baubles... but there are a few that are different. What phone gives you those little bits that you want... get that phone.

 

[Aquila]

Cmon, when the Verge gushes about your Android phone...