Pixel 3 XL vs Pixel 4 XL

Chris5626

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I've currently got a Pixel 3 XL which I've got on really well with despite all the scare stories about how only 4gb of RAM in a smartphone and the pathetic battery would bring about the end times. I am however the sort of person that likes to upgrade regularly, I like new and shiny.

I'm trying to understand what the differences between the 3 and 4 are, to be clear I'm not saying it isn't an upgrade, it's just that the product page on the Google site seems to be 90% about how awesome the camera is so I'm not sure what else is different that they haven't given as much attention to.

Pixel 4
Camera improvements - smartphone cameras have been 'good enough' for my usage for years.
Face unlock - fingerprint is fine for me although face unlock is a nice to have.
Gesture control - Can't see me using this really, my phone is usually in reach to touch directly.
Increase in RAM - Not much to say.
90hz screen - Cool.
New version of Assistant - Guessing this will come to other Android devices though?

Am I missing anything important?

I had planned to get either the ASUS ROG Phone II or the Pixel 4 XL and whilst the hardware spec for the Pixel 4 XL was leaked ages ago I wanted to see what cunning software tricks Google had kept up it's sleeve that would be exclusive to the Pixel 4 line up. Oh and guessing still not call screening in the UK?
 

Chris5626

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Thanks to all the replies so far.

No notch alone makes the 4XL worth it over the 3XL.

I've had an iPhone X and the Pixel 3 XL and honestly notches have never bothered me, prior the the notch you had a bezel so I see it as extra space where notifications and the clock can live rather than space being taken out of the screen but I get that I'm in the minority.

The Astronomy photography stuff is coming to the Pixel 3 and 3A, according to Google's twitter feed.

Good to know, thanks!

- The cool Live Captions are coming to the 4 (Not sure about on the 3 also or not). This is great.

- Unfortunately on the 4, it looks like no Unlimited Google Photos storage :-(

Sounds like the live captions are an Android 10 thing rather than just a Pixel thing.

That's a shame about the storage although I don't take that many photos on my phone and when I do the quality doesn't need to be great so in my usage case it's not much of an issue.
 

Chris5626

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I want to want a Pixel 4 XL but the upgrades from the 3 XL don't look like they'll be of much benefit to me personally based on my usage.

Can anyone think of anything else that I might have missed?
 

karmamule

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My other line is an iPhone 11 Pro Max (and xs max before that). I ended up liking face unlock far more than I thought I would, and in my current pair of phones that was one of the factors that led to me using my iPhone more than my Pixel. It'll be interesting to see how things change once both phones have it, and with the faster response potentially giving the Pixel an advantage here.
 

Chris5626

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My other line is an iPhone 11 Pro Max (and xs max before that). I ended up liking face unlock far more than I thought I would, and in my current pair of phones that was one of the factors that led to me using my iPhone more than my Pixel. It'll be interesting to see how things change once both phones have it, and with the faster response potentially giving the Pixel an advantage here.

I had an iPhone X before the Pixel 3 XL (Technically I do still have the iPhone) and face unlock was a nice feature. Not a deal breaker but a nice to have and I was impressed with how well it worked for me even in poor lighting conditions.

I do use the fingerprint reader a lot on the Pixel 3 XL, it's placement on the back is idea for how I hold my phone and I often use it not to unlock my phone (as my smartwatch acts as a trusted device) but to swipe down to view notifications and/or the quick settings.

I'm guessing the gesture control will allow for me to view/expand notifications and to pull down the settings menu although I've not seen this demonstrated yet and I'm not actually sure if this would be faster than the fingerprint reader on the back, since my finger is there anyway all I need to do is move my finger, which is already in position, a few millimetres. With the gesture control (assuming it does work for notifications and quick settings) then I'm going to need to move my hand to in front of my phone then move it which means I might have to carry out more 'steps' to achieve the same result.
 

TeknoBlast

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Now that's something I haven't seen mentioned. Dual SIM would be useful for me although dual active would be preferable.


That's what duel sim duel standby means. Both SIMs will be active. Unlike now with the P3, only one can be active and you have to manually switch SIMS in the settings.
 

Chris5626

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That's what duel sim duel standby means. Both SIMs will be active. Unlike now with the P3, only one can be active and you have to manually switch SIMS in the settings.

Yes of course sorry, had a moment and got confused between duel sim duel standby (DSDS) and duel sim standby (DSS) and dual sim active (DSA).
 

TeknoBlast

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Yes of course sorry, had a moment and got confused between duel sim duel standby (DSDS) and duel sim standby (DSS) and dual sim active (DSA).

But having both SIMs active is a HUGe selling point for me and I'm def getting it. Love my P3XL, but having only one SIM active was a huge downer.
 

Chris5626

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But having both SIMs active is a HUGe selling point for me and I'm def getting it. Love my P3XL, but having only one SIM active was a huge downer.

Yeah that does provide a nice benefit.

I'm guessing the P4 is a physical SIM and an e-SIM rather than two SIM cards?
 

delta7

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My personally, while this may not be a agreeable view. I would probably wait a bit to see how apps are integrated with this new face unlock since this is the first time android has completely ditched the FP.

So like your bank or other apps, I would probably wait a little to see how they have support for a android based payment system.

The phone looks good though, I wouldn't buy because I'm attached to samsung due to SPay but nice either way.

Like the flat screen orange phone, looks nice man.
 

Chris5626

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My personally, while this may not be a agreeable view. I would probably wait a bit to see how apps are integrated with this new face unlock since this is the first time android has completely ditched the FP.

So like your bank or other apps, I would probably wait a little to see how they have support for a android based payment system.

The phone looks good though, I wouldn't buy because I'm attached to samsung due to SPay but nice either way.

Like the flat screen orange phone, looks nice man.

That's a very good point about how well and how quickly face unlock gets integrated with apps. With no fingerprint scanner you don't have a more established biometric security to fall back on whilst they integrate the face unlock.

Knowing my bank (HSBC) who don't officially support fingerprints on anything newer than a Pixel 2 I could be in for a wait.