The AC editors have a Pixel and Pixel XL — ask us about them!

[Toughmn]

Thanks for the info. about the back glass!

 

[magicdesign]

Does it have Google caller ID available like the Nexus devices?

 

[Clocks]

Does it have Google caller ID available like the Nexus devices?

Yes

 

[JusticeCalibur]

i know my brother's nexus 6p works in my android auto vehicle. Does pixel work flawlessly with it? i figure it should work flawlessly since its a google phone. unlike the oneplus one that is always disconnecting

i tested it out and it works flawlessly.

 

[KalenGo]

Just one question: Google went all out with their new data-fed Live Wallpapers, how much does it affect both data and battery life? Thanks!

 

[BDuff35]

You may have already answered this, but how do you think the Pixel phones compare to iPhone?

 

[badelhas]

Good morning everyone, it's Pixel day! That means that we can start talking about these phones we've been using for the past handful of days. Myself and Alex Dobie have "quite black" 32GB Pixel XLs in our hands, and Daniel Bader has a "very silver" 32GB Pixel in his.

First, read our our comprehensive review to get a feel for these phones: Google Pixel + Pixel XL review | Android Central

Then, read my (shorter) U.S.-centric Pixel XL review: Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective

And we also have a special edition podcast: Android Central 311: Google Pixel review roundtable

Then, perhaps watch our review video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FCNA-RwRBQ

NOW you can ask us about it. Drop us whatever burning Pixel or Pixel XL questions you have, and we'll all aim to answer as many as we can!

Thanks for the articles and reviews!

Don't you think the HTC 10 is a better buy, especially now that it costs 550 bucks? Russell loves it...even after 6 months.

Cheers

 

[Go0gle]

So how sturdy is the phone? The Galaxy S6 is "premium" - and it's true that the construction feels far sturdier than the flimsy plastic of the s3 I had before it. But after about two weeks of use I saw scratches on the back. And I constantly worried about a drop. If it scratches that easily, it seems more likely that it will shatter in a fall. Hence, the Defender. How paranoid would it be to use that on this phone?

It's very sturdy. It has a light yet sturdy feel to it. Tough to explain, but it feels perfect. It feels lighter than you might expect, but it's built like a little brick and feels very high end. The buttons all have very firm, authoritative clicks to them. Build tolerances seem great. I would say it's easily in the same league as the iPhone or Samsung. Samsung might have a leg up on them with all their Edge products and such, but it's close at least in my opinion.

 

[Go0gle]

Just one question: Google went all out with their new data-fed Live Wallpapers, how much does it affect both data and battery life? Thanks!

I have mine set to change every day, and only download over WiFi, but I haven't noticed any affect whatsoever on battery and it doesn't seem to show up in the battery usage list (though could be bundled with a google service).

 

[Go0gle]

You may have already answered this, but how do you think the Pixel phones compare to iPhone?

All just in my opinion, but:

- Build quality is the same. Nothing to worry about there.
- The Pixel seems faster to me just navigating around doing day-to-day stuff, but it's a really hard thing to measure accurately.
- The screens on the pixel are vastly superior, no contest there
- Camera on the Pixel is vastly superior. The imaging sensors in the Pixels are quite a bit larger than the iPhone's as well. In fact the iPhone 7 Plus's image quality is so bad on the telephoto camera, that when it needs to shoot high ISO, the phone actually uses a crop from the wide angle camera (which has a larger sensor than the telephoto but much smaller than the Pixel still). The pixel has no-lag, instant, rapid-fire HDR which is incredible. The video stabilization is amazing. The free unlimited full resolution back-up, including 4K video, is also worth a significant amount compared to other phones where you would have to pay for the service. DPreview offers comparisons as well, and you can see the iPhone 7 is surprisingly bad compared to it's peers.
- Fingerprint reader feels faster on the pixel, but in reality they are probably very close and it could just be how I use it.
- The Pixel XL is still quite a bit smaller than the iPhone 7 Plus
- Actually having a headphone jack is far more convenient
- Having a notification light makes a big difference in my opinion
- No camera bump is awesome, and you don't notice the slight wedge shape of the phone at all - I didn't know until someone showed me.

Other than that the main difference is pretty much the OS.

 

[badelhas]

All just in my opinion, but:

- Build quality is the same. Nothing to worry about there.
- The Pixel seems faster to me just navigating around doing day-to-day stuff, but it's a really hard thing to measure accurately.
- The screens on the pixel are vastly superior, no contest there
- Camera on the Pixel is vastly superior. The imaging sensors in the Pixels are quite a bit larger than the iPhone's as well. In fact the iPhone 7 Plus's image quality is so bad on the telephoto camera, that when it needs to shoot high ISO, the phone actually uses a crop from the wide angle camera (which has a larger sensor than the telephoto but much smaller than the Pixel still). The pixel has no-lag, instant, rapid-fire HDR which is incredible. The video stabilization is amazing. The free unlimited full resolution back-up, including 4K video, is also worth a significant amount compared to other phones where you would have to pay for the service. DPreview offers comparisons as well, and you can see the iPhone 7 is surprisingly bad compared to it's peers.
- Fingerprint reader feels faster on the pixel, but in reality they are probably very close and it could just be how I use it.
- The Pixel XL is still quite a bit smaller than the iPhone 7 Plus
- Actually having a headphone jack is far more convenient
- Having a notification light makes a big difference in my opinion
- No camera bump is awesome, and you don't notice the slight wedge shape of the phone at all - I didn't know until someone showed me.

Other than that the main difference is pretty much the OS.

Thanks for all your input.
Apart from the outrageous price Google is asking one thing that I find particularly stupid design wise is the use of glass on the back of smartphones, as if the screen being of glass wasn't enough, but at least we can diminish the risk by using a temperate glass screen protector. A good Design has to take in consideration the fact that smartphones are items we will, at a certain point, most certainly drop. That's why I love my HTC One M8 (and the 10, for that matter). It can scratch but it will not break. Same goes for plastic, but metal is a much better premium material, of course.
And please don't say "you can always use a case" since they weren't created for you to put it inside a case, covering it's look and feel. Worse than the Pixel is Samsung Galaxy S6 or S7. Drop it and it it's guaranteed it will broke.
Just my humble opinion.

 

[N4Newbie]

How fast is the charging? I only ask because there's no quick charger available.
There's absolutely a quick charger available — it comes in the box with the Pixels. Just like the Nexus 6P and 5X, it's Google's standard "Rapid Charge" tech that charges very quickly at low battery %, and slows down a bit from there. The new charger is technically a bit smarter with its new USB-PD (or "Power Direct") standard, which can do a bit more of the things that Quick Charge 3.0 does.

General answer is "it charges damn fast" especially when it's at low battery %. At ~40% and higher, it charges at about 1 percentage point per hour, or a tad faster, from the included charger.

Surely there is a typo there, no? One percent per hour??

 

[Andrew Martonik]

How is the BT on the phone? Does it cut out as easily as Nexus devices are prone to do? I think I remember that in a recent Podcast the issue of matching Bluetooth came up. Any issues with BT devices?

I use a BT headset to listen to podcasts as I mow and BT in the car as I drive to Baltimore. The car has been fine, but occasionally the 6P will have trouble with my headset as it rests in my back pocket.

Yup, same thing here, and it happens on every phone I own and multiple BT headsets. Sometimes if your phone is tight to your body in a pocket, and the headset gets separated by just enough, it'll cut out. Nothing new to report on the Pixels — the same situation happens. Bluetooth just kinda sucks sometimes

i know my brother's nexus 6p works in my android auto vehicle. Does pixel work flawlessly with it? i figure it should work flawlessly since its a google phone. unlike the oneplus one that is always disconnecting

Phil said he's having issues with different cables giving him different results. But it seems to work with the included cable.

How's the Call/Data/WiFi/GPS/Bluetooth reception?

Calls, data, Wi-Fi and GPS are all fine. Bluetooth is no better or worse than the other phones I have here.

That should work I guess. Android Wear Watch to the rescue! Thanks for answering all these questions!

No problem at all!

I don't care about being able to throw a phone into a pool, or anything like that. But, I do want to know if I need to worry about using my phone in the rain, or being on the table when someone knocks over a cup of water.

Any experience with that?

Just like any other phone, I wouldn't be worried about using it in the rain — so long as you're not standing in a typhoon for an hour straight.

As for the water spilled on a table ... yes that should worry you. You're talking about a LOT more water than just using the phone in the rain. The Pixels are not meant to come in contact (and potentially be fully submerged) with water.

I tend to put my phone is a good case, which adds bulk. So, how slim is this phone. I can look at the specs, of course, but it's hard to get a sense of what happens when you get the case on. My Galaxy s3 wasn't, to the eye, THAT much thicker than my S6, but once you put the case (otterbox defender) you could see the difference very easily.

The phone isn't particularly slim — nearly 9 mm at the top where it's thickest. The "wedge" design makes it thinner at the bottom where you feel it most, which helps with that. Obviously if you put a case on it it gets even thicker — but that's going to be personal preference as to whether or not it's "too much" for you.

Wifi hotspot: Does the Pixel let you turn on the wifi hotspot (1 with a Verizon bought phone, 2 with a Google bought phone)? I know some variants of the N6 would check the SIM card to see what carrier you were on and if you had permission. Other phones (N5) turned on wifi hotspot without restrictions.

Yes the hotspot works just fine. AFAIK Verizon still has the ability on its own end to block hotspot for people who are on legacy unlimited plans w/o a paid hotspot upgrade ... but that has nothing to do with the phone you use.

So how sturdy is the phone? The Galaxy S6 is "premium" - and it's true that the construction feels far sturdier than the flimsy plastic of the s3 I had before it. But after about two weeks of use I saw scratches on the back. And I constantly worried about a drop. If it scratches that easily, it seems more likely that it will shatter in a fall. Hence, the Defender. How paranoid would it be to use that on this phone?

It's built solid, but it's going to break if you drop it ... these phones aren't built to those kinds of expectations. It's going to handle daily wear just fine, and it's not going to fall apart in normal use. But if you drop it, there's a good chance you're looking at a cracked screen just like any other phone.

Have you tried FM via the Nextradio app? I've read that it both does and does not have FM.

No FM radio.

Thanks for the info. about the back glass!

Yup!

Does it have Google caller ID available like the Nexus devices?

Yup. It's the same dialer design.

Just one question: Google went all out with their new data-fed Live Wallpapers, how much does it affect both data and battery life? Thanks!

The wallpapers download by default over Wi-Fi only.

I never noticed a drop in performance using any of the "live" wallpapers. Even the ones that actively move only move very subtly, rather than shooting stuff all over the screen constantly. Most of the wallpapers don't move constantly, though — they move subtly when you unlock the phone, or just swap to a new still image once a day.

You may have already answered this, but how do you think the Pixel phones compare to iPhone?

In what way? I think they're extremely competitive overall as complete devices that do what people want modern smartphones to do. But there are so many specific use cases and desires that people have for phones ...

Thanks for the articles and reviews!

No prob!

Don't you think the HTC 10 is a better buy, especially now that it costs 550 bucks? Russell loves it...even after 6 months.

I think the HTC 10 is a nice phone. But it's not the Pixel XL and it's not as good a phone.

Surely there is a typo there, no? One percent per hour??

No ... why would that be a typo? With these "fast charging" solutions, the charging rate slows down substantially once the phones reach about 40-50% full. It's detrimental to the longevity of these batteries to charge them that quickly all the way. If you can get 0-30% battery in ~15 minutes, and the last 70% takes ~60 minutes, what's the issue?

 

[badelhas]

Yup, same thing here, and it happens on every phone I own and multiple BT headsets. Sometimes if your phone is tight to your body in a pocket, and the headset gets separated by just enough, it'll cut out. Nothing new to report on the Pixels — the same situation happens. Bluetooth just kinda sucks sometimes



Phil said he's having issues with different cables giving him different results. But it seems to work with the included cable.



Calls, data, Wi-Fi and GPS are all fine. Bluetooth is no better or worse than the other phones I have here.



No problem at all!



Just like any other phone, I wouldn't be worried about using it in the rain — so long as you're not standing in a typhoon for an hour straight.

As for the water spilled on a table ... yes that should worry you. You're talking about a LOT more water than just using the phone in the rain. The Pixels are not meant to come in contact (and potentially be fully submerged) with water.



The phone isn't particularly slim — nearly 9 mm at the top where it's thickest. The "wedge" design makes it thinner at the bottom where you feel it most, which helps with that. Obviously if you put a case on it it gets even thicker — but that's going to be personal preference as to whether or not it's "too much" for you.



Yes the hotspot works just fine. AFAIK Verizon still has the ability on its own end to block hotspot for people who are on legacy unlimited plans w/o a paid hotspot upgrade ... but that has nothing to do with the phone you use.



It's built solid, but it's going to break if you drop it ... these phones aren't built to those kinds of expectations. It's going to handle daily wear just fine, and it's not going to fall apart in normal use. But if you drop it, there's a good chance you're looking at a cracked screen just like any other phone.



No FM radio.



Yup!



Yup. It's the same dialer design.



The wallpapers download by default over Wi-Fi only.

I never noticed a drop in performance using any of the "live" wallpapers. Even the ones that actively move only move very subtly, rather than shooting stuff all over the screen constantly. Most of the wallpapers don't move constantly, though — they move subtly when you unlock the phone, or just swap to a new still image once a day.



In what way? I think they're extremely competitive overall as complete devices that do what people want modern smartphones to do. But there are so many specific use cases and desires that people have for phones ...



No prob!



I think the HTC 10 is a nice phone. But it's not the Pixel XL and it's not as good a phone.



No ... why would that be a typo? With these "fast charging" solutions, the charging rate slows down substantially once the phones reach about 40-50% full. It's detrimental to the longevity of these batteries to charge them that quickly all the way. If you can get 0-30% battery in ~15 minutes, and the last 70% takes ~60 minutes, what's the issue?

I think that you wanted to men one per cent per minute

 

[Ry]

I got to hold one today, without the display tether.

To be honest, it felt like an iPhone in my hand.

But man, that camera though. Impressive.

 

[gone down south]

No ... why would that be a typo? With these "fast charging" solutions, the charging rate slows down substantially once the phones reach about 40-50% full. It's detrimental to the longevity of these batteries to charge them that quickly all the way. If you can get 0-30% battery in ~15 minutes, and the last 70% takes ~60 minutes, what's the issue?

70% in 60 minutes is 1% per minute, not per hour

 

[cardboard60]

Seeing as I have had nothing but a Samsung in my hand for at least 3 yrs since I had Iphone's.
I am used to water proof, the Back button, The wireless charging. and things.
the Pixel XL seems to be as expensive but lacks some of the things the Samsung does.

Think I would have to get one in my hands.
The more I read the more I seem to not seeing everybody with one really opening up.

 

[N4Newbie]

70% in 60 minutes is 1% per minute, not per hour

Yes, that sounds more reasonable!

 

[djisia87]

can you interact with notifications on the "moto dispaly/ambient screen" looking feature ?

 

[RickyRiccardo]

whats your favourite feature/aspect of the phone? and what is the battery life like in real world usage? sorry if these questions have been asked before, this is a pretty big thread