Review

Pixel 2 and Pixel XL review: Google finally unlocks the power of Android

The Pixel 2 XL
The Pixel 2 XL: The superior design of the two devices Credit: James Titcomb

In the last couple of years, there has been a strong case that the best-looking smartphones are not being made by Apple. Samsung’s new S8 and Note 8 are brilliantly-designed and boast world-class cameras. The latest from LG and HTC fit big, beautiful screens onto bodies that almost fade into the background.

But there’s one problem with all of these phones that holds them back, and why I continue to carry around an iPhone. They are all compromised, impossibly, by Android.

It isn’t that Android itself is bad - there are definite advantages to Google’s operating system, from its superior notification system to wider opportunities for customisation. But using it feels like a constant battle between the company that made the phone and Google. Phones come with duplicate versions of apps like photos, email and web browsers pre-installed. Software updates take forever to come, a security risk as well as an annoyance.

Compare this to the iPhone and its top-to-bottom integration of hardware, software and services. iOS just works: everything is where it’s meant to be.

Google reset this division last year when it released the Pixel, the first Google-branded handset. It was a good phone, but felt a little rushed: it looked like a cheap iPhone clone, and felt like a missed opportunity to show the benefits of Google combining hardware and software. 

The Pixel 2, which goes on sale on Friday, is different. It feels distinctly “Googly”, and is all the better for it. It may not be the best piece of pure phone hardware, but it is the best implementation of Android I have used.

Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL: A tale of two phones

Like other flagship phones, including the iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S series, the Pixel 2 comes in two sizes; the regular model has a five-inch screen and the “XL” in phablet territory six inches. But unlike others, the two are unmistakably different phones. While they boast the same cameras, chipsets and software (and both lack a headphone jack), they look very different.

The smaller Pixel 2 has a flat rectangular screen, and a blocky, functional design. The “chin” and “forehead” of the device - the areas above and below the screen - are huge. It looks and feels cheap, like a phone from 2013..

The XL, on the other hand, is modern and curved. Its screen takes up almost all the front, so it is not much bigger than its smaller sibling despite the difference in screen size. It’s not a matter of taste: the XL is by far the better looking.

The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL (not to scale)
The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL (not to scale). The former is compromised by a dated design

You pay a premium for that: the Pixel 2 costs £629 and the XL £799, and the larger model won’t be out until November 22. It’s worth the wait.

In functional terms though, the two phones are identical, so for the purposes of this review I am testing them as one phone (the only other difference is their respective display technologies, but it is barely noticeable).

Software: The best version of Android

Hardware is not the point here: if you want a really pretty phone, buy a Samsung. The Pixel line is about doing things with Android that others can’t - combining the core functions of the phone with Google services.

There’s no one massive change that illustrates this, but a dozen different things. The default photos app is the excellent Google Photos, which means images are automatically backed up online. The Google Assistant is baked into the device (you can squeeze the sides of the phone to activate it, a nice touch that is much preferable to saying “OK Google”).

At the top of the home screen, there’s a neat “at a glance” space that changes depending on what’s going on - if you’ve got a calendar appointment starting soon, it’ll tell you.

The Pixel 2 will automatically recognise songs being played out loud and display them subtly at the bottom of the screen. Admittedly this feature could do with a bit of work - it failed to recognise a couple of songs and it thought an office fire alarm was Time to Dance (Extended Video Edit) by The Shoes.

Google presents the Pixel as Android as it’s supposed to be, clean of interference. This is true, but doesn’t really represent how much of an improvement it is to actually use the Pixel against one of its Android siblings.

One of the best phone cameras there is

Phone cameras are really good these days: when people say that innovation is slowing, you only have to compare photos taken with today’s smartphones to those taken with phones made in 2015.

Camera hardware itself actually hasn’t changed that much; the difference is in the incredible level of processing that phones can do to images once they’re taken. Combine this with the advances in computer vision AI in the last few years, and you end up with phone cameras that surpass dedicated point-and-shoot cameras, even when they have better specs.

Google’s AI chops are up there with the best, and the Pixel displays this: the camera is very close to being the best I’ve ever seen on a phone.

Images are incredibly sharp and detailed, even - especially - in tricky low-light situations, and balance areas of darkness and brightness really well. It’s quite hard to take a bad picture, which is useful because when it comes to your phone, you might only get one chance.

Pixel 2 image
Pixel 2 image

Google has taken the Portrait mode from the iPhone Plus models and Samsung’s Note 8, which blurs the background behind the subject. Impressively, it does this without the dual camera that its rivals have, using AI instead. This means two things: the effect is not quite as impressive as on the iPhone or Samsung, but more importantly, it works in selfie mode.

I say it’s very close to being the best phone camera because at the high end of the market, phones now take such excellent photos that it’s getting harder to choose. I would put the Note 8 and the Pixel 2 on par, with the iPhone 8 not far behind.

Everything else

  • The Pixel 2, sadly, follows the iPhone in getting rid of the headphone jack. Instead you get a dongle that plugs into the phone’s USB-C port, similar to the iPhone’s. As with the iPhone, it’s annoying, but I can live with it.
  • Battery life has proved excellent in my testing, with both the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL lasting more than a day on heavy use. They also have the now-ubiquitous fast charging, which gives you seven hours from 15 minutes of charge.
  • Unlike last year’s phones, the new Pixels are water resistant and have stereo speakers, which should be requirements for a high-end phone.
  • The fingerprint scanner, placed on the back, is spectacularly fast

Pros: Great integration of Android with Google services, Fantastic camera, long battery life

Cons: Design of smaller Pixel is dated, no headphone jack, likely to be in limited supply

Verdict: The best Android phone you can buy, if you can live without a headphone jack

 

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