Google Pixel XL Smartphones

If you are an Android fan and have been troubled with slow response of Samsung, HTC, LG devices that are a year or two old (I came from a Note 4 and HTC One M8), then this is the phone you want. I love the smoothness in performance of the iPhones prefer Android for customization flexibility., , Though not on par with the competition at the time of writing this review in June 2018, it is the best bang for the buck. Smooth app performance, extremely good ergonomics (despite a rather large form factor of the Pixel XL), good display (not as vivid as the Samsung note but better than everything else). Love the finger print reader on the back and wonder why on earth was it not put there to begin with for all the other phones so far .. better late than never I guess. Thought that lack of expandable storage would be an issue but Google photos offering unlimited storage when using this device eliminates the need for a micro SD card altogether., , There are some challenges though .. but they are mostly with software at Android end than the phone itself. The native email app is Gmail and does not support encrypted Office 365 emails, Calendar does not synch either. But there are workarounds with other apps. So 8 out of 10 there., , Get it if you are on a budget or are fed-up with other android devices plagued with performance issues after a 12-18 months in service ..

This is the first Android Phone I've used that was running the stock interface. I have to say I'm not impressed., Everything is fast and smooth and responsive. Screen quality is nice. It is a on the slick side though so I'm sure I'm going to drop it pulling it out of my pocket soon., The fingerprint sensor is nice and works well. I miss having the power and volume buttons on the back like the LG phones I have used (G3/G4/Vista2). I also really miss the double-tap the screen to power on and power off the screen. The Google implementation is severly lacking in comparison., Unlocking this phone when secured with a pattern lock when it is sitting on a table or desk is incredibly frustrating compared to every other phone I've ever used., No ability to add a directly media volume slider in the notification shade is annoying., Being forced to use the gmail app for my office exchange mail if I also use that account as my primary calendar and contacts is also frustrating. On prior Android Phones, Exchange was kept separate from my personal GMail., Not being able to remove the Date Time from the default home screen on the built-in launcher is dumb. All the bright white menus and background is also really frustrating. Again, replacing the launcher made it tolerable., I was much happier with my old LG G4 honestly... if only that phone didn't have such terrible hardware that gives up the ghost after a few months of daily use.

This phone seems small to me. But I'm coming form the older Nexus 6 (6" vs this 5.5"), , I like this "smaller" form factor. I don't think I'd go any smaller for a phone. The phone is what you would expect form a "pure" android phone. Everything works flawlessly but you have to customize everything to your liking which can be a burden to some. Some of the basic google apps can leave people wanting., , As for the phone itself it takes amazing pictures, the HDR+ doesn't seem to slow it down at all compared to my older phone or my friends phones leaving you with higher quality pictures., , USB-C will take a bit getting used to. A warning, get a bunch of cables. You'll find yourself afraid to take your only one away from home with fear of losing it., , Battery life is astounding. I can go a full day without charging. ~4hours of screen time on average and I get home with ~40% battery life at end of day., , Everything else is as expected of a high end phone, fast, snappy, no issues. Google phone so you get all the latest updates and anything I can say in that regard will be a review of Android 8.0 and not the phone.

The titles is a good summary. Phone is among the best I tried of the recent generation and, I feel better than the OnePlus 3T I also tried, but it should be because its easily $200 more., , OK Google voice command works even with the screen off (not all phones do this out the box), performance is super fast and battery life feels excellent, although I am not a heavy user. Build quality is absolutely top notch, one of the most solidly build phones I have ever held, feels like you could knock someone out with it. Camera - well what has not been said about the camera? It is simply the best on the market - it especially distances itself from the competition in low light. Video quality and stabilization are also very competitive with no obvious lacking to even the top competition. And of course, calls are clear and signal strength is as good as any decent flagship phone. The screen is solid too and again as good as any modern flagship phone, and it is AMOLED, which is nice with the deep blacks. Also gets the newest updates before any other phone, so Android O is right around the corner for this phone (at the time of this writing)., , The downsides? All are pretty minor and most are personal preference but here they are:, , The back glass piece - Is not my favorite look, and on top of that, it is more susceptible to cracking, and shows hairline scratches if you are like me and don't like to use a phone with a case. Metal holds up better in this regard, and its also fingerprinty at the back glass as a result., , Next is the bezels - on the large side and also not a dark black, its more like a dark gray. This is preference but I prefer the dark black bezels so the screen and the bezels just blend in together when the screen is off. With the bezels gray, its very easy to see where the bezels end and where the screen begins., , The rear fingerprint scanner location and material - it is made from plastic and can scratch if not careful. Wish it was at least glass if not a more premium material like sapphire or ceramic for such an expensive premium phone - there should be NO compromises. It won't scratch easily though because it is slightly recessed unless you are just careless. Its also on the back, so you cannot use it when you have it on a desk and just want to easily unlock the phone. Sounds like not a big deal, but having to pick up the phone to fingerprint unlock it I feel takes away from some of the benefit of a fingerprint scanner. The Oneplus 3T nails it in this regard., , I'll throw in a couple more smaller issues which may be bigger deals for some - the loudspeaker is a mono unit and it is easy to cover up when holding the phone sideways (such as for gaming). I've also heard it is NOT waterproof. This last one is a very small deal for me, but is a common feature on modern flagships., , The last one is of course price is high, but you get what you pay for. If you want a top tier phone this is absolutely it, but be ready to pay well over $700 at the time of this writing over 6 months after release if you want the XL with 128gb (the highest configuration of the Pixel series)., , That is literally ALL of the small faults I was able to find. No phone is perfect, but this phone is about as close as you can get and is considered among the very top best phones of 2016 that still holds its own in 2017!

As an Android guy, this phone is the cream of the crop. Super smooth thanks to the Snapdragon 821, high resolution AMOLED display, excellent camera, and a good day and a half of battery life. The fingerprint reader is slightly slower than the one on my OnePlus 3, but the more responsive screen and updates straight from Google more than compensate. Software side, it's Android 7 Nougat with all the new features. It does come with the custom Pixel launcher with Google assistant integrated, which I really like as I have home automation set up with Google home devices, and assistant acts as an extension of that. For most people it is a very competent equivalent to Siri, and in my opinion better as it integrates with more apps and responds with information relevant to your question instead of just showing the results of a web search., , Only real downside is the price, which is quite high. It IS a premium device made by HTC, so you are certainly getting a quality product with the solid build quality for which HTC is known for that price. I have 3 of these devices and none have shown any defects or faults in manufacturing., , tl;dr get it now!

Product could have a better battery life as the charger was not adequate for the phone. Charge takes an extremely long time (close to an hour to charge 20%). I can't imagine anyone purchasing a phone with a defective adapter/ usb as I find that the battery life is one of the MOST IMPORTANT part of a phone.

Phone literally bricked itself exactly 3 months from purchase.

Pixel has microphone issue. Caller can't hear my voice. I have read on the Internet that 1% of Google Pixel has microphone hardware issue. And seems like I am in this 1% :(