I give you guys a wide berth in your comments, as I believe honest criticism is part of the process for how we improve. However attacking my staff and calling them names is in no way constructive, and it will not be tolerated.
In all seriousness, this is the kind of review I've come to hope for from this site. Everyone else seems to be drooling over this phone for some reason but here we see an objective and quantitative analysis which puts it in its true place in the market. I do wonder given that other sites have been drooling over how slick everything was if you got a dodgy device? Other sites I've read don't seem to be experiencing the same occasional lag and the launcher being booted out of the RAM. Is it worth asking for a second phone to confirm these findings?
you guys must be doing some guru stuff to make Pixel and XL lag.
Because all the reviews I've saw and read says they can get iPhone 7+(the god phone) to lag while Pixel won't slow down at all. -_-;; Those people must be out of their mind, maybe they mistaken pixel for iphone and iphone for pixel.
Those reviews are biased, in that, sure, compared to other android phones the pixel is less laggy. But the iPhone remains the best mobile phone experience with top of the line hardware, and zero lag.
Anandtech is really really damn good at being unbiased, and I trust their reviews above everyone else.
....if you want an app launcher, then yes, the iPhone is the best mobile phone experience possible. If you want a SMARTphone that allows you to do SO much more, then Android is where it's at.
Ah, I saw you'd got another phone but I didn't realise you'd tested performance on both. Fair enough, that's good enough for me. A shame but likely nothing that can't be fixed with a software update. I think to those who say you're pushing them too hard, it's possible you are pushing them harder than most casual users but that's reflecting your power user demographic. People who read this site are far more likely to push their phones harder than the average user so I think that's totally fair.
Agreed, great review, overpriced phone. The last paragraph sums it up nicely. If it started life around $400 the review would have been more favorable. But when they decided to price it up against the best phones out there, they lost their way. I can't believe anyone would be hyped for this when there's better phones out there for the same money or less. Especially when you look at one with a good chunk of storage, given the lack of an SD card.
I agree. Had Google price it as an average phone (around 400 dollars), then there would be a higher uptake for people to use the phone and ultimately stick with using Android.
I guess is because they feel they are in the same league as Apple and want to compete at their level. Nothing wrong with that but just deliver a quality well-designed phone.
Pixel is a learning lesson for Google that to make a high quality phone is not as easy as they thought. They might have the OS but to package everything together (hardware and software) is no easy feat.
The pixels are using the enhanced positional tracking and low lag screens and such for VR, those things tend to increase the price a bit, and seeing there are only one or two others that have the specs required at this point they can also enjoy exclusivity.
Despite all the superlatives, the design looks quite cheap to me, especially the back. Also the edges of the sim slot look extremely low craftsmanship.
It's like they built a $400 phone and a $500 phone and then just upped the price. It it any more compelling than the $400 OnePlus 3? Not really and that's been out a while.
I think Google was "forced" to sell at higher price brackets. Targeting iPhone and Galaxy S/Note lines.
Kind of like the surface pro/book line from Microsoft, if Microsoft lowers price to grab market shares, how the heck would Dell/HP/Lenovo survive with their cheap stuff?
...and Samsung at the expensive end too, I guess. Making this phone so poor compared to Samsung's efforts (which, like Apple's, I dislike but respect), keeps an important ally on-side.
Speaking only for myself (as a potential buyer of one of these devices), I found the Pixel XL more compelling than OP3 due to: 1) Higher-quality screen 2) Higher-quality camera 3) Guaranteed rapid availability of new Android versions/features 4) Higher expectations of manufacturer support
The above, combined with my Nexus 5 rapidly circling the reliability and performance drain, ultimately convinced me to (very grudgingly) pay the extra money for the Pixel XL. Obviously the Pixel's value proposition will be worse for people who value the above items less than I do.
One personal pet peeve about button placement and design: with the volume/power buttons in the middle, as on this phone and the 6P, it's hard to dock the phone in your car for directions. Because naturally the clamps would go in the middle of the phone, but you can't do that if it turns up/down the volume or powers it on/off. Android OEMs, take note!
I thought I had the same problem. Easy fix; clamp it lower on the device. There is plenty of space on the bottom half to clamp below the volume button, and still maintain a good hold.
It looks to me like they got a lemon. I've had none of the memory issues/home redrawing stuff with my device. My battery life is EXCELLENT and so is the performance.
What a stupid post. Anandtech hasn't given you your wish fulfillment confirmation bias that you have the greatest phone ever made. This is a well done and thorough review.
As much as I consider Anandtech to be THE authoritative source for smartphone reviews, their conflicting reports on this review--both against other sources and even internally between review devices--are enough to bring the credibility of this specific review into question.
Many of the other reviews focus on UI fluidity when discussing performance. There's actually many different facets to how a device performs. A phone like the Pixel XL, which is very fluid and responsive, can be slower than competing phones when performing other tasks that are not UI dependent.
Dear Matt. Why I don't see the Discomark here, the way you can show the opening apps speed for QHD Android Pixel XL is slow comparing FHD like Oneplus 3. Are you waiting for FHD google pixel non XL test
Nah, try to catch the trend. In Nexus/Pixel phone reviewers, the reviewer praises Samsung/HTC phones. In Samsung phone reviewers, the reviewer praises Nexus/Pixel phones. In HTC phone reviewers, the reviewer praises Samsung/Google phones. You will never be happy with your Android phone by reading Anandtech reviews, haha.
IMHO, Pixel phones are like iPhone, boring, but does everything well enough, it's targeting the exact same market.
They're in no way fashionable though, unlike the iPhone. People want to be 'seen' with iPhones; Google products, not so much. That was fine when Google were delivering high-value products (various Nexus devices) which value-conscious consumers bought; not so much with expensive-yet-flawed Pixel devices.
They absolutely must have gotten a lemon or are missing objectivity. I and my wife have both the Pixel XL and regular version. Couldn't be happier. Phone is very fluid with no issues yet and not one reboot since received on October 20. Camera is phenomenal. Something is very amiss with this review.
Yeah, this phone's price is a joke. Too many flaws to justify a flagship price like that.
It's be a totally decent device for $300-$400. $649?
Just get a OnePlus or something from Huawei for half the price with virtually the same spec sheet. All this phone does better than the competition is GPU performance.
Isn't that kind of damning? That Google would have total control over everything and still manage to send two duds to one of the world's leading technology review sites?
Read the comments. He said they got 2 units and they are the same. The odds of two "lemons" is a tad high. The fact is android fans want this thing to be their "iphone" Anandtech doesn't feel it is.
Wow, this is kind of surprising. The Pixel has gotten pretty great reviews from pretty much everyone, I think, so its surprising to see this kind of conclusion from Anandtech. Still, its Google's first try, so hopefully the Pixel 2 will be even better.
That's where it uses a RAM cache for DirectIO calls as well, right? Leading to some posting scores in the thousands of MB/s. I wonder if that RAM cache helps app launch speeds though? What shows up on Discomark?
The developer recently released a new version of AndroBench that fixes the Android 7 compatibility issue. I tested two Pixel XL's and a few other phones and added the results to the "System Performance" section.
What really boggles my mind is why the Pixel XL is so slow in most of the system performance benchmarks provided here. I really am wondering if you or anyone else has any explanation for why that is. It looks as if this is the only device running Nougat that you have tested in depth by far, and Nougat already broke Androbench initially, so it seems to me there could be a possibility that this version of Android is in some way affecting how this device performs these types of tasks. Very odd indeed...
Interestingly this is the first review of Pixel XL that i've come across which says the phone is not up to the mark and I agree. I had a chance to play with one a couple days ago and found it underwhelming. Sure the camera is good and the UI is smooth but the rest was just ho-hum. At this price point they are not offering anything better than what S7 edge or 7 plus don't already offer. And the other two phones are cheaper (at least here in India). I really wanted to switch to a flagship Android device but i guess i'll have to wait another year.
While I like my S7 Edge, I have had repeated software issues, which result in false touches and the sound turning itself on. I really want to try a stock Android experience now. And before someone suggests iOS, I have a work iPhone which I increasingly find a real pain to use. I can't believe people complain about Samsung bloatware when an iPhone is full of apps I don't use, can't delete and can't even move off the home screens.
Samsung phones can be great in the first half year, then performance slowly goes down hill from there. Also the fact that Samsung don't get update as fast as Nexus/Pixel is another point to consider.
Overpriced Nexus would indeed describe this phone quite accurately. Maybe next time when Google has more time to take matters into their own hands and make it truly theirs it will bring something truly new to the table.
That's it??! Just a basic review with many missing segments that were included in previous standard Anandtech reviews, with no in-depth analysis, that was released 3 weeks after many tech publications released their reviews with the same amount of analysis and standards as yours?!
Anandtech, something is very wrong with your "business plan". You guys don't offer a value proposition to your "products". Most of your reviews are just as standard as the other guys' but you release them much later. Either you decrease the number of reviews to focus on to just a few products with proper in-depth analysis or soon you will cease to exist (I would't be surprised if your traffic stats are just a small fraction of the one from 2 years ago). You have to make a drastic change soon. The only thing that brings me here is the nostalgia for high quality tech journalism and sadly I'm not seeing that anymore.
I'm sure you have low resources, but please focus them for the highest impact.
Good luck guys! I'm sure you can turn this around!
Might the drop have to do with all of the major releases that occurred a few short months ago? I mean talk about a crazy summer, it was GPU madness, new ARM architectures, speculation on ZEN, etc. I would imagine the web traffic would relatively closely follow the release cadence of new products. Now that doesn't mean Anandtech can't get better, but I don't believe that drop in ranking is a direct correlation to the concerns you presented.
I would've liked to see a review of the smaller Pixel too, there could be notable differences in display and battery performance (possibly for worse, but still)...
I understand things like that, and charge time testing, and storage testing may have been out of your hands for now tho. Were the Wi-Fi benchmarks broken on 7.0 too?
Charge time, charge rate, compatibility, etc and a discussion of Power Delivery vs Quick Charge from AT's point of view would be interesting... I know there's sources studying that to death (like Benson and Nathan K)...
Those sources have some skin in the game or slight bias tho, not that I think favoring an actual standard over a proprietary scheme should be frowned upon, but most people aren't gonna go that deep into the subject to scour a dozen G+ posts.
Also, video IQ and IS testing like you've done at other times. They made a lot of claims about their EIS being a notch above, tho I'm skeptical it can really keep up with 4K footage (no easy task).
I don't know about that. I had wireless charging on three different phones and they all worked just fine. If I were to guess, it has more to do with cost cutting and perhaps in some cases the design limitations it imposes (issues with metal, for example). Also, it may just not have been used that much, considering people had to buy the chargers separately.
This phone has a glass window anyway, I feel like they could've gone full glass or oriented it and re-arrange things as to make it work... Not like Qi coils take up much space at all, and the only phone it'd be in danger of looking more like would be the Galaxy.
Pixel made me move away from android for the first time in six years. I really liked my nexus phones, I've built quite a collection of them over the years, I just don't see how the pixels are any better than the nexus line and I don't like that they basically doubled the price. Have to vote with my wallet.
Sounds like you standard underwhelming HTC product.
Any word on the improvements to touch latency that have been talked about? Is it hardware or purely software? And is that part of the UI fluidity that you point out?
The HTC 10 got a VERY positive review here few weeks ago. and in fact, it got positive reviews everywhere, It just couldn't breaks the Galaxy S7 Hype, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE my S7, but the 10 is a really nice and capable device, some would say better than the pixel, with expandable storage, bigger battery, nicer design, MUCH better audio (headphone out and speakers).
"Apple's iPhone 7 and 7 Plus do similarly well at 9.22 hours and 9.32 hours, despite the fact that their batteries are significantly smaller than the Pixel XL's. "
Why if the batteries are so much smaller, the phones are still so bog, especially the 7 Plkus. What is occupying the additional space? It seems to suggest that Apple would be incapable of moving to a higher res screen without increasing the size of the phone? Anyone with a view?
Probably a mix of a few things, but actual Barrett life is one of the reasons I roll my eyes when people complain about Apple making things small at the expense of battery. They still have great life despite being thin.
The iPhone is about 1.5mm thinner, that contributes a good deal, and they've also got a larger haptic feedback element. They could increase battery by making it thicker, but I don't imagine they'd need more battery to get higher resolution. They have a leg up on SoC performance to drive those pixels, and they use IPS currently so they could switch to a higher efficiency screen like AMOLED.
Part of the answer is a high quality haptics engine. Part is OIS (and two camera housings). Part is a remarkably large primary speaker, and a respectably large secondary speaker.
Lol .. another isheep spotted . SImply pulling up irrelevant numbers and trying to prop up a iphones . Case in point .. Pixel has a superlative display and this fellow brings in stupid irrelevant numbers from junk . Pixel is at top of the android tree in all means and measures . Accept it and just play with your one plus 3 and samsung junks .
So verifying the accuracy of the display is "stupid irrelevant numbers from junk"? At least your comment is easily ignored. Maybe you love your oversaturated displays but some of us value accuracy.
look at the benchmarks, iPhone wins all benchmarks(the ones that matters) now. lol, looks like the tech world did a 180 in the last few years.
It used to be Android that wins all benchmarks, because that's all they got. Now the tide has reverse, iPhone cares so much about benchmarks now, while Android/Nexus/Pixel cares more about day to day usage. WTH?
The Auto HDR+ mode and HDR+ On mode are actually very different modes. HDR+ On is the traditional HDR, taking dark and bright exposures and combining them (which is slow). Auto HDR+ is Google's new HDR, which takes 9 dark exposures and combines them to reduce noise and then brightening the dark areas, and since it is continuously taking photos, Auto HDR+ has no shutter lag.
Please update the article to include all 3 modes, HDR+ off, Auto HDR+ and HDR+ On.
Yes, there is a difference in how the camera works when using "HDR+ auto" vs "HDR+ on." Thanks for pointing that out. I've updated the review to explain the difference in performance.
Someone has been testing it manually. It coherent with Anandtech findings on Discomark bench. Most of QHD phones not speedy enough as FHD phone like Oneplus 3 or even Xiaomi lowprice phone. Take a look here : Pixel XL vs iphone7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na0JRDMAoKM , and iPhone 7 vs Oneplus 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuXvCN8A7GQ
I miss you already Nexus. Google had catered to people like myself who wanted solid specs with a reasonable price in a reasonably solid enclosure. I will not be chasing them to the high-end. I can appreciate those with fat wallets doing it, but I think it's ridiculous to spend $700+ every 2 years replacing a handset. There are way too many options in the $200-300 range to waste so much cash on a device like this.
technically you wouldn't be spending a full $700 every 2 years, assuming you sell your old phone in good condition, it'd probably only come out to around $400 or so every 2 years
Samsungs have notoriously poor resell rates. It's the constant BOGO and free phone deals they offer. Drives their rates wayyyy down. iPhones and Nexus/Pixels tend of offer deals less frequently and hold their value better.
I waited for the Pixel to come out and then got a Nexus 6P for $399 and Project fi and couldn't be happier! Way overpriced for what you get, no water proofing, no OIS....
Hmmm another unenthusiastic flagship Android device review.
Thats ok, they needed three weeks after release unlike those great Apple devices which are done almost instantly. Coincidentally, I'm sure, the Apple phones have the best reviews!
No bias here, just you know, luck of the draw for the last 5-7 years.
Uhh, you do realize that part 2 of the iPhone 7 review, the CPU deep dive, STILL is not out? And the first part of the iPhone 7 review came out three weeks after the iPhone 7 was released (October 10th vs September 16th)...
You can make up facts all you like, and you'll never be criticized, by all the imaginary friends at your doll tea-party, but when you want to make claims on the internet, you don't get to create your own reality.
They are iSheeps ... but it hardly matters as they are the only black sheep .. all other sites and channels are wowed by the Google phone .. so Google will kick Apple butt with its very first iteration itself .. other chinese stuff and Sammy bombs are not even competition .
Nice article! Original Design Manufacturer can fix LTE problem maybe, or get a 5" Pixel phone to find out what's wrong with your Pixel XL. Waiting for new update!!!
I had a google nexus It died due to a faulty patch from google. The real problem with the Google phones is they are not repairable compared to other phones. No one has any parts for them. If screen surface layer breaks . get a new phone. My Old Samsung. _t cost me $10 to get it replaced. Battery Bad on Google product? Get new phone. because a $30 battery failed early. And very few protective cases available. Go to a store. There walls of Samsung cases, iphone cases. ZERO google cases. Since No memory card slot I would always have issues transferring from phone to computer, especially videos. When phone failed last I had to SUE google . they wanted to charge me the cost of a new phone to fix a problem caused by their update.
You must not be looking hard enough. I've replaced the battery on my N5 and N7 from 2013. If anything they are the easiest to find. And thanks to full OTA files now you can fix any recent nexus device that is bootloader locked.
WTF are these two smoking? I have a Pixel XL and most of these negatives they write about aren't even true. It's easily the best Android phone to date and most other reviewers will agree with that.
True ..both of these guys are iSheep . Shitting in their pants thinking about how the Pixel now and its future iterations are set to eat the iPhones for breakfast , lunch and dinner.
iphone is worse than quite a few of the flagship and mid tier android phones , so yes it does not matter if Pixel is the best Android phone or not .. it is better than iphone anyway .
Can you even imagine these iSheeps pulling up junk numbers stating iPhone displays are better ... Lol .. heights of crap .. iphones have the worst displays than even the $300 Android phones.
Vikram, you know google doesn't need you trolling on their behalf right? I have never in my life purchased an apple product, but the screen testing done by Anandtech is not subjective. Do they excessively gush praise for Apple products in contrast to Android? Absolutely, but come on man, there is no fudging the numbers on screen accuracy.
Lol .. you do understand right ,you are the odd review out against the Pixel .. I would have still understood if you had highlighted the positives ( which for pixel is way ahead of competition) instead of showing everything as negatives ... so no wonder you are the iSheep . And i say so specially because of putting iphone at top in all your junk display charts .. there is absolutely no doubt that iPhone is the worst in display ... so you are caught red handed ..paid review from competition .
Notebookcheck test of the Pixel XL display came to the same conclusion: for brightness, brightness distribution and color accuracy, Pixel XL fails to impress while the iPhone 7 Plus has the incredible color accuracy:
Wtf does boring display and poorest pixels mean? I used to hate on Apple 20 years ago but eventually I got over being cool by hating them and have bought products of theirs that meet my needs. Grow up and enjoy the choices.
On a scale from 1 to 10, your normal reviews are a 6 since you focus on synthetic , single active app battery life and don't look at all at many key metrics. This is a 3.5 since you just skip large parts of what a normal review is. Why even bother, there are 10000 other reviews with almost no relevant data already.
The Pixel phones are WAY overpriced for what they deliver. Google clearly didn't bother with tightening the OS integration to "their" phone. The audio is not good compared to HTC branded phones so they didn't bother tapping HTC's superb talent in that department. Goggle is using off the shelf hardware ie not designing their own ARM cores. Their camera is near the top of the stack, but not the best because it lacks OIS. OIS costs money to implement yet their phone is more expensive than those with it. Google wants to sell you a premium phone at a premium price, but do less work and provide less features other Android phone manufacturers and certainly less than Apple. What in the actual.....are they thinking? Literally the only reason to buy a Pixel is if you want Android updates first.
Google phones sit right at top of the Android tree of phones , no matter what . I understand you cannot afford it , but that is your fate. Not everyone can afford an Apple or a Google phone . There are loads of chinese stuff in the market for you all .
I read through a scathing review, seeing negative after negative, and expected at the end to see "don't go anywhere near this device", but instead found, "In the end, the Pixel is a decent enough phone." Talk about an analysis not supporting the conclusion...
I guess what I mean is, if you feel like it's not half bad, tell us why in the review. If you have nothing at all good to say about the phone in your analysis, be straight with us in your conclusion.
Just saying that the overall tone of the review was very negative, and very little time was spent on any aspects you felt were positive, suggesting there were none. I appreciate the criticisms, but again, the "tone" of the review was very negative and doesn't seem to support your final words that it's "decent enough".
"One thing I do not like about the Pixel and some other phones with rear-mounted fingerprint sensors is there’s no easy way to wake the phone to check notifications when it’s sitting on a table. Having to pick it up or press the power button on the side is less convenient than double tapping the screen or waving a hand over the phone."
Not trying to be snarky here, just trying to understand. The various issues described here seem to have nothing to do with each other. Why does a fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone have anything to do with the (presumably different, sensing temperature/capacitance?) hand sensor, or a screen double-tap sensor?
FWIW Apple obviously have their fingerprint sensor in front, but while they have wake-on-raise, they don't have "hand-waving detection" or "screen double-tap to wake". The only thing the front fingerprint sensor gives Apple, if you're in the business of wanting to view your phone while not picking up, is you can tap the fingerprint sensor with the WRONG finger and get it to wake up the screen (and complain about that wrong finger).
I would not be surprised if Google's thinking here is the same as what I think Apple is thinking: power saving. Hand-waving is tough because how do you distinguish between a hand waved over the phone and the similar "wall of flesh next to the screen" when the phone is in your pocket? Likewise I don't know the extent to which a double-tapped screen matches a phone bouncing against the leg in a pocket, though that seems an easier problem (IF you can, with very low power, localize two taps as occurring successively over the same small area.)
I have to agree with the poor review sentiments. Not for the uniquely poor opinions (which strike me as a prospective buyer as molehills turned into mountains), but like many business ideas, this is just a review by the numbers/data and little more. Then the conclusion is "better than OK" but...based on what?
Even the photos presview show little to no real world usage. It took this long to benchmark the phone, but not apply any real world correlation to what the numbers mean? No commentary on software, value propositions, VR, actual media playback and usage, app usage, cloud integration, etc. Even things like future expansion of Google Assistant, or the value of Google updates for things like "Double tap to wake" which is already heavily rumored get no callouts.
Am I missing some parts of the Android eco-system? I do not understand your complaints at all
- VR --- what is real in this space yet? What do you expect them to test? How well it works in a cardboard frame playing some demo? Because I do not think you want anyone's honest opinion about that...
- app usage? ???
- cloud integration? ??? Means what? Does it connect to Google services? Uh, yes. Does it connect to Dropbox? Uh, yes. Does it work with Onedrive? Uh, again yes.
- future expansion of Google Assistant and Google updates? How the fsck is Anandtech supposed to know what Google plans to do with future versions of Assistant. That's like complaining that iPhone review didn't have a section on what Siri can do in iOS 11.
Sorry to be harsh, but you're just ranting here. If you want to actually improve the quality of future reviews, start by explaining (like a normal person, without assuming your reader is psychic) EXACTLY what it is that the review is missing. Vague references to buzzwords and rumors do not cut it.
No camera hump, praise every single god and every single satan. Please, Apple, everyone else... go with Google here and remove the camera hump. I beg of you.
Are you willing to give up OIS to get that missing camera bump...?
This "argument" is, I'm sorry, every bit as childish as most of the arguments about USB-C. Most people use their phones within a case (you can tell those who don't by the crazing on their screens...). For all those users, the camera bump is moot because the case thickness covers it.
Was honestly slightly sad to not see one. With everyone racing back to the moto razr and the quality of photos limited by the depth of the lens assembly I don't mind seeing the hump for better photos. And OIS. I'll pay you whatever you want for a high end HTC with google's branding and OIS. If UFS is decent. I'm very skeptical. A hodgepodge of specs crammed together and the protocol tying it together is SCSI? Show me some numbers.
I'm disappointed by the price of these phones. Not that they aren't worth it. It's just that the Google phones used to be very high on the price/performance curve. My Nexus 5x was $280 and it does everything I need. Perhaps some lower cost models are on the way.
The (lack of) screen brightness is also a little concerning. I know my 5x is just passable when using outside during the day and it is brighter than these phones according to this review.
All that being said, I like 5" phones and the 5" one looks to be amazing if you like phones in that size.
@hulk: I am/was also very disappointed in the pricing of these phones. Coming from the 5X, I was hoping for a phone around $500 mark in the smaller Pixel. Alas....
I think specs wise the Pixel (the regular--not the XL) isn't anything to write home about when you consider some of the competition. It is kind of what I had hoped the 5X would have been: a smaller form factor of the 6P with the same future-proofed specs.
I waffled on getting a Pixel because at launch my feeling was "meh." But after much reflection, I bought one. Why?
1) I've been on the flagship train for a long time now, and in the PAST I've spent $600+ for a phone. Just got spoiled by the 5X I guess. 2) After life in Nexus-land, I've decided that I love love love vanilla Android. No bloat, it's fast, it's been smooth (for me), and we get updates MONTHLY. I'm no longer happy waiting months for OEMs to pump out patches and updates because they have to work around whatever skinning they've done to the OS. 3) I figure that with Pixel being Google's latest darling, a lot of resources will go into making the Pixel user experience the best that it can be on Android.
#3 really tipped the scales for me. I too like the 5-5.2" phones, and the Pixel ended up being my top choice for this year. I'm hoping it will keep me happy for the next 2 years, but that might require some therapy :)
I guess I should add that I'm a moderate user who is addicted to my phone for keeping me up to date, in contact with people and data, and I use it for a little bit of entertainment (no gaming and very rarely for videos though).
That said, I'm really very happy with the Pixel in my day to day use. It keeps up with me just fine, has an all day battery life (probably 30% better than my 5X), and everything on it is really fast and very smooth.
Same here. Now if only we could get Samsung hardware and the same Nexus/Pixel software experience/updates. That would be nirvana. I hate that I have to choose one or the other (and always choose Nexus).
I'm in sorta the same boat, spoiled by the Nexus 5 which I've used for three years despite having bought one pricey (on contract) phone a year for 3 years prior to that...
Can't go back to heavily skinned phones, I would accepted a midrange Moto/OnePlus (maybe even a Sony) but they're either not making 5" phones or they've lost their way (Sony).
There's actually a ton more midrange choices at 5.5"+ IMO, at ~5" we have what, the Honor 8 with a software framework that puts TouchWiz to shame (tho they seem to be making progress on 7.0 beta) and the HTC 10?
If the HTC 10 was just a little cheaper (only $100 less or so) and/or had wireless charging I'd have opted for that, but as things stand I was fine with the Pixel's compromises and thus it's price.
Some OEM provide a way to do it, roughly (usually just a white point slider or a color space toggle like Pixel's) but it's usually not nearly enough for accurate calibration. It's a problem that should probably be addressed at the OS level at some point, like a desktop OS.
Going from Nexus 6P to Pixel XL, I find that display readability in the sun to be MUCH MUCH better than the graphs show. There must be some cliff between the two devices.
I know exactly what you're referring to and the answer is, "yes", you can forget about that with either Pixel. The thermal performance is excellent in both cases, though marginally better on the XL than the 5". Actually, the thermal performance is best in class among Android phones.
There's also the issue of reflectance playing into readability under max brightness. And other sources say the Pixel performs exceptionally well for that metric.
Your iPhone 7 review is 10 pages and your HTC 10 review is 12 pages, this one is only 8. I'm not sure what else there is to say, other than I'm disappointed.
No comments on video quality? A friend just got an XL and the EIS is so aggressive that if you do a slow pan, it ends up looking like stop, jerk, stop, jerk etc. Extremely annoying and seems like a huge oversight to not be able to detect panning.
I seriously believe you spent too much time bashing in the device based on a Benchmark score when what I have seen from the performance on this phone seems absolutely contradictory with that result.
You could easily speak of charging times without going too deeply on it rather than saying "we can't measure it, lol"
I do agree with the rest of the facts you state, for this price it needs to deliver far more than it does, except for bashing the device for defaulting to NTSC when it does have an sRGB mode, most customers prefer oversaturated vivid displays, they include the sRGB for those who actually care about accuracy, defaulting to the customer friendly mode is not a reason to criticize them.
It's not just that it defaults to an oversaturated mode that Anandtech has a problem with. Their biggest gripe is choosing NTSC over P3 for the oversaturated mode. If it defaulted to P3, it would provide oversaturated, pretty colors AND being using a more relevant standard that would actually display some content (P3 content) accurately. There is not NTSC content available on phones, so nothing is going to be displayed accurately if manufacturers target NTSC.
Any comments on video performances? It would be interesting to compare google's advertised EIS against OIS. Also will there a 5" Pixel review? Battery life and screen would be different enough to be reviewed differently.
" We recently received a second Pixel XL review unit that shows some softening on the extreme left edge and a little in the corners, but it’s nowhere near as bad as. "
In the camera section, I'm guessing that sentence was either supposed to end on "the first unit", or the last 'as' there prior to the period is just redundant? Just nitpicking.
Good review, although I think you should look into measuring screen reflectance, as that makes more of a difference to outdoors readability than peak brightness.
What a disappointing phone. Poor design, screen, and optimisation, at a ridiculous price.
You read my mind, Mr Crazy Troll! It's clear to me that the OnePlus 3 is the current Android leader. Specs you can't argue with, and half, HALF the price of a Pixel XL. OxygenOS seems fine to me -- useful additions, rather than replacing what's already good in Android.
(Personally I use phones for 2+ years, and won't be replacing my Nexus 5X in the foreseeable future.)
Even T-MOBILE is paying Google Pixel Owners to come to them. I think $325 don't quote me. Corner of sixth and could be Smith. In CORONA CALIFORNIA. FYI! DHBRUCE2 is me!
Hey Matt, this will be the last time you site earns a farthing from my clicks. It's so evident this site (and you) have such a rock solid banana hammock for Apple that it seeps into every review. There was a time when Anandtech let their review speak for themselves, now it all boils down to a broken record of "Apple did it, does it,always will do better than X competitor."
I have flagships from all the top manufacturers. You sir, and your company, and Appletards. Goodday.
I'm disappointed in Google's display accuracy, it's not like it'll impact my use a ton but coming from a Nexus 5 & 7 (and often importing photos from my M4/3 camera into them) it's something I'll probably notice... And knowing they can and have done better in this regard bugs me.
Personally I still find the phone appealing, the smaller version at least... Ironically I think Android offers a lot more choices at 5.5", even after the Note debacle. If I was going that large I'd probably be picking between a OnePlus 3 and a Moto Z Play, both offer unquestionable value and light skins.
At 5" tho, if I don't wanna mess with Samsung's heavy handed software approach but still want near-flagship specs, the only other appealing choice is the HTC 10... I'm more comfortable with the Pixel's tradeoffs, and the difference is like $100-150~. I actually prefer the rear finger scanner too.
Standards compliant Type C PD charging (something Anandtech could've discussed tbh) and timely software updates do matter a lot to me tho, but I recognize that might not carry mass market appeal so I can see why the review takes the angle it does.
I think they review could've been more explicit in it's value/feature comparisons but on the level it seems fine, it's a shame 7.0 broke so much of the trading platform but it is what it is, the review is still relatively timely considering that tight stock supply.
If the HTC 10 was <$500 and/or had wireless charging I probably wouldn't have even considered the Pixel after seeing the price. My Nexus 5 is getting plenty long in the tooth tho... I liked reading the internal organisation logic that explains how Google ended up with it's bezels (they weren't much different on the N5 btw, just slimmer up top).
I don't think most other reviews bothered talking about the why and how of it. Personally I don't care a lot about it (given my preference for a rear reader), but I would love a bottom headphone jack. Every other phone I've had has it atop which messes with the direction I prefer slipping it in pocket.
No, we will not be doing a full review of the Moto Z Play. It shares its basic design and modularity with the Moto Z and Moto Z Force, which we did review. The Z Play has been tested, and its results appear in other reviews and can be seen in Bench. It's also shown up in a few camera comparisons too (see Hasselblad Moto Mod review), so you can evaluate image quality.
Will it be showing up in battery life charts, at least? It seems like it should be near the top if not the very top, so it would be a good point of comparison.
Excellent. Thanks! Great, in-depth review, by the way. All the other Pixel reviews aren't as balanced pointing out both flaws and strengths of the XL or smaller Pixel. Probably a result of them writing reviews in the space of a few days while using other devices.
Really disappointed in this phone given the price.
One other disappointing thing about this phone (not covered in as much detail) is that the sound quality underwhelms. Reviews have found it unfavorable to the Galaxy S7, let alone the LG V20, which is well regarded for its audio output.
The other is rant of mine is that no Android SOC goes anywhere near the iPhone's awesome single threaded performance, a disappointment with battery life implications (worse in the "race to sleep" in terms of battery consumption).
There is no such thing as "race to idle" with modern CPUs anymore. Tasks completed at a lower frequency over an extended period of time will use less power than having the CPU constantly ramp up depending on load.
Regardless, the A10s biggest advantage is the disgustingly closed-source and optimized ecosystem. It really isn't a valid benchmark as an SoC unless it runs on Android (it can be considered a consumer benchmark).
Please inform Intel that all the money they have been wasting on speedstep was wasted, they can go ahead and cull that from their product line since there is no point to having a turbo boost. In fact while you are at it make sure to inform ARM, Qualcomm, AMD and the rest. Boy are they lucky to have a genius like you around.
My comment was specifically focusing on power usage, not performance. Turbo boost is great when you want performance boosts for small peak loads. Yes, when it comes to optimal performance turbo boost/speedstep help in the race to idle. But when compared to a CPU running at a static low frequency the CPU at the lower frequency will complete tasks in a longer time, but still using less power.
Please learn to read before you blast a comment you didn't even comprehend.
just canceled my order because of this review, sad but I trust AT. I have a s6 on its last legs, which phone should i get? s7? wait for s8 (thats around march though right?)? oh well.
I'm also coming from the N6P, which this site gave a lukewarm review last year. Lo and behold a lukewarm review for the XL.
I think it's the best Android phone out there and I'm very happy with it so far. Sold my N6P for a little over 3hun.
At the end of the day, there are a lot of really good phones out there and this is one of them. The display is fine to my eyes as too is the battery life. It's also very fast.
I didn't buy it for it's looks, although I think it looks fine. If you want flash buy yourself a nice handbag and matching shoes and call it a day.
This is hardware with regular updates and no bloat.
I was enthusiastic with the Pixel XL initially. But it went down significantly when the rumor renders came out, and now with the review we have here. I can't justify spending 800 - 900+ bucks, CAD on this device when its design is bland and uninspired.
The Nexus 6 when it was released was a shellshock in terms of price, but damn, when I put a ROM on it so I could customize RGB values of the screen, it really came into its own. Smaller bezels than the Pixel XL and dual-front facing speakers.
The 6p ticked a lot of right boxes, sans some questionable build issues... but I think if that device got the SD820, it'd be more inspiring than the Pixel XL.
We need more phones like the Xiaomi Mi Mix. That bezel-less beauty! I'm importing one soon... when its in stock. Even as an import, it will be the same price as the Pixel XL... or cheaper. Similar specs to boot. Better design.
Anandtech is one of the reputed tech site. It's appaling to read that googles pixel is regressive in CPUbench mark tests when compared to 6p. Similarly if we go to your 6p review , the display was comparatively poor when compared to Nexus 5. In other words Nexus 5 was better than pixel in certain areas!! When other tech sites rave about pixel, anandtech presents issues in new light, though for the reader you have obviously omitted to highlight certain adavantages of pixel even though it might be called as a CRAP. Hope you take this short
nexus 5 better than pixel ..what else ? this is what happens when you blindly trust your reputed tech site . As if other sites ( all of whom have praised pixel and half of them have called pixel better that iphones) are there to just make up numbers.
Presenting issues in a new light doesn't necessarily make them worthwhile or important. I just got my 32GB 5' Pixel, and coming from a 6P, I think this phone is way better.
Is it worse in benchmarks? Maybe. I guess, according to AT. In usage though, I find the Pixel vastly better, thus the "new light" is more or less irrelevant to me. Might be irrelevant to you too.
You seem a little confused. The Pixel regressing in CPUbench in some areas has absolutely nothing to do with the screen. The 6p's screen has absolutely nothing to do with CPUbench. So where are you drawing this squiggly line that results in the Pixel's CPU regression making it's screen inferior to the 5? Now if you were to say that the 6p's CPUbench was worse than the 5X then you might be onto something but as it is you are meandering down the wrong path.
Hope you take this comment to Google so that they wake up and see the reality. I wonder howlong can play as being 2nd fiddle to apple churning out craps and expect common man to pay a premium price tag! A premium phone should deliver premium experience in all aspects not only in price.
It'll be interesting to see whether they ever address screen calibration via updates, if someone can afford the dev resources to do it post launch it's definitely Google.
Great review. Not sure if you retest after updates and such but I thought I would mention that I just received an update yesterday to Build Number NDE63V, Security patch level November 5, 2016 for my 32gb Pixel XL (Bell in Canada). It said it included performance enhancements so I went ahead and ran the update, and then ran some of the benchmarks that you guys did. I did see some improvements in 3d mark, but the big change for me was in AndroBench. I got the following: SR - 263.1 SW - 76.37 RR - 97.42 RW - 14.43
Hmm, interesting! Not something I'd expect to see heavy gains via update... Was AndroBench itself also updated in the interim? Just wondering whether they could still be tweaking it for 7.0.
Wow 97MB/s random read? That seems almost inexplicable, from dead last to an order of magnitude faster than anything... I'm curious why the larger model would ever be slower, should be backwards.
seems everyone makes the same mistake when reviewing cameras. what exactly is the positive control here, the iphone???
can we please get a camera comparison against a known quantity such as canon 5d mark iii/iv??? then we can see what cameras are undersaturating colors in low light, see if hdr+ is fixing overexposure correctly or not, etc
They'd all look like crap against even the Mk III, specially in the more stressful tests (low light etc)... As much as people like to pretend otherwise, there's still a gulf between phones and high end cameras (even against tiny mirrorless and 1" sensor models).
Judging exposure isn't hard otherwise... And JPEG processing is highly contested even amongst $2,000+ FF cameras. Invariably someone will complain Canon colors or Sony colors or w/e aren't their thing.
I consider almost every smartphone priced above 400USD borderline a scam. I don't buy the argument that you absolutely need to start your pricing at 650bucks if you want to compete with iPhone or Samsung. If the Pixel was a new Nexus 5Y, it probably would have been priced under 500USD for the 32GB model.The time is ripe to pop the overpriced smartphone bubble. Oneplus 3 with quite similar specs is selling for 400USD online, and you can pick up a Huawei Honor 8 at Best Buy for 350USD.
I agree. There is no way we can stop it though. People just kept paying the more expensive stuff. Even the Chinese makers are finding ways to sell more expensive phones.
I get my Pixel XL tomorrow, so would really like to get the settings you used. My daughter has an HTC 10 and well with HTC running a new deal $500 for the 10. I'll be doing some side by side comparisons over the next 10 days, to decide should I return the phone.
"The last time Google tried building and selling its own hardware running its own operating system, which occurred several years ago during its ill-fated acquisition of Motorola Mobility, Samsung almost jumped ship, threatening to use the Tizen mobile operating system instead. Google clamped down and persuaded Samsung to stay with Android, and after it sold its Motorola unit to Lenovo, the waves subsided. In the years since, Google has placed further restrictions on what its partners can do with Android, and now that it’s getting back into the hardware business in a roundabout manner, selling phones that directly compete with its partner’s products, competitive tempers could flare once again."
Well, if anyone, ANYONE, offered a completely stock experience with fast updates then I don't think Google would even bother making their own hardware; the fact that literally nobody is out there doing even a measly guaranteed two years (really there ought to be companies vying for three!) then they wouldn't need this phone so much.
Went phone shopping this past weekend. Everybody was pushing the Pixel pretty hard but honestly I didn't like it.
Samsung has better screen to body ratio's and I dislike the virtual home button. Open chrome and it takes up a chunk of the screen, on the samsung phones you get text in that area instead. Cameras and screen weren't any better than samsung's either. I'd take an s7 edge over the pixel anyday.
But I was pleasantly suprised by the LG V20. Unfortunately the only carrier I could find it on doesn't have coverage in my area but the phone itself was pretty nice. Really wide angle selfie-cam (wider fov than my note 5 which already has a wider fov than most phones), nice large screen (that looked good, unlike the g5 that I think has a terrible screen), and the extra 2nd screen at the top for music controls/wifi/clock etc is a nice little touch as well.
This is pretty ridiculous! They are charging same as iPhone and S7E, but they don't give you a great display? Or like you mentioned, the camera even, which is Pixel's main selling point, S7 outperforms it in low light? What the heck is this? I wanted to buy this phone when it cooled down in price a bit, but especially after reading the Display section I think I am out! If OnePlus 3's display is better (more accurate is better in my dictionary) then I would simply go for it, it costs like 70% less too! Jeez!
That display completely putting me off from this. Really sad.
Reading through the comments, it's apparent to me that you have both Nexus/Pixel advocates and haters. The haters, as expected, are thoroughly delighted by this review as it plays to their confirmation bias. At the same time, the advocates are disheartened because it allows them no confirmation bias. But, let's be honest - The authors are biased as well. This isn't a cut on the authors. It's merely recognition that they are, in fact, human beings and not technology-reviewing robots impervious that remain 100% objective at all times. So, there is subjectivity in this article and people would be well-served in reading many reviews when they are looking for a new device. As an example, the TechSpot Pixel XL review (google it, not putting the link here) rates the Pixel XL's dispaly in sRGB mode as excellent - "... in my testing with the Pixel XL in its sRGB mode, this display is the most accurate I have seen. In my punishing custom CALMAN 5 accuracy test, the Pixel XL recorded an astonishing dE2000 value of 1.18, which indicates near-perfect color performance. The Pixel XL also reported near-perfect grayscale accuracy and spot-on gamma." Similarly, other reviews offer drastically different assessments of the camera relative to the competition. Bottom line, look at this review as one of many resources that you can draw upon to make your own conclusion. AnandTech's review is certainly professional and high-quality, but it is not the end-all-be-all.
Damn! I never heard about this Techspot, but will surely read their review. I really don't know how there could be this massive difference in calibration results when same tool is used, there can't be a human error, so I don't know what to say really!
The launcher being evicted from memory is a familiar phenomenon for any Nexus user when you push the device. Happens on my Nexus 7, 5 and 6p. You get a completely black screen for maybe 3-6 seconds while the launcher is either restarted or swapped in. I have no doubt it would happen on the Pixel unless Google has rearchitected the whole thing, which they clearly haven't.
This is exactly the type of thing you won't find in a few days of testing, but will run into after using the phone for weeks and months. Thank you Anandtech for a thorough, and honest review! Android has a lot going for it, and it is my platform of choice, but you have to be honest about its shortcomings.
I don't agree because still i vote for iPhone 7 than Google Pixel XL. In iphone i can download paid apps with vshare app but i don't know how to download paid apps for free in Google Pixel XL. http://www.vshareappdownloads.com/
I recently purchased a Pixel and have three things to say about it:
1. It is the first Android phone I've ever owned about which I have no complaints. Everything about it works perfectly. It reminds me of iPhones, to some degree, in how polished the interface looks, feels, and works.
2. The bezel at the bottom is quite useful as an area of the phone in which touching it doesn't accidentally cause something to happen.
3. Its design is "boring"? Only to attention whores, perhaps.
FINALLY a true review of the Google Pixel phones, people over hype this phone so much. TBH I think its absolute garbage and isn't ready to compete with Sammy or Apple.
I mean the phone isn't even waterproof, how are you making a device that isn't water resistant in 2016?
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tvdang7 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
First!ddriver - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Congrats dork, you also score first in the "posts by lack of substance" category.Ryan Smith - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I have removed 2 comments.I give you guys a wide berth in your comments, as I believe honest criticism is part of the process for how we improve. However attacking my staff and calling them names is in no way constructive, and it will not be tolerated.
philehidiot - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Mr Smith, you are a poopy head. :)In all seriousness, this is the kind of review I've come to hope for from this site. Everyone else seems to be drooling over this phone for some reason but here we see an objective and quantitative analysis which puts it in its true place in the market. I do wonder given that other sites have been drooling over how slick everything was if you got a dodgy device? Other sites I've read don't seem to be experiencing the same occasional lag and the launcher being booted out of the RAM. Is it worth asking for a second phone to confirm these findings?
Ryan Smith - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
"Is it worth asking for a second phone to confirm these findings?"We actually have two phones. The experience is similar on both.
amdwilliam1985 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
you guys must be doing some guru stuff to make Pixel and XL lag.Because all the reviews I've saw and read says they can get iPhone 7+(the god phone) to lag while Pixel won't slow down at all. -_-;; Those people must be out of their mind, maybe they mistaken pixel for iphone and iphone for pixel.
WinterCharm - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Those reviews are biased, in that, sure, compared to other android phones the pixel is less laggy. But the iPhone remains the best mobile phone experience with top of the line hardware, and zero lag.Anandtech is really really damn good at being unbiased, and I trust their reviews above everyone else.
Baldilocks - Sunday, November 20, 2016 - link
....if you want an app launcher, then yes, the iPhone is the best mobile phone experience possible. If you want a SMARTphone that allows you to do SO much more, then Android is where it's at.star-affinity - Monday, November 21, 2016 - link
@Baldilocks I thought the stuff of value for most people using a (smart)phone is actually done within the apps themselves?blzd - Sunday, November 13, 2016 - link
No doubt those are the same reviewers that say "Touch Wiz is smooth this time we swear!".philehidiot - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Ah, I saw you'd got another phone but I didn't realise you'd tested performance on both. Fair enough, that's good enough for me. A shame but likely nothing that can't be fixed with a software update. I think to those who say you're pushing them too hard, it's possible you are pushing them harder than most casual users but that's reflecting your power user demographic. People who read this site are far more likely to push their phones harder than the average user so I think that's totally fair.Alexvrb - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Agreed, great review, overpriced phone. The last paragraph sums it up nicely. If it started life around $400 the review would have been more favorable. But when they decided to price it up against the best phones out there, they lost their way. I can't believe anyone would be hyped for this when there's better phones out there for the same money or less. Especially when you look at one with a good chunk of storage, given the lack of an SD card.Cliff34 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
I agree. Had Google price it as an average phone (around 400 dollars), then there would be a higher uptake for people to use the phone and ultimately stick with using Android.I guess is because they feel they are in the same league as Apple and want to compete at their level. Nothing wrong with that but just deliver a quality well-designed phone.
Pixel is a learning lesson for Google that to make a high quality phone is not as easy as they thought. They might have the OS but to package everything together (hardware and software) is no easy feat.
vikramc - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Apple is below Google in all areas . Google is the god of innovation if you did you realise .. the google driverless car is waiting for you : )Wwhat - Sunday, November 13, 2016 - link
The pixels are using the enhanced positional tracking and low lag screens and such for VR, those things tend to increase the price a bit, and seeing there are only one or two others that have the specs required at this point they can also enjoy exclusivity.Michael Bay - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Palpable envy.nathanddrews - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
In an attempt to your post useful in some way, does this phone support YouTube's new HDR playback? Or is the display chain locked to SDR?https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyqf6gJt7Ku...
zeeBomb - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Anandtech came thru! Great review by Matt and Brandon!ddriver - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Despite all the superlatives, the design looks quite cheap to me, especially the back. Also the edges of the sim slot look extremely low craftsmanship.Gunbuster - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
It does rather resemble the $60 BLU R1 HD...Flunk - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
It's like they built a $400 phone and a $500 phone and then just upped the price. It it any more compelling than the $400 OnePlus 3? Not really and that's been out a while.amdwilliam1985 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I think Google was "forced" to sell at higher price brackets. Targeting iPhone and Galaxy S/Note lines.Kind of like the surface pro/book line from Microsoft, if Microsoft lowers price to grab market shares, how the heck would Dell/HP/Lenovo survive with their cheap stuff?
Meteor2 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
...and Samsung at the expensive end too, I guess. Making this phone so poor compared to Samsung's efforts (which, like Apple's, I dislike but respect), keeps an important ally on-side.Black Obsidian - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Speaking only for myself (as a potential buyer of one of these devices), I found the Pixel XL more compelling than OP3 due to:1) Higher-quality screen
2) Higher-quality camera
3) Guaranteed rapid availability of new Android versions/features
4) Higher expectations of manufacturer support
The above, combined with my Nexus 5 rapidly circling the reliability and performance drain, ultimately convinced me to (very grudgingly) pay the extra money for the Pixel XL. Obviously the Pixel's value proposition will be worse for people who value the above items less than I do.
nico_mach - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
One personal pet peeve about button placement and design: with the volume/power buttons in the middle, as on this phone and the 6P, it's hard to dock the phone in your car for directions. Because naturally the clamps would go in the middle of the phone, but you can't do that if it turns up/down the volume or powers it on/off. Android OEMs, take note!blakeatwork - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I thought I had the same problem. Easy fix; clamp it lower on the device. There is plenty of space on the bottom half to clamp below the volume button, and still maintain a good hold.colts187 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
It looks to me like they got a lemon. I've had none of the memory issues/home redrawing stuff with my device. My battery life is EXCELLENT and so is the performance.colts187 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
And I understand they got two review units. I'm just surprised based on my own personal usage.ChernobylChild - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Same here. It's an amazing phone and I've never been this disappointed in an Anandtech review.alexdi - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
The review was clear and factual. Are you disappointed by facts?Jumangi - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
What a stupid post. Anandtech hasn't given you your wish fulfillment confirmation bias that you have the greatest phone ever made. This is a well done and thorough review.Black Obsidian - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
As much as I consider Anandtech to be THE authoritative source for smartphone reviews, their conflicting reports on this review--both against other sources and even internally between review devices--are enough to bring the credibility of this specific review into question.Matt Humrick - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Many of the other reviews focus on UI fluidity when discussing performance. There's actually many different facets to how a device performs. A phone like the Pixel XL, which is very fluid and responsive, can be slower than competing phones when performing other tasks that are not UI dependent.realbabilu - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Dear Matt.Why I don't see the Discomark here, the way you can show the opening apps speed for QHD Android Pixel XL is slow comparing FHD like Oneplus 3. Are you waiting for FHD google pixel non XL test
Matt Humrick - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
DiscoMark does not work on Android 7 right now.amdwilliam1985 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Nah, try to catch the trend.In Nexus/Pixel phone reviewers, the reviewer praises Samsung/HTC phones.
In Samsung phone reviewers, the reviewer praises Nexus/Pixel phones.
In HTC phone reviewers, the reviewer praises Samsung/Google phones.
You will never be happy with your Android phone by reading Anandtech reviews, haha.
IMHO, Pixel phones are like iPhone, boring, but does everything well enough, it's targeting the exact same market.
Meteor2 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
They're in no way fashionable though, unlike the iPhone. People want to be 'seen' with iPhones; Google products, not so much. That was fine when Google were delivering high-value products (various Nexus devices) which value-conscious consumers bought; not so much with expensive-yet-flawed Pixel devices.Tns123 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
They absolutely must have gotten a lemon or are missing objectivity. I and my wife have both the Pixel XL and regular version. Couldn't be happier. Phone is very fluid with no issues yet and not one reboot since received on October 20. Camera is phenomenal. Something is very amiss with this review.Samus - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Yeah, this phone's price is a joke. Too many flaws to justify a flagship price like that.It's be a totally decent device for $300-$400. $649?
Just get a OnePlus or something from Huawei for half the price with virtually the same spec sheet. All this phone does better than the competition is GPU performance.
amdwilliam1985 - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Anandtech review phones got LTE problem, looks like they got bad units.http://www.androidauthority.com/google-pixel-lte-b...
fanofanand - Tuesday, November 15, 2016 - link
Isn't that kind of damning? That Google would have total control over everything and still manage to send two duds to one of the world's leading technology review sites?polygon_21 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Given the price, was seriously expecting betterpierrot - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Not as positive as other reviews, but the price killed this for me either wayaapetyo - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I agree. Price is the deal breaker for me and I echo the sentiments of some of the other comments as well...it seems like they may have got a lemon.Jumangi - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Read the comments. He said they got 2 units and they are the same. The odds of two "lemons" is a tad high. The fact is android fans want this thing to be their "iphone" Anandtech doesn't feel it is.Drumsticks - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Wow, this is kind of surprising. The Pixel has gotten pretty great reviews from pretty much everyone, I think, so its surprising to see this kind of conclusion from Anandtech. Still, its Google's first try, so hopefully the Pixel 2 will be even better.realbabilu - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Please review the Mi note 3 againts this. or mi mix pleaserealbabilu - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
my bad, mi note 2. perhaps mi5s also since it has same sensor camera. regardsarsjum - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
No comment about the storage performance? Or did I miss that?Laxaa - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I couldn't find it either. Maybe there wasn't any time to test it?Matt Humrick - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Android 7 broke our storage performance benchmark. It also broke DiscoMark and our battery charging test.tipoo - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
That's where it uses a RAM cache for DirectIO calls as well, right? Leading to some posting scores in the thousands of MB/s. I wonder if that RAM cache helps app launch speeds though? What shows up on Discomark?
realbabilu - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Ok thank you for explanation.Matt Humrick - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
The developer recently released a new version of AndroBench that fixes the Android 7 compatibility issue. I tested two Pixel XL's and a few other phones and added the results to the "System Performance" section.Impulses - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Much appreciated!Veteater - Wednesday, November 16, 2016 - link
What really boggles my mind is why the Pixel XL is so slow in most of the system performance benchmarks provided here. I really am wondering if you or anyone else has any explanation for why that is. It looks as if this is the only device running Nougat that you have tested in depth by far, and Nougat already broke Androbench initially, so it seems to me there could be a possibility that this version of Android is in some way affecting how this device performs these types of tasks. Very odd indeed...Sarvesh - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Interestingly this is the first review of Pixel XL that i've come across which says the phone is not up to the mark and I agree. I had a chance to play with one a couple days ago and found it underwhelming. Sure the camera is good and the UI is smooth but the rest was just ho-hum. At this price point they are not offering anything better than what S7 edge or 7 plus don't already offer. And the other two phones are cheaper (at least here in India). I really wanted to switch to a flagship Android device but i guess i'll have to wait another year.Speedfriend - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
While I like my S7 Edge, I have had repeated software issues, which result in false touches and the sound turning itself on. I really want to try a stock Android experience now. And before someone suggests iOS, I have a work iPhone which I increasingly find a real pain to use. I can't believe people complain about Samsung bloatware when an iPhone is full of apps I don't use, can't delete and can't even move off the home screens.thesloth - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Latest iOS allows Apple default apps to be removed from the home screen, although they are not deleted from the filesystem.amdwilliam1985 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Samsung phones can be great in the first half year, then performance slowly goes down hill from there. Also the fact that Samsung don't get update as fast as Nexus/Pixel is another point to consider.CrazyElf - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
With a custom ROM based on AOSP or a derivative, that can be resolved.Alas, Samsung as of late has locked their phones and made them harder to break, so perhaps that advantage is now gone.
R. Hunt - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Overpriced Nexus would indeed describe this phone quite accurately. Maybe next time when Google has more time to take matters into their own hands and make it truly theirs it will bring something truly new to the table.T1beriu - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
That's it??! Just a basic review with many missing segments that were included in previous standard Anandtech reviews, with no in-depth analysis, that was released 3 weeks after many tech publications released their reviews with the same amount of analysis and standards as yours?!Anandtech, something is very wrong with your "business plan". You guys don't offer a value proposition to your "products". Most of your reviews are just as standard as the other guys' but you release them much later. Either you decrease the number of reviews to focus on to just a few products with proper in-depth analysis or soon you will cease to exist (I would't be surprised if your traffic stats are just a small fraction of the one from 2 years ago). You have to make a drastic change soon. The only thing that brings me here is the nostalgia for high quality tech journalism and sadly I'm not seeing that anymore.
I'm sure you have low resources, but please focus them for the highest impact.
Good luck guys! I'm sure you can turn this around!
T1beriu - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Wow, this is extremely worrying and proves my fears.http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/anandtech.com
10basetom - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
The chart shows rank, not hits.jtang97 - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
But shouldn't that be alarming in itself?I mean, in the space of a year, it dropped over a 1.5k positions in global ranking. And nearly 1k of that drop was in the past 3 months....
fanofanand - Tuesday, November 15, 2016 - link
Might the drop have to do with all of the major releases that occurred a few short months ago? I mean talk about a crazy summer, it was GPU madness, new ARM architectures, speculation on ZEN, etc. I would imagine the web traffic would relatively closely follow the release cadence of new products. Now that doesn't mean Anandtech can't get better, but I don't believe that drop in ranking is a direct correlation to the concerns you presented.hans_ober - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
+1Ryan Smith - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
"Just a basic review with many missing segments that were included in previous standard Anandtech reviews"Just out of curiosity, what would you like to see that wasn't present? We've already done SD820 to death, for example.
munim - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
I was looking forward to wifi performanceImpulses - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
I would've liked to see a review of the smaller Pixel too, there could be notable differences in display and battery performance (possibly for worse, but still)...I understand things like that, and charge time testing, and storage testing may have been out of your hands for now tho. Were the Wi-Fi benchmarks broken on 7.0 too?
Charge time, charge rate, compatibility, etc and a discussion of Power Delivery vs Quick Charge from AT's point of view would be interesting... I know there's sources studying that to death (like Benson and Nathan K)...
Those sources have some skin in the game or slight bias tho, not that I think favoring an actual standard over a proprietary scheme should be frowned upon, but most people aren't gonna go that deep into the subject to scour a dozen G+ posts.
Impulses - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Also, video IQ and IS testing like you've done at other times. They made a lot of claims about their EIS being a notch above, tho I'm skeptical it can really keep up with 4K footage (no easy task).Gadgety - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
"missing support for...wireless charging "Even the Nexus 4 had that.
sor - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Wireless charging has largely disappeared as of the past few years, unfortunately.name99 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Gee. It's almost like when Apple supporters said it wasn't yet ready for prime-time, they were correct. Imagine that?sor - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I don't know about that. I had wireless charging on three different phones and they all worked just fine. If I were to guess, it has more to do with cost cutting and perhaps in some cases the design limitations it imposes (issues with metal, for example). Also, it may just not have been used that much, considering people had to buy the chargers separately.Meteor2 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Qualcomm released through-metal Qi tech a couple of years ago, but I bet they charge handsomely for it.Impulses - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
This phone has a glass window anyway, I feel like they could've gone full glass or oriented it and re-arrange things as to make it work... Not like Qi coils take up much space at all, and the only phone it'd be in danger of looking more like would be the Galaxy.Meteor2 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Well, apart Samsung phones, the biggest sellers. So I guess wireless charging hasn't disappeared at all.sor - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Pixel made me move away from android for the first time in six years. I really liked my nexus phones, I've built quite a collection of them over the years, I just don't see how the pixels are any better than the nexus line and I don't like that they basically doubled the price. Have to vote with my wallet.deathBOB - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Sounds like you standard underwhelming HTC product.Any word on the improvements to touch latency that have been talked about? Is it hardware or purely software? And is that part of the UI fluidity that you point out?
David_K - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
The HTC 10 got a VERY positive review here few weeks ago. and in fact, it got positive reviews everywhere, It just couldn't breaks the Galaxy S7 Hype, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE my S7, but the 10 is a really nice and capable device, some would say better than the pixel, with expandable storage, bigger battery, nicer design, MUCH better audio (headphone out and speakers).DM725 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
My gf loves her HTC 10Speedfriend - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
"Apple's iPhone 7 and 7 Plus do similarly well at 9.22 hours and 9.32 hours, despite the fact that their batteries are significantly smaller than the Pixel XL's. "Why if the batteries are so much smaller, the phones are still so bog, especially the 7 Plkus. What is occupying the additional space? It seems to suggest that Apple would be incapable of moving to a higher res screen without increasing the size of the phone? Anyone with a view?
sor - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Probably a mix of a few things, but actual Barrett life is one of the reasons I roll my eyes when people complain about Apple making things small at the expense of battery. They still have great life despite being thin.The iPhone is about 1.5mm thinner, that contributes a good deal, and they've also got a larger haptic feedback element. They could increase battery by making it thicker, but I don't imagine they'd need more battery to get higher resolution. They have a leg up on SoC performance to drive those pixels, and they use IPS currently so they could switch to a higher efficiency screen like AMOLED.
name99 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
You do know that you can FIND the answer to your question?:https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone+7+Plus+Tear...
Part of the answer is a high quality haptics engine. Part is OIS (and two camera housings). Part is a remarkably large primary speaker, and a respectably large secondary speaker.
vikramc - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Lol .. another isheep spotted . SImply pulling up irrelevant numbers and trying to prop up a iphones . Case in point .. Pixel has a superlative display and this fellow brings in stupid irrelevant numbers from junk . Pixel is at top of the android tree in all means and measures . Accept it and just play with your one plus 3 and samsung junks .fanofanand - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
So verifying the accuracy of the display is "stupid irrelevant numbers from junk"? At least your comment is easily ignored. Maybe you love your oversaturated displays but some of us value accuracy.amdwilliam1985 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
look at the benchmarks, iPhone wins all benchmarks(the ones that matters) now.lol, looks like the tech world did a 180 in the last few years.
It used to be Android that wins all benchmarks, because that's all they got. Now the tide has reverse, iPhone cares so much about benchmarks now, while Android/Nexus/Pixel cares more about day to day usage. WTH?
BMNify - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
The Auto HDR+ mode and HDR+ On mode are actually very different modes. HDR+ On is the traditional HDR, taking dark and bright exposures and combining them (which is slow). Auto HDR+ is Google's new HDR, which takes 9 dark exposures and combines them to reduce noise and then brightening the dark areas, and since it is continuously taking photos, Auto HDR+ has no shutter lag.Please update the article to include all 3 modes, HDR+ off, Auto HDR+ and HDR+ On.
BMNify - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Anandtech might have accidentally used the HDR+ On mode instead if the Auto HDR+ mode recommended by Google (and selected by default)BMNify - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
*instead ofMatt Humrick - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Yes, there is a difference in how the camera works when using "HDR+ auto" vs "HDR+ on." Thanks for pointing that out. I've updated the review to explain the difference in performance.djayjp - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
No app cold and warm start-up times test? :/Ryan Smith - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Unfortunately Android 7 breaks DiscoMark, and we don't have a suitable replacement at this time.realbabilu - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Someone has been testing it manually. It coherent with Anandtech findings on Discomark bench. Most of QHD phones not speedy enough as FHD phone like Oneplus 3 or even Xiaomi lowprice phone. Take a look here : Pixel XL vs iphone7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na0JRDMAoKM , and iPhone 7 vs Oneplus 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuXvCN8A7GQfanofanand - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I miss you already Nexus. Google had catered to people like myself who wanted solid specs with a reasonable price in a reasonably solid enclosure. I will not be chasing them to the high-end. I can appreciate those with fat wallets doing it, but I think it's ridiculous to spend $700+ every 2 years replacing a handset. There are way too many options in the $200-300 range to waste so much cash on a device like this.frozenwilderness - Tuesday, November 15, 2016 - link
technically you wouldn't be spending a full $700 every 2 years, assuming you sell your old phone in good condition, it'd probably only come out to around $400 or so every 2 yearsfanofanand - Tuesday, November 15, 2016 - link
I checked swappa to see how accurate your claim is, and a two year old Galaxy S5 is selling for roughly $115. Better check your math again.asublimeday - Tuesday, January 3, 2017 - link
Samsungs have notoriously poor resell rates. It's the constant BOGO and free phone deals they offer. Drives their rates wayyyy down. iPhones and Nexus/Pixels tend of offer deals less frequently and hold their value better.BrokenCrayons - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Its nice to see a smaller model, but even 5 inches is hard to carry in a pocket. :(DM725 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Lol what?fanofanand - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
BC wears skinny jeans :)fvbounty - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I waited for the Pixel to come out and then got a Nexus 6P for $399 and Project fi and couldn't be happier! Way overpriced for what you get, no water proofing, no OIS....DukeN - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Hmmm another unenthusiastic flagship Android device review.Thats ok, they needed three weeks after release unlike those great Apple devices which are done almost instantly. Coincidentally, I'm sure, the Apple phones have the best reviews!
No bias here, just you know, luck of the draw for the last 5-7 years.
name99 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Uhh, you do realize that part 2 of the iPhone 7 review, the CPU deep dive, STILL is not out?And the first part of the iPhone 7 review came out three weeks after the iPhone 7 was released (October 10th vs September 16th)...
You can make up facts all you like, and you'll never be criticized, by all the imaginary friends at your doll tea-party, but when you want to make claims on the internet, you don't get to create your own reality.
vikramc - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
They are iSheeps ... but it hardly matters as they are the only black sheep .. all other sites and channels are wowed by the Google phone .. so Google will kick Apple butt with its very first iteration itself .. other chinese stuff and Sammy bombs are not even competition .nukmichael - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Nice article! Original Design Manufacturer can fix LTE problem maybe, or get a 5" Pixel phone to find out what's wrong with your Pixel XL. Waiting for new update!!!GooglenexusPrior - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I had a google nexus It died due to a faulty patch from google.The real problem with the Google phones is they are not repairable compared to other phones.
No one has any parts for them. If screen surface layer breaks . get a new phone. My Old Samsung. _t cost me $10 to get it replaced. Battery Bad on Google product? Get new phone. because a $30 battery failed early. And very few protective cases available. Go to a store. There walls of Samsung cases, iphone cases. ZERO google cases. Since No memory card slot I would always have issues transferring from phone to computer, especially videos. When phone failed last I had to SUE google . they wanted to charge me the cost of a new phone to fix a problem caused by their update.
sprockkets - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
You must not be looking hard enough. I've replaced the battery on my N5 and N7 from 2013. If anything they are the easiest to find.And thanks to full OTA files now you can fix any recent nexus device that is bootloader locked.
Impulses - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Ditto. Never had trouble finding a case online either, not sure why I'd go pick one up in person when I also bought the phones online.TheinsanegamerN - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
I replaced my N5's battery in 2015. Nothing but counterfeits were available, and none of them compared to the stock solution.bznotins - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
I replaced the screen on my N5 after I dropped it. Worked fine.ChernobylChild - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
WTF are these two smoking? I have a Pixel XL and most of these negatives they write about aren't even true. It's easily the best Android phone to date and most other reviewers will agree with that.vikramc - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
True ..both of these guys are iSheep . Shitting in their pants thinking about how the Pixel now and its future iterations are set to eat the iPhones for breakfast , lunch and dinner.DM725 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
But it isn't even the best Android Phone so what does this have to do with iPhones?vikramc - Friday, November 11, 2016 - link
iphone is worse than quite a few of the flagship and mid tier android phones , so yes it does not matter if Pixel is the best Android phone or not .. it is better than iphone anyway .vikramc - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Can you even imagine these iSheeps pulling up junk numbers stating iPhone displays are better ... Lol .. heights of crap .. iphones have the worst displays than even the $300 Android phones.fanofanand - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Vikram, you know google doesn't need you trolling on their behalf right? I have never in my life purchased an apple product, but the screen testing done by Anandtech is not subjective. Do they excessively gush praise for Apple products in contrast to Android? Absolutely, but come on man, there is no fudging the numbers on screen accuracy.vikramc - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Lol .. you do understand right ,you are the odd review out against the Pixel .. I would have still understood if you had highlighted the positives ( which for pixel is way ahead of competition) instead of showing everything as negatives ... so no wonder you are the iSheep . And i say so specially because of putting iphone at top in all your junk display charts .. there is absolutely no doubt that iPhone is the worst in display ... so you are caught red handed ..paid review from competition .The Garden Variety - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Dude, for the love of your God, please learn how to use punctuation.(Unless English isn't your first language, then I genuinely apologize.)
V900 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Say what?!?Why would English as a second language be a reason not to punctuate properly?!?
I speak 5 languages, 3 of them fluently, and they all have pretty similar punctuation.
vikramc - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Oh My Lords !! the Queen today wishes you clean her feet properly .. on your way please.Eden-K121D - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Dumb foolMykeM - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Notebookcheck test of the Pixel XL display came to the same conclusion: for brightness, brightness distribution and color accuracy, Pixel XL fails to impress while the iPhone 7 Plus has the incredible color accuracy:http://i.imgur.com/wQRtYR3.jpg
chipguy_619 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
iPhones have some of the most accurate displays in mobile phones. They may not be ultra high resolution OLED displays, but they're extremely accurate.Look at this displaymate review:
http://www.displaymate.com/iPhone7_ShootOut_1.htm#...
vikramc - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
iphones have the most boring display and poorest pixels .. if iSheeps cannot see that ,then they are welcome to live with them ..Icehawk - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Wtf does boring display and poorest pixels mean? I used to hate on Apple 20 years ago but eventually I got over being cool by hating them and have bought products of theirs that meet my needs. Grow up and enjoy the choices.DM725 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
But they have data, you have a biased opinion...peterfares - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Disappointing that Google chose to use PenTile displays, especially on the 5" model which will hurt the VR experience even more.jjj - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
On a scale from 1 to 10, your normal reviews are a 6 since you focus on synthetic , single active app battery life and don't look at all at many key metrics.This is a 3.5 since you just skip large parts of what a normal review is. Why even bother, there are 10000 other reviews with almost no relevant data already.
Despoiler - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
The Pixel phones are WAY overpriced for what they deliver. Google clearly didn't bother with tightening the OS integration to "their" phone. The audio is not good compared to HTC branded phones so they didn't bother tapping HTC's superb talent in that department. Goggle is using off the shelf hardware ie not designing their own ARM cores. Their camera is near the top of the stack, but not the best because it lacks OIS. OIS costs money to implement yet their phone is more expensive than those with it. Google wants to sell you a premium phone at a premium price, but do less work and provide less features other Android phone manufacturers and certainly less than Apple. What in the actual.....are they thinking? Literally the only reason to buy a Pixel is if you want Android updates first.vikramc - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Google phones sit right at top of the Android tree of phones , no matter what . I understand you cannot afford it , but that is your fate. Not everyone can afford an Apple or a Google phone . There are loads of chinese stuff in the market for you all .akdj - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
We REALLY Need an 'ignorant/ignore' button!Great review fellas, as always!
Impulses - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Yeah, I actually bought a Pixel and still find his posts obnoxious... Almost like written by a bot with a trolling 101 script.vikramc - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Butthurt iSheep spotted ..anandtech pirate - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
nice,now looking forward to reading the LG V20 review.
DM725 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
As am IYuriman - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I read through a scathing review, seeing negative after negative, and expected at the end to see "don't go anywhere near this device", but instead found, "In the end, the Pixel is a decent enough phone." Talk about an analysis not supporting the conclusion...Yuriman - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I guess what I mean is, if you feel like it's not half bad, tell us why in the review. If you have nothing at all good to say about the phone in your analysis, be straight with us in your conclusion.Matt Humrick - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
We pointed out many positive things too. But when we add up both the positives and negatives, it's hard to justify its price.Yuriman - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Just saying that the overall tone of the review was very negative, and very little time was spent on any aspects you felt were positive, suggesting there were none. I appreciate the criticisms, but again, the "tone" of the review was very negative and doesn't seem to support your final words that it's "decent enough".vikramc - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
The reviewer is just trying to attract attention by being the only site/channel with a completely negative review .. attention seekers basically.name99 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
"One thing I do not like about the Pixel and some other phones with rear-mounted fingerprint sensors is there’s no easy way to wake the phone to check notifications when it’s sitting on a table. Having to pick it up or press the power button on the side is less convenient than double tapping the screen or waving a hand over the phone."Not trying to be snarky here, just trying to understand.
The various issues described here seem to have nothing to do with each other. Why does a fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone have anything to do with the (presumably different, sensing temperature/capacitance?) hand sensor, or a screen double-tap sensor?
FWIW Apple obviously have their fingerprint sensor in front, but while they have wake-on-raise, they don't have "hand-waving detection" or "screen double-tap to wake". The only thing the front fingerprint sensor gives Apple, if you're in the business of wanting to view your phone while not picking up, is you can tap the fingerprint sensor with the WRONG finger and get it to wake up the screen (and complain about that wrong finger).
I would not be surprised if Google's thinking here is the same as what I think Apple is thinking: power saving. Hand-waving is tough because how do you distinguish between a hand waved over the phone and the similar "wall of flesh next to the screen" when the phone is in your pocket? Likewise I don't know the extent to which a double-tapped screen matches a phone bouncing against the leg in a pocket, though that seems an easier problem (IF you can, with very low power, localize two taps as occurring successively over the same small area.)
willis936 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Absolutely nothing on the storage subsystem. Boo!ascian5 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I have to agree with the poor review sentiments. Not for the uniquely poor opinions (which strike me as a prospective buyer as molehills turned into mountains), but like many business ideas, this is just a review by the numbers/data and little more. Then the conclusion is "better than OK" but...based on what?Even the photos presview show little to no real world usage. It took this long to benchmark the phone, but not apply any real world correlation to what the numbers mean? No commentary on software, value propositions, VR, actual media playback and usage, app usage, cloud integration, etc. Even things like future expansion of Google Assistant, or the value of Google updates for things like "Double tap to wake" which is already heavily rumored get no callouts.
name99 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Am I missing some parts of the Android eco-system? I do not understand your complaints at all- VR --- what is real in this space yet? What do you expect them to test? How well it works in a cardboard frame playing some demo? Because I do not think you want anyone's honest opinion about that...
- app usage? ???
- cloud integration? ??? Means what? Does it connect to Google services? Uh, yes. Does it connect to Dropbox? Uh, yes. Does it work with Onedrive? Uh, again yes.
- future expansion of Google Assistant and Google updates? How the fsck is Anandtech supposed to know what Google plans to do with future versions of Assistant. That's like complaining that iPhone review didn't have a section on what Siri can do in iOS 11.
Sorry to be harsh, but you're just ranting here. If you want to actually improve the quality of future reviews, start by explaining (like a normal person, without assuming your reader is psychic) EXACTLY what it is that the review is missing. Vague references to buzzwords and rumors do not cut it.
Cygni - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
No camera hump, praise every single god and every single satan. Please, Apple, everyone else... go with Google here and remove the camera hump. I beg of you.name99 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Are you willing to give up OIS to get that missing camera bump...?This "argument" is, I'm sorry, every bit as childish as most of the arguments about USB-C. Most people use their phones within a case (you can tell those who don't by the crazing on their screens...).
For all those users, the camera bump is moot because the case thickness covers it.
Cygni - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
You can do OIS without a camera bump and people who use cases on their smartphones are monsters, let me know if you have any further questions.Meteor2 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
The lack of OIS doesn't seem to hurt image quality.willis936 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Was honestly slightly sad to not see one. With everyone racing back to the moto razr and the quality of photos limited by the depth of the lens assembly I don't mind seeing the hump for better photos. And OIS. I'll pay you whatever you want for a high end HTC with google's branding and OIS. If UFS is decent. I'm very skeptical. A hodgepodge of specs crammed together and the protocol tying it together is SCSI? Show me some numbers.TheWayfarer - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
@anandtech Where is the NAND/Storage performance analysis?Thanks.
Ryan Smith - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Android 7 broke all of our storage benchmarks. We don't yet have a suitable replacement.Lolimaster - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
No SD slot, no removable battery:Another fail.
vikramc - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
you dont deserve to use a modern phone mate .. go back to your sulking nokia :)Hulk - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I'm disappointed by the price of these phones. Not that they aren't worth it. It's just that the Google phones used to be very high on the price/performance curve. My Nexus 5x was $280 and it does everything I need. Perhaps some lower cost models are on the way.The (lack of) screen brightness is also a little concerning. I know my 5x is just passable when using outside during the day and it is brighter than these phones according to this review.
All that being said, I like 5" phones and the 5" one looks to be amazing if you like phones in that size.
eaccentsat - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
@hulk: I am/was also very disappointed in the pricing of these phones. Coming from the 5X, I was hoping for a phone around $500 mark in the smaller Pixel. Alas....I think specs wise the Pixel (the regular--not the XL) isn't anything to write home about when you consider some of the competition. It is kind of what I had hoped the 5X would have been: a smaller form factor of the 6P with the same future-proofed specs.
I waffled on getting a Pixel because at launch my feeling was "meh." But after much reflection, I bought one. Why?
1) I've been on the flagship train for a long time now, and in the PAST I've spent $600+ for a phone. Just got spoiled by the 5X I guess.
2) After life in Nexus-land, I've decided that I love love love vanilla Android. No bloat, it's fast, it's been smooth (for me), and we get updates MONTHLY. I'm no longer happy waiting months for OEMs to pump out patches and updates because they have to work around whatever skinning they've done to the OS.
3) I figure that with Pixel being Google's latest darling, a lot of resources will go into making the Pixel user experience the best that it can be on Android.
#3 really tipped the scales for me. I too like the 5-5.2" phones, and the Pixel ended up being my top choice for this year. I'm hoping it will keep me happy for the next 2 years, but that might require some therapy :)
eaccentsat - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I guess I should add that I'm a moderate user who is addicted to my phone for keeping me up to date, in contact with people and data, and I use it for a little bit of entertainment (no gaming and very rarely for videos though).That said, I'm really very happy with the Pixel in my day to day use. It keeps up with me just fine, has an all day battery life (probably 30% better than my 5X), and everything on it is really fast and very smooth.
Hulk - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Your point #2 especially resonates with me.bznotins - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Same here. Now if only we could get Samsung hardware and the same Nexus/Pixel software experience/updates. That would be nirvana. I hate that I have to choose one or the other (and always choose Nexus).Impulses - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
I'm in sorta the same boat, spoiled by the Nexus 5 which I've used for three years despite having bought one pricey (on contract) phone a year for 3 years prior to that...Can't go back to heavily skinned phones, I would accepted a midrange Moto/OnePlus (maybe even a Sony) but they're either not making 5" phones or they've lost their way (Sony).
There's actually a ton more midrange choices at 5.5"+ IMO, at ~5" we have what, the Honor 8 with a software framework that puts TouchWiz to shame (tho they seem to be making progress on 7.0 beta) and the HTC 10?
If the HTC 10 was just a little cheaper (only $100 less or so) and/or had wireless charging I'd have opted for that, but as things stand I was fine with the Pixel's compromises and thus it's price.
siberus - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
So is there any way to recalibrate colours on android devices or are you shafted with whatever the manufacturers chose to do?Impulses - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Some OEM provide a way to do it, roughly (usually just a white point slider or a color space toggle like Pixel's) but it's usually not nearly enough for accurate calibration. It's a problem that should probably be addressed at the OS level at some point, like a desktop OS.Randomstranger123 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Double tapping on the screen actually works, it will wake up the phone. Tested on Nexus 6p with the latest Android version available, 7.1.1.crazy_vag - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Going from Nexus 6P to Pixel XL, I find that display readability in the sun to be MUCH MUCH better than the graphs show. There must be some cliff between the two devices.stacey94 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
No deep dive on the new Energy Aware Scheduling implemented on this phone or File Based Encryption?C'mon guys, I love the work you do, but this is like the lightest review of the year, on probably the most anticipated phone of the year.
There's also no extensive testing on thermal throttling...
stacey94 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I ask because my Nexus 5X feels like a 2012 phone once some task causes the A57s to shut off, and this happens doing the most mundane things.I want to know if I can forget about this terrible experience if I buy this phone.
AMD718 - Sunday, November 20, 2016 - link
I know exactly what you're referring to and the answer is, "yes", you can forget about that with either Pixel. The thermal performance is excellent in both cases, though marginally better on the XL than the 5". Actually, the thermal performance is best in class among Android phones.stacey94 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
There's also the issue of reflectance playing into readability under max brightness. And other sources say the Pixel performs exceptionally well for that metric.Impulses - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
XDA actually had some interesting thermal testing btw, weeks ago.batsshadow - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Your iPhone 7 review is 10 pages and your HTC 10 review is 12 pages, this one is only 8. I'm not sure what else there is to say, other than I'm disappointed.DM725 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Maybe that's bc the phone doesn't have any standout features. No extra gimmicks or special features, just a solid UI and a good camera.Wheaties88 - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
No comments on video quality? A friend just got an XL and the EIS is so aggressive that if you do a slow pan, it ends up looking like stop, jerk, stop, jerk etc. Extremely annoying and seems like a huge oversight to not be able to detect panning.thartist - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
At effing last, an honest review that points the many flaws of the phone and is not just a suck up to Google!!!Congratulations Anandtech, keep on being a reference for serious tech journalism!!!!
vikramc - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Ya .. he suck up to Apple instead :)Fidelator - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
I seriously believe you spent too much time bashing in the device based on a Benchmark score when what I have seen from the performance on this phone seems absolutely contradictory with that result.You could easily speak of charging times without going too deeply on it rather than saying "we can't measure it, lol"
I do agree with the rest of the facts you state, for this price it needs to deliver far more than it does, except for bashing the device for defaulting to NTSC when it does have an sRGB mode, most customers prefer oversaturated vivid displays, they include the sRGB for those who actually care about accuracy, defaulting to the customer friendly mode is not a reason to criticize them.
grayson_carr - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
It's not just that it defaults to an oversaturated mode that Anandtech has a problem with. Their biggest gripe is choosing NTSC over P3 for the oversaturated mode. If it defaulted to P3, it would provide oversaturated, pretty colors AND being using a more relevant standard that would actually display some content (P3 content) accurately. There is not NTSC content available on phones, so nothing is going to be displayed accurately if manufacturers target NTSC.Buk Lau - Tuesday, November 8, 2016 - link
Any comments on video performances? It would be interesting to compare google's advertised EIS against OIS. Also will there a 5" Pixel review? Battery life and screen would be different enough to be reviewed differently.beginner99 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
So it's not only a design fail but also performance, battery life and LTE reception sucks? Good luck selling this for $649...zodiacfml - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
I'd just get a 5x for that camera and spend the remaining budget for next year's phones.Impulses - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
" We recently received a second Pixel XL review unit that shows some softening on the extreme left edge and a little in the corners, but it’s nowhere near as bad as. "In the camera section, I'm guessing that sentence was either supposed to end on "the first unit", or the last 'as' there prior to the period is just redundant? Just nitpicking.
Matt Humrick - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Superfluous "as" removed :)Meteor2 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Good review, although I think you should look into measuring screen reflectance, as that makes more of a difference to outdoors readability than peak brightness.What a disappointing phone. Poor design, screen, and optimisation, at a ridiculous price.
vikramc - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Disappointing phone ? Really ? hope you are enjoying your one plus 3 ?Meteor2 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
You read my mind, Mr Crazy Troll! It's clear to me that the OnePlus 3 is the current Android leader. Specs you can't argue with, and half, HALF the price of a Pixel XL. OxygenOS seems fine to me -- useful additions, rather than replacing what's already good in Android.(Personally I use phones for 2+ years, and won't be replacing my Nexus 5X in the foreseeable future.)
DHBRUCE1 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Even T-MOBILE is paying Google Pixel Owners to come to them. I think $325 don't quote me. Corner of sixth and could be Smith. In CORONA CALIFORNIA. FYI! DHBRUCE2 is me!ApplePandertech - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Hey Matt, this will be the last time you site earns a farthing from my clicks. It's so evident this site (and you) have such a rock solid banana hammock for Apple that it seeps into every review. There was a time when Anandtech let their review speak for themselves, now it all boils down to a broken record of "Apple did it, does it,always will do better than X competitor."I have flagships from all the top manufacturers. You sir, and your company, and Appletards. Goodday.
fanofanand - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
I don't fully agree with your comment but if that isn't a fantastic username I don't know what is.Impulses - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
I'm disappointed in Google's display accuracy, it's not like it'll impact my use a ton but coming from a Nexus 5 & 7 (and often importing photos from my M4/3 camera into them) it's something I'll probably notice... And knowing they can and have done better in this regard bugs me.Personally I still find the phone appealing, the smaller version at least... Ironically I think Android offers a lot more choices at 5.5", even after the Note debacle. If I was going that large I'd probably be picking between a OnePlus 3 and a Moto Z Play, both offer unquestionable value and light skins.
At 5" tho, if I don't wanna mess with Samsung's heavy handed software approach but still want near-flagship specs, the only other appealing choice is the HTC 10... I'm more comfortable with the Pixel's tradeoffs, and the difference is like $100-150~. I actually prefer the rear finger scanner too.
Standards compliant Type C PD charging (something Anandtech could've discussed tbh) and timely software updates do matter a lot to me tho, but I recognize that might not carry mass market appeal so I can see why the review takes the angle it does.
I think they review could've been more explicit in it's value/feature comparisons but on the level it seems fine, it's a shame 7.0 broke so much of the trading platform but it is what it is, the review is still relatively timely considering that tight stock supply.
If the HTC 10 was <$500 and/or had wireless charging I probably wouldn't have even considered the Pixel after seeing the price. My Nexus 5 is getting plenty long in the tooth tho... I liked reading the internal organisation logic that explains how Google ended up with it's bezels (they weren't much different on the N5 btw, just slimmer up top).
I don't think most other reviews bothered talking about the why and how of it. Personally I don't care a lot about it (given my preference for a rear reader), but I would love a bottom headphone jack. Every other phone I've had has it atop which messes with the direction I prefer slipping it in pocket.
Impulses - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Is there a Moto Z Play review coming btw?Matt Humrick - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
No, we will not be doing a full review of the Moto Z Play. It shares its basic design and modularity with the Moto Z and Moto Z Force, which we did review. The Z Play has been tested, and its results appear in other reviews and can be seen in Bench. It's also shown up in a few camera comparisons too (see Hasselblad Moto Mod review), so you can evaluate image quality.Crono - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Will it be showing up in battery life charts, at least? It seems like it should be near the top if not the very top, so it would be a good point of comparison.Matt Humrick - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
You can see the Moto Z Play results here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Mobile16/1427The "Mobile 2016" and "Mobile 14" sections show all the data we have for the phones we've tested.
Crono - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Excellent. Thanks!Great, in-depth review, by the way. All the other Pixel reviews aren't as balanced pointing out both flaws and strengths of the XL or smaller Pixel. Probably a result of them writing reviews in the space of a few days while using other devices.
Impulses - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Agreed, that'd be a very interesting point of comparison given it's price point.Impulses - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Cool, makes sense, I was just curious since I saw it's results on the graphs.piroroadkill - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
I don't get it. It's ugly and boring, and now it's really expensive.bw13121 - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Just on a side note- Is the A10/Iphone 7 deep dive ready yet:PCrazyElf - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Really disappointed in this phone given the price.One other disappointing thing about this phone (not covered in as much detail) is that the sound quality underwhelms. Reviews have found it unfavorable to the Galaxy S7, let alone the LG V20, which is well regarded for its audio output.
The other is rant of mine is that no Android SOC goes anywhere near the iPhone's awesome single threaded performance, a disappointment with battery life implications (worse in the "race to sleep" in terms of battery consumption).
negusp - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
There is no such thing as "race to idle" with modern CPUs anymore. Tasks completed at a lower frequency over an extended period of time will use less power than having the CPU constantly ramp up depending on load.Regardless, the A10s biggest advantage is the disgustingly closed-source and optimized ecosystem. It really isn't a valid benchmark as an SoC unless it runs on Android (it can be considered a consumer benchmark).
fanofanand - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Please inform Intel that all the money they have been wasting on speedstep was wasted, they can go ahead and cull that from their product line since there is no point to having a turbo boost. In fact while you are at it make sure to inform ARM, Qualcomm, AMD and the rest. Boy are they lucky to have a genius like you around.negusp - Monday, December 5, 2016 - link
My comment was specifically focusing on power usage, not performance. Turbo boost is great when you want performance boosts for small peak loads. Yes, when it comes to optimal performance turbo boost/speedstep help in the race to idle. But when compared to a CPU running at a static low frequency the CPU at the lower frequency will complete tasks in a longer time, but still using less power.Please learn to read before you blast a comment you didn't even comprehend.
OnePunchMan - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
just canceled my order because of this review, sad but I trust AT. I have a s6 on its last legs, which phone should i get? s7? wait for s8 (thats around march though right?)? oh well.vikramc - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Lol , you cancelled google for a samsung .. ha ha .. wait for your s7/s8 to explode then .OnePunchMan - Saturday, November 12, 2016 - link
:-)Meteor2 - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
I'd get the S7; it's a good phone, and presently discounted condsiderably to what the S8 will go for.Or get the HTC 10, the forgotten (I.e. not advertised) expensive phone.
Impulses - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
The HTC 10 was highly underrated, I went with the Pixel but the 10 was my second choice and the $550 sales tempted me a lot.OnePunchMan - Saturday, November 12, 2016 - link
yea, at that price point, makes it a throwaway should the s8 be awesome in 6 months.noone2 - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
I just got my 32GB Pixel and the phone is fantastic. This review is misleading. Nothing they point out is of any substance in real world usage.Maybe it's slower than other phones. I have no idea. I had a 6P and family have iPhone 6s and 7s. I see no difference in usage whatsoever.
amdwilliam1985 - Friday, November 11, 2016 - link
Welcome to the new/strange world of tech.Apple focus on benchmark while Android/Google focus on user experience.
edved - Friday, November 11, 2016 - link
I'm also coming from the N6P, which this site gave a lukewarm review last year. Lo and behold a lukewarm review for the XL.I think it's the best Android phone out there and I'm very happy with it so far. Sold my N6P for a little over 3hun.
At the end of the day, there are a lot of really good phones out there and this is one of them. The display is fine to my eyes as too is the battery life. It's also very fast.
I didn't buy it for it's looks, although I think it looks fine. If you want flash buy yourself a nice handbag and matching shoes and call it a day.
This is hardware with regular updates and no bloat.
ankitkumarkhanna - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
Good Post shared.. Thanx for sharingNashten - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
I was enthusiastic with the Pixel XL initially. But it went down significantly when the rumor renders came out, and now with the review we have here. I can't justify spending 800 - 900+ bucks, CAD on this device when its design is bland and uninspired.The Nexus 6 when it was released was a shellshock in terms of price, but damn, when I put a ROM on it so I could customize RGB values of the screen, it really came into its own. Smaller bezels than the Pixel XL and dual-front facing speakers.
The 6p ticked a lot of right boxes, sans some questionable build issues... but I think if that device got the SD820, it'd be more inspiring than the Pixel XL.
We need more phones like the Xiaomi Mi Mix. That bezel-less beauty! I'm importing one soon... when its in stock. Even as an import, it will be the same price as the Pixel XL... or cheaper. Similar specs to boot. Better design.
nukmichael - Wednesday, November 9, 2016 - link
I hava aqusetion about battery life test 2016, the battery capacity of older phones (before 2016) may have decay, it might effects test results.number58 - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Great review! Thanks for the knowledge.Hubert Satheesh - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Anandtech is one of the reputed tech site. It's appaling to read that googles pixel is regressive in CPUbench mark tests when compared to 6p. Similarly if we go to your 6p review , the display was comparatively poor when compared to Nexus 5. In other words Nexus 5 was better than pixel in certain areas!! When other tech sites rave about pixel, anandtech presents issues in new light, though for the reader you have obviously omitted to highlight certain adavantages of pixel even though it might be called as a CRAP. Hope you take this shortvikramc - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
nexus 5 better than pixel ..what else ? this is what happens when you blindly trust your reputed tech site . As if other sites ( all of whom have praised pixel and half of them have called pixel better that iphones) are there to just make up numbers.noone2 - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Presenting issues in a new light doesn't necessarily make them worthwhile or important. I just got my 32GB 5' Pixel, and coming from a 6P, I think this phone is way better.Is it worse in benchmarks? Maybe. I guess, according to AT. In usage though, I find the Pixel vastly better, thus the "new light" is more or less irrelevant to me. Might be irrelevant to you too.
fanofanand - Tuesday, November 15, 2016 - link
You seem a little confused. The Pixel regressing in CPUbench in some areas has absolutely nothing to do with the screen. The 6p's screen has absolutely nothing to do with CPUbench. So where are you drawing this squiggly line that results in the Pixel's CPU regression making it's screen inferior to the 5? Now if you were to say that the 6p's CPUbench was worse than the 5X then you might be onto something but as it is you are meandering down the wrong path.Hubert Satheesh - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Hope you take this comment to Google so that they wake up and see the reality. I wonder howlong can play as being 2nd fiddle to apple churning out craps and expect common man to pay a premium price tag! A premium phone should deliver premium experience in all aspects not only in price.Impulses - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
It'll be interesting to see whether they ever address screen calibration via updates, if someone can afford the dev resources to do it post launch it's definitely Google.fotowca - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Great review. Not sure if you retest after updates and such but I thought I would mention that I just received an update yesterday to Build Number NDE63V, Security patch level November 5, 2016 for my 32gb Pixel XL (Bell in Canada). It said it included performance enhancements so I went ahead and ran the update, and then ran some of the benchmarks that you guys did. I did see some improvements in 3d mark, but the big change for me was in AndroBench. I got the following:SR - 263.1
SW - 76.37
RR - 97.42
RW - 14.43
Impulses - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Hmm, interesting! Not something I'd expect to see heavy gains via update... Was AndroBench itself also updated in the interim? Just wondering whether they could still be tweaking it for 7.0.Impulses - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Wow 97MB/s random read? That seems almost inexplicable, from dead last to an order of magnitude faster than anything... I'm curious why the larger model would ever be slower, should be backwards.Matt Humrick - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
We do not use the default settings in AndroBench because they are unrealistic. That's probably why you are seeing higher values.fotowca - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
Do you list what settings you use somewhere? I would be interested in testing with the same settings so I have a baseline to compare to.jmelan - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
seems everyone makes the same mistake when reviewing cameras. what exactly is the positive control here, the iphone???can we please get a camera comparison against a known quantity such as canon 5d mark iii/iv??? then we can see what cameras are undersaturating colors in low light, see if hdr+ is fixing overexposure correctly or not, etc
Impulses - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
They'd all look like crap against even the Mk III, specially in the more stressful tests (low light etc)... As much as people like to pretend otherwise, there's still a gulf between phones and high end cameras (even against tiny mirrorless and 1" sensor models).Judging exposure isn't hard otherwise... And JPEG processing is highly contested even amongst $2,000+ FF cameras. Invariably someone will complain Canon colors or Sony colors or w/e aren't their thing.
UtilityMax - Thursday, November 10, 2016 - link
I consider almost every smartphone priced above 400USD borderline a scam. I don't buy the argument that you absolutely need to start your pricing at 650bucks if you want to compete with iPhone or Samsung. If the Pixel was a new Nexus 5Y, it probably would have been priced under 500USD for the 32GB model.The time is ripe to pop the overpriced smartphone bubble. Oneplus 3 with quite similar specs is selling for 400USD online, and you can pick up a Huawei Honor 8 at Best Buy for 350USD.amdwilliam1985 - Friday, November 11, 2016 - link
There are also Android One phones that are targeting $100USD, those are great deals too, some tests shown they are smoother than Galaxy S5/6/7.zodiacfml - Sunday, November 13, 2016 - link
I agree. There is no way we can stop it though. People just kept paying the more expensive stuff. Even the Chinese makers are finding ways to sell more expensive phones.sonicDivx - Friday, November 11, 2016 - link
I get my Pixel XL tomorrow, so would really like to get the settings you used. My daughter has an HTC 10 and well with HTC running a new deal $500 for the 10. I'll be doing some side by side comparisons over the next 10 days, to decide should I return the phone.OnePunchMan - Monday, November 14, 2016 - link
let us know here. ty.techstory2.com - Friday, November 11, 2016 - link
A great phone but I prefer the Blu Hdnukmichael - Sunday, November 13, 2016 - link
Hi! Matt ,is this video show that Pixel XL can receive signal better than -100dBm? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUhBZEkmgXQblzd - Sunday, November 13, 2016 - link
HTC and Google pulled a "Nexus 9" with their Nixil phones this year.Can't say I'm surprised, after the N9's performance and price.
TheEyes - Monday, November 14, 2016 - link
"The last time Google tried building and selling its own hardware running its own operating system, which occurred several years ago during its ill-fated acquisition of Motorola Mobility, Samsung almost jumped ship, threatening to use the Tizen mobile operating system instead. Google clamped down and persuaded Samsung to stay with Android, and after it sold its Motorola unit to Lenovo, the waves subsided. In the years since, Google has placed further restrictions on what its partners can do with Android, and now that it’s getting back into the hardware business in a roundabout manner, selling phones that directly compete with its partner’s products, competitive tempers could flare once again."Well, if anyone, ANYONE, offered a completely stock experience with fast updates then I don't think Google would even bother making their own hardware; the fact that literally nobody is out there doing even a measly guaranteed two years (really there ought to be companies vying for three!) then they wouldn't need this phone so much.
KRril - Monday, November 14, 2016 - link
I'd love to see what the phone can do with unencrypted memory. (Now that you can test it)KRril - Monday, November 14, 2016 - link
Storage***andrewaggb - Wednesday, November 16, 2016 - link
Went phone shopping this past weekend. Everybody was pushing the Pixel pretty hard but honestly I didn't like it.Samsung has better screen to body ratio's and I dislike the virtual home button. Open chrome and it takes up a chunk of the screen, on the samsung phones you get text in that area instead. Cameras and screen weren't any better than samsung's either. I'd take an s7 edge over the pixel anyday.
But I was pleasantly suprised by the LG V20. Unfortunately the only carrier I could find it on doesn't have coverage in my area but the phone itself was pretty nice. Really wide angle selfie-cam (wider fov than my note 5 which already has a wider fov than most phones), nice large screen (that looked good, unlike the g5 that I think has a terrible screen), and the extra 2nd screen at the top for music controls/wifi/clock etc is a nice little touch as well.
ithehappy - Thursday, November 17, 2016 - link
This is pretty ridiculous! They are charging same as iPhone and S7E, but they don't give you a great display? Or like you mentioned, the camera even, which is Pixel's main selling point, S7 outperforms it in low light? What the heck is this? I wanted to buy this phone when it cooled down in price a bit, but especially after reading the Display section I think I am out! If OnePlus 3's display is better (more accurate is better in my dictionary) then I would simply go for it, it costs like 70% less too! Jeez!That display completely putting me off from this. Really sad.
syrious - Friday, December 16, 2016 - link
Yea, you'd be better off with the OnePlus 3 or waiting for a S8, the displays on the sammy phones are phenomenal.AMD718 - Sunday, November 20, 2016 - link
Reading through the comments, it's apparent to me that you have both Nexus/Pixel advocates and haters. The haters, as expected, are thoroughly delighted by this review as it plays to their confirmation bias. At the same time, the advocates are disheartened because it allows them no confirmation bias. But, let's be honest - The authors are biased as well. This isn't a cut on the authors. It's merely recognition that they are, in fact, human beings and not technology-reviewing robots impervious that remain 100% objective at all times. So, there is subjectivity in this article and people would be well-served in reading many reviews when they are looking for a new device. As an example, the TechSpot Pixel XL review (google it, not putting the link here) rates the Pixel XL's dispaly in sRGB mode as excellent -"... in my testing with the Pixel XL in its sRGB mode, this display is the most accurate I have seen. In my punishing custom CALMAN 5 accuracy test, the Pixel XL recorded an astonishing dE2000 value of 1.18, which indicates near-perfect color performance. The Pixel XL also reported near-perfect grayscale accuracy and spot-on gamma."
Similarly, other reviews offer drastically different assessments of the camera relative to the competition.
Bottom line, look at this review as one of many resources that you can draw upon to make your own conclusion. AnandTech's review is certainly professional and high-quality, but it is not the end-all-be-all.
ithehappy - Sunday, November 20, 2016 - link
Damn! I never heard about this Techspot, but will surely read their review. I really don't know how there could be this massive difference in calibration results when same tool is used, there can't be a human error, so I don't know what to say really!Androider - Sunday, November 27, 2016 - link
The launcher being evicted from memory is a familiar phenomenon for any Nexus user when you push the device. Happens on my Nexus 7, 5 and 6p. You get a completely black screen for maybe 3-6 seconds while the launcher is either restarted or swapped in. I have no doubt it would happen on the Pixel unless Google has rearchitected the whole thing, which they clearly haven't.This is exactly the type of thing you won't find in a few days of testing, but will run into after using the phone for weeks and months. Thank you Anandtech for a thorough, and honest review! Android has a lot going for it, and it is my platform of choice, but you have to be honest about its shortcomings.
lokesh - Wednesday, November 30, 2016 - link
I don't agree because still i vote for iPhone 7 than Google Pixel XL. In iphone i can download paid apps with vshare app but i don't know how to download paid apps for free in Google Pixel XL. http://www.vshareappdownloads.com/Zovuvazz - Wednesday, November 30, 2016 - link
I recently purchased a Pixel and have three things to say about it:1. It is the first Android phone I've ever owned about which I have no complaints. Everything about it works perfectly. It reminds me of iPhones, to some degree, in how polished the interface looks, feels, and works.
2. The bezel at the bottom is quite useful as an area of the phone in which touching it doesn't accidentally cause something to happen.
3. Its design is "boring"? Only to attention whores, perhaps.
syrious - Friday, December 16, 2016 - link
FINALLY a true review of the Google Pixel phones, people over hype this phone so much. TBH I think its absolute garbage and isn't ready to compete with Sammy or Apple.I mean the phone isn't even waterproof, how are you making a device that isn't water resistant in 2016?
eh_ch - Sunday, January 1, 2017 - link
This review is lies, the Pixel rocks.Crazy fast, smooth scrolling, camera is incredible and this review stole a month of enjoyment of my Pixel from me. I
hemmed and hawed, and then it was out of stock, so it was another week before it was available again, and then another three weeks to ship.
Anandtech I love your articles, but the criticisms of Apple fanboyism are ABSOLUTELY correct.