I understand them adding UWA as its being used more. But why remove Telephoto lens ? When they already have the support for it baked into the camera software. Especially for the Pixel 5, which could have made the price jump from 4A 5G more bearable and understandable
What do you think is the best overall Android phone of 2020 ?
I think the best Android phone of 2020 is the Sony 5.2 (Xperia 5 II). Although it has a "quiet" loudspeaker, lacks Wireless Charging, and is priced high. Besides that, it's got everything and a polished experience. An endangered species!
A close second, is the Sony 1.2. This loses 120Hz, gets a useless resolution bump, and suffers battery life. Also has a "quite" loudspeaker, and ridiculously over-priced. However, it has a slightly better ergonomics, and gains Wireless Charging. Pretty No Nonsense device, and one of the best overall.
A distant third is the OnePlus 8 Pro. Has the trifecta of best hardware, software, and support. But is also high priced, very unergonomic, very fragile, annoying curved display, no microSD slot, no headphone jack. So it's a very compromised device, but a fine choice for those that "Just Settle".
I'm with you. There was a guide on here recently which IIRC didn't mention Sony but the 5 ii looks like the only strong contender for me to replace XZ1C. It's too tall, but everything else looks mint. Battery life even seems close to XZ1C, which is the icing on the cake. Now just need to wait for silly price to come down....
I don't think there will be a price drop. Sony makes very few amounts of these phones, ever since 2013 and the Z3, that it's hard to get one. If anything, I've seen the prices hold firm or even increase in some cases, due to shortages.
This year's devices have been quite disappointing, in terms of price, and feature removals. At least with the two Sony handsets you only get disappointed in one aspect (price).
Also, this year's software isn't much different/improved compared to last year's. Neither is the processor (QSD 855 vs QSD 865+5G). Nor the flagship cameras. And even the display quality is roughly equal (excluding 60Hz vs 120Hz).
I bring this up, because if you aren't able to find in-stock, or be able to afford the Sony Mk.II (1 or 5), you could consider a flagship from 2019. The ASUS RoG Phone 2 is still a beast. The even cheaper OnePlus 7t is great value. And Samsung's S10e/S10/S10+ are solid devices no matter which size.
That is of course, if you even are in need of an upgrade. Whichever you pick, these will all be CHEAPER AND BETTER than the Google Pixel 5 discussed in this article. What a joke.
Does not mater which is the best. Looks like Google is being sabotaged to not be the best. They need to fire the person/Group responsible for decisions like removing the telephoto camera.
You sound like a god dammed Sony shill - asking a question and answering it yourself. One thing I know for sure is Sony phones are way overpriced and come with crappy cameras. "An endangered species". You're right - With their stupid designs one after another, Sony phones should've had disappeared.
Sony phone cameras have always been decent, they just got overtaken. And the camera team have taken over the camera software now, so you can cut that crap out.
That you want a company that offers one of the few complete smartphones with fantastic quality just shows how clueless and selfish you are. If anyone is a shill here, it's you.
Just registered to say: No they haven't been decent. I can't recall any moment in let's say the past 5 years when they were even equal to their competitors. Awful processing and awful DR. And that's coming from someone who kept buying their phones because they had the only serious compact option, which sadly is also no longer true.
Firstly, I want to make clear to everyone that I'm not a shill. If I was, then I wouldn't bring up the negative aspects/shortfalls of the device (ahem "quiet loudspeaker"). Besides, I don't even own it, nor am I loyal or fanboy of any logo. I asked a question directly to Andrei to get his opinion, knowing he probably would read it, but wouldn't respond. So I followed with my (objective?) opinions, so that people knew where I stood.
Moving on; with Sony phone's camera performance, I have to agree with most readers here. They were "decent" from 2010 until 2014. Quiet a disappointment from 2015 to 2019, if you were buying Brand New and paying RRP, when the competitors were stronger.
From 2014, we had Apple enter the Medium/Large phone market, and the other competitors step up photography wise. After that Sony were continually playing catch-up... they used some of the best Camera Hardware, but it was wasted with their immature Camera Software. Especially in early-2016 when the Samsung S7+ blew away the competition, followed soon by iPhone 7+, and then the Google Pixel XL. It's been tough for Sony.
Now, things are so good, it's harder to tell the flagship cameras apart. Even OnePlus, which is traditionally known for having poor cameras is offering some of the best shots on the 8 Pro. I think Huawei still (barely) holds the crown with the P40 Pro overall, with the iPhone 11 Max probably having the best point'n'shoot performance. And Sony? In 2020 they've finally caught up to the competition, that it trades blows evenly with other flagships like Apple, Google, Samsung, OnePlus, and Huawei.
"Sony phone cameras have always been decent, they just got overtaken"
Sony was consistently, and noticeably, outdone by competitors that used the SAME CAMERA. The sony sensor, hell the same overall hardware package, was used by other comapnies like samsung and LG to far greater effect. Sony wasnt just asleep at the wheel, they were passed out ina drunken stupor.
To be honest, the Sony seems like the perfect phone for me, I'm somewhat willing to give up wireless charging since wired charging is faster.
The problem for me is the phone is just too slim and tall. It's even worse than the other phones on the market. I prefer 16:9, 17:9, or around 18:9. I cannot reach the notification thing all the way up at the top. I also don't like the power/volume positioning.
The phone display should be a case, and you stick your motherboard in it. Look up the Nexus 5 motherboard and see how tiny it is.
This is the sorta comments I was hoping for : ) What's important depends on a personal level, and ergonomics is one of them. I've even heard people skipping good/great devices because they've fully transitioned to wireless charging in their lifestyle.
I like the 21:9 aspect ratio. It's much more useable than the 20:9 ratio of today, 19:9 ratio of yesteryear, and even better than the 18:9 ratio before then. These are all too short to show Widescreen Videos (21:9), yet when showing Regular Videos (16:9) there are a lot of letter-boxing. Going wider here is simply wasteful. It means the physical phone size has increased, yet the visual has stayed the same.
Personally I think 17:9 is the better aspect ratio. It allows you to have the full 16:9 experience, and the slight extra length allows you to curve the corners for aesthetics, and put your notch in, without disturbing the image (most videos, most games, many Apps). End result is you get to have a high screen-to-body ratio like today's devices, but you don't get to increase the phone's size at all.
The alternative is to have a 16:9 device, with Slim Bezels (like Samsung S8) on both sides. In these bezels put front-firing stereo loudspeakers like the ASUS RoG Phone 2, and also put in all your other cameras and sensors in there. The end result is a device just as compact and good as the 17:9 one.
The best aspect ratio is Root2, 1:1.4142, 12.73:9, iMax. Although it's great for tablets/desktops, today that's difficult for phones because we're vested in the 16:9 ecosystem too much. In an alternate universe it would've been ideal for phones. Hindsight 20/20. Just imagine if Steve Jobs released the iPhone in that aspect ratio, with the cameras taking photos and videos in that aspect ratio, all Apps being made for it. Google would've copied them and two major companies would be on the same page. Eventually Apps, Games, Videos would saturate the iMax aspect ratio, so making the phone wider for 16:9 would've been wasteful. The progress of increasing the screen resolution (or doubling) would have gone hand in hand with the silicon doubling/Moore's Law. Resolution doubling would be simple and require no App re-writes too. Split-screening would've been much cleaner too. Things would be more optimised.
I mean, needless to say - phones should come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
I should be able to get a phone body in any size i want - a G3 body, a S20 Ultra body, a Nexus 4 body or Gnex body, and put any motherboard and battery I want inside it. It wouldn't even be difficult to do, it's very easy to put together/take apart a phone, that's how they're able to pay Chinese employees pennies to do it.
Wideness is a dealbreaker for me, I need a certain width otherwise I won't feel comfortable typing. I need around 75mm width.
Tallness, I could be willing to tolerate a ridiculous super-tall phone... IF AND ONLY IF the software was completely reworked to allow one-handed use without reaching for the notification area all the time. Doubt it will ever happen.
LG G3 with case was my fav size.
Not sure what you are talking about there with the 12.73:9, it sounds OK, but humans have 180 degrees width FOV and typically dont look up/down very much, so I understand a bit why they went 16:9 and ultra-wide. 17:9 is just about at the limit of where my finger can reach the top with one hand.
100% agreed that 17:9 is the best. My G6 is 18:9, I can reach the top, but it's only 72mm wide, making it 76mm would make it perfect for me to type on.
Okay, the IMAX ratio which is roughly 12.73:9 is found by the Root2. Or to put it more succinctly, it is the same as the ISO standard for A4 paper.
The first advantage of this aspect ratio, is that it's very Tablet friendly. It feels less awkward to hold than a 16:10 laptop/tablet. And you could adapt it to phone sizes, if you're careful. And when supersized to a Monitor, Projector, or TV size it's also decent. So there would be a cohesive unification of User Experience going from the smallest to the largest of sizes. That means rapid development of the ecosystem (hardware, kernel, drivers, OS, Apps). Back in 2005-2010 this would be groundbreaking, and even in 2015 it wasn't quite mainstream, so a huge missed opportunity.
Yet the major benefit is that when you fold A4 in half from the long edge, it will create a new size that is exactly half the area of the first... YET it will maintain the SAME aspect ratio as before. Ofcourse, this works in reverse when you double the short-side. And what this means, is that if you wanted to run TWO windows they will scale EXACTLY within the frame. Think of iPhone Apps running side-by-side on a new iPad, except the system won't waste processing power to scale them, and nor would developers need to spend extra time coding for this. You could also split it into a Quadrant or further. Floating Windows like today's are still possible and would be easier to do, but might need some extra coding. So from a multi-tasking perspective, this is objectively the best choice.
And what makes this special is that, because it is the Root of 2, it works in the powers of 2. Ie doubling. And this scales well with computers. Think 1GB, 2GB, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc etc. And even more intriguing is that Moore's Law has been a phenomenon for so long, so transistor counts do double every few years. So if you had a new resolution it would scale in-cadence with the processor. Remember how the iPad2 was a phenomenal device for its time, yet the iPad3 was a big letdown... yeah, scaling!
Imagine if Steve Jobs had this idea, and in his life this is how the iPhone and iPads were thought of. He would've revolutionised the industry. And competitors would have flocked to the same Root2 Aspect Ratio, just like they imitated the touchscreen and design. So there would be heaps of Root2 content out in terms of Photos, Wallpapers, Gifs, Video Recordings, Apps, and Games. It would set a new industry standard, the way we have the 4:3 standard, the 16:9 standard and the 21:9 standard. And that's because Apple would've pushed things forward, and the likes of Microsoft, Google, Nokia, Sony, Samsung, LG, and others would have pushed it further.
I split my reply into two. First is the written comment, about the why. This is the second comment, giving the details of the how. I hope I do not pi ss many readers of this site (I'm sorry).
Here's how the physical devices could have moved forwards (helps to think in Apple terms): The Original iPhone (later renamed to iPhone Mini) (2008, 2009) - A8 size (3.62in) - 173 ppi - E9 Resolution - 512 x 362p (2010, 2011) - A8 size (3.62 in) - 245 ppi - e9+ resolution - 724 x 512p (2012 & up ) - A8 size (3.62 in) - 347 ppi - E10 Resolution - 1024 x 724p
The New iPhone (later renamed to iPhone Pro) (2010, 2011) - A8+ size (4.43 in) - 288 ppi - E10 Resolution - 1024 x 724p (2012, 2013) - A8+ size (4.43 in) - 408 ppi - e10+ resolution - 1448 x 1024p (2014 & up ) - A8+ size (4.43 in) - 577 ppi - E11 Resolution - 2048 x 1448p
The Latest iPhone (later renamed to iPhone Max) (2012, 2013) - A7 size (5.11 in) - 347 ppi - e10+ resolution - 1448 x 1024p (2014, 2015) - A7 size (5.11 in) - 491 ppi - E11 Resolution - 2048 x 1448p (2016 & up ) - A7 size (5.11 in) - 694 ppi - e11+ resolution - 2896 x 2048p
Here's the display sizes/names in more detail: A1+ = 49.37 in - 724mm x 1024mm A1 == 40.90 in - 600mm x 848mm A2+ = 34.91 in - 512mm x 724mm A2 == 28.92 in - 424mm x 600mm A3+ = 24.69 in - 362mm x 512mm A3 == 20.45 in - 300mm x 424mm A4+ = 17.45 in - 256mm x 362mm A4 == 14.32 in - 212mm x 300mm A5+ = 12.35 in - 181mm x 256mm A5 == 10.23 in - 150mm x 212mm A6+ = 8.73 in - 128mm x 181mm A6 == 7.23 in - 106mm x 150mm A7+ = 6.18 in - 90mm x 128mm A7 == 5.11 in - 75mm x 106mm A8+ = 4.35in - 64mm x 90mm A8 = 3.62 in - 53mm x 75mm
And here's the Root2 screen resolutions that I'm referencing: E1 == 2 x 1 E1+ = 3 x 2 E2 == 4 x 3 E2+ = 6 x 4 E3 == 8 x 6 E3+ = 11 x 8 E4 == 16 x 11 E4+ = 23 x 16 E5 == 32 x 23 E5+ = 45 x 32 E6 == 64 x 45 E6+ = 90 x 64 E7 == 128 x 90 E7+ = 180 x 128 E8 == 256 x 180 E8+ = 362 x 256 E9 == 512 x 362 E9+ = 724 x 512 E10 == 1024 x 724 E10+ = 1448 x 1024 E11 == 2048 x 1448 E11+ = 2896 x 2048 E12 == 4096 x 2896 E12+ = 5792 x 4096 E13 == 8192 x 5792 E13+ = 11584 x 8192
I per-ordered the pixel 5 but i might cancel it. Depending what happens in the next month or so. I can't stand any Samsung phone I hate their software so much and I want 5G (manly for low frequency 5G) I wanted the one plus nord but its not coming to the US. I currently have a PH-1 and now that they are out of business i really need a new phone.
Never pre-order a phone before the holidays unless its the iPhone. Android phones ALWAYS have promos and iPhones rarely ever go on sale. I would wait for the Pixel 4a 5G to become more readily available in November if you really don't like Samsung. Personally I love Samsung's One UI over Touchjizz and have been using Nova Launcher Prime for almost a decade so the home screen is stock Android for me and the S20 FE with 120Hz looks like a great buy especially since Amazon is selling it for $599.
Yeah put it on a Amazon wishlist and see it drop 20% within 48 hours! Never buy anything you don't need right there and then on Amazon. Always put it in a wishlist and get at least 10% off a day or two later.
IMO the primary reason to purchase the Pixel is to avoid the stupid android overlays that Samsung and others use (which slow down the phone and aren't better in any way) along with the fact that Google keeps updating the OS for 3 years, whereas all the other manufacturers abandon the phone after a year.
I've got a pixel2 that receives security updates every month (including september) and that I'll probably be upgrading to the 5 because it's going to stop receiving security updates this year (rumor is October will be the last update).
No headphone jack, No SD card slot, No FF stereo setup, Copy paste ugly design, Overpriced to hell for the specs and always having QC issues from structural integrity to the damned HW make.
SAF + Scoped Storage = worse than iOS due to fragmented standards and Google's garbage partitioning on Pixels means big headache to even make it work with root to see your local files on the NAND.
For Eg - Pixel 2 added A/B, then 3 has modding issues and unconventional methods of recovery due to the fused filesystems /boot /recovery and then Pixel 4 has read-only ext4 system like Huawei ccp garbage EROFS, meaning no R/W access, even with root it's a hell.
Now pair that with SAF + Scoped storage, this is at OS level from 10 - where you will have only one folder which is mediastore and that's the only place where you dump all the damn files on the phone, no more visible filesystem, and that mediastore only has media files like videos, photos and audio. So apps won't be able to see other files and folders, MTP created stuff also won't show up, sandboxed locations, no more POSIX libs and other file i/o ops valid since this is SAF with a performance hit on top - worst possible bullshit framework regression ever happened in Software development industry. SD card access also fucked up due to OS level API block from 10+
I think AT only reviews HW mostly but this SAF should have seen some form of article really. It's unknown to masses now and will break a shit ton of apps in the future updates and almost kills all backwards compatibiliy due to the older OSes from KK+ LP v5 to the latest. Ultimate bullshit it just kills Android in one shot, killing the entire FS access.
Google simply wants to copy Apple, I hope this Pissxel phone flops even harder than last. Copying so hard on Apple, why would I choose Android when I don't have the said advantages of free filesystem access and others which Android boasts about like HW from high quality audio (LG, Vivo, Sony), video (Pro modes on Sony & LG), Display technologies, Expandable storages, unique price points, design. Everything is now a copy paste of Apple.
You can also see this with Chrome and Kiwi etc apps, download anything, you don't see then in usual Downloads folder. It goes to the app folder, once you delete all is gone. Imagine that with other apps such has Photoshop Express and etc, modify the files and delete, all your files and data wiped off clean.
He has a perfectly valid point. If all the openness and freedom is gone from android, the key point of distinction wrt to ios is gone.
If i wanted a closed garden type decice with gimped file system access, no generic hardware interface support, no headphone jack and no sd card, i'd simply buy an iphone.
File system was one of the key differentiators for android phones. If google is going the apple way, i would rather buy apple than a cheap copy at 1/4 th performance.
It's not a good post and you're not helping by encouraging quantumz0d. At best he/she is a crank, but as has been discussed to death over on reddit by people with far deeper credentials than me, he's struggling with *something* and it's getting worse.
It's not really an ad hominem to point out that someone is a crank when the person concerned routinely makes posts containing disinformation and/or off-topic rants. At some point it's not incumbent on the rest of us to provide a fully sourced rebuttal to each and very post they churn out.
What is that bullshit ? Ars is ill informed just like you. That idiotic site didn't even put Play Store requirements. Android 11 is latest so n-1 is the API mandate target which is Andoid 10. Meaning the flag of scoped storage shit is must for apps updating on Play Store. And those idiots wrote 2 paraphrase Retarded as hell.
Android is dying. The alphabet soup parading and more copying of Apple is the cause for this. And more and more dumb people get the better for them. Now Google is also mandating the App Bundle signatures done by them instead of developer. This bullshit won't end. Just like Windows, all idiots at Microsoft use Macbooks and trash and same for Google all fools use iPhones and at Firefox iPads. They do not use the products they make so they are not aware of what they even do with their empty skulls.
Oh the Filesystem access to Filemanagers of what Ars wrote - oneline. Here's more, per app vetting basis it is, a big joke considering how it is since its a machine and often Google bans so many apps..
Fileystem is dead on Android. Its over. Once Android S a.k.a 12 comes n-1 goes to 11 and all apps will not have the fallback flag, anyways all apps migrating to it so you are already gimped by the change you didn't notice yet.
SAF has nothing to do with Apple. It's about security, every single app needs to be treated as potentially hostile. SAF is more aggressive form of sand-boxing that prevents applications from accessing anything but it's own files.
Unfortunately we live in a world where this type of sandboxing is absolutely necessary, even good trusted apps these days can end up getting sold to malicious actors who push updates that turn those apps into malware. And this type of malware is getting much more common. Google was put in the position of having to deploy security measures like SAF to prevent this.
I'd prefer we didn't need SAF as well, but the security situation in mobile is degrading every year and much more aggressive security measures are needed to protect users who aren't security savvy (such as inspecting and approving every app update individually).
As the XDA article notes, advanced users can still use ADB to give general file access to apps. It's not ideal but there aren't any good and easy security measures anymore, as everything else has been bipassed.
I'm curious to how China will react. Most iOS versions of apps in China behave themselves better, most of those in Android still won't run until you grant them access to every permission they ask for, and I expect that they put them to illegitimate use. Now if an iOS-like situation is forced upon Android devs, are they going to give up their illegitimate snooping or is scoped storage just going to be somehow disabled in factory by OEM customization?
Yeah...as bad as Apple, looks like rooting on arrival will again become mandatory (and phones that can't root will be out of the question) and there will have to be system tools developed to automate the process of disabling scoped storage.
Huawei EROFS has already the OS having upper hand over the end user. The OS has CCP approved technology as it doesn't allow user to modify but only itself. Then their OS blocks apps running on background. This is even more aggressive when Scoped Storage comes.
You cannot disable Scoped Storage. Because its at SDK OS level. Play store distributed apps must use it else they will face delist if they do not target Android 10 for updated apps. If an app doesn't get updated (Disk Usage) then it will work as long as the App works on new phones, with root, I don't think the app will work. Because on Pixel 4 even with root FX app don't list filesystem because of unknown issues with their mounting methods.
Filemanagers with root probably can work like MiXplorer and other but what's the use when there are no more files written to the folders where you want. PS Express alr scoped storage and saf, Kiwi, Chrome same, photos apps, Adobe Pdf also same, basically all popular tools and apps are same. Yea a little bit og freedom over locked bootloader trash but as I said Android is dying. Once the root gets hard, Magisk dev said something which I don't remember but its going to be niche of a niche and past.
Google wants everyone into their cloud that's why SAF is built like that and they control people more if this is defacto. Just like Apple security is a bullshit excuse because Internet access to apps is not gated at all. And malware happens no matter what. This is born of greed, power corruption and monopolist abuse.
Realistically, pretty much no one buys an Android phone because of “openness”. They buy them because they’re cheaper, and that’s about it. The fraction of 1% of buyers who do buy it because of openness hardly make a dent in the market.
I buy Android because I can access the storage from my PC, and download stuff without itunes or some other garbage software. I also prefer the user experience of Android (especially pure Android as it comes on Pixel phones). I have a Pixel XL and iPhone XR. I use Pixel 99% of time.
Having said that I am disappointed by Google again, they do not let me have it what I want. I want something like 5 but with 3.5mm jack, because I actually need it. I will not use dongle ever.
they aren't focused on the people that pay retail price for a phone. This is going to be heavily incentivized and targeted at the big carriers. Are MVNOs important...heck yeah. Is this the hot phone for the budget buyer or the high end enthusiast....heck no.
I'll never understand this rationalisation. Phones have always been subsidised by carriers, and you still pay full price (or more) in the end. Price creep is thing that's happening, and in Google's case, they don't even offer flashy features in an attempt to justify it.
This added to the fact that they *make money off the data they harvest from your device*.
Yep. And price creep is enabled by subsidies. People will buy anything for 0 down and 50 bucks a month.
If you didn't like the "harvest your data" thing, you should have passed a law against it by now, since you live in a democracy and all.
There's no reason my phone should be connecting to Google's servers or have anything to do with Google at all. It's a phone. Where is the built-in firewall, like iptables? Although I suppose they can still track me through the 90% of the internet that has Google Analytics. I still don't like it.
Someone should have had the bright idea to build a completely open phone (and computer) by now, outcompeted Google/Apple/MSFT, and it should have had billions in worldwide sales. That would have been the right solution. Well, they tried, it's called the Librem 5, they shipped like 100 phones out, and it sucks more than you could possibly imagine.
When the flagships go for $1,100, base price, and up to almost $1,500 fully loaded, $700 is a mid price phone. You don’t have to consider it that, but it is anyway, because it sits in that middle price area.
Those prices haven't existed in anything but the bottom end for more than 5 years. Pixel 2 128gb was $1200, a typical Iphone top end is the same price range.
You don't have to like it anymore than the high end video cards now being the same price range, but the reality is mid range pricing for cell phones in the US IS in the $5-700 range. As noted, the high end is up in the $1200 range now.
Sure it would be nice if Google went back to the Nexus model where they didn't make money on the phone but don't count on them doing it. The fact this is going for half the price the Pixel 2 with the same amount of memory went for is quite amazing.
Nope, $600 is flagship because that's what it was since the first iPhone came out. Nothing was added to justify a 3x price increase. Fully loaded with what? Another $10 camera module, lol ok.
Exactly. Sure, you can willy-wave with a $1,100 phone if you want, and heck maybe your friends will be impressed.
But I'm quite content to pay $500 (£500) for a phone that's vastly, immeasurably better than the HTC Desire I was very happy with all the way back in 2020, yet is the same dollar price as that Desire was, and is more than adequate for my needs.
You can buy $100,000 trucks and $10,000 PCs, doesnt suddenly mean that a $50,000 truck or a $4000 PC are "midrange" because they "sit in that middle price area". It just means that the 1% prie range is growing larger with every sucker that buys one.
Don't care about 5G, won't give up wireless charging. What, if anything, is supposed to entice me to upgrade from my pixel 4? I prefer tele to UWA as well. Was going to upgrade and hand the 4 down to my wife, but not seeing any reason to spend the money on this at all.
Far from DOA, the pixel 5 is exactly what I was hoping for. Granted, I was hoping it'd be 599 instead of 699, but I don't really care about the money. I've pre-ordered two. One for me and one for my wife. Btw, I believe you'd have to be "utterly insane" to buy a Samsung.
I'm with you, I will be ordering one also to replace my Pixel 3. I just can not go back to Samsung and deal with apps I can not uninstall, janky performance after the first update (always works smooth until then), the random processes that drain battery like crazy, and the overal bloat that still exist (yes, it is better then before, but very much still present).
The Pixel might be a little more money (and I love the hardware of Samsung), but the experience is just sooooo much better with the Pixel. I do not have to ever worry about it.
Also, must be said that I am not someone that has to have the latest/greatest out there. I have no concerns about a mid range processor in the phone. In fact, I'm excited to see what the battery life will be like.
Up until recently OnePlus did not work on Verizon, so was not an option for me (and due to that I have never given them much consideration).
I used Samsung as my example due to Andrei's comments in the article stating the following:
"Right now, if you’re in the US you’d have to be utterly insane in considering the Pixel 5 at $699 given you have the option of a Galaxy S20 FE 5G for $599, with an SoC that obliterates the Pixel 5’s, a better higher-refresh rate screen, bigger batteries, Wi-Fi 6, and a more complete camera module setup"
But I think the greater point is I have been very pleased with my pixel 1/3 experience. So I am likely to stay with them.
Honestly, I don't want a Chinese phone. I know the Chinese government have zero interest in me... but no, I don't want them to be able to read the contents of my phone at will.
Huh - no review sample from Anandtech. So I now have to rely on overproduced "influencers" on youtube to figure out whether this phone is worth it (I'm leaning to a "no" given that it cost as much as my Pixel 1, which I thought was a pretty great phone). I feel that the $700 price tag isn't quite justified given what's included in the package. I was looking for a phone to replace my Pixel 3 - the Pixel 4 didn't have anything that I cared about, but I don't see this being that phone. I guess I wait for whatever OnePlus releases next? I've used Nexus/Pixels since the Nexus 4 and been very happy with them. I guess this will be the end of that era for me. Maybe there will be another announcement later for a fancier Pixel 5? Who knows.
This in my opinion continues on Google’s half hearted effort in the hardware space. Despite the half effort, they seem to want to charge you as if it was a spectacular phone. It’s not flagship price expensive, but the Pixel 5 is certainly not worth the MSRP. Sadly, while there are a lot of Android phone makers, there isn’t a lot of choices when getting a phone that does well in both hardware and software. I am no fan of Samsung phones after 3 bad experiences with their Galaxy S series. They sound and look good, but generally letdown by poor QC and bad software. If I need to get a decent Android phone based on personal experience, then perhaps I will choose OnePlus.
I can vouch for my OnePlus 6 - a solid device and still going well after 2 years of ownership - but their prices keep going up even as they remove features. The loss of the headphone jack on the flagships was a killer for me.
If the Nord has specs better than your current device, then it might be worth a look. That's not really the case for me (besides the cameras) so I'll be waiting a while longer.
The only way I can be talked into buying this phone is if it comes with a special YouTube promo plan that shows a solid fifteen unskippable ads per video because a recent increase of one to two is clearly not generating enough revenue.
Wow, Google has really lost it. Nowhere as good as an iPhone, but just as expensive. They should call these the "P.T. Barnum Edition"; he famously said that there is a sucker borne every minute. Apparently, those are the customers Google has in mind.
That's an obnoxiously high price to pay in order to give Google the ability to monitor everything you do and everywhere you go. Why not just buy a sub-$100 phone and have Google rummage through your personal life on the cheap?
For real. It's an obnoxious as cable TV: rent out this set-top box for 100 dollars a month so we can show you 10 minutes of ads for every 20 minutes of garbage low-quality content. The audacity.
No headphone jack = no buy. No front stereo speakers = no buy. Pixel used to have them! (kinda)
Deleting headphone jack is a ploy to buy overpriced and useless wireless headphones. I do not care if you like them or not, use them with a normal phone then.
Agreed flyingpants265. Add no micro memory slot to that.
My 6P was a quality affordable phone (minus the IP rating) and I haven't seen anything of value from Google since. I had read that Google was putting out a budget phone, and in appreciation of the relative lack of bloatware (Yeah I am looking at you Samsung) I was looking forward to Anandtechs review. This unimaginative phone is consistent with Google's other recent--yawn--offerings, and the price is not the value driven purchase that I am looking for.
It's such an interesting industry. At first, supliers where trying to make the most original, most ergonomical, best software package. Hardware was of far less importance. And the more the industry crystallized, the more boring it became. At some point (around 2010) we almost got the perfect phones for everybody (HTC One S, The Iphone, the sony experia, blackberry bold etc) after that, everybody had a brain freeze or something. Samsung started to make 20 versions of the same phone, HTC like quality, LG like high spec more flimsy, Samsung like cheapish phones, and Apple just made more of the same iphones. Now we just get more expensive cameras, sizes we can't fully use with one hand, but nothing more. HTC could reboot the HTC One S factory. Put in some modern hardware, and again have the most ergonomical and superior build quality phone. After more then 10 years.
the 765G specs are wifi6/802.11ax-ready (whatever the hell 'ready' means!) is there some other reason it doesn't have Wifi6, like external circuitry, antennas or something? That seems ridiculous. Unless ready means Qualcomm are going to enable it later?
Qualcomm advertises Snapdragons as a platform, not an SoC. In this case, the Wi-Fi 6 chip is simply not included by Google. The capability isn't and was never part of the SoC.
I would be fine with this phone, even though they haven't upgraded the Pixel camera sensor in three years. But the $700 price for a midrange chipset is just insane. I barely benchmarks better than a three year old Pixel 2.
Remember the days of the Nexus phones that were both inexpensive and *always* came with whatever the flagship chipset of the day was? Google can and has done way better.
For my preferences the Xperia 5 II would be my choice, even with the crazy price tag, because at least it has things I want: 3.5 MM jack, front facing stereo speakers, very high quality camera, and a flagship chipset. But the Xperia 5 II does not support U.S. carrier networks well, lacking bands that inexpensive three year old phones have (like T-Mobile's band 71) and almost not supporting U.S. 5G bands at all. OnePlus Nord also lacks support for a whole swath of U.S. bands.
Sigh, there are just no interesting phones anymore.
My ideal phone would be a Oneplus 7 with front speakers.
Or alternatively, the Sony Xperia whatever phone. But in a more normal shape, and in a variety of shapes and sizes. The wider the better for me, wider = a bigger keyboard and faster/easier/more accurate typing.
It's really quite simple, we want a phone with all the features, and nothing missing. Make one like that, and we'll pay the $1400 or whatever ridiculous price you set for it.
@Andrei Frumusanu "Right now, if you’re in the US you’d have to be utterly insane in considering the Pixel 5 at $699 given you have the option of a Galaxy S20 FE 5G for $599, with an SoC that obliterates the Pixel 5’s, a better higher-refresh rate screen, bigger batteries, Wi-Fi 6, and a more complete camera module setup"
I'd dare to disagree. If I had 700USD to spend on a smartphone, I'd definitely choose the Pixel. S20FE specs may sound nice, but it's size of 159.8 x 74.5 catapults its firmly into the phablet category, in which the competition is indeed fierce, but which is of little interest for me due to ergonomic constraints. Pixel 5, in turn, competes in "compact premium" segment, which has been severely neglected.
Your complaints are mainly concerned with raw specs and benchmarks, which are mostly not that relevant for the real world use. I suspect the vast majority of general public would be satisfied with everyday performance of Snapdragon 765G, WiFi 5 or 90Hz screen and wouldn't even notice if they were swapped for the "high end" components unless they were told so. Battery may be bigger in Samsung, but what actually matters is not battery SIZE, but battery LIFE, which has been disappointing on the Exynos S20.Pixel 4a with way smaller capacity, seems to offer decent endurance, so I have high hopes for the 5.
And while I'm also disappointed by the re-use of the old camera sensor, what matters here are the actual pictures, so for now the jury is still out.
Overall, we must wait for the proper tests, but I find the Pixel 5 a REALLY PROMISING DEVICE. Potentially the best in its class.
It was funny during the presentation, how they said the new Pixels are faster. Even though the Snapdragon 765G is literally slower than last year's 855.
Hate to be Devils' Advocate but, I love the AI features they are showcasing in their Phone App. All the auto-calling, on-hold waiting, live transcription etc
I just recently bought a Samsung s10+ and man its full of crap.
Who decided that 5 should not have a 3.5mm audio jack? Why? Why does more expensive phone not have it while equally small cheap phone has it? Why are you shooting yourself in the foot, Google? Idiocy, just idiocy.
You'll notice the lack of that 3.5mm adds about 200mah to the battery. That's the cost of the 3.5mm jack and I'd rather have the battery and use wireless headphones.
I was really skeptical of the loss of the 3.5mm jack when my wife and i bought the Pixel 2. My wife in particular because she listens to books while going sleep. But we found solution that IMO work better with wireless. For nighttime my wife uses a little bluetooth 3.5mm adapter that allows her to use regular headphones but disconnects her from the phone (so she doesn't yank it off the nightstand every time she turns over). In fact she likes it better now than being anchored to the phone. When I suggested we upgrade because our batteries are beginning to degrade significantly she told me she didn't care about the 3.5mm because she wouldn't use it at night anyway.
You should look at other options for the 3.5mm, some of them are quite a bit better.
I'd rather not have that extra 200mAh and not have to worry about yet another battery (oddly enough, often around 200mAh).
This wouldn't be an issue if manufacturers made the same models just with and without headphone jack sockets. But they don't and therefore your wants are affecting the product for other people in a negative way.
The 4a (4G) looks like a good value. The only competitor size-wise is the s10e which is a couple hundred more, a year old and probably has worse cameras.
I had started looking for a new smartphone at the beginning of the new year and it took until the Xperia 5 II before I found a newer model that I didn't dislike in some way. Lightweight and not too wide in my hand. No nonsense. Three years of updates. Standard charging protocol with standard cables. Headphone jack. SD-card. No ugly notch or punch-hole in the screen.
Every other phone manufacturer should be able to make a phone with those characteristics if they really wanted to — but instead they have focused on cheap gimmicks to make them look more interesting than they really are. Then add that the Xperia 5 II has a great camera, a 120Hz screen and great battery life. Ditch the 5G and lower the CPU/GPU performance, and I'd still buy it. In fact, ditching 5G and lowering the CPU performance would probably make it cheaper -- increasing the chance of me buying it!
I apologize. The comment above was supposed to have been a reply to a comment on the Sony Xperia 5 II above. I did click the correct Reply-button, but I had to log in to comment and the context was lost in the process.
People still complain about no headphone jack and no SD card? lol People spending that money on a phone but complain they get rid of ancient tech..so funny.
What is funny? I have the money to spend, but I need 3.5 jack in certain circumstances. Yes, I also have wireless headphones, but that does not mean I do not have need for 3.5. What is funny, no, actually very sad, is your inability to understand that your use case is not special. Not everything "ancient" is bad. Do you use wheels? Do you use a spoon? Do you use fire?
It makes sense for Google to avoid the Wifi6 tax on the Pixel 5.
Wifi6 provides almost no additional device speed. Wifi6 is primarily different from AC in that it handles crowded networks and airwaves better. In other words, in apartment buildings or businesses with lots of wifi and lots of users. The per device benefits are negligible.
Honestly it will be long past the lifetime of this device before you see widespread deployment of Wifi6 anyway. IMO the vast majority of users will never see a benefit from Wifi6, only those users in extremely crowded airwaves or with 10+ active users on their wifi.
Don't get me wrong, it would have been nice if they'd included Wifi6 but I bet the patent and hardware tax on using it is not insignificant.
I'm sorry but $700 is not mid-range and offering SD765 at that price is plain robbery! I've used 3 SD765 devices and they canna hold a candle to SD855, let alone anything more. The device's longetivity as a useful work phone is seriously hampered by the chip. Now, the 4a 5G is the real phone to buy, even if again, a tad overpriced. Just get a OnePlus 8 Pro instead of Pixel 5. 4a 5G is worth it for people who don't demand performance from their handset and use it for social media and emails only.
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"The Pixel 5 actually being of a similar form-factor to the 4a, actually is able to house a significantly larger battery at 4000mAh typical capacity – quite a large jump over the 3140mAh unit of its budget sibling. That’s actually even larger than the 3885mAh typical capacity of the new 4a (5G), even with the Pixel 5 weighing less at only 151g."
So... this is because headphone jack. I'm a 4a owner and they can pry my headphone jack from my cold dead hands, but if you can cram in this much more battery without one I can understand why some people would prefer the extra battery life.
Could care less about wifi 6, still using N and it is working just fine.
I buy my phones directly from google for Project Fi, so odds are I will end up with one of these eventually in a year or three. Probably the cheap one.
To me security is what matters, so I am very reluctant to go 3rd party with its bloatware and lack of patching. Iphone or Pixel, and iphone is not on project fi.
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patel21 - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
I understand them adding UWA as its being used more. But why remove Telephoto lens ?When they already have the support for it baked into the camera software.
Especially for the Pixel 5, which could have made the price jump from 4A 5G more bearable and understandable
Andrei Frumusanu - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
¯\_(ツ)_/¯Kangal - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
What do you think is the best overall Android phone of 2020 ?I think the best Android phone of 2020 is the Sony 5.2 (Xperia 5 II). Although it has a "quiet" loudspeaker, lacks Wireless Charging, and is priced high. Besides that, it's got everything and a polished experience. An endangered species!
A close second, is the Sony 1.2. This loses 120Hz, gets a useless resolution bump, and suffers battery life. Also has a "quite" loudspeaker, and ridiculously over-priced. However, it has a slightly better ergonomics, and gains Wireless Charging. Pretty No Nonsense device, and one of the best overall.
A distant third is the OnePlus 8 Pro. Has the trifecta of best hardware, software, and support. But is also high priced, very unergonomic, very fragile, annoying curved display, no microSD slot, no headphone jack. So it's a very compromised device, but a fine choice for those that "Just Settle".
asfletch - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
I'm with you. There was a guide on here recently which IIRC didn't mention Sony but the 5 ii looks like the only strong contender for me to replace XZ1C. It's too tall, but everything else looks mint. Battery life even seems close to XZ1C, which is the icing on the cake. Now just need to wait for silly price to come down....Kangal - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
I don't think there will be a price drop.Sony makes very few amounts of these phones, ever since 2013 and the Z3, that it's hard to get one. If anything, I've seen the prices hold firm or even increase in some cases, due to shortages.
This year's devices have been quite disappointing, in terms of price, and feature removals. At least with the two Sony handsets you only get disappointed in one aspect (price).
Also, this year's software isn't much different/improved compared to last year's. Neither is the processor (QSD 855 vs QSD 865+5G). Nor the flagship cameras. And even the display quality is roughly equal (excluding 60Hz vs 120Hz).
I bring this up, because if you aren't able to find in-stock, or be able to afford the Sony Mk.II (1 or 5), you could consider a flagship from 2019. The ASUS RoG Phone 2 is still a beast. The even cheaper OnePlus 7t is great value. And Samsung's S10e/S10/S10+ are solid devices no matter which size.
That is of course, if you even are in need of an upgrade. Whichever you pick, these will all be CHEAPER AND BETTER than the Google Pixel 5 discussed in this article. What a joke.
sharath.naik - Saturday, October 3, 2020 - link
Does not mater which is the best. Looks like Google is being sabotaged to not be the best. They need to fire the person/Group responsible for decisions like removing the telephoto camera.sonny73n - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
You sound like a god dammed Sony shill - asking a question and answering it yourself. One thing I know for sure is Sony phones are way overpriced and come with crappy cameras."An endangered species". You're right - With their stupid designs one after another, Sony phones should've had disappeared.
Tams80 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Sony phone cameras have always been decent, they just got overtaken. And the camera team have taken over the camera software now, so you can cut that crap out.That you want a company that offers one of the few complete smartphones with fantastic quality just shows how clueless and selfish you are. If anyone is a shill here, it's you.
goanandduck - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Just registered to say: No they haven't been decent. I can't recall any moment in let's say the past 5 years when they were even equal to their competitors. Awful processing and awful DR. And that's coming from someone who kept buying their phones because they had the only serious compact option, which sadly is also no longer true.Kangal - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Firstly, I want to make clear to everyone that I'm not a shill.If I was, then I wouldn't bring up the negative aspects/shortfalls of the device (ahem "quiet loudspeaker"). Besides, I don't even own it, nor am I loyal or fanboy of any logo. I asked a question directly to Andrei to get his opinion, knowing he probably would read it, but wouldn't respond. So I followed with my (objective?) opinions, so that people knew where I stood.
Moving on; with Sony phone's camera performance, I have to agree with most readers here. They were "decent" from 2010 until 2014. Quiet a disappointment from 2015 to 2019, if you were buying Brand New and paying RRP, when the competitors were stronger.
From 2014, we had Apple enter the Medium/Large phone market, and the other competitors step up photography wise. After that Sony were continually playing catch-up... they used some of the best Camera Hardware, but it was wasted with their immature Camera Software. Especially in early-2016 when the Samsung S7+ blew away the competition, followed soon by iPhone 7+, and then the Google Pixel XL. It's been tough for Sony.
Now, things are so good, it's harder to tell the flagship cameras apart. Even OnePlus, which is traditionally known for having poor cameras is offering some of the best shots on the 8 Pro. I think Huawei still (barely) holds the crown with the P40 Pro overall, with the iPhone 11 Max probably having the best point'n'shoot performance. And Sony? In 2020 they've finally caught up to the competition, that it trades blows evenly with other flagships like Apple, Google, Samsung, OnePlus, and Huawei.
melgross - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Overtaken? That simply means that they don’t compete.TheinsanegamerN - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
"Sony phone cameras have always been decent, they just got overtaken"Sony was consistently, and noticeably, outdone by competitors that used the SAME CAMERA. The sony sensor, hell the same overall hardware package, was used by other comapnies like samsung and LG to far greater effect. Sony wasnt just asleep at the wheel, they were passed out ina drunken stupor.
damianrobertjones - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
I've always wanted a, 'quite' speaker, what!flyingpants265 - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
To be honest, the Sony seems like the perfect phone for me, I'm somewhat willing to give up wireless charging since wired charging is faster.The problem for me is the phone is just too slim and tall. It's even worse than the other phones on the market. I prefer 16:9, 17:9, or around 18:9. I cannot reach the notification thing all the way up at the top. I also don't like the power/volume positioning.
The phone display should be a case, and you stick your motherboard in it. Look up the Nexus 5 motherboard and see how tiny it is.
Kangal - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
This is the sorta comments I was hoping for : )What's important depends on a personal level, and ergonomics is one of them. I've even heard people skipping good/great devices because they've fully transitioned to wireless charging in their lifestyle.
I like the 21:9 aspect ratio. It's much more useable than the 20:9 ratio of today, 19:9 ratio of yesteryear, and even better than the 18:9 ratio before then. These are all too short to show Widescreen Videos (21:9), yet when showing Regular Videos (16:9) there are a lot of letter-boxing. Going wider here is simply wasteful. It means the physical phone size has increased, yet the visual has stayed the same.
Personally I think 17:9 is the better aspect ratio. It allows you to have the full 16:9 experience, and the slight extra length allows you to curve the corners for aesthetics, and put your notch in, without disturbing the image (most videos, most games, many Apps). End result is you get to have a high screen-to-body ratio like today's devices, but you don't get to increase the phone's size at all.
The alternative is to have a 16:9 device, with Slim Bezels (like Samsung S8) on both sides. In these bezels put front-firing stereo loudspeakers like the ASUS RoG Phone 2, and also put in all your other cameras and sensors in there. The end result is a device just as compact and good as the 17:9 one.
The best aspect ratio is Root2, 1:1.4142, 12.73:9, iMax.
Although it's great for tablets/desktops, today that's difficult for phones because we're vested in the 16:9 ecosystem too much. In an alternate universe it would've been ideal for phones. Hindsight 20/20. Just imagine if Steve Jobs released the iPhone in that aspect ratio, with the cameras taking photos and videos in that aspect ratio, all Apps being made for it. Google would've copied them and two major companies would be on the same page. Eventually Apps, Games, Videos would saturate the iMax aspect ratio, so making the phone wider for 16:9 would've been wasteful. The progress of increasing the screen resolution (or doubling) would have gone hand in hand with the silicon doubling/Moore's Law. Resolution doubling would be simple and require no App re-writes too. Split-screening would've been much cleaner too. Things would be more optimised.
flyingpants265 - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
I mean, needless to say - phones should come in a variety of shapes and sizes.I should be able to get a phone body in any size i want - a G3 body, a S20 Ultra body, a Nexus 4 body or Gnex body, and put any motherboard and battery I want inside it. It wouldn't even be difficult to do, it's very easy to put together/take apart a phone, that's how they're able to pay Chinese employees pennies to do it.
Wideness is a dealbreaker for me, I need a certain width otherwise I won't feel comfortable typing. I need around 75mm width.
Tallness, I could be willing to tolerate a ridiculous super-tall phone... IF AND ONLY IF the software was completely reworked to allow one-handed use without reaching for the notification area all the time. Doubt it will ever happen.
LG G3 with case was my fav size.
Not sure what you are talking about there with the 12.73:9, it sounds OK, but humans have 180 degrees width FOV and typically dont look up/down very much, so I understand a bit why they went 16:9 and ultra-wide. 17:9 is just about at the limit of where my finger can reach the top with one hand.
100% agreed that 17:9 is the best. My G6 is 18:9, I can reach the top, but it's only 72mm wide, making it 76mm would make it perfect for me to type on.
Kangal - Sunday, October 11, 2020 - link
Okay, the IMAX ratio which is roughly 12.73:9 is found by the Root2. Or to put it more succinctly, it is the same as the ISO standard for A4 paper.The first advantage of this aspect ratio, is that it's very Tablet friendly. It feels less awkward to hold than a 16:10 laptop/tablet. And you could adapt it to phone sizes, if you're careful. And when supersized to a Monitor, Projector, or TV size it's also decent. So there would be a cohesive unification of User Experience going from the smallest to the largest of sizes. That means rapid development of the ecosystem (hardware, kernel, drivers, OS, Apps). Back in 2005-2010 this would be groundbreaking, and even in 2015 it wasn't quite mainstream, so a huge missed opportunity.
Yet the major benefit is that when you fold A4 in half from the long edge, it will create a new size that is exactly half the area of the first... YET it will maintain the SAME aspect ratio as before. Ofcourse, this works in reverse when you double the short-side. And what this means, is that if you wanted to run TWO windows they will scale EXACTLY within the frame. Think of iPhone Apps running side-by-side on a new iPad, except the system won't waste processing power to scale them, and nor would developers need to spend extra time coding for this. You could also split it into a Quadrant or further. Floating Windows like today's are still possible and would be easier to do, but might need some extra coding. So from a multi-tasking perspective, this is objectively the best choice.
And what makes this special is that, because it is the Root of 2, it works in the powers of 2. Ie doubling. And this scales well with computers. Think 1GB, 2GB, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc etc. And even more intriguing is that Moore's Law has been a phenomenon for so long, so transistor counts do double every few years. So if you had a new resolution it would scale in-cadence with the processor. Remember how the iPad2 was a phenomenal device for its time, yet the iPad3 was a big letdown... yeah, scaling!
Imagine if Steve Jobs had this idea, and in his life this is how the iPhone and iPads were thought of. He would've revolutionised the industry. And competitors would have flocked to the same Root2 Aspect Ratio, just like they imitated the touchscreen and design. So there would be heaps of Root2 content out in terms of Photos, Wallpapers, Gifs, Video Recordings, Apps, and Games. It would set a new industry standard, the way we have the 4:3 standard, the 16:9 standard and the 21:9 standard. And that's because Apple would've pushed things forward, and the likes of Microsoft, Google, Nokia, Sony, Samsung, LG, and others would have pushed it further.
Kangal - Sunday, October 11, 2020 - link
I split my reply into two. First is the written comment, about the why. This is the second comment, giving the details of the how. I hope I do not pi ss many readers of this site (I'm sorry).Here is how I think (Root2) computing devices could have progressed:
Year ======= 2008 ----- 2010 ----- 2012 ---- 2014 ----- 2016 ---- 2018 ---- 2020
Lithography == 64nm --- 48nm ---- 32nm ---- 24nm --- 16nm ---- 12nm ---- 8nm
GPU ======= 2 CU ----- 3 CU ---- 4 CU ----- 6 CU ---- 8 CU --- 12 CU -- 16 CU
CPU ======= 1 core --- 1 core --- 2 core --- 3 core --- 4 core -- 6 core -- 8 core
RAM ======= 1 GB ----- 1 GB ---- 2 GB ----- 3 GB ---- 4 GB ---- 6 GB ---- 8 GB
NAND ====== 8 GB ---- 16 GB --- 32 GB --- 64 GB -- 128GB - 256GB - 512GB
Resolution === E9 --------- E9+ ----- E10 ------ E10+ ---- E11 ----- E11+ ---- E12
Framerate === 24fps ----- 48fps --- 48fps ----- 72fps --- 72fps --- 96fps --- 96fps
...and, this is to go even further beyond!!
Year ======= 2022 ----- 2024 ---- 2026 --- 2028 --- 2030 ---- 2032
Lithography == 6nm ----- 4nm ----- 3nm ---- 2nm --- +2nm ---- 1nm
GPU ======= 24CU --- 32CU --- 48CU -- 64CU --- 96CU -- 128CU
CPU ======= 12core - 16core - 24core - 32core - 48core -- 64core
RAM ======= 12 GB -- 16 GB -- 24 GB -- 32 GB -- 48 GB -- 64 GB
NAND ====== 1 TB ----- 2 TB ----- 4 TB ---- 8 TB --- 16 TB -- 32 TB
Resolution === E12+ ----- E13 ------ E13+ --- E14 ---- E14+ ---- E15
Framerate === 120fps -- 120fps -- 144fps -- 144fps -- 168fps -- 168fps
Here's how the physical devices could have moved forwards (helps to think in Apple terms):
The Original iPhone (later renamed to iPhone Mini)
(2008, 2009) - A8 size (3.62in) - 173 ppi - E9 Resolution - 512 x 362p
(2010, 2011) - A8 size (3.62 in) - 245 ppi - e9+ resolution - 724 x 512p
(2012 & up ) - A8 size (3.62 in) - 347 ppi - E10 Resolution - 1024 x 724p
The New iPhone (later renamed to iPhone Pro)
(2010, 2011) - A8+ size (4.43 in) - 288 ppi - E10 Resolution - 1024 x 724p
(2012, 2013) - A8+ size (4.43 in) - 408 ppi - e10+ resolution - 1448 x 1024p
(2014 & up ) - A8+ size (4.43 in) - 577 ppi - E11 Resolution - 2048 x 1448p
The Latest iPhone (later renamed to iPhone Max)
(2012, 2013) - A7 size (5.11 in) - 347 ppi - e10+ resolution - 1448 x 1024p
(2014, 2015) - A7 size (5.11 in) - 491 ppi - E11 Resolution - 2048 x 1448p
(2016 & up ) - A7 size (5.11 in) - 694 ppi - e11+ resolution - 2896 x 2048p
Here's the display sizes/names in more detail:
A1+ = 49.37 in - 724mm x 1024mm
A1 == 40.90 in - 600mm x 848mm
A2+ = 34.91 in - 512mm x 724mm
A2 == 28.92 in - 424mm x 600mm
A3+ = 24.69 in - 362mm x 512mm
A3 == 20.45 in - 300mm x 424mm
A4+ = 17.45 in - 256mm x 362mm
A4 == 14.32 in - 212mm x 300mm
A5+ = 12.35 in - 181mm x 256mm
A5 == 10.23 in - 150mm x 212mm
A6+ = 8.73 in - 128mm x 181mm
A6 == 7.23 in - 106mm x 150mm
A7+ = 6.18 in - 90mm x 128mm
A7 == 5.11 in - 75mm x 106mm
A8+ = 4.35in - 64mm x 90mm
A8 = 3.62 in - 53mm x 75mm
And here's the Root2 screen resolutions that I'm referencing:
E1 == 2 x 1
E1+ = 3 x 2
E2 == 4 x 3
E2+ = 6 x 4
E3 == 8 x 6
E3+ = 11 x 8
E4 == 16 x 11
E4+ = 23 x 16
E5 == 32 x 23
E5+ = 45 x 32
E6 == 64 x 45
E6+ = 90 x 64
E7 == 128 x 90
E7+ = 180 x 128
E8 == 256 x 180
E8+ = 362 x 256
E9 == 512 x 362
E9+ = 724 x 512
E10 == 1024 x 724
E10+ = 1448 x 1024
E11 == 2048 x 1448
E11+ = 2896 x 2048
E12 == 4096 x 2896
E12+ = 5792 x 4096
E13 == 8192 x 5792
E13+ = 11584 x 8192
...I think you get the pattern here.
Tamelawarren - Saturday, October 3, 2020 - link
good gameSpunjji - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
The Pixel range have always been fairly terrible value for money. I guess they just see it as a theme to be upheld, now?s.yu - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
You can say the same about the Surface range basically, look at that new $1500 option.melgross - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Price and room. The larger battery has to go somewhere.SpeedyTheTurtle - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
I per-ordered the pixel 5 but i might cancel it. Depending what happens in the next month or so. I can't stand any Samsung phone I hate their software so much and I want 5G (manly for low frequency 5G) I wanted the one plus nord but its not coming to the US. I currently have a PH-1 and now that they are out of business i really need a new phone.quiksilvr - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
Never pre-order a phone before the holidays unless its the iPhone. Android phones ALWAYS have promos and iPhones rarely ever go on sale. I would wait for the Pixel 4a 5G to become more readily available in November if you really don't like Samsung. Personally I love Samsung's One UI over Touchjizz and have been using Nova Launcher Prime for almost a decade so the home screen is stock Android for me and the S20 FE with 120Hz looks like a great buy especially since Amazon is selling it for $599.jabber - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Yeah put it on a Amazon wishlist and see it drop 20% within 48 hours! Never buy anything you don't need right there and then on Amazon. Always put it in a wishlist and get at least 10% off a day or two later.rahvin - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
IMO the primary reason to purchase the Pixel is to avoid the stupid android overlays that Samsung and others use (which slow down the phone and aren't better in any way) along with the fact that Google keeps updating the OS for 3 years, whereas all the other manufacturers abandon the phone after a year.I've got a pixel2 that receives security updates every month (including september) and that I'll probably be upgrading to the 5 because it's going to stop receiving security updates this year (rumor is October will be the last update).
Quantumz0d - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
No headphone jack,No SD card slot,
No FF stereo setup,
Copy paste ugly design,
Overpriced to hell for the specs and always having QC issues from structural integrity to the damned HW make.
SAF + Scoped Storage = worse than iOS due to fragmented standards and Google's garbage partitioning on Pixels means big headache to even make it work with root to see your local files on the NAND.
For Eg - Pixel 2 added A/B, then 3 has modding issues and unconventional methods of recovery due to the fused filesystems /boot /recovery and then Pixel 4 has read-only ext4 system like Huawei ccp garbage EROFS, meaning no R/W access, even with root it's a hell.
Now pair that with SAF + Scoped storage, this is at OS level from 10 - where you will have only one folder which is mediastore and that's the only place where you dump all the damn files on the phone, no more visible filesystem, and that mediastore only has media files like videos, photos and audio. So apps won't be able to see other files and folders, MTP created stuff also won't show up, sandboxed locations, no more POSIX libs and other file i/o ops valid since this is SAF with a performance hit on top - worst possible bullshit framework regression ever happened in Software development industry. SD card access also fucked up due to OS level API block from 10+
I think AT only reviews HW mostly but this SAF should have seen some form of article really. It's unknown to masses now and will break a shit ton of apps in the future updates and almost kills all backwards compatibiliy due to the older OSes from KK+ LP v5 to the latest. Ultimate bullshit it just kills Android in one shot, killing the entire FS access.
Google simply wants to copy Apple, I hope this Pissxel phone flops even harder than last. Copying so hard on Apple, why would I choose Android when I don't have the said advantages of free filesystem access and others which Android boasts about like HW from high quality audio (LG, Vivo, Sony), video (Pro modes on Sony & LG), Display technologies, Expandable storages, unique price points, design. Everything is now a copy paste of Apple.
Quantumz0d - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
You can also see this with Chrome and Kiwi etc apps, download anything, you don't see then in usual Downloads folder. It goes to the app folder, once you delete all is gone. Imagine that with other apps such has Photoshop Express and etc, modify the files and delete, all your files and data wiped off clean.Tams80 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
This pisses me off daily. There are utter morons working over at Alphabet.RU482 - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
uuhhh, why would a phone focused at the middle care about anything you just said.Google doesn't want to copy Apple in anything other than number of units sold....and focusing on the middle right now is a solid strategy IMO
LiverpoolFC5903 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Terribly simplistic response to a good post.He has a perfectly valid point. If all the openness and freedom is gone from android, the key point of distinction wrt to ios is gone.
If i wanted a closed garden type decice with gimped file system access, no generic hardware interface support, no headphone jack and no sd card, i'd simply buy an iphone.
File system was one of the key differentiators for android phones. If google is going the apple way, i would rather buy apple than a cheap copy at 1/4 th performance.
The Garden Variety - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
It's not a good post and you're not helping by encouraging quantumz0d. At best he/she is a crank, but as has been discussed to death over on reddit by people with far deeper credentials than me, he's struggling with *something* and it's getting worse.SharpHawk - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Quantumz makes good points. You, on the other hand, only offer ad hominems.Spunjji - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Not about Scoped Storage, they don't.It's not really an ad hominem to point out that someone is a crank when the person concerned routinely makes posts containing disinformation and/or off-topic rants. At some point it's not incumbent on the rest of us to provide a fully sourced rebuttal to each and very post they churn out.
TheinsanegamerN - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Why not refute their points about Scoped storage instead of calling them names? You have no real point to make here.flyingpants265 - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
What in god's name...? The post had a bunch of informative & accurate info, and your response is to call them a crank? What is wrong with you?Spunjji - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Then you'd be happy to hear that Google are not "gimping" file system access:https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/09/android-11...
Quantumz0d - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
What is that bullshit ? Ars is ill informed just like you. That idiotic site didn't even put Play Store requirements. Android 11 is latest so n-1 is the API mandate target which is Andoid 10. Meaning the flag of scoped storage shit is must for apps updating on Play Store. And those idiots wrote 2 paraphrase Retarded as hell.Want in depth ? Go to "Commonsware" Murpy blog and read on that bullshit or here's an XDA page for making simpleton mind educated on the shitty performance
https://www.xda-developers.com/android-q-storage-a...
https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/bhdcd...
Android is dying. The alphabet soup parading and more copying of Apple is the cause for this. And more and more dumb people get the better for them. Now Google is also mandating the App Bundle signatures done by them instead of developer. This bullshit won't end. Just like Windows, all idiots at Microsoft use Macbooks and trash and same for Google all fools use iPhones and at Firefox iPads. They do not use the products they make so they are not aware of what they even do with their empty skulls.
Quantumz0d - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Oh the Filesystem access to Filemanagers of what Ars wrote - oneline. Here's more, per app vetting basis it is, a big joke considering how it is since its a machine and often Google bans so many apps..https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/dr9p9...
Fileystem is dead on Android. Its over. Once Android S a.k.a 12 comes n-1 goes to 11 and all apps will not have the fallback flag, anyways all apps migrating to it so you are already gimped by the change you didn't notice yet.
rahvin - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
SAF has nothing to do with Apple. It's about security, every single app needs to be treated as potentially hostile. SAF is more aggressive form of sand-boxing that prevents applications from accessing anything but it's own files.Unfortunately we live in a world where this type of sandboxing is absolutely necessary, even good trusted apps these days can end up getting sold to malicious actors who push updates that turn those apps into malware. And this type of malware is getting much more common. Google was put in the position of having to deploy security measures like SAF to prevent this.
I'd prefer we didn't need SAF as well, but the security situation in mobile is degrading every year and much more aggressive security measures are needed to protect users who aren't security savvy (such as inspecting and approving every app update individually).
As the XDA article notes, advanced users can still use ADB to give general file access to apps. It's not ideal but there aren't any good and easy security measures anymore, as everything else has been bipassed.
s.yu - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
I'm curious to how China will react. Most iOS versions of apps in China behave themselves better, most of those in Android still won't run until you grant them access to every permission they ask for, and I expect that they put them to illegitimate use. Now if an iOS-like situation is forced upon Android devs, are they going to give up their illegitimate snooping or is scoped storage just going to be somehow disabled in factory by OEM customization?s.yu - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Yeah...as bad as Apple, looks like rooting on arrival will again become mandatory (and phones that can't root will be out of the question) and there will have to be system tools developed to automate the process of disabling scoped storage.Quantumz0d - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Huawei EROFS has already the OS having upper hand over the end user. The OS has CCP approved technology as it doesn't allow user to modify but only itself. Then their OS blocks apps running on background. This is even more aggressive when Scoped Storage comes.You cannot disable Scoped Storage. Because its at SDK OS level. Play store distributed apps must use it else they will face delist if they do not target Android 10 for updated apps. If an app doesn't get updated (Disk Usage) then it will work as long as the App works on new phones, with root, I don't think the app will work. Because on Pixel 4 even with root FX app don't list filesystem because of unknown issues with their mounting methods.
Filemanagers with root probably can work like MiXplorer and other but what's the use when there are no more files written to the folders where you want. PS Express alr scoped storage and saf, Kiwi, Chrome same, photos apps, Adobe Pdf also same, basically all popular tools and apps are same. Yea a little bit og freedom over locked bootloader trash but as I said Android is dying. Once the root gets hard, Magisk dev said something which I don't remember but its going to be niche of a niche and past.
Google wants everyone into their cloud that's why SAF is built like that and they control people more if this is defacto. Just like Apple security is a bullshit excuse because Internet access to apps is not gated at all. And malware happens no matter what. This is born of greed, power corruption and monopolist abuse.
Meteor2 - Saturday, October 3, 2020 - link
"What is that bullshit ? Ars is ill informed just like you. That idiotic site"-- you know 99% of people won't read past nonsense like that, don't you? If you want to make a point, make it with civility.
melgross - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Realistically, pretty much no one buys an Android phone because of “openness”. They buy them because they’re cheaper, and that’s about it. The fraction of 1% of buyers who do buy it because of openness hardly make a dent in the market.niva - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Yes, the public is full of stupid people. Tell us something we don't already know.Peskarik - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
I buy Android because I can access the storage from my PC, and download stuff without itunes or some other garbage software.I also prefer the user experience of Android (especially pure Android as it comes on Pixel phones).
I have a Pixel XL and iPhone XR. I use Pixel 99% of time.
Having said that I am disappointed by Google again, they do not let me have it what I want. I want something like 5 but with 3.5mm jack, because I actually need it. I will not use dongle ever.
TheinsanegamerN - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
IKR? I like the pixel 5 idea, but for $700 I'd want the 5000 MaH battery and headphone jack of the $250 moto g power or $900 LG V60.1_rick - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
Midrange? At $700?I don't care what the phone makers call their pricing bands, $700 isn't midrange.
I paid $499 for a new Galaxy S10 Lite a couple of weeks ago, and it's got a Snapdragon 855. Yes, I know they don't update it as often as Google.
RU482 - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
they aren't focused on the people that pay retail price for a phone. This is going to be heavily incentivized and targeted at the big carriers. Are MVNOs important...heck yeah. Is this the hot phone for the budget buyer or the high end enthusiast....heck no.Spunjji - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
I'll never understand this rationalisation. Phones have always been subsidised by carriers, and you still pay full price (or more) in the end. Price creep is thing that's happening, and in Google's case, they don't even offer flashy features in an attempt to justify it.This added to the fact that they *make money off the data they harvest from your device*.
flyingpants265 - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Yep. And price creep is enabled by subsidies. People will buy anything for 0 down and 50 bucks a month.If you didn't like the "harvest your data" thing, you should have passed a law against it by now, since you live in a democracy and all.
There's no reason my phone should be connecting to Google's servers or have anything to do with Google at all. It's a phone. Where is the built-in firewall, like iptables? Although I suppose they can still track me through the 90% of the internet that has Google Analytics. I still don't like it.
Someone should have had the bright idea to build a completely open phone (and computer) by now, outcompeted Google/Apple/MSFT, and it should have had billions in worldwide sales. That would have been the right solution. Well, they tried, it's called the Librem 5, they shipped like 100 phones out, and it sucks more than you could possibly imagine.
MetaCube - Thursday, October 22, 2020 - link
"Phones have always been subsidised by carriers"US=/=world
melgross - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
When the flagships go for $1,100, base price, and up to almost $1,500 fully loaded, $700 is a mid price phone. You don’t have to consider it that, but it is anyway, because it sits in that middle price area.webdoctors - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
To me over $500 is definitely in the high range, i thought mid range was $250-500 and low range was under $250 or $300.These things are getting crazy expensive! I know the dollar is worthless but not like this! These phones are obsolete after 2-3 yrs anyways.
flyingpants265 - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Nexus 5 was a flagship sold for $299. Nexus 4 I believe as well.rahvin - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Those prices haven't existed in anything but the bottom end for more than 5 years. Pixel 2 128gb was $1200, a typical Iphone top end is the same price range.You don't have to like it anymore than the high end video cards now being the same price range, but the reality is mid range pricing for cell phones in the US IS in the $5-700 range. As noted, the high end is up in the $1200 range now.
Sure it would be nice if Google went back to the Nexus model where they didn't make money on the phone but don't count on them doing it. The fact this is going for half the price the Pixel 2 with the same amount of memory went for is quite amazing.
flyingpants265 - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Nope, $600 is flagship because that's what it was since the first iPhone came out. Nothing was added to justify a 3x price increase. Fully loaded with what? Another $10 camera module, lol ok.Meteor2 - Saturday, October 3, 2020 - link
Exactly. Sure, you can willy-wave with a $1,100 phone if you want, and heck maybe your friends will be impressed.But I'm quite content to pay $500 (£500) for a phone that's vastly, immeasurably better than the HTC Desire I was very happy with all the way back in 2020, yet is the same dollar price as that Desire was, and is more than adequate for my needs.
TheinsanegamerN - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
You can buy $100,000 trucks and $10,000 PCs, doesnt suddenly mean that a $50,000 truck or a $4000 PC are "midrange" because they "sit in that middle price area". It just means that the 1% prie range is growing larger with every sucker that buys one.ilkhan - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
Don't care about 5G, won't give up wireless charging. What, if anything, is supposed to entice me to upgrade from my pixel 4? I prefer tele to UWA as well. Was going to upgrade and hand the 4 down to my wife, but not seeing any reason to spend the money on this at all.TheinsanegamerN - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Much bigger battery?Meteor2 - Saturday, October 3, 2020 - link
Why would you want to buy a new phone after one year? Wait three. You'll have software and security updates throughout that time.reckless76 - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
Far from DOA, the pixel 5 is exactly what I was hoping for. Granted, I was hoping it'd be 599 instead of 699, but I don't really care about the money. I've pre-ordered two. One for me and one for my wife. Btw, I believe you'd have to be "utterly insane" to buy a Samsung.Che - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
I'm with you, I will be ordering one also to replace my Pixel 3. I just can not go back to Samsung and deal with apps I can not uninstall, janky performance after the first update (always works smooth until then), the random processes that drain battery like crazy, and the overal bloat that still exist (yes, it is better then before, but very much still present).The Pixel might be a little more money (and I love the hardware of Samsung), but the experience is just sooooo much better with the Pixel. I do not have to ever worry about it.
Also, must be said that I am not someone that has to have the latest/greatest out there. I have no concerns about a mid range processor in the phone. In fact, I'm excited to see what the battery life will be like.
Spunjji - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
How unfortunate that Google and Samsung are the only phone vendors. 🙄(Your arguments could all be used to equally justify purchasing a OnePlus phone).
Che - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Up until recently OnePlus did not work on Verizon, so was not an option for me (and due to that I have never given them much consideration).I used Samsung as my example due to Andrei's comments in the article stating the following:
"Right now, if you’re in the US you’d have to be utterly insane in considering the Pixel 5 at $699 given you have the option of a Galaxy S20 FE 5G for $599, with an SoC that obliterates the Pixel 5’s, a better higher-refresh rate screen, bigger batteries, Wi-Fi 6, and a more complete camera module setup"
But I think the greater point is I have been very pleased with my pixel 1/3 experience. So I am likely to stay with them.
Meteor2 - Saturday, October 3, 2020 - link
Honestly, I don't want a Chinese phone. I know the Chinese government have zero interest in me... but no, I don't want them to be able to read the contents of my phone at will.RU482 - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
dude, right there with you.erple2 - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
Huh - no review sample from Anandtech. So I now have to rely on overproduced "influencers" on youtube to figure out whether this phone is worth it (I'm leaning to a "no" given that it cost as much as my Pixel 1, which I thought was a pretty great phone). I feel that the $700 price tag isn't quite justified given what's included in the package. I was looking for a phone to replace my Pixel 3 - the Pixel 4 didn't have anything that I cared about, but I don't see this being that phone. I guess I wait for whatever OnePlus releases next? I've used Nexus/Pixels since the Nexus 4 and been very happy with them. I guess this will be the end of that era for me. Maybe there will be another announcement later for a fancier Pixel 5? Who knows.watzupken - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
This in my opinion continues on Google’s half hearted effort in the hardware space. Despite the half effort, they seem to want to charge you as if it was a spectacular phone. It’s not flagship price expensive, but the Pixel 5 is certainly not worth the MSRP. Sadly, while there are a lot of Android phone makers, there isn’t a lot of choices when getting a phone that does well in both hardware and software. I am no fan of Samsung phones after 3 bad experiences with their Galaxy S series. They sound and look good, but generally letdown by poor QC and bad software. If I need to get a decent Android phone based on personal experience, then perhaps I will choose OnePlus.Spunjji - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
I can vouch for my OnePlus 6 - a solid device and still going well after 2 years of ownership - but their prices keep going up even as they remove features. The loss of the headphone jack on the flagships was a killer for me.If the Nord has specs better than your current device, then it might be worth a look. That's not really the case for me (besides the cameras) so I'll be waiting a while longer.
Sychonut - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
$700 for a mid-range phone?! Is this a bad joke?The only way I can be talked into buying this phone is if it comes with a special YouTube promo plan that shows a solid fifteen unskippable ads per video because a recent increase of one to two is clearly not generating enough revenue.
eastcoast_pete - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
Wow, Google has really lost it. Nowhere as good as an iPhone, but just as expensive. They should call these the "P.T. Barnum Edition"; he famously said that there is a sucker borne every minute. Apparently, those are the customers Google has in mind.PeachNCream - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
That's an obnoxiously high price to pay in order to give Google the ability to monitor everything you do and everywhere you go. Why not just buy a sub-$100 phone and have Google rummage through your personal life on the cheap?Sychonut - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
For real. It's an obnoxious as cable TV: rent out this set-top box for 100 dollars a month so we can show you 10 minutes of ads for every 20 minutes of garbage low-quality content. The audacity.shabby - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Hardware is hard ok, give google a chance this year, and the next year, and the next year, and the... oh forget itflyingpants265 - Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - link
No headphone jack = no buy.No front stereo speakers = no buy. Pixel used to have them! (kinda)
Deleting headphone jack is a ploy to buy overpriced and useless wireless headphones. I do not care if you like them or not, use them with a normal phone then.
SantaAna12 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Agreed flyingpants265. Add no micro memory slot to that.My 6P was a quality affordable phone (minus the IP rating) and I haven't seen anything of value from Google since. I had read that Google was putting out a budget phone, and in appreciation of the relative lack of bloatware (Yeah I am looking at you Samsung) I was looking forward to Anandtechs review. This unimaginative phone is consistent with Google's other recent--yawn--offerings, and the price is not the value driven purchase that I am looking for.
TheinsanegamerN - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
If the pixel 5 had a 4500+ MaH battery, a SD card slot, and a headphone jack, it would be a slam dunk on par with the OG nexus 5.And still nobody would buy it because it doesnt say apple or samsung on it.
Foeketijn - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
It's such an interesting industry. At first, supliers where trying to make the most original, most ergonomical, best software package. Hardware was of far less importance. And the more the industry crystallized, the more boring it became. At some point (around 2010) we almost got the perfect phones for everybody (HTC One S,The Iphone, the sony experia, blackberry bold etc) after that, everybody had a brain freeze or something.
Samsung started to make 20 versions of the same phone, HTC like quality, LG like high spec more flimsy, Samsung like cheapish phones, and Apple just made more of the same iphones.
Now we just get more expensive cameras, sizes we can't fully use with one hand, but nothing more.
HTC could reboot the HTC One S factory. Put in some modern hardware, and again have the most ergonomical and superior build quality phone. After more then 10 years.
Tams80 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
HTC HD2 2020 edition please.lexter999 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
the 765G specs are wifi6/802.11ax-ready (whatever the hell 'ready' means!) is there some other reason it doesn't have Wifi6, like external circuitry, antennas or something? That seems ridiculous. Unless ready means Qualcomm are going to enable it later?Andrei Frumusanu - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Qualcomm advertises Snapdragons as a platform, not an SoC. In this case, the Wi-Fi 6 chip is simply not included by Google. The capability isn't and was never part of the SoC.gg555 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
I would be fine with this phone, even though they haven't upgraded the Pixel camera sensor in three years. But the $700 price for a midrange chipset is just insane. I barely benchmarks better than a three year old Pixel 2.Remember the days of the Nexus phones that were both inexpensive and *always* came with whatever the flagship chipset of the day was? Google can and has done way better.
For my preferences the Xperia 5 II would be my choice, even with the crazy price tag, because at least it has things I want: 3.5 MM jack, front facing stereo speakers, very high quality camera, and a flagship chipset. But the Xperia 5 II does not support U.S. carrier networks well, lacking bands that inexpensive three year old phones have (like T-Mobile's band 71) and almost not supporting U.S. 5G bands at all. OnePlus Nord also lacks support for a whole swath of U.S. bands.
Sigh, there are just no interesting phones anymore.
FenCPH - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
' no interesting phones anymore 'You need to look at Samsung Galaxy xcover pro. :-@
TheinsanegamerN - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Wont touch a samsung and their garbage software again.flyingpants265 - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
My ideal phone would be a Oneplus 7 with front speakers.Or alternatively, the Sony Xperia whatever phone. But in a more normal shape, and in a variety of shapes and sizes. The wider the better for me, wider = a bigger keyboard and faster/easier/more accurate typing.
It's really quite simple, we want a phone with all the features, and nothing missing. Make one like that, and we'll pay the $1400 or whatever ridiculous price you set for it.
Ptosio - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
@Andrei Frumusanu"Right now, if you’re in the US you’d have to be utterly insane in considering the Pixel 5 at $699 given you have the option of a Galaxy S20 FE 5G for $599, with an SoC that obliterates the Pixel 5’s, a better higher-refresh rate screen, bigger batteries, Wi-Fi 6, and a more complete camera module setup"
I'd dare to disagree. If I had 700USD to spend on a smartphone, I'd definitely choose the Pixel.
S20FE specs may sound nice, but it's size of 159.8 x 74.5 catapults its firmly into the phablet category, in which the competition is indeed fierce, but which is of little interest for me due to ergonomic constraints.
Pixel 5, in turn, competes in "compact premium" segment, which has been severely neglected.
Your complaints are mainly concerned with raw specs and benchmarks, which are mostly not that relevant for the real world use. I suspect the vast majority of general public would be satisfied with everyday performance of Snapdragon 765G, WiFi 5 or 90Hz screen and wouldn't even notice if they were swapped for the "high end" components unless they were told so.
Battery may be bigger in Samsung, but what actually matters is not battery SIZE, but battery LIFE, which has been disappointing on the Exynos S20.Pixel 4a with way smaller capacity, seems to offer decent endurance, so I have high hopes for the 5.
And while I'm also disappointed by the re-use of the old camera sensor, what matters here are the actual pictures, so for now the jury is still out.
Overall, we must wait for the proper tests, but I find the Pixel 5 a REALLY PROMISING DEVICE. Potentially the best in its class.
MetaCube - Thursday, October 22, 2020 - link
"it's worse in every way, is more expensive but it's also smaller so 3000% worth it"DabuXian - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
It was funny during the presentation, how they said the new Pixels are faster. Even though the Snapdragon 765G is literally slower than last year's 855.fred666 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
The 4a is interesting but the added cost of the 5G devices is clearly not worth it.damianrobertjones - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
I watched the release over on Youtube and the entire presentation was awful."This video is filmed on the Pixel 5!"
It looked terrible.
TheinsanegamerN - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Pixel 5 finally has a halfway decent battery capacity. Google has figured it out!It's a good step forward, but I'm not sure if it warrants the $700 price tag over a $250 moto g power or a $700 LG V60.
patel21 - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
Hate to be Devils' Advocate but, I love the AI features they are showcasing in their Phone App. All the auto-calling, on-hold waiting, live transcription etcI just recently bought a Samsung s10+ and man its full of crap.
I really hoped the pixel 5 is around $600.
Peskarik - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Who decided that 5 should not have a 3.5mm audio jack? Why?Why does more expensive phone not have it while equally small cheap phone has it?
Why are you shooting yourself in the foot, Google?
Idiocy, just idiocy.
flyingpants265 - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
Because they do not want to miss out on BILLIONS IN PROFIT from selling stuff like "pixel buds".flyingpants265 - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
It's not idiocy buddy, they did it on purpose.Peskarik - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
That is why I will not buy one, on purpose.rahvin - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
You'll notice the lack of that 3.5mm adds about 200mah to the battery. That's the cost of the 3.5mm jack and I'd rather have the battery and use wireless headphones.I was really skeptical of the loss of the 3.5mm jack when my wife and i bought the Pixel 2. My wife in particular because she listens to books while going sleep. But we found solution that IMO work better with wireless. For nighttime my wife uses a little bluetooth 3.5mm adapter that allows her to use regular headphones but disconnects her from the phone (so she doesn't yank it off the nightstand every time she turns over). In fact she likes it better now than being anchored to the phone. When I suggested we upgrade because our batteries are beginning to degrade significantly she told me she didn't care about the 3.5mm because she wouldn't use it at night anyway.
You should look at other options for the 3.5mm, some of them are quite a bit better.
Tams80 - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
I'd rather not have that extra 200mAh and not have to worry about yet another battery (oddly enough, often around 200mAh).This wouldn't be an issue if manufacturers made the same models just with and without headphone jack sockets. But they don't and therefore your wants are affecting the product for other people in a negative way.
akvadrako - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
The 4a (4G) looks like a good value. The only competitor size-wise is the s10e which is a couple hundred more, a year old and probably has worse cameras.Findecanor - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
I had started looking for a new smartphone at the beginning of the new year and it took until the Xperia 5 II before I found a newer model that I didn't dislike in some way.Lightweight and not too wide in my hand. No nonsense. Three years of updates. Standard charging protocol with standard cables. Headphone jack. SD-card. No ugly notch or punch-hole in the screen.
Every other phone manufacturer should be able to make a phone with those characteristics if they really wanted to — but instead they have focused on cheap gimmicks to make them look more interesting than they really are.
Then add that the Xperia 5 II has a great camera, a 120Hz screen and great battery life.
Ditch the 5G and lower the CPU/GPU performance, and I'd still buy it. In fact, ditching 5G and lowering the CPU performance would probably make it cheaper -- increasing the chance of me buying it!
Findecanor - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
I apologize. The comment above was supposed to have been a reply to a comment on the Sony Xperia 5 II above. I did click the correct Reply-button, but I had to log in to comment and the context was lost in the process.imaheadcase - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
People still complain about no headphone jack and no SD card? lolPeople spending that money on a phone but complain they get rid of ancient tech..so funny.
Peskarik - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
What is funny? I have the money to spend, but I need 3.5 jack in certain circumstances. Yes, I also have wireless headphones, but that does not mean I do not have need for 3.5.What is funny, no, actually very sad, is your inability to understand that your use case is not special. Not everything "ancient" is bad. Do you use wheels? Do you use a spoon? Do you use fire?
rahvin - Friday, October 2, 2020 - link
It makes sense for Google to avoid the Wifi6 tax on the Pixel 5.Wifi6 provides almost no additional device speed. Wifi6 is primarily different from AC in that it handles crowded networks and airwaves better. In other words, in apartment buildings or businesses with lots of wifi and lots of users. The per device benefits are negligible.
Honestly it will be long past the lifetime of this device before you see widespread deployment of Wifi6 anyway. IMO the vast majority of users will never see a benefit from Wifi6, only those users in extremely crowded airwaves or with 10+ active users on their wifi.
Don't get me wrong, it would have been nice if they'd included Wifi6 but I bet the patent and hardware tax on using it is not insignificant.
Meteor2 - Saturday, October 3, 2020 - link
Yeah because people don't live in apartments, work in offices, or visit stadiums ¯\_(ツ)_/¯tkSteveFOX - Saturday, October 3, 2020 - link
I'm sorry but $700 is not mid-range and offering SD765 at that price is plain robbery!I've used 3 SD765 devices and they canna hold a candle to SD855, let alone anything more.
The device's longetivity as a useful work phone is seriously hampered by the chip.
Now, the 4a 5G is the real phone to buy, even if again, a tad overpriced.
Just get a OnePlus 8 Pro instead of Pixel 5. 4a 5G is worth it for people who don't demand performance from their handset and use it for social media and emails only.
regsEx - Saturday, October 3, 2020 - link
Red price for Pixel 4a 5G is $250. And $300 for Pixel 5.Meteor2 - Saturday, October 3, 2020 - link
FINALLY back to Nexus pricing and ethos!Including wireless charging over WiFi6 is a bizarre choice but hey, this is Google, there's always going to be one.
But generally these look superb phones. Thank god glass backs have finally been done away with.
MetaCube - Thursday, October 22, 2020 - link
Not sure if trolling or notgie51995 - Saturday, October 3, 2020 - link
Start making cash online work easily from home.i have received a paycheck of $24K in this month by working online Abe from home.i am a student and i just doing this job in my spare. .click Here for full Detail.....jobtalk.comsnowmyr - Wednesday, October 7, 2020 - link
"The Pixel 5 actually being of a similar form-factor to the 4a, actually is able to house a significantly larger battery at 4000mAh typical capacity – quite a large jump over the 3140mAh unit of its budget sibling. That’s actually even larger than the 3885mAh typical capacity of the new 4a (5G), even with the Pixel 5 weighing less at only 151g."So... this is because headphone jack. I'm a 4a owner and they can pry my headphone jack from my cold dead hands, but if you can cram in this much more battery without one I can understand why some people would prefer the extra battery life.
Leeea - Wednesday, October 14, 2020 - link
Nice phones.Could care less about wifi 6, still using N and it is working just fine.
I buy my phones directly from google for Project Fi, so odds are I will end up with one of these eventually in a year or three. Probably the cheap one.
To me security is what matters, so I am very reluctant to go 3rd party with its bloatware and lack of patching. Iphone or Pixel, and iphone is not on project fi.
Gmarine - Friday, August 27, 2021 - link
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