Pixel 4 Review - Android Deserves Better
**The Pixel 4 Review: A Deep Dive into Google's Flagship Phone**
### Introduction
Google’s journey into the world of phones is a fascinating one. It all started with the mythical Google phone rumors, which were finally realized with the HTC Dream, running on Android. However, this initial foray was still on someone else’s hardware. The theme continued with the Nexus line, but relying on another manufacturer to bring your vision to life isn’t always the best approach. So, Google took matters into their own hands with the first Pixel phone, marking a new chapter in their quest to deliver the ultimate Android experience.
### Design: Function Over Form
The Pixel 4 has always been polarizing when it comes to design. Some see it as an outdated relic of past designs, while others appreciate its industrial, functional approach. The reviewer falls into the latter camp and admits they’ve been tough on previous Pixel designs, labeling them uninspired and ugly. However, this time around, there’s a noticeable improvement. The Pixel 4’s design is starting to grow on them, with its sleek look and feel. It’s a departure from the typical Pixel aesthetic, but it manages to balance functionality with a touch of style.
### Display: A Step in the Right Direction
The display has always been an Achilles heel for Pixel phones. Previous generations struggled with subpar screens, which are crucial for a device that relies heavily on visual interaction. Google seems to have heard these complaints and stepped up their game with the Pixel 4’s 90Hz display. While not essential, this high-refresh-rate screen adds a level of polish and smoothness that makes scrolling and viewing content a pleasure. The reviewer commends Google for investing in one of the best screens on phones today.
### Security: Face Unlock and Beyond
The Pixel 4 introduces face unlock as a new security feature, which works incredibly fast—faster than Apple’s Face ID, according to the reviewer. While this is a welcome addition, they express concerns about its security implications, especially when eyes are closed. The lack of fingerprint sensor redundancy is noted as a missed opportunity for added security layers.
### Internals: Power Under the Hood
Under the hood, the Pixel 4 packs a Snapdragon 855 processor with 6GB of RAM. While not the most powerful chip available at release time, it’s still more than capable for everyday tasks and delivers smooth performance. The reviewer notes that while the hardware is solid, the smaller battery size makes the phone particularly power-hungry, especially when paired with the 90Hz display.
### Storage: Limited Options
The Pixel 4 offers a standard 64GB of storage, which feels limiting in today’s market, even at this price point. The reviewer critiques Google for not offering more flexibility, such as expandable storage or higher capacity options without jumping to the pricier 128GB variant. For users with heavy data needs, like video shooters or music enthusiasts, this limitation could be a deal-breaker.
### Software: Android at Its Best
The Pixel 4 ships with Android 10, delivering the promise of cutting-edge software right out of the gate. The reviewer highlights real-time transcription as a standout feature, though it’s not perfect. Google Assistant also shines, thanks to its speed and integration with the new UI. The overall experience is described as buttery smooth, with gestures and multitasking handling being refined to near-perfection.
### Battery Life: Mixed Results
Battery life has been a contentious issue for the Pixel 4. The reviewer struggled through their first week with the smaller model, barely making it through the day—a stark contrast to previous experiences. While the larger XL variant fared better, both models fell short of expectations. The high refresh rate display and power-hungry internals are blamed for this oversight, though the reviewer hopes future software updates will address these issues.
### Camera: Still a Force to Be Reckoned With
The Pixel 4 continues Google’s legacy of excellent camera hardware. The HDR+ technology and new white balance features produce stunning photos, with portrait mode improvements cutting out hair and objects with precision. Night mode has also seen significant enhancements, transforming near-dark shots into usable images. While the telephoto lens is a welcome addition for zoom capabilities, there’s no dedicated button to activate it, leaving room for improvement.
### Video: A Missed Opportunity
The video capabilities of the Pixel 4 fall short compared to still photography. The Maxima solution delivers decent 4K video at 30 frames per second, but the reviewer finds it underwhelming. Google’s decision to limit higher frame rates and other resolutions feels restrictive, especially given the hardware’s potential. This limitation is seen as a step back from Google’s usual philosophy of giving users choice.
### Conclusion: The Pixel Promise
The Pixel 4 represents both the best and worst of what Google can achieve with its own hardware. It delivers an excellent Android experience, stunning photos, and innovative features like real-time transcription and motion sensing. However, it also comes with trade-offs in design, battery life, storage options, and video quality.
Ultimately, the Pixel 4 is a mixed bag that’s hard to recommend wholeheartedly. While it excels in areas where Google shines—software and camera—it struggles elsewhere. For those willing to overlook its flaws and invest in Google’s vision of Android, the Pixel 4 offers a glimpse into what could be, but it’s not without its compromises.
In the end, whether the Pixel Promise holds true for you depends on your priorities. If you value cutting-edge software, top-tier photography, and don’t mind some trade-offs, the Pixel 4 might still be worth considering. But if battery life and video quality are critical to your needs, you may want to look elsewhere—or consider upgrading to the pricier XL model.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enit's called Android this one with the same software experience that we ship on our Nexus devices Google's journey into phones is interesting and fascinating dating all the way back to the very first Android phone that we saw the HTC dream there had been rumors of the mythical Google phone coming and we finally had it and we saw what Google's version or operating system could be and should be but that was on somebody else's hardware and that theme continued the Nexus line of phones but ultimately relying on another manufacturer to give your vision isn't always the best way to go so Google got into the game themselves with the very first pixel and from the get-go we saw that that phone was going to be about software updates Android experience and camera so now as we enter the fourth generation er does that pixel promise still hold true do you get what Google's told you you're going to get where's it a bait-and-switch when you pick up the pixel for the pixel for Excel most people seem to fall in one of two camps either it is an antiquated old design that continues an ugly legacy of pixel phones or its industrial it's useful its function over form and there's beauty in that and I think I'm more in the latter camp and I've been tough on pixels designs in the passing they've been uninspired and rather ugly I'm starting to really dig the way the pixel four looks the way the pixel four feels if you go back and look at the legacy of pixel phones there's been certainly strong points in the camera side but the screens have always been a weak point an Achilles heel on what the phone was capable of and you're dealing with a device where you have to use the screen to do everything the screens have to be good and appears that google has heard those complaints and has really stepped up their screen game here with the four and the four XL I love a 90 Hertz display it's by no means necessary at all it's the whipped cream on top of a sundae you don't need it but you're really happy that it's there it generally makes things scroll smoother look better I just generally like the way the screen looks and I commend Google for not just putting in a better screen but for putting in one of the best screens on phones but there are some caveats does not get that bright and if you're indoors not an issue at all if you use the phone outdoors a lot say at your kids soccer game and trying to get some pictures you're gonna notice the screen does not get that bright might be an issue for some might not be but bear in mind and depending on how you want to use your phone so I'm gonna tell you guys a secret here I never liked finger prints unlock on on any phone by any manufacturer if my fingers were wet or dirty they never worked that well maybe I don't have deep finger prints they never worked that well for me so I was happy to see Google start introducing now face unlock and that's really nice to happen I am for redundancy I think it would've been a nice addition to have a fingerprint lock in addition to the face and the pin the passcode that you get with Android phones but face unlock is here and it works really fast like insanely fast if you've used face ID on an iPhone that's quick this isn't the next level fast but again good and bad and a lot with your eyes closed that doesn't particularly bother me but I can see that could be a security concern for others and maybe I don't like the fact that someone could hold my phone up while I'm sleeping get access to all of my information there's a lot of new stuff that are got introduced with the pixel for line of phones motion sense formerly project Sully was one of those potentially really big deals it's using a radar which is a wild thing to have in a phone essentially know what you're doing with your hand as it exists right now an essentially launch window the usefulness could be debated you could swipe songs left and right and I'll know when you're picking up your phone and you know tell you if you haven't lifted up for an alarm and make the sounds quieter that's really it what's exciting about it is the future what it can be with software and how that can improve and give you more utility with your phone or somebody with disabilities this could be a really nice thing to have but as it stands again now it's more of a novelty than actually utility so internals on the phone you have a snapdragon 55 and six gigs of ram which is nice 855 is a very capable processor I would have liked to have seen the best version of the processor that was out on shipping and that's not what we have with the 855 now that put aside on the good it's still very capable anything I wants to do on the phone was quick it was buttery smooth I had no issue with the RAM management or things slowing down but if you keep the phone for one two years after that one year the 18-month period that's when you're gonna like the extra Headroom that you would get from a 55 plus but unlike the processor which is still probably gonna be good for years to come I can't wrap my head around the storage options 64 gig standard and I have lambasted Apple for doing the same thing on their iPhone line that makes it very little sad on any device now maybe you're not the kind of person it uses a lot of internal storage you back stuff up in the cloud a lot that's fine I get that but at this price point where Google is playing the expectation for more should be there they have the option for a hundred bucks to go to 128 but that's it you are capped out at how ten twenty eight gigs of storage no expandability options here that is the most you are ever going to have in your phone so if you're shooting a lot of video you're downloading a lot of songs you want to have a lot of movies for flight you are perpetually going to be limited with how much you can put on your device so on the software side of course it's Android ten and part of that pixel promise is you will always have the latest version of Android at least for a few years and the pixel brings some new stuff to table that I've never seen before the real-time transcription seems like magic it's not perfect you most people talking it's not gonna work that great but a one-on-one conversation it's super accurate in the fact that it's happening on device is even more amazing and also on device is Google assistant which is already amazing it is now even more so because it happens faster I like the new UI and I will a hundred out of a hundred times prefer to talk to Google's assistant then any other assistants out there the rest of Android 10 is Android 10 it's quick it's fast it's really elegant and it works well I like the gestures like how they handle multitasking we've seen it before but it is probably the best version of Android 10 because you know it's made by Google I got a real hard time with the pixel for finding anything positive to say when it comes to battery life if you saw our versus video I thought my pixel for the smaller version was broken during my first week of testing I could not get through a full day and I haven't had that experience with any device that I can at least remember I think a 90 Hertz screen is amazing it makes the phone better but it's harder on battery life and to make the milliamp hours on the pixel for battery smaller than the three is a head-scratching decision now maybe there will be software updates Fix optimization issues maybe they'll fix management or processes something going on inside that device to make battery life better and I imagine that they probably will but right now it is the worst battery life tested phone that I can ever remember testing now it does get better on the Big Brother the Excel which I had to switch to kind of midway through my testing process you can get through a full day with the Excel if you're debating a pixel for and you're not sure which one to get go to the big one I promise you you will not regret it and be able to last a full day without having a chargeable so you can't talk about a pixel without focusing on the camera and for past generations of pixel phones the camera systems has been so much better than pretty much anything else out there you could overlook some shortcomings those phones had well the other manufacturers have stepped up their game and competition has gotten really fierce with this generation of phones and that's not to say the camera nother pixel for are bad because they are certainly not the stills that come out of the camera are still amongst the best in the industry the new HDR plus is working overtime it does an amazing job coupled with the new white balance to make pictures really pop and see detail and things ordinarily you wouldn't see the detail in you've got do old control dials where if you want to get into it you can control the shadows and the highlights sort of give you almost a silhouette and it's not to say that any of this is night and day difference than the pixel three but a lot of that is due to software what Google does on the software side to make those images look amazing but there's new hardware here over the pixel 3 we've got to tell a photo camera now and I know a lot of folks maybe fall in the ultra wide camp they would have preferred it maybe I'm in the minority but I really like having the telephoto option them but what's weird is there's no button that lets me automatically do the zoom after you either double tap or do a pinch to zoom to try to get to that two times it's a weird omission hopefully again software fix that weird shortcoming portrait mode on the pixel four is like next-level amazing and again improving from your already amazing pixel three think it does a really solid job of cutting out hair of people of animals of sweaters the portrait modes really look good the pixel four does a really admirable job with their night mode now it's a separate toggle you switch two pictures look really good in situations where you could not take any pictures a lot of shots you can make them look like you almost took them in daylight now there is still some noise that you'd expect from kind of the magic that's going on on the software side but it can take an almost dark shot and make it look like something you can use and want to look at so I've been talking about the astrophotography mode which does stuff that I have never seen a smartphone do and just goes to show what Google can do it's kind of their ultimate flex for how their software and hardware and come together to give something really unique in the industry so all of those things some version of either good or amazing video on the pixel has definitely been an Achilles heel and that continues with the pixel for now the video that you do get with the maxima solution of 4k 30 look good this able is a ssin is pretty solid the HDR effect is pretty decent it's not a bad video it just doesn't match the amazing quality you get from the still side but what is super weird is Google saying we're going to max out what you can shoot at we're gonna tell you the resolutions you don't have the option to go to 4k 24 4k 60p bool saying people don't shoot at those anyway it takes up too much space on your phone just use this instead that sounds more like an Apple way of doing things saying here's what you going to use like it or go somewhere else Google's been all about choice let the consumer choose what they want it's a head scratcher why they would do that with the phone when the hardware is very clearly capable of doing 4k at variable frame rates so I can't say unequivocally the pixel for camera system is the best in industry now it's not a knock on the pixel things who are a compliment to how good the competition has gotten but the camera system that you have is amongst the best and every still you take will be some version of really good if you use video passing there You've on video that'll work well enough or for Instagram or Facebook the video side is going to be fine if you want the best video out there pixel is not gonna be for you but if you want the best still photography out there I would still look the pixels away pixel for is kind of a strange device it does something so amazingly well and some things I cannot understand so I got eight hundred dollars and then have a phone that's not gonna last me a whole day or I have to change how I use it it's a hard one to recommend that if you want to step up and go to the excel you're paying even more money if you want even more storage you're adding a hundred dollars on top of that what you have with the pixel is a really cool idea and I love when software manufacturers make their own hardware you've got the surface laptop the iPhone and now the pixel the makers of that software giving you what should be the best version of their software hardware they have control over and that's sort of the pixel promise this is what Android could be and should be as Google sees it and perhaps the beauty of Android is that not everybody sees the operands in the same way Samsung's got one vision will always got another LG another but Google the maker of Android this is how they envision Android to be so you pick up this phone or you blindly walk at the store and want to buy it you should be getting the best Android experience going and that's just not always the case youit's called Android this one with the same software experience that we ship on our Nexus devices Google's journey into phones is interesting and fascinating dating all the way back to the very first Android phone that we saw the HTC dream there had been rumors of the mythical Google phone coming and we finally had it and we saw what Google's version or operating system could be and should be but that was on somebody else's hardware and that theme continued the Nexus line of phones but ultimately relying on another manufacturer to give your vision isn't always the best way to go so Google got into the game themselves with the very first pixel and from the get-go we saw that that phone was going to be about software updates Android experience and camera so now as we enter the fourth generation er does that pixel promise still hold true do you get what Google's told you you're going to get where's it a bait-and-switch when you pick up the pixel for the pixel for Excel most people seem to fall in one of two camps either it is an antiquated old design that continues an ugly legacy of pixel phones or its industrial it's useful its function over form and there's beauty in that and I think I'm more in the latter camp and I've been tough on pixels designs in the passing they've been uninspired and rather ugly I'm starting to really dig the way the pixel four looks the way the pixel four feels if you go back and look at the legacy of pixel phones there's been certainly strong points in the camera side but the screens have always been a weak point an Achilles heel on what the phone was capable of and you're dealing with a device where you have to use the screen to do everything the screens have to be good and appears that google has heard those complaints and has really stepped up their screen game here with the four and the four XL I love a 90 Hertz display it's by no means necessary at all it's the whipped cream on top of a sundae you don't need it but you're really happy that it's there it generally makes things scroll smoother look better I just generally like the way the screen looks and I commend Google for not just putting in a better screen but for putting in one of the best screens on phones but there are some caveats does not get that bright and if you're indoors not an issue at all if you use the phone outdoors a lot say at your kids soccer game and trying to get some pictures you're gonna notice the screen does not get that bright might be an issue for some might not be but bear in mind and depending on how you want to use your phone so I'm gonna tell you guys a secret here I never liked finger prints unlock on on any phone by any manufacturer if my fingers were wet or dirty they never worked that well maybe I don't have deep finger prints they never worked that well for me so I was happy to see Google start introducing now face unlock and that's really nice to happen I am for redundancy I think it would've been a nice addition to have a fingerprint lock in addition to the face and the pin the passcode that you get with Android phones but face unlock is here and it works really fast like insanely fast if you've used face ID on an iPhone that's quick this isn't the next level fast but again good and bad and a lot with your eyes closed that doesn't particularly bother me but I can see that could be a security concern for others and maybe I don't like the fact that someone could hold my phone up while I'm sleeping get access to all of my information there's a lot of new stuff that are got introduced with the pixel for line of phones motion sense formerly project Sully was one of those potentially really big deals it's using a radar which is a wild thing to have in a phone essentially know what you're doing with your hand as it exists right now an essentially launch window the usefulness could be debated you could swipe songs left and right and I'll know when you're picking up your phone and you know tell you if you haven't lifted up for an alarm and make the sounds quieter that's really it what's exciting about it is the future what it can be with software and how that can improve and give you more utility with your phone or somebody with disabilities this could be a really nice thing to have but as it stands again now it's more of a novelty than actually utility so internals on the phone you have a snapdragon 55 and six gigs of ram which is nice 855 is a very capable processor I would have liked to have seen the best version of the processor that was out on shipping and that's not what we have with the 855 now that put aside on the good it's still very capable anything I wants to do on the phone was quick it was buttery smooth I had no issue with the RAM management or things slowing down but if you keep the phone for one two years after that one year the 18-month period that's when you're gonna like the extra Headroom that you would get from a 55 plus but unlike the processor which is still probably gonna be good for years to come I can't wrap my head around the storage options 64 gig standard and I have lambasted Apple for doing the same thing on their iPhone line that makes it very little sad on any device now maybe you're not the kind of person it uses a lot of internal storage you back stuff up in the cloud a lot that's fine I get that but at this price point where Google is playing the expectation for more should be there they have the option for a hundred bucks to go to 128 but that's it you are capped out at how ten twenty eight gigs of storage no expandability options here that is the most you are ever going to have in your phone so if you're shooting a lot of video you're downloading a lot of songs you want to have a lot of movies for flight you are perpetually going to be limited with how much you can put on your device so on the software side of course it's Android ten and part of that pixel promise is you will always have the latest version of Android at least for a few years and the pixel brings some new stuff to table that I've never seen before the real-time transcription seems like magic it's not perfect you most people talking it's not gonna work that great but a one-on-one conversation it's super accurate in the fact that it's happening on device is even more amazing and also on device is Google assistant which is already amazing it is now even more so because it happens faster I like the new UI and I will a hundred out of a hundred times prefer to talk to Google's assistant then any other assistants out there the rest of Android 10 is Android 10 it's quick it's fast it's really elegant and it works well I like the gestures like how they handle multitasking we've seen it before but it is probably the best version of Android 10 because you know it's made by Google I got a real hard time with the pixel for finding anything positive to say when it comes to battery life if you saw our versus video I thought my pixel for the smaller version was broken during my first week of testing I could not get through a full day and I haven't had that experience with any device that I can at least remember I think a 90 Hertz screen is amazing it makes the phone better but it's harder on battery life and to make the milliamp hours on the pixel for battery smaller than the three is a head-scratching decision now maybe there will be software updates Fix optimization issues maybe they'll fix management or processes something going on inside that device to make battery life better and I imagine that they probably will but right now it is the worst battery life tested phone that I can ever remember testing now it does get better on the Big Brother the Excel which I had to switch to kind of midway through my testing process you can get through a full day with the Excel if you're debating a pixel for and you're not sure which one to get go to the big one I promise you you will not regret it and be able to last a full day without having a chargeable so you can't talk about a pixel without focusing on the camera and for past generations of pixel phones the camera systems has been so much better than pretty much anything else out there you could overlook some shortcomings those phones had well the other manufacturers have stepped up their game and competition has gotten really fierce with this generation of phones and that's not to say the camera nother pixel for are bad because they are certainly not the stills that come out of the camera are still amongst the best in the industry the new HDR plus is working overtime it does an amazing job coupled with the new white balance to make pictures really pop and see detail and things ordinarily you wouldn't see the detail in you've got do old control dials where if you want to get into it you can control the shadows and the highlights sort of give you almost a silhouette and it's not to say that any of this is night and day difference than the pixel three but a lot of that is due to software what Google does on the software side to make those images look amazing but there's new hardware here over the pixel 3 we've got to tell a photo camera now and I know a lot of folks maybe fall in the ultra wide camp they would have preferred it maybe I'm in the minority but I really like having the telephoto option them but what's weird is there's no button that lets me automatically do the zoom after you either double tap or do a pinch to zoom to try to get to that two times it's a weird omission hopefully again software fix that weird shortcoming portrait mode on the pixel four is like next-level amazing and again improving from your already amazing pixel three think it does a really solid job of cutting out hair of people of animals of sweaters the portrait modes really look good the pixel four does a really admirable job with their night mode now it's a separate toggle you switch two pictures look really good in situations where you could not take any pictures a lot of shots you can make them look like you almost took them in daylight now there is still some noise that you'd expect from kind of the magic that's going on on the software side but it can take an almost dark shot and make it look like something you can use and want to look at so I've been talking about the astrophotography mode which does stuff that I have never seen a smartphone do and just goes to show what Google can do it's kind of their ultimate flex for how their software and hardware and come together to give something really unique in the industry so all of those things some version of either good or amazing video on the pixel has definitely been an Achilles heel and that continues with the pixel for now the video that you do get with the maxima solution of 4k 30 look good this able is a ssin is pretty solid the HDR effect is pretty decent it's not a bad video it just doesn't match the amazing quality you get from the still side but what is super weird is Google saying we're going to max out what you can shoot at we're gonna tell you the resolutions you don't have the option to go to 4k 24 4k 60p bool saying people don't shoot at those anyway it takes up too much space on your phone just use this instead that sounds more like an Apple way of doing things saying here's what you going to use like it or go somewhere else Google's been all about choice let the consumer choose what they want it's a head scratcher why they would do that with the phone when the hardware is very clearly capable of doing 4k at variable frame rates so I can't say unequivocally the pixel for camera system is the best in industry now it's not a knock on the pixel things who are a compliment to how good the competition has gotten but the camera system that you have is amongst the best and every still you take will be some version of really good if you use video passing there You've on video that'll work well enough or for Instagram or Facebook the video side is going to be fine if you want the best video out there pixel is not gonna be for you but if you want the best still photography out there I would still look the pixels away pixel for is kind of a strange device it does something so amazingly well and some things I cannot understand so I got eight hundred dollars and then have a phone that's not gonna last me a whole day or I have to change how I use it it's a hard one to recommend that if you want to step up and go to the excel you're paying even more money if you want even more storage you're adding a hundred dollars on top of that what you have with the pixel is a really cool idea and I love when software manufacturers make their own hardware you've got the surface laptop the iPhone and now the pixel the makers of that software giving you what should be the best version of their software hardware they have control over and that's sort of the pixel promise this is what Android could be and should be as Google sees it and perhaps the beauty of Android is that not everybody sees the operands in the same way Samsung's got one vision will always got another LG another but Google the maker of Android this is how they envision Android to be so you pick up this phone or you blindly walk at the store and want to buy it you should be getting the best Android experience going and that's just not always the case you\n"