Google Pixel XL

OUR VERDICT

The Pixel XL features 2016’s top-of-the-line specs and is a fine vessel for Android Oreo. This VR-capable phone has a suitably fast processor, even by 2018 standards, and a superb camera, all sandwiched into a funky design.

The Google Pixel XL, along with the Google Pixel, are the first phones ‘made [almost entirely] by Google’, and it’s the best way to experience the latest and greatest that Android software has to offer.

It puts the immense power of Google search behind everything you do with the all-new Google Assistant, a context-understanding AI that’s often smarter than Siri and Cortana. Sorry, Apple and Microsoft fans.

The Pixel XL launched with Android 7.1 Nougat, and currently runs Android Oreo. Along with the other Pixel phones, it will receive the update to Android P – its last major software upgrade. 

Going with that latest and greatest theme, it was also the first phone to get Google Daydream View VR headset powers.

Even if you’re not into VR, this means you’re getting top-of-the-line specs good enough for power-hungry gamers, and that’s fantastic news for anyone who wants a fast phone years down the road – yes, even with the Google Pixel 2 out in the world.

The phone debuts the Snapdragon 821 chipset, with 4GB of RAM inside of a glass-and-metal body that’s half-iPhone 7, half Samsung. The camera is touted as ‘best in class’, and the 5.5-inch Quad HD screen looks superb.

Google is ditching its affordable, developer-focused Nexus brand in favor of the Pixel XL and its smaller 5-inch Google Pixel counterpart. This makes these new handsets more expensive, but they also showcase greater ambition on Google’s part.

Update: Google has delisted the Google Pixel XL from its online store, thus officially dropping the curtain on the first-gen phone. It’s still possible to find at several retailers, but it could become difficult (and more expensive) to find if you’re after a cheaper Google phone.

Price and release date

• Finding the Google Pixel XL in stock is still difficult
• More expensive than any Nexus handset
• On contract from Verizon in US and EE in UK

Believe it or not, the Google Pixel XL is still tough to find in stock. The official Google store has you join a vague waitlist, but you shouldn’t have much of an issue scoping out a deal on sites like eBay or Amazon.

Launching at $769 (£719, AU$1,269) for the 32GB version, and $869 (£819, AU$1,419) for the 128GB model, each iteration is now going for $100 less. It’s Google’s smartphone all grown up and that means it’s more expensive than the now discontinued Nexus 6P.

There’s also no 64GB in-between internal storage size, and no microSD slot for expandable storage to make 32GB more tolerable. You have to go big if you’re recording a lot of high-resolution video.

You have better shot at finding Google Pixel XL in stock at a carrier store. Verizon sells it on contract, and it’s available right now in the US. It costs $32.08 a month over 24 months and comes with day one updates.

Or, you can skip the contract and pay everything up front for the SIM-free Pixel XL. It works just as well on AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint in addition to Verizon thanks to having both GSM and CDMA antennas.

In the UK, you can get the Pixel on contract from EE, paying £9.99 upfront and then £55.99 per month for 10GB of data and unlimited calls and texts.

Design

• Premium – but peculiar glass-and-metal – design
• No camera bump on the back whatsoever
• Not waterproof, and no stereo speakers

Google called the Pixel XL design ‘bold’ during its initial announcement, noting that the back of the phone’s glass-and-metal makeup gives it “personality and character.”

If that sounds like a backhanded compliment, it’s kind of deserved. It’s almost as if Google heard that people like metal phones, but also like glass phones, so it decided to throw in both materials.

It’s an odd, two-toned mix on the back side, making the Google Pixel XL feel like we’re one step away from unwrapping the Neapolitan ice cream of smartphones. 

It does have rather thick bezel at the top and bottom, despite having no physical home button at the bottom. It looked okay at launch, but 2017’s trend of slim bezels proved that this look is getting a little long in the tooth.

The good news is that, as funky as it looks, the materials are solid: strengthened Gorilla Glass 4 for the top third around the rear fingerprint sensor and camera, and polished anodized aluminum on the bottom two-thirds where your hand wraps around the phone.

Clutching this phablet shouldn’t be a problem if you could get the taller Nexus 6P in your hands. It measures 153 x 76 x 8.58mm, and tapers off to a depth of 7.31mm around the back.

It does, however, use that extra room at the top to include a headphone jack. There’s a speaker on the bottom, but while there are two speaker grilles, there’s just one firing out sound. If you accidentally cover it up with your finger (which happens a lot when playing games and watching movies), it kills the volume. It’s extremely easy to do holding the phone in landscape mode.

Showing that it does, in fact, have ‘personality’, the Google Pixel XL colors include Very Silver, Quite Black and Really Blue, a poke at ridiculous phone-color naming conventions.

Really Blue, a limited-edition and, so far, US-only Google Pixel color, sold out within hours of the pre-order launch. Thankfully, Google promised to restock it and it did on December 1. It’s not that limited. You may have to join a wait list, depending on your phone configuration of choice.

You’re probably going to get a Live Case to cover up the peculiar glass-and-metal design anyway, so if you can do without a water-resistant phone and stereo speakers, you’ll be fine. 

Display

• Bright and colorful 5.5-inch AMOLED display
• Better for VR than the 5-inch Google Pixel
• No rise-to-wake or always-on screen

The Google Pixel XL further proves why AMOLED displays look the best for smartphones, thanks to its colorful and bright screen that outclasses LCD panels every time.

It’s vivid and ready for virtual reality on a budget,  the latter being one key reason we’d suggest you upgrade from the normal-sized, 1080p Google Pixel. If you’re into VR, big phones and more battery life, this one’s for you. If not, save your money.

Specs and performance

• Debuts the Snapdragon 821 processor
• Same specs as the 5-inch Google Pixel
• Still not as fast as Samsung’s non-US phones

Both the Pixel and Pixel XL see Google introducing new internal specs instead of sticking with a six-month-old chipset, and that’s part of the reason you’re paying a premium this year.

The XL delivers the faster Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, which is a step ahead of the 820 System-on-a-Chip found inside the US Samsung Galaxy S7, the HTC 10 and the LG G5, for example.

This 64-bit quad-core chip runs at 2.15Ghz with 4GB of RAM and an Adreno 530 GPU – that’s one step ahead of its current Qualcomm-based competition. 

It cracked a 4,000 multi-core score in our Geekbench tests, giving us an average of 4,077 after three rounds with the CPU benchmarking app. That’s impressive. 

What’s interesting is that the 5-inch Pixel has the same specs (outside of the bigger battery and display on the XL), giving us basically the same results after another series of tests: 4,029.

That’s a big deal. If you want that curved screen from Samsung, you have to ditch the 5.1-inch phone for 5.5 inches. If you want Apple’s dual-camera setup, you have to forgo a 4.7-inch handset for a huge 5.5-inch phone. With Google, the choice is a little easier to live with.

We would have loved Google to push its phablet a bit further, but we also appreciate the company including all of the bigger phone features for often-deprived smaller hands. At the same time, it feels easier to recommend the regular-sized Google Pixel if you’re not into VR and big phones.

Google’s phone performance has come a long way in smaller packages, with solid call quality on both Verizon and AT&T in the US, and 47-second boot times. That really contrasts with the Nexus 6 from two years ago, which had us suffering through minute-and-a-half boot times. Like we said, a long, long way.

Battery life

• Pixel XL lasts a day and a quarter
• Longer battery life than the Pixel
• Charging with USB-C adapter can be a pain

Google has packed a big 3,450mAh  battery into the Pixel XL – and that was a good decision, because the bright and pixel-dense 2K resolution can really drain the phone if you’re not careful.

We found that we were averaging a day and a quarter of battery life during our week with the phone, using it as we normally do: checking social media every hour, playing games while waiting in line and making that rare phone call.

Screen-on time is what drains the battery the quickest. Watching a 90-minute looped HD video as part of our lab testing wore it down to a pathetic 68% from its 100% starting point.

Want to sell your phone fast? Sell your phone for cash? Sell used phone on tradelectronics