Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL Review: World's Smartest Phones
Our Verdict
The Pixel ii XL is the best pure Android telephone you can buy, with a gorgeous six-inch OLED screen, piece of cake access to Google Assistant, abrupt cameras and very long battery life.
For
- Squeezable Google Banana
- Impressive Google Lens feature
- Sharp and colorful vi-inch OLED screen
- Bang-up photo quality with Portrait mode
- Faster than Galaxy S8
- Long battery life
Confronting
- Screen has some color issues
- No wireless charging or headphone jack
- Can't preview Portrait way effect
Tom's Guide Verdict
The Pixel 2 Twoscore is the best pure Android telephone yous can buy, with a gorgeous 6-inch OLED screen, easy access to Google Assistant, sharp cameras and very long battery life.
Pros
- +
Squeezable Google Assistant
- +
Impressive Google Lens feature
- +
Sharp and colorful 6-inch OLED screen
- +
Great photograph quality with Portrait mode
- +
Faster than Galaxy S8
- +
Long battery life
Cons
- -
Screen has some color issues
- -
No wireless charging or headphone jack
- -
Can't preview Portrait fashion effect
Update: Google has discontinued the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 Xl, although you can buy them used. We recommend the newer Google Pixel 4a .
The Google Pixel 2 and Pixel ii Xl are annihilation but conformists. Different with other flagship phones, you won't detect dual-lens cameras or edge-to-edge screens on these handsets.
Instead, Google focused on making these the smartest smartphones ever. And based on my testing, the new Pixels aptly fit that description, with a versatile Google Assistant you can at present summon with a squeeze and a new object-recognition feature in the photographic camera app that's truly impressive.
Pattern
"Send it back — it still needs more than bezel!" That's how I imagine the insane conversation well-nigh the regular Pixel 2 took place at Google's headquarters. At a time when other phones are stretching their screens to reach practically from one corner to the other, the front of the Pixel two is a throwback in the worst possible sense of the discussion.
I measured the tiptop and bottom bezels at over 0.6 inches, compared to 0.2 inches for the Galaxy S8. Seeing that gorgeous 5-inch OLED screen sandwiched betwixt such big blocks of black glass is downright offensive.
It's not all bad news, though, as the two front end-firing stereo speakers get nice and loud, offering richer audio than the speaker on the lesser edge of the Galaxy S8. Plus, if you're determined that a telephone be easy to use with i hand, you'll prefer the Pixel ii's more-compact dimensions of 5.vii x 2.7 x 0.3 inches, versus half-dozen.2 x 3 x 0.3 inches for the Pixel 2 Twoscore. The Pixel two weighs a fairly light 5 ounces, compared to half-dozen.ii ounces for the Pixel 2 Forty.
The Pixel 2 Xl also has a much more modernistic vibe, equally its 6-inch display covers much more than of the phone'south confront. The top and bottom bezels measure a more middle-pleasing 0.4 inches and 0.35 inches thick, respectively. This handset also sports stereo speakers above and below the screen.
Around back, you'll find Google's trademark 2-tone pattern on both phones, with a stripe of black glass across the tiptop effectually the photographic camera and flash, and sturdy aluminum roofing the bottom 3-quarters of the phones. The fingerprint sensor is positioned right in the heart, below the stripe, making it easy to reach.
Google offers a range of colors for the Pixel 2, including Only Blackness, Clearly White, Black and White (which reminds the states of the cookie), and Kinda Blue. The Pixel 2 40 comes in But Black and Blackness and White.
Unfortunately, neither the Pixel two nor the Pixel 2 Forty features a headphone jack. Google includes a USB-C dongle in the box, but yous're probably better off just going wireless.
Google Pixel ii and Pixel 2 Twoscore: Specs Compared
| | Pixel ii | Pixel 2 XL |
| Price | $649 | $849 |
| OS | Android 8.0 | Android 8.0 |
| Display | five inches (1920 x 1080 pixels) | half dozen inches (2880 10 1440 pixels) |
| CPU | Snapdragon 835 | Snapdragon 835 |
| RAM | 4GB | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB, 128GB | 64GB, 128GB |
| Rear Camera | 12 MP (f/one.eight) | 12 MP (f/1.8) |
| Forepart Camera | 8 MP (f/2.iv) | viii MP (f/2.iv) |
| Battery | 2700 mAh | 3520 mAh |
| Headphone Jack | No | No |
| Charging | USB-C | USB-C |
| Size | 5.seven x two.vii x 0.3 inches | half dozen.ii 10 3 x 0.3 inches |
| Weight | v.01 ounces | vi.two ounces |
Durability: Non the toughest phone
We tested the Google Pixel 2 Xl'due south toughness by dropping information technology on its face up onto woods from a tiptop of 4 feet and 6 feet; we then dropped it on its border and face onto concrete from 4 feet; we then dropped information technology on its edge and face from half-dozen anxiety onto concrete.
The Pixel two XL survived drops from 4 and half-dozen feet onto forest with no issues. However, when this phone landed on its face up from iv anxiety onto physical, the screen cracked, obscuring the front camera.
An edge drop from 6 feet didn't do as well much more harm, merely a confront drop from that pinnacle caused half the screen to go blackness. Every bit a result, the Pixel ii Twoscore earned a fairly weak toughness score of four.3 out of 10.
To encounter the results of other smartphones, equally well equally our complete scoring methodology, bank check out our smartphone drib tests.
Google Assistant: Squeezable and smart
When I showtime heard most Active Edge on the Pixel 2 and Pixel two XL, I thought it was a gimmick. But after using it just for a few minutes, I changed my mind. With a firm, quick squeeze toward the bottom of the telephone, you tin can activate Google Assistant, which is faster and more authentic and versatile than Siri.
For example, I said, "Play BoJack Horseman on my living room Boob tube," and Google Assistant on the Pixel 2 launched the Netflix app right to this deranged cartoon on my big screen. Of class, it helps that I had a Chromecast plugged in to the set, but that'due south exactly Google's plan: to show yous how its hardware and software piece of work well together beyond its growing ecosystem of products. The Google-owned Nest thermostat also works with Google Assistant, so you could say, "Fix the temperature to 68 degrees."
With the Banana just a squeeze away, I had no trouble finding out how the Yankees were doing against the Astros (not great), telling the Pixel 2 to snap a selfie, summoning up all the photos I took that day, or firing up my Liked from Radio Playlist on Spotify. Sure, I could do all of this by saying, "OK, Google," first, merely I found it more convenient and less bad-mannered to utilise Agile Border.
You tin also adapt the sensitivity level of the clasp required and allow the Active Edge characteristic to piece of work when the screen is off. I rarely activated the Banana by accident.
Displays: An Update Makes the Pixel 2 XL Better
While Apple charges $999 for the privilege of owning a colorful OLED display and enjoying its wide viewing angles and perfect blacks on the iPhone X, and while the OLED Galaxy S8 starts at $750, you can become this screen tech on the Pixel two for $649
The Pixel 2's 5-inch screen isn't the sharpest, at 1920 10 1080 pixels, and it's much smaller than the 5.8-inch Galaxy S8, but information technology produced an fantabulous 148 percent of the sRGB color gamut. When I watched the Star Wars: The Concluding Jedi trailer on the Pixel 2's display, the gilded orange around the insanely cute porg's eyes popped confronting its white fur, and the reflection of two clashing weapons in Captain Phasma's gleaming, silverish helmet looked gorgeous.
The Pixel 2 Xl's half-dozen-inch screen sports a sharper, 2880 x 1440-pixel resolution. This panel registered a slightly lower 130 percent of the color gamut, but its colors are just well-nigh as accurate on paper. The Pixel 2 XL's display scored 0.26 on the Delta-East fault test (0 is perfect), and the Pixel ii striking 0.29.
The Pixel ii Forty's had some issues at launch. We constitute that there is a blue tint present on the Pixel 2 Forty'due south panel at off-angles and that there was some graininess when viewing solid colored backgrounds. The Pixel ii Twoscore was also reportedly suffering from burn-in bug, with the icons at the bottom of the display staying on the screen even when they're not supposed to exist nowadays.
More than: The Best Smartphones You Can Buy Today
Fortunately, a new update from Google provided more saturated hues via a new manner, and information technology should also mitigate burn-in.
The Pixel 2 Xl is the phone you lot want to have outdoors, equally information technology registered a higher 438 nits on our light meter, compared to merely 346 nits on the Pixel 2. The Galaxy S8 notched 437 nits. The smartphone category average is 433.
Similar to the Galaxy S8 and Note viii, the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 Xl offer always-on displays, which show you the time and notifications at a glance. But the new Pixels go even farther, with a Now Playing feature that tin can recognize music playing in the background and automatically brandish the title and artist.
From there, you tin can double tap the runway to learn more almost the song or to play information technology. It sometimes took 30 seconds or more for Now Playing to kicking in, only it's non designed to supplant Shazam; it's more about serendipitous discovery.
Google Lens: Amazing potential
While the cameras on the Pixel 2 and Pixel ii 40 take great-looking images, that's not what really makes the photograph experience stand out. That would exist Google Lens, an object-detection feature in the Photographic camera and in Google Photos app.
With Google Lens, the Pixel 2 tin can recognize landmarks with ease, such as the Flatiron Building in New York City. I but snapped a photo, then tapped on the lens icon on the bottom of the screen; Google Assistant then displayed an information card on the building with info from Wikipedia.
I had mixed results when taking pictures of businesses. After I took a shot of the neon sign for Gleason's Tavern, Google Assistant gave the the star rating and a brief description of the institution, along with its hours of functioning. But Google Lens didn't recognize the sign for Dough, which is a premium donut shop.
Google Lens worked pretty well on a business carte du jour; the telephone easily picked upwardly the email address of the contact and his telephone number. Last but not least, I tried photographing a Spider-Man Homecoming motion-picture show affiche, and the telephone returned a synopsis and rating from Rotten Tomatoes.
Google Lens volition be coming to other Android phones subsequently, simply for now at least, information technology'southward a Pixel exclusive.
At that place's one other camera feature that'southward coming that I did not have a chance to test, which is AR stickers. With this perk, you'll be able to insert characters from franchises like Stranger Things and Star Wars right into your images.
Cameras and Image Quality: Not bad, but no iPhone 8 killer
Considering the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 40 sport single rear 12-megapixel cameras, you might think that they're snapping pics with one arm tied around their backs compared to dual-lens photographic camera phones. Nope. They aren't, and that'due south considering these phones are smart plenty to offer a Portrait manner (bokeh effect) through software that works fifty-fifty on the phones' front 8-MP photographic camera.
In 1 portrait I took of my colleague Cortney with the Pixel 2, the New York Metropolis skyline blurred into the background, only not too much — simply enough for her ruby-red-orange hair, blue shirt and green jacket to pop. As I zoomed in, though, I noticed that one part of a edifice behind her didn't have the blur effect. It's too bad that you lot can't preview Portrait Fashion results in real time, every bit y'all can with the iPhone 8 and Milky way Note 8; the bokeh event is applied subsequently you take the shot.
In terms of overall image quality, the Pixel ii and Pixel two Plus requite the best camera phone, the iPhone viii Plus, a run for its money. But they don't surpass it.
In this shot of the Flatiron Building, the Pixel 2's HDR+ setting brought out more details in the shadows than the iPhone 8 Plus did. The iPhone'southward image has a bit meliorate dissimilarity, but overall, the Pixel 2's image is the one I would share on Facebook or Instagram.
The iPhone viii Plus pulled ahead with this shot of an outdoor art slice. The iPhone 8 Plus delivered a brighter image with more vibrant oranges, blues, purples and pinks.
Indoors, at the Lego store, it was a toss-up between the Pixel 2 and iPhone eight Plus. The paradigm of a Lego man in a top hat captured by Google's phone delivered more-realistic hues, while Apple'due south camera delivered a brighter image.
The iPhone eight Plus won on this close-up of a lantana bloom. The paradigm turned out brighter than the Pixel ii Twoscore's shot, making it easier to tell that the sun was shining, although I could make out a great amount of item in the leaves on both photos.
If you're an Android fan and you've been jealous of Apple's Live Photos, y'all'll get a kick out of the Motion photos feature on the Pixel 2 and Pixel ii Plus. It captures a few seconds of video with each prototype and plays it back with a loop-like effect, as I noticed in one shot I took that had moving cars in the foreground.
Performance: Faster real-world speed
With the same Snapdragon 835 processor as the Galaxy S8 and the same 4GB of RAM every bit the Galaxy S8 and S8+, the Pixel 2 and Pixel two 40 might be expected to offering the aforementioned performance. Actually, they're faster in existent-world tasks.
On our video-editing test, in which we transcode a 2-minute 4K video clip to 1080p in the Adobe Clips app, the Pixel 2 took 2 minutes and 55 seconds, compared to 4:07 for the Galaxy S8. The Galaxy Note 8 took 3:03, and that phone packs 6GB of RAM. The Pixel 2 still wasn't nearly equally fast as the iPhone eight and its A11 Bionic bit, which needed 42 seconds.
Adjacent, we opened up a 5.1 MB PDF file. The Pixel two took merely 2 seconds, compared to near half-dozen.41 seconds for the Galaxy Note viii. The iPhone eight took 0.74 seconds.
The Pixel ii didn't fare every bit well on synthetic benchmarks. On Geekbench 4, which measures overall performance, the Pixel ii notched 6,282. That's a little bit behind the Galaxy S8's score (6,295) and well curt of the Galaxy Notation 8'south showing (six,564). The iPhone viii was in some other league, at 10,170.
When performing everyday tasks, like running two apps next in divide-screen manner, the Pixel ii felt snappy and responsive. I played the enervating Warhammer xl,000: Freeblade game — busting up tanks with my mech — without any lag.
Battery Life: Excellent
Both the Pixel ii and Pixel 2 XL beat their Apple and Samsung foes in endurance. On the Tom's Guide Bombardment Test, which involves continuous web surfing over 4G LTE (in this case on Verizon), the Pixel 2 lasted a strong 11 hours and 7 minutes. The Pixel two XL lasted about an hr longer, at 12:09.
These runtimes far surpass the 9:xl smartphone average, and they crush the respective times of the iPhone viii (9:54) and iPhone 8 Plus (11:xvi) and the Galaxy S8 (x:39) and Galaxy S8+ (11:04).
The Pixel 2 Xl easily makes our list of the longest-lasting phones. Plus, you can expect even longer bombardment life should yous choose T-Mobile for your Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL, every bit nosotros've establish that phones tend to last longer on that network.
One bummer, though, is that neither the Pixel 2 nor the Pixel 2 40 supports wireless charging. You lot'll demand to plug in a USB-C cablevision if you lot want juice. Google claims that you'll get upward to vii hours of ability in just xv minutes. On our tests, we saw the Pixel 2 become upwardly to 19 pct capacity in merely 10 minutes, reaching 39 percent by the xxx-infinitesimal mark.
Android Oreo: Minor (but welcome) upgrades
It's no surprise that Google's own phones are the first to ship with the new Android Oreo software installed. The updated OS doesn't offer dramatic improvements, but there are some worthwhile new features.
The new picture-in-picture show mode isn't one of them. Although you can already run two apps side by side, picture-in-picture lets yous leave an app and even so meet a floating window of one of the supported apps, such as YouTube and Google Maps. In the case of YouTube, you need to be signed up for YouTube Reddish ($9.99 per month) for this feature to work. I was able to easily elevate a small window of the playback window effectually the screen as I worked in some other app, simply I just didn't see it as very practical.
I found the app shortcuts feature, which is similar to the 3D Impact feature on iOS, more than useful. You long printing an app icon to actuate diverse shortcuts without having to open the app; for instance, you can long printing the Telephone app to rapidly dial one of your summit three contacts, or long press the Camera app to Accept a video or Accept a selfie.
Similarly helpful are the notification dots. When you log press an icon that has a dot on the upper correct corner, yous'll see the waiting notification without having to open the app. This came in handy for the Gmail app.
With Google'due south new ARCore initiative, compelling augmented reality apps volition be making their way to certain Android Oreo phones, such every bit the Galaxy S8. The apps will be hitting the Google Play shop this winter.
Oreo has lots of other features, including ones under the hood to optimize operation and bombardment life, as well as to enable stronger security. Come across our full Android Oreo review along with a look at the top 21 Oreo features.
Accessories: Not your average add-ons
With a lot of phones, the accessories are an afterthought, but not with the Pixel ii and Pixel 2 Xl. The new Pixel Buds ($159) are wireless headphones that let you carry on a conversation with someone else in their native language. Leveraging Google Translate and Google Assistant, these headphones help you say phrases in any one of 40 languages, and your Pixel 2 volition utter that phrase aloud so that the person you're speaking with can understand yous.
I did not have an opportunity to test out the Pixel Buds yet, but I await forward to it.
Some other new accessory on the way is Google Clips, a pricier $249 camera that you tin attach to pretty much anything to record video of loved ones, assuasive you lot to keep your easily free. Because it uses auto learning, the Clips camera not just knows when at that place's a person in the frame to take a shot, but it can also learn who your friends and family members are over fourth dimension.
If you're looking to get into virtual reality, there's likewise a new version of the Google Daydream View headset ($99), which offers improved comfort and optics with a wider sweet spot for content and increased resolution.
Lesser Line
With the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, information technology'south articulate that Google has chosen AI as its weapon of selection to fight the smartphone state of war. And given the company'south prowess in machine learning, this is a smart motility that has paid off. I found myself using Google Assistant a lot more in just a few days than I do Siri in a whole month with the iPhone, and not simply considering I was testing the new Pixels. Google Assistant understood me fifty-fifty when I didn't utter the exact right words, and I loved being able to summon it with but a squeeze.
If yous own other Google gear, such as the Google Habitation Mini (which you can go for free right now when yous order the Pixel 2) or Chromecast, the Banana's powers multiply. In a fashion, Google is starting to pull away from other Android phone makers, because the company is creating its ain Apple-like walled garden. It'due south a more purposeful fragmentation.
The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 40 also do good from faster functioning than the Galaxy S8, stellar forepart and back cameras and long battery life. Overall, I adopt the sleeker designs and curved edge-to-edge displays on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, and the iPhone 8 Plus remains the king of camera phones. But if y'all want a pure Android experience, you lot'll dearest the $849 Pixel 2 XL. The Pixel 2's bezels are only way too big and information technology'south screen besides small for me to have this phone seriously, even for its relatively low $649.
Credit: Shaun Lucas/Tom's Guide
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/google-pixel-2-pixel-2-xl-review,review-4755.html
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