Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL review By TechRadar

Hey guys you're watching Schrader unbalanced. They were going to be talking about the Google Pixel two in pixels who excel after a month with these two phones. How do the design and the screens stack up? Oh, you've got two choices. You can opt for the smaller pixel two with this five inch OLED display, if it's more comfortably in the hand, but it has a fair bit more bezel with its traditional 16 by 9 aspect ratio, or you can opt a pixel to XL, with its 18 by 9 aspect, ratio longer form, but it is a bit bigger. Six inches of polar display, make it more imposing in the hand. Still these two phones do.

You feel relatively comfortable. They have metal bodies, but they have a plastic coating doesn't necessarily feel super expensive, but it adds a little of warmth to the metal they're, not super, super drippy and in terms of colors I'd, definitely say if you're getting the pixel to look at the blue one and if you're getting the two XL opt for the Panda variant. Both of these phones have the same connectivity features. I've got USB see at the base, they have no headphone jacks, but they do ship with an adapter, which is a good thing and obviously volume and power of buttons around the back of the phone is the top part. You've got a glass plate and this is kind of a traditional pixel style.

The camera lens is a little bumped out, but it's kind of good in a way because at least it's separate to the glass back. So if you do drop the phone in the glass bag breaks, that doesn't mean that the camera protective glass is broken to both of these phones are ip67 water and dust resistant, and they can take a dunk, but they also feel relatively durable from an aesthetic point of view. After a month with both neither of them have scuffed, they haven't been muddied too much the black variants, but if you do opt for a white one, there's a chance. The color may tarnish a little moving on from the screen since OLED technology across both that's organic light-emitting diode, but you've got a polar display made by LG on the XL, and that has seen a few issues over the last few weeks come to life. For starters, you've got really, really mediocre.

Viewing angles by comparison to other OLED displays from Samsung, for example, and in addition you also have reports of burning. What burning is its an image kind of ghosting lingering after the beat, and that happen is when on the screen, the Google interface in its stock form doesn't really compensate for OLED displays tendencies to create burning. Now, should you be worried about this? Potentially, if you're going to be having a lot of screens on time, but I mean isn't something new. It's on all OLED displays. I know that displays have been around for a while, and it's still the preferred display for most manufacturers.

But the reason it's pronounced on the Google Pixel to Excel is probably because the user interface hasn't been designed to minimize the navigation bar. So it appears all the time, unlike with the LG v 13 Samsung, Galaxy, Note 8, for example, and so you always get that bar at the bottom, which can create that burned in navigation set. If you're looking head-on at the pixel 2 or pixel 2 XL they're a little more muted than other screens from Samsung's with OLED technology. They are fair screens, but they are definitely are not. Class leading the pixel for Excel is significantly warmer.

So even when you hold them both side-by-side the colors just don't stack up, so the design generally gets a thumbs up, but the pixel two is very, very bezel heavy and the pixel 2 XL obviously has that screen issue, and so, as a result, while you're paying flagship bug for these phones around 649 pounds at a base price for the pixel 2 and 799 pounds for the pixel to excel. It doesn't necessarily feel like off the bat you're getting a flagship, design and screen experience when it comes to the user interface of both they are identical and what that means is Android 8 out of the box. That's the newest version of Android newest security features. You've also got some cool UI features that are exclusive to pixel series devices, for example, from the lock screen you can see what song is playing is just going to automatically listen to the ambient music and detect it and tell you in that kind of really cool OLED always-on display, where you also have, is a little indication at the top of your home screen telling you about your emails, your meetings and a few key bits of information around transport and stuff. Like that Google said they will be developing this over the coming months.

So it's really nice with the Google Pixel, 2 and pixel to excel to be at the forefront of Android and the technology surrounding its development. The only downside to stock Android is, you haven't, got any of the bells and whistles that some other factors might apply. For example, Samsung with open enables the whole load of integration while way allows you to quickly organize your home screens. You can get rid of your apps' tray. You can bring it back now.

Furthermore, you can always install a custom launcher, but chances are if you're getting this phone you'll want the stock Android experience so just know that it is good, but it isn't quite as tweakable as others out there when it comes to multimedia. Both of these phones have stereo front firing speakers, and they perform really well. The pixel to Excel has better speakers slightly rounder sound, but the pixel 2 for the sides is probably best in class. Well, you can also expect is decent video playback everything looks fine on the 16 by 9 pixel ? 18 by 9 pixel ? Excel. There is no HDR 10 support, interestingly, across by the device, and the colors are, as a result, generally more muted than on the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, for example, you'll want to be careful of storage, it's available with 64 gigabytes is standard at a base level, and you can opt to be 128 gigabyte variant of either device.

Now neither of these are micros expandable. So if you want to have loads and loads of movies tons of games- and that isn't going to be something that you'll be able to do. It's also worth noting, in regard to the storage that you get unlimited cloud backups for all your photos and movies at full resolution. So that's pretty excellent through Google Drive. So, if you're invested in the Google ecosystem, getting this phone will be an investment not just in a device but in a cloud storage solution as well Gaming across the pixel turn pixel to excels, perfect, largely owing to those front firing stereo speakers.

But let's not forget about the power under the hood EA, but Snapdragon 835 processors paired with 4 gigabytes of RAM, which means you're gonna, be able to play any game that you throw at it now, while there's none of the 120 Hertz frame rate and all that of the razor phone. For example, you get a similar amount of power and those OLED displays, despite not being great off angle, look really nice and deep head on, which is exactly how you'll tend to be playing games. Geek bench scored around 6200, where at zone 2 to around 160,000. So that means whether it is anything you're doing or just swiping the UI multitasking split-screen multitasking like a maniac, you shouldn't be having any issues, and neither should you be having any issues with battery life. Now, in the first few days, we found that the battery life wasn't great on either of these phones, but a month in, and they're comfortably lasting a full day, both of them you've got a twenty-seven hundred Williams cell in the regular pixel ? I mean that's bigger than the eight plus and the iPhone 8 plus has a much bigger screen, and you've got three thousand over three thousand five hundred Williams in the pixel 2xl.

So it's little wonder the battery life is indeed it's so good. Moving on to the cameras of the pixel to excel- and this is a real high point- no dual cameras in sight around the back, but the rear camera is best-in-class when it comes to pointing shooting and taking your picture and the from camera is perfect as well. This is specifically for pictures for video. It isn't quite as good in low-light as some key competitors but photos just if you want an automatic camera, but absolutely slam as a competition. This is it point shoot and the auto HDR technology Google applies is great.

You can also apply a background blur effect to which works very, very well, but they're not being two cameras on here now. That's perfect for portrait, because Google's algorithms are able to detect, faces and map out the detail around ears and everything better than a lot of other jaw camera devices around even in low-light, while not necessarily best-in-class in every situation. Overall, the pixel turned pixel to excel managed to deliver a Lisa most pleasing shot, even if there's still a bit of grain left over there's optical image, stabilization and electric image stabilization combining about 12 megapixels, rear sensor, and so video is stable, but it really is low light, though it creates a fair bit of grain and there have been some units that have had some awful hiss on the microphones, so Google said they'll be fixing out with a software update fingers crossed that land soon it affected our unit too. If you want to know more about how the pixel 2 excels, rear camera performs check blind comparison between that the note 8, the iPhone 8 plus and the while wait mate turn pro right now. Wrapping up with a selfie camera on the pixel of two series, and it's good 8 megapixels takes a decent amount of detail in, but it doesn't necessarily highlight every single port which, in my books, is only a good thing.

So, in a nutshell, the Google Pixel, 2 and pixel 2 XL are perfect phones, but they are far from perfect, and they may be too far from perfect for you, given the prices, Google is charging for both of them. The design is good across both, but nothing of mind-blowing when the screens have some real flaws across both you haven't got a huge amount of resolution on the smaller variant, and you also have some real errant problems with the viewing angles and with burning on the larger pixel to excel the user interfaces are stock Android, and that means you're getting an unadulterated, Google experience, excellent, app support and also the multimedia jobs. Thanks to the app support is perfect. You can play back any video that you're gonna, throw at it, and the speakers on here front firing on both devices sounded really, really decent. What's more with power under the hood, Snapdragon, 835 and full gigabytes of RAM gaming is so, so good you're not going to cover those speakers and the only thing that my up, you would select a 3.5 mm headphone jack. In addition, there is no SD card storage, but you do have excellent cloud solutions from Google with great battery life across at both.

So if you can get past a lack of SD card slot, the lack of 3.5, more headphone jack and a few screen issues, one thing that you do know you will be getting with either of these devices is best-in-class camera capabilities. So that's what we thought about the pixel to excel one month into using both of this flagship, Google phones, thanks for watching Schrader, you.

Source : TechRadar