Google Pixel 4 - A User Review After 60 Days! By Hardware Canucks

The Google Pixel 4 his the most hated smartphone of 2019, why it lacks one of the most important features that we were all looking forward to this year, which was an ultra wide-angle camera. It's got a smaller battery and supposedly battery life according to many reviewers we're pretty terrible starting price at $800 for 64 gigabytes of storage felt like a complete ripoff, though Google did drop the price of this phone by a couple of hundred dollars, so that really pissed a lot of people who bought the phone in the first place, and it really goes to show that he should never pre-order for get the pixel for the date launches, because the price is eventually going to get dropped, and on top of that, there been multiple issues with the variable refresh rate, face, unlock motion, sense, and I'm, pretty sure something's gonna pop up as I'm talking to you guys right now. So I guess I could conclude this review right now by telling you to stay away from the pixel 4 or maybe not. Maybe my experience after using it for more than eight weeks may change your mind or again, maybe not, but let's get started right after this. Your eyes haven't seen anything like it. Yet.

The new razor blade pro 17 packs a beautiful and fast 4k 120 Hertz panel, with gorgeous vibrancy and color accuracy, with incredible clarity, awesome for creative work that will never disappoint with a fantastic, future-proof, IO as well. It's also a touchscreen, so your fingertips gets impaction. The bezels are tiny, the chassis is sleek. The fiery keyboard is perfect. That tracked by this massive.

The hardware is epic, with REX man. The blade pro 17 is a complete package experience a smooth, 4k gaming link below alright, so I'm gonna start with the display, because to me, it's an important factor of a smartphone and boy. It's a welcoming upgrade for my pixel 3, quick disclaimer I've been using the Pixel 4 XL, as my daily driver. Instead of these smaller pixel 4, because it has a bigger battery and the size is just perfect for my hands. The screen spends across 6.3 inches, and it's really sure and color accurate seriously. This is one of the best displays I have seen on a smartphone I really enjoyed watching videos and editing photos for the gram.

However, I did wish if it was brighter compared to the competition, especially from Apple and Samsung I'm, also not a huge fan of the rounded corners around the display, since the status bar up top doesn't really line up with the corners, and it just looks odd. Maybe it's my OCD, but yeah also I'm glad that this has a flat display versus curved, like some other Android flash chips out there. It certainly complements one-hand usage, and you don't get that distortion when you're watching something in landscape mode. Now, let's talk about that variable refresh rate and the huge Fiasco behind that you see by default, the phone dynamically switches between 60, Hertz and 90 Hertz, depending on the type of content being displayed in order to extend battery life, but early adopters, started reporting, then, as soon as you lower the brightness below 75%, the screen caps at 60 Hertz, regardless of what you do now. Google did roll out a patch later addressing this issue, but I just ended up forcing 90 Hertz on the display through the developer options, and it's been a flawless experience so far, but has that affected battery life yeah by a lot? Actually, you see before I have forced 90, Hertz I was actually getting over 6 hours of screen on time on a heavy day browsing through mail, Twitter Instagram playing music over Bluetooth using GPS just a typical stuff, but as soon as enabled that forced 90 Hertz option my screen on time just dropped by an hour which was actually a lot.

Now. That's my heavy use case scenario, but on a regular workday I spend the majority of my time editing a video or filming here in the studio, so not constantly string to my smartphone. So by the end of the day, I'm left, with over 50% of battery left on the Pixel 4 XL, which I can't really complain about. Unless, if you're like David Emmen, who constantly depends on a smartphone because he travels a lot, then the pixel 4 might not be for the ultimate power user. Of course, you get support for wireless charging and Google's three-year-old fast charge seriously the engineers at Google slacked off in the department, since the competition has advanced to higher levels, because if you look at what OnePlus and OPPO does with warp charge and super long charge, this is its kind of unacceptable to have a free oral technology on a 2019 flagship smartphone by Google I.

Think there really need to step it up. Moving on to the nitty-gritty stuff, starting with the design and I love the matte black frame with the white power button on the side, there are other color options as well as white and orange, and if you recall watching my first impressions, video on the pixel 4 I ranted a little about the glass back on the black model, whereas the other color options came with a matte finish. So in order to get over, my frustration I ended up getting this cheap, Amazon matte black slim case, which surprisingly matches the frame of the phone, and it prevents the back from grease and fingerprints. The speakers on the pixel 4 sound, perfect and call quality, was excellent. Throughout my testing period, I didn't hear anyone complain about the microphone quality.

So I guess that's a pass, and now, let's talk about the gimmicks things like motion sense and face unlock. Let's actually start with motion sense. You see I extensively used this feature when I got my hands on the Pixel 4 XL, especially when I was in the kitchen cutting vegetables. It was super convenient when I just wanted to skip music tracks, but it started eventually giving up on me and that was super. Frustrating I was at the gym one day had my phone on the bench and I wanted to skip a track because I wanted to listen to something different and the thing just refused to do so, even after waving it multiple times, and it almost got to a point where it started randomly skipping songs.

Without my knowledge and I was super frustrated. I ended up tweeting about it, and some of my friends in the tech community ended up experiencing the same issue, which was definitely odd, so I just ended up disabling it because I didn't want to deal with it. He was super annoying. It was a complete flop if you recall, watching project sold and their promotional video. They made it so convincing to the user where they could just use their hands to adjust the volume precisely and a lot more other things and I really wanted those to come into the pixel 4.

But that isn't the case. In fact, a few things that motion sense offers is when your alarm goes off and when you're trying to reach for the phone it'll automatically lower the volume, you can also silence a phone call by waving your hand, provided that it works. But realistically do you see ourselves taking advantage of this feature I'm really, because if you deeply think about it, motion sense is more of a negative thing, because if you're skipping a music track, you certainly don't like what you're listening to. So that's a negative thing, and if you're trying to silence someone when someone's trying to reach you over the phone, that's also a negative thing because you're ignoring that person. So ultimately that is a negative thing.

Then there's face unlock, which utilizes the two infrared sensors at the front, along with the titanium security chip built into the phone, google opted for this type of authentication instead of your traditional in display fingerprint scanners that competitors fly on, and I've kind of saying, I love it. It's superfast like really fast, and it never misses a beat when I pull out my phone from my pocket and log in it works at night in pitch black thanks to the IR tracking. It also works with my sunglasses, with hats on I, also really appreciate this wheat shirt during the winter when I'm wearing gloves outdoors, because I don't have to worry about using my fingerprint, on the other hand, they're having concerns over how it unlocks, with your eyes, closed and that's freaking out a lot of people plus there are some apps that require sign-in, not supporting facial recognition, but let's just get real for a sec. You either have to be living around people, whom you don't trust at all, and if your girlfriend's on that list stop watching this video get that sorted and come back or the other case could be you're doing something completely illegal. That would get you in trouble.

But to me these are it's really not a deal-breaker. A supposedly Google is working on rolling on an update to address this issue, so we'll wait and see how that goes out. The software experience is one of the best on pixel devices. It's pretty straightforward and easy to use they've added a few gimmicks like live Pok?mon wallpapers that use the motion sensor, which will significantly drain your battery side. Note.

If you enable developer options, the build number shows up on the quick settings tray, which is ridiculous, and if you need to get rid of it, you'll have to disable developer options, which means you lose the adjustments that you made there every time when I switch smartphones I end up, throwing a third-party launcher to make my home screen clutter, free and easy use. Samsung is certainly on top of my list for that, but with pixel and OnePlus devices I'm actually comfortable with the stockily out, because it's polished what we're free, and I like that, the other benefits include receiving software updates regularly because you'll be the first in line to receive them. If you own a pixel device plus you also get some Google AI enhancements like live transcribing that transcribed your audio into real text, and it's really fast as I'm going to show you a demo right here. I'm just talking to you guys in front of the camera. I actually really like this feature because say, for instance, you want to have a communication.

If you want to have a conversation with someone who's having trouble hearing, then this is a great way to communicate, plus it picks up literally everything that I say so. That's awesome. I also speak more than two languages, so I've tested on both of them and understands, which is great. It also goes to show how Google's actually worked really hard on the software side, to bring all these tools and I. Think that's really.

It's really nice I should mention that live transcribing is available on the pixel 3 as well. Now how has performance held up so far? It's been good guys, but it still feels a tad slower compared to my OnePlus.70 I. Think that has to do would be slightly lower resolution display and a faster processor and, of course, more RAM, plus one plus does a fantastic job, optimizing their software for their devices, plus you get more customization options and that's something that I truly miss on the pixel 4. Google has completely let me down on the specs Department for the pixel 4, because it's using an outdated SOC, the storage is a complete joke. I mean starts at 64 gigabytes, which is ridiculous compared to what the competition offers so for the spec enthusiasts people who need blazing fast performance that you know they just need apps to load up the instant they know tap on.

It should probably look into one plus. Having said that, the one factor that makes me come back to the pixel 4 is the camera performance. Yes, it doesn't come with an ultra wide-angle camera, but if you're willing to surpass that you'll be very impressed with the outcome. The pictures look really sharp, with a good balance of contrast and saturation, and the dynamic range is just amazing compared to pixel 3, the pixel 4 should slightly brighter photos and I love the fact that you can simply open the camera app pointed a subject hit the shutter button and be completely satisfied with the image I mean this shot right here was taken inside an Uber ride, I didn't even think twice, I just took it and I loved the result. This camera also shines in low-light.

Well, there's less noise, the colors turn out, just as you expected to, and it's sharp portrait mode works really well, regardless of subject. I decided a tested on, however, I'm, not a fan of that crop factor because it still uses the main sensor instead of utilizing the telephoto lens as well. Speaking of the telephoto lens, the results continued to surprise me and according to Google people, love zooming into things. So if you fall into that category, you won't be disappointed, but still they really should have included an ultra wide-angle camera. Then there's macrophotography mode, which just blew my mind on the pixel 4.

It's just amazing to see how computational photography has come so far. Now I still can't get around the fact that there's a weird halo or in the center of the image when it's finally processed. But if you shoot wrong, you can actually do a little of post-processing to get rid of that, and this is what the end result would look like now. If you switch from photo mode to video mode, you will be disappointed with what the pixel 4 has to offer, because the rear camera can only shoot up to 4k at 30 frames per second, it doesn't even shoot.4K 24p and the front-facing camera is limited to 1080p, so that is very frustrating. In fact, if you look at the competition, they offer a variety of shooting options, especially if you look at what Apple does with the iPhone 11 that costs less than the pixel 4.

It's just crazy to see the quality coming out of a phone like that, and this is Apple that we're talking about the phone that used to be super expensive, but there's actually something that competes with this right now. So if you shoot a lot of video on your smartphone, the pixel 4 is certainly not for you. So to wrap things up. I really enjoyed my experience with the pixel 4, specifically the 4 XL. It's not a perfect phone, and by no means does it deserve to be priced at $6.99. In fact, if I were you, I would skip the pixel 4, the smaller version completely because it comes with a smaller battery and the fact that when you have variable refresh rate enabled that things just not going to last for a day, but if you're someone who's looking for an Android smartphone with the latest at Google has to offer in terms of software and the best camera for photos and I repeat for photos.

Maybe you should consider the Pixel 4 XL, because the camera is. What gets me back? I think that's why I keep going back to the pixel 4, because it's what I take with me when I'm traveling and when I'm doing anything else, just because I know for a fact that I'm going to be happy with the end result and that's what it is and if you've stayed with me until this part of the video I have a surprise for you guys in fact, I have a second opinion from someone who is very popular in the tech industry. Let's jump right into it. Marquez. Thank you so much for taking the time to chime in on your thoughts about the pixel, 4, truly appreciate it, but first off huge congrats on the streams thank and congrats on the 10 million subscribers.

It's its really a huge milestone. I, don't know yeah yeah! It's! It's really awesome, but let's just kick things off with like what smartphone you're rocking right. Now, your daily driver, yeah, so I have a 1 plus 70 Pro, the McLaren edition. So it's not 5g or anything. But my daily phone is the OnePlus 70 Pro Android 1090 Hertz, like the only thing I really don't like about it, is the curved screen.

I really wish it was a flat screen, because that's the one thing I get bothered by, but everything else about that phone has been pretty solid. Ok, so we're aware of how many issues the pixel or how the pixel 4 was received by the tech community. I mean its launch. Price was pretty high and a lot of people were not happy about that and Google did drop that later. Actually right now, it's it starts at $6.99, so it's $100 less, and it's official launch price, and we had a lot of user support issues in terms of the variable. Refresh rate motion sense.

You know the list just goes on. I mean I was just reading an article like yesterday that some USB cables don't work with the pixel 4, which I mean. How does that? How does that make you feel about the pixel 4 and I? Have you actually experienced any of these issues? Yeah yeah, so I remember. I was one of the first to like talked about that variable, refresh rate problem, where you know the first wave of reviews came out. Everyone seems fine with it, but I felt like that was the only one who was like I can't get this phone to stay at 90 Hertz, like it keeps going back to 60 and I.

Don't know why it eventually comes out that you know that the brightness is tied to it and all these other weird things that I didn't like. That's. Why I looked for forcing 90 Hertz and that's why I accepted the trash battery life I, think you know what pixel has been for the past couple years, notoriously not the best hardware. The pixel is a software experience wrapped in whatever they can make. You know, and that's typically been the best part about it- is what I buy it for? Are you get the latest version of Android? You get all these crazy things like screen calling and the assistant that has the voice transcription model all on the phone locally, like all this stuff love that about it and I guess, because I've seen that for a while, it doesn't really change my perspective of the pixel, but for someone who might have thought of pixel as like a flagship on par with the Samsung's and apples of the world, this should probably be a wake-up call.

So I guess last question kind of ties in to do you think Google actually did a better job with the pixel 4 this year or do you think they could have done better I'm going to go the may be pessimistic sounding route that this is probably something we're going to keep seeing for a bit just because Google is not a hardware company right yeah, and it's not like. We don't see other issues with other phones. But when you look at you know the iPhone they have their gates once in a while and the Samsung phones exploded. One time right, but pixel is always gonna, be strong in a software department and whatever they can sort of build around it using pieces that work well enough. They'll do that and it kind of reminds me of Tesla, where Tesla as a car manufacturer they're it they're more of a tech and software company.

They're always going to have the best tech and software in their cars. Furthermore, they might not have this sweet leather trim or all the pristine interior finishing, and if you like that stuff get, you know a Samsung or an iPhone right, so yeah, it's just kind of where pixels at for me, and maybe they will change, but I feel like for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, they're a great software choice and the rest comes after. That's it that's. Basically the story with the pixel 4 I mean it's a tough call, but I just keep coming back to it, because if it's camera performance and that's that's, why I'm sticking to it and I like the software experience, but it still had some issues and I, don't think.

Given its current price, it's its a valuable choice, but let me know what you guys think about the pixel 4 or the 4 XL in the comments down below I'm ever with hardware Canucks. Thank you so much for watching make sure to check out some relevant content over here subscribe hit. That notification button also huge shout out to marques Brown lee for chiming in on his thoughts about the pixel 4. In the comments I'll, you guys should definitely know him, but I'll talk to you guys in the next video.

Source : Hardware Canucks