Google Pixel 5: 6 Months Later Review By Jack Jenkins

It's been well over six months since the release of the Google Pixel 5 back in October 2020. I've been using the pixel 5 that entire time, so in this video, I'm going to be doing a review of this phone six months later, to tell you how it stands up and telling you whether you should buy it, considering the fact that the pixel 6 is probably only five months away at this point, there's definitely positives and negatives about buying six-month-old phones in general, one being that you can quite often pick them up a lot cheaper. However, on the other side of that, you are very close to the launch of the next phone, meaning something better is definitely around the corner. Let's start off with the hardware of the Google Pixel 5. , I personally still think the pixel 5 looks great. I remember when it originally came out.

There are a lot of people who didn't like the look of the pixel 5. They found it boring a bit too minimalist. However, that's definitely the aesthetic I personally prefer. I also prefer it to the leaked pictures of the Google Pixel 6. Design is obviously open to interpretation, so, whether you like the look of this phone or the look of the leaked pixel 6 images, more that's up to you.

That's your own decision to make. However, my personal feeling is that I prefer the minimal look of the pixel 5. I can't comment too much on the durability of the hardware, because the entire time I've owned the phone, I have had a case and a screen protector on it. I have made a separate video about the case that I use, so I'll link that in the description, so my pixel 5 is obviously in perfect condition, because I have looked after it and if you do the same, then you're not going to have any durability problems. One thing I mentioned in my original review was that I really like the placement of the fingerprint scanner that still does stand.

However, I have had some issues with the fingerprint scanner for getting my fingerprint and then not allowing me to add new ones. This seems to be a bit better now, so I'm guessing. Maybe it was a software bug, but there was definitely a period of a few weeks or a month or so where I couldn't really use the fingerprint scanner and when I looked it up online, a lot of people with pixel 5s were experiencing the same issues, it's something worth keeping in mind, but it doesn't seem to be an issue anymore. The screen on the pixel 5, I still think, looks great it's edge to edge. It has very minimal bezels and the hole punch for the camera.

I still think is very intrusive and my preferred way of having a camera while also having a screen that fits the entire front of the phone in terms of size resolution pixel density. I don't think this screen has really got dated or been beaten by too many phones sure there is definitely higher spec screens out there. However, using this day-to-day the screen is never something that I look at and think I wish I had better. One thing that is available. That is definitely better, is higher refresh rates.

Most of the time when you're using the pixel 5, it is running at 60 hertz and then for certain parts of the phone such as the home screens and the settings menu and that kind of thing it does bump up to 90 hertz. I think if you've used 120 hertz, and then you go back to a phone like the pixel 5, you definitely notice it. However, if you're only using the pixel 5, and you've never had a phone with a high refresh rate screen before or a computer with a high refresh rate screen, then you're, probably not going to feel like you're missing out on too much or have that bad of an experience. But I think, especially in the last six months, 120 hertz screens have become much more common, and I'm sure we will see one in the pixel 6. Another comment I made in my original review back in 2020 was that the speaker on the pixel 5 is just rubbish and, to be honest, that hasn't changed at all.

I personally have kind of changed how I use my phone. I pretty much always use headphones now. So I don't really notice the pad speakers. However, when I do use them, I think this could be a lot better. I think when you compare the pixel 5 to an iPhone for example, then you will notice a fairly significant difference in the sound quality on the speakers.

The placement, I think, is pretty poor as well-being on the bottom of the phone means they're very easy to cover up for me having bad or average speakers isn't a reason not to buy a phone. However, if you do know your specific use case with the phone is going to include playing music aloud from it, not using a Bluetooth speaker or headphones, then it is worth considering. As I'm sure you already know, all pixel phones do run stock android. So it is exactly how google made it there's no extra manufacturer's skin over the top, like you'll, see on a Samsung phone, for example, for a lot of people, including myself. The opinion is that this is the best way to experience android, just because there's no bloatware the UI is spotless, and it's just a very quick and fluid experience.

The version the pixel 5 currently runs is android 11, which is the latest version. However, we're very close to seeing the launch of android 12. There is already a beta out, which you can try. If you want to see me, do a video about that. Please do.

Let me know, as android 12 does look like quite significant improvement on android 11. It has a slightly new UI. It has nicer animations, generally quicker and some better privacy settings. This is one of the main benefits of getting a pixel phone. Is that you always get the latest version of android.

I actually made a video talking about Google's three-year software support uh last year. It's a good video. Well at least I think so I would recommend watching it um. Basically, it discusses how pixel phones are guaranteed three years of full updates from android and whether I think that's enough, whether google supports kind of the privacy and data and security aspect of android phones enough. It goes into a lot of detail, so I would recommend watching that if you are interested in that kind of thing, moving on to performance, I've had no real issues with the pixel 5.

I don't really push my phone and really kind of max out the power on it, so I'm not playing like intensive games. I'm not video editing. Probably the most intensive thing I do on my phone is editing photos with Adobe Lightroom. Even that isn't really going to push it. I know quite a few people were concerned about the performance on the pixel 5 as when it was released.

It wasn't using the highest end, snapdragon processor, for me, as I said, that hasn't really been an issue, but maybe if you are doing these more intensive tasks, you will notice that probably not at this point, but maybe in six months time or a year's time, and if the rumors are true, it does look like the pixel 6 is going to have a lot better processor than the pixel 5. One of the biggest surprises for me about this phone back in 2020 was how good the battery life is, and it continues to surprise me and really impress me after owning a phone for six months. You usually see the battery life get significantly worse. However, that just hasn't been the case for me with this phone, even when using 5g using maps GPS, I still managed to get a full day of charge. I'm sure it will get there at some point, because it just is inevitable, with phone batteries that, after a year or longer that their battery life do degrade.

However, that just hasn't happened six months in with the pixel 5, so I'm very impressed by that. As I just mentioned, this phone does have 5g if you're a regular viewer of this channel you'll know that I live in London, which means that there is pretty good 5g coverage. I made a specific video about the 5g coverage in London. I went around to different places in the city doing speed tests to see what kind of 5g speed you can get with pixel I'll link that in the description, but the overall conclusion was that 5g definitely has arrived in London. It is something to be excited about.

I mean the pixel.5 is a great phone to make the most of it. There are now phones out with better 5g antennas, which will allow you to get faster, 5g speeds. However, with the pixel 5, you can still achieve speeds of well over 300 megabits, down which, at this point in time, realistically you're not going to really be doing anything on your phone that takes advantage of speeds. Anything above 300 megabits. If you do want faster speeds, just so you can flex it to your friends or on social media, then go for it, but for day-to-day use, the 5g speeds on the pixel 5 are impressive.

Moving on to the camera of the pixel 5, historically, with pixel phones, they've always had the best camera available. With this iteration in the pixel line, they really lost some of their lead over other devices. I think arguably, the iPhone 12 Pro max does take better pictures same with the latest Samsung phone, which isn't actually astounding, considering that the pixel 5 is still using the same sensor that was in the pixel 3. This definitely doesn't mean the pixel 5 has a bad camera. It still is one of the best smartphone cameras you can buy.

However, it is no longer the best. This was the case when the phone launched- and it's even more the case now, six months later, so let's get down to the nitty-gritty of things and talk price and whether you should buy this phone or not. So google is still selling this phone for 599 pounds on their website uh over the last six months. They have had quite a few promotions where you've been able to get it for 50 pounds off or maybe even 100 pounds off. That's currently not running at the time of me, making this video uh, you can get the phone for about 500 pounds new on various websites.

You can also purchase this phone used for about 400 pounds one bay. If you do that, and you manage to get one, that's in great condition, I think 400 pounds is an absolute steal for Google's best phone that they've ever sold. However, if you do buy the pixel 5 now, then you do have to be aware that in about five months the Google Pixel 6 is coming out, which supposedly will be faster. Have a better camera, have a better screen and be better in pretty much every aspect other than the design, which is just my personal opinion, so whether you should buy it or not. Just comes down to the fact that if the pixel 5 offers right now, what you want in a phone then go ahead and buy it.

But if in five months, you're going to regret it because the pixel 6 comes out and does all these fancy things and that's important to you, then you should wait personally, I'm happy with the pixel 5 as of right now, because I'm interested in phones and technology, I will more than likely upgrade or change phone at some point, whether that's to a new iPhone or to the pixel 6. We will see, but I can definitely say that I do recommend the pixel 5 six months after it's been released, it's still a great phone and I don't think you'll be disappointed with it if you do decide to purchase it. So that's pretty much everything for this six months later review on the pixel 5. If this didn't fulfill your need for Google Pixel 5 content, then I do have an entire playlist on my channel of different Google Pixel 5 videos that will be linked in the description. Additionally, if you want to see other videos from me, I make videos about technology, London, lifestyle, productivity, design, photography, lots of different things.

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Source : Jack Jenkins