16 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 68
the S10+. And while we’re at it, why is Google still
charging £100 for an extra 64GB of storage? Even
Apple charges half that.
Somewhat surprisingly, Google shines in its new
display game. Pixel phones have had long-standing
issues with their screens, from OLED burn-in to flat
colours, but the Pixel 4 XL is the first to get it right. It’s
still not quite as bright as the Note 10+ or as vibrant
as the iPhone 11 Pro, but the display on the Pixel 4 XL
is easily the best Google has delivered. The blacks are
deeper and the colours are more vibrant than the Pixel
3, and the oleophobic smudges that plagued earlier
models are nowhere to be seen (so far, anyway).
And I really liked the new Ambient EQ feature that
adjusts the white balance based on the light in the
room. Similar to Apple’s True Tone display, it makes
the screen much easier on the eyes without the often
jarring auto brightness adjustments.
Google’s handset also introduces Smooth Display,
which ups the refresh rate to 90Hz for smoother and
speedier scrolling and swiping. It’s one of only a few
devices to boast such a feature, but the difference
here isn’t as immediately obvious over the Pixel 3 or
even switching between 60- or 90Hz in the settings.
That’s somewhat due to the Pixel’s natural hardware-
software integration, but it’s also because it actually
only turn on if your brightness is set to greater than
75 percent, another limitation that Google fails to
advertise. Still, there were times when I honestly
couldn’t tell whether Smooth Display was on or off,
even when the phone was at max brightness. Google
says it will be updating Smooth Display “in the coming
