T3 - UK (2019-12)

DECEMBER 2019 T3 85

Google Pixel 4

feel in the hand, but there’s no doubt
Google’s competitors are outdoing it
in the design stakes right now.
The display, a 5.7-inch, 19:9 OLED
running at 1080x2280, is perfectly
fine, and doesn’t struggle with colour,
contrast, brightness, sharpness or
anything else. In short, it’s a quality
panel. It runs at a maximum refresh
rate of 90Hz too, which means
super-smooth scrolling and gaming

• though it’s not always that swift,
  adapting during the day to extend
  battery life.
  We’re glad that the notch now
  seems to have been consigned to Pixel
  history, though we do truly miss the
  two-tone backing from previous
  phones in the series – the Pixel 4 looks
  a bit nondescript without it. Add to
  that the rather daft-looking camera
  array on the back, and we can’t call
  this a design winner.

Image conscious
But what of that camera? Google’s
total mastery of image processing
algorithms has, even when its Pixel
line sported only a single lens, meant

excellent photographic results. The

Pixel 4, with its added telephoto lens,

continues that legacy: there are few

better phone cameras out there,

though it’s a shame you don’t get

an ultra-wide angle lens. In all kinds

of scenarios, the Pixel 4 camera

impresses, snapping shots with rich

colour and excellent detail. The Night

Sight mode returns, doing wonders

with limited light, and this year it’s

even able to have a go at some

astrophotography – provided you can

keep the phone perfectly still for four

minutes while pointed at the night

sky so it can capture enough detail.

Its telephoto lens really helps when

zooming in; combined with the Pixel

4’s Super Res Zoom digital processing,

you can get close to the action from

afar. Apple and Huawei are nipping at

its heels, but Google’s poise in the

photography game can’t be faulted –

though the important benefit of the

Pixel range so far, the unlimited

Google Photos uploads at the original

quality, ends with the Pixel 4.

Battery life is less impressive: the

2,800mAh battery just about makes it

through a day with average-to-heavy

use, so you may need to top it up

during the evening if you have a big

night out planned. It’s certainly not

catastrophic, though. An hour spent

watching Netflix pulled capacity from

100% to 89% at full brightness and

volume at half the maximum, which

is a reasonably respectable score.

Face it

Unusually, neither the Pixel 4 or its

big brother, the 4 XL (from £829),

come with a fingerprint sensor.

Instead, Google is aping Apple’s

approach of relying on face

recognition for biometrics, but you

can use a backup PIN code. This works

very well – by the time you have lifted

up your phone to your face, you’re in.

You need never see the lock screen

again, if you don’t want to.

One issue with this is that apps

which often use your fingerprint for

security, such as banking apps, will

force you to manually type in your

password until these apps get updated

to accept face unlock – and that’s by

no means a guarantee.

SELFIE CAM

That front-facing camera is

a solid 8MP snapper, with

great dynamic range and

excellent exposure levels –

and the 22mm-equivalent

f/2.0 aperture lens captures

a wide angle

The Pixel 4 doesn’t

come with a

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it relies on face

recognition

MOTION SENSE

Google’s new motion-

sensing Soli radar chip,

embedded next to the front

camera, enables both wave-

of-the-hand gestures and

super-fast face unlocking