ISSUE 46 • ANDROID ADVISOR 5used for a long time where the hardware melts away
and you’re just left with the best possible software
experience a phone can give you right now.
That’s what happens with the best PCs and
with the iPad, but in a competitive phone market,
manufacturers have to excite consumers with flashy
hardware. This sometimes leaves the software with
something to be desired, particularly in Android’s
fragmented world. Not so with the Pixel.
Design
Taste is subjective of course, but the Pixel 2 is not as
pretty as the larger Pixel 2 XL. The latter has an edge
to edge curved display with a higher resolution. The
smaller Pixel 2 reviewed here has a 5in 1080p display
with two big, black bezels at the top and bottom.
It’s pretty ugly from the front, and not a phone I’d
pick on aesthetic merit. When LG has done well with
the sleek XL version, it’s hard not to be disappointed
by HTC’s effort on this smaller one.
Thankfully, Google has put stereo front facing
speakers in the bezels, vastly improving the audio
output from 2016’s first generation. It’s easy to hold
in one hand but your thumb may still struggle to
reach the top of the screen.
Google made three colours of the smaller Pixel,
with Just Black, Clearly White and Kinda Blue for
the Miles Davis fans out there. My review device is in
black which is quite a pedestrian design, but all three
versions have black fronts (as do all Pixel 2 XL models).
The white and blue designs are only different
on the back and sides, though the blue has a cool
REVIEW