60 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 66BUYING GUIDE
Display
This is quite a playful feeling phone, and that is a lot
todowithhowgoodthescreenis andhowit looks
incontrasttotheall‑glass design.
Google is continuing its design language in a light
way, melding the hardware it sees fit to complement
the Material Design concept its software is modelled
around. The block colours of the phones are a world
away from the austere designs pushed out by Apple,
Huawei and even OnePlus.
After the problems the Pixel 2 XL had with its
display (or at least how it was calibrated for colour
hungryeyes)the3 XL’sdisplayhitstheground
running.The6.3in2,960x1,440P‑OLED looks brilliant,
with good colour calibration and viewing angles.
There’s a new adaptive colour profile loaded on
to ensure this. It considers current lighting settings
to change the calibration of tone, and works quickly
and quietly. It’s great.
Google had to make sure the screen was better
than the disaster of having to severely recalibrate the
2 XL’s in a software patch. We’re happy to report this
is a huge improvement.Performance
It’s all in a phone that is run by the Qualcomm
Snapdragon 845 chip, the same one found in the
OnePlus 6 and Samsung Galaxy S9. Google has stuck
to 4GB RAM where others push 6 or 8, but in our
testing the 3 XL ran smoothly with no hiccups.
This is to be expected as Google is in complete
control of the hardware and software of the phone.