18 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 44
REVIEW
The screen underneath is an OLED display that
can display a wider colour gamut than before. It has
an 18:9 aspect ratio and a QHD+ resolution which
equates to a density of 538ppi. It has rounded corners
which match the corners of the phone’s body.
Colours look natural, even in the ‘vivid colours’
mode. That’s great if you dislike the vibrant tones
you get from Samsung AMOLED screens, but it does
mean that it doesn’t ‘pop’ quite as much.
It’s always on, which means you can see the time
and notifications without having to press a button, tap
the screen or anything else: you can simply look at it.
There are other uses for the always-on screen.
Around ten thousand songs can be identified and
displayed when your phone is locked without calling
home to Google.
One of the Pixel 2 XL’s main rivals is the similarly
priced Galaxy S8 Plus. This has an even bigger screen
in the same size body: the screen extends right to the
edges and is visible through the curved edges.