O GOOGLE PIXEL 4 XL FROM £829 ++++,
SUPERTEST SMARTPHONESA stargazer is born, but does
Google care about phones?
Google’s own phones to take us
crash-landing into a new decade
are here. The Pixel 4 and 4 XL give
Android 10 its debut, and show
us what Google really cares
about these days – other than
everyone’s data. Focusing on the
bigger brother of the two, the 4
XL, not a great deal has changed.
Cameras and Android are still
the Pixel fixations, while Googleleaves stuff like design dynamism
and ultra-long battery life for
others to fight over.
With the Pixel 4 XL, the tech
giant has taken aim at those
preferred areas and hammered
them like a Japanese swordsmith.
The camera is the main one:
Astrophotography mode is a
delight, and all the progress here
is entirely in line with the brilliantwork put into the Pixel 3. You also
get to experience Android’s latest
developments before anyone
else, and in its purest form.
The rest? This phone’s design
takes the iconic simplicity of the
older Pixels and simplifies it until
it seems generic. And it’s hard to
ignore that other phones offer
more for less, or at least for
the same money. We’re leftwishing it had more storage and
more stamina.
Still, if you’re in the market for
a stripped-back, tasteful Android
with a forgiving camera and a
fancy feature for shooting the
night sky, go ahead, it’s a great
phone... but Google has proved
once again that it’s more of
a software company than a
hardware one.Google Pixel 4
from £669 / store.
google.com
Aside from a smaller
display than the XL
version (5.7in) with
an inferior 444ppi
and a wee 2800mAh
battery, the Pixel 4
shares virtually all
the same specs...
meaning you get
a processor and
camera fit for giants
in a much more
affordably priced
package. Just don’t
expect it to last
all day every day if
you tend to hammer
your phone.
Stuff says ++++,New gesture controls do
everything from skipping
tracks and controlling
alarms to initiating
multitasking screens and
more, so take the time to
familiarise yourself.CAMERA
Looking at the stars
There are two rear cameras:
a primary 12MP joined by a
new 2x lens. It’s the first time
Google has included ‘real’ zoom
using a tiny motor, and with a
bit of machine learning you end
up with far better photos than
expected. Night Sight has had
a bump and takes low-light
snaps nobody thought possible
two years ago, while the new
Astrophotography is a bold
gesture of intent from Google:
it’s Night Sight taken to the
extreme. The phone must be
held completely still, but the
results are ridiculous and offer
a legit reason to buy a tripod.
OOOOOOOOOOPERFORMANCE
Mind the store
A Snapdragon 855 runs the
show – and no shocks that
it glides through Android and
runs top-end games perfectly.
PUBG, Ark: Survival Evolved
and Asphalt 9 were essentially
made for this hardware after
all. There is a lingering sense
that Google has been stingy
elsewhere, though. Your £829
‘entry-level’ model has 6GB
RAM and 64GB storage, where
the £450 Oppo Reno2 has
8GB and 256GB respectively.
Apple gets away with it, but too
many Androids offer more for
less and it didn’t take us long
to find our 4 XL was 50% full.
OOOOOOOOOODESIGN
This means bore
If there were to be a ‘boringcore’
phone, the equivalent of some
sort of indie film sub-genre
where they’re all set in a PTA
meeting, this is it. It looks like
the very essence of a modern
smartphone, but absolutely
nothing more.
OOOOOOOOOODISPLAY
OLED it be
Feast upon on a 6.3in 90Hz
OLED with super-conservative
style: no curved edges, a fat lip
above the display, and borders
on the other sides. Kudos
to Google, though, for this
screen’s tasteful approach
to colour reproduction.
OOOOOOOOOOFOR
A BIT
LESS