FEBRUARY 2020 • TECH ADVISOR 53Despite its 2x optical zoom lens, the Pixel 4 XL (left)
struggled with this zoomed image, adding artifacts
to the mantle and some noise to the back wall, while
the Pixel 3 XL’s digital zoom handled it correctlyAnd that’s kind of the story with the Pixel 4 XL.
While the 3 XL’s camera put the rest of the smartphone
industry on notice, the Pixel 4 XL shows that Google
might not have been prepared for Samsung and Apple
to catch up so quickly. (And that’s not to say anything
about its inability to record 4K video at 60fps.)
I might be picking nits here and sharing photos
that specifically highlight the Pixel 4 XL’s shortcomings,
but the fact remains that Google’s competitors have
all but closed the gap with their own computational
photography systems, and Google’s improvements
over the Pixel 3 XL are slight. And I have to assume
that anyone who buys a Pixel 4 XL cares about suchFEBRUARY 2020 • TECH ADVISOR 53Despite its 2x optical zoom lens, the Pixel 4 XL (left)
struggled with this zoomed image, adding artifacts
to the mantle and some noise to the back wall, while
the Pixel 3 XL’s digital zoom handled it correctly
And that’s kind of the story with the Pixel 4 XL.
While the 3 XL’s camera put the rest of the smartphone
industry on notice, the Pixel 4 XL shows that Google
might not have been prepared for Samsung and Apple
to catch up so quickly. (And that’s not to say anything
about its inability to record 4K video at 60fps.)
I might be picking nits here and sharing photos
that specifically highlight the Pixel 4 XL’s shortcomings,
but the fact remains that Google’s competitors have
all but closed the gap with their own computational
photography systems, and Google’s improvements
over the Pixel 3 XL are slight. And I have to assume
that anyone who buys a Pixel 4 XL cares about such