Third Time's a Charm [Video]

The Google Pixel is back for its third year, and I’ll cut to the chase: Google has basically nailed these phones in every regard, save for a few subjective caveats you already know about. They’re both in many ways my favorite don’t-call-them-Android phones, Google’s best attempt yet at making the Pixel lineup compelling to anyone, and two of the best phones you can buy overall. For lots of iPhone users and Android users alike, these should both be seriously considered as your next…

A return to consistency |

I talked about this at length last week as part of my first impressions, but it’s something that I think should be underscored here too before we dive in. While last year’s phones were great in their own right, the biggest thing that bothered me about them was that they had weird issues I thought Google had moved past. They had quality control problems, and they were contract manufactured by two different companies. Hence, they were differently flawed enough that we reviewed them separately.

That wasn’t just a silly problem for those who are obsessive over the minutiae of Google’s products. Things like basic word of mouth recommendation and written reviews were complicated (I couldn’t recommend either of them unequivocally as “best Android phone”, no matter how good I thought they were), and buying the best of the best of what Google had to offer last year (starting at $850!) in reality meant you were accepting a downgrade versus the previous year on an aspect of the phone that was incredibly important.

For those that don’t remember, the Pixel 2 XL looked and felt like a true successor in terms of external design, but had a big crutch that the smaller didn’t. Its display was crippled compared to everything in its price range, and was arguably worse than Pixel 1 in some ways. On the other hand, Google didn’t even acknowledge the smaller Pixel 2’s existence in its marketing images on the Google Store. That’s how outdated it looked — some would argue even more dated aesthetically than its predecessor.

Moving forward…

That’s all necessary context for this review, but enough about last year — let’s talk about the Pixel 3. We knew basically everything about them before they launched, and yet they’ve still surprised me.

The first thing I noticed about them at the event on October 9th, and something that has stayed at the forefront of my mind in my less than a week testing the phones (that’s really not long enough for a review), is how the Pixel 3 is a much-welcome return to consistency for Google.

Like the original Google Pixel and Pixel XL, they’re the same exact phone with the exception of the display and battery sizes, and not only that, but they feel like a complete thought. In both hardware and software, they feel thoroughly finished and ready for prime time. That means we get to do just one review, and unlike last year, choosing between them is essentially a matter of size and price.

I also am glad to have found in my first 6 days with these phones that you probably shouldn’t expect a dozen articles picking apart their minor flaws in the coming weeks. There simply aren’t any nagging flaws to pick apart this year; these truly are the refinement that last year’s phones sorely needed.

Design + Hardware |

Take your pick

If you’re reading this review, you probably already know the main differences that you’ll be choosing between. The Google Pixel 3, as we’ve been saying for months now, has a design that feels like it should have been the sibling to the Google Pixel 2 XL. It seriously looks like that from the front, and in many ways — since the Pixel 3 is largely a refinement on last year — that’s what you’re getting. It has thin bezels on the top and bottom and rounded corners around the 5.5-inch display.

The larger Google Pixel 3 XL has the big internet controversy of the year — the notch. But it also has a larger 6.3-inch display. I’ve talked out against this notch-and-chin design as counter to all my aesthetic preferences, but even as ugly as it is in photos, it’s more than fine in day-to-day use. I’m mostly just neutral in my feelings toward it after just a few days — it doesn’t really detract from the experience I’ve found, save for maybe watching videos in full screen.

Has Google justified the notch, though? Nope. Earlier this year, in my plea for Google to not jump on the notch trend for the sake of the trend, I wrote that Apple was the only company that’s been able to justify it as of yet. They packed a ton of sensors and hardware in a relatively small space, and they made the the notch the only trade-off with a screen that was truly edgeless. Many Android OEMs followed with half-baked attempts that included a bottom bezel and I hoped Google wouldn’t.

But they did. Here we are. The Google Pixel 3 XL has a cutout, a chin that’s about equal in size to last year’s phone. And it’s okay. At least they have a second wide-angle camera — which enables a wide-angle selfie feature — to show for it. I personally don’t prefer the aesthetic of the notch-and-chin over the traditional slim top and bottom bezels, but there’s thankfully more to the phone than that.

This year, since it’s the only difference between the phones, my advice for those who just can’t accept that there’s no Pixel Ultra is simple: Use software to hide it or get the smaller Pixel 3. I’ve found myself embracing it as unlikely as I thought that’d be. Now that that’s addressed, let’s move on.

The beautiful displays

I guess that naturally takes us to the display, since the display is the primary difference between the two devices, and frankly, one of the biggest upgrades over last year. Whatever you think about the cutout, the displays on these phones are bar-none some of the best I’ve ever used. They’re as good or better than the iPhone X, which I felt had the best OLED display of last year. That phone made the Pixel 2 XL look plain embarrassing in comparison, so I’m glad to see that rectified.

This year’s phones both have stellar displays with none of the issues I harped on last year — blue tint, grain, black smear, etc. — and that’s really good news for me, you, all buyers, and for Google.

The two phones are essentially identical in quality to the naked eye, although the larger model is obviously bigger and packs a slightly higher resolution and PPI. Regardless of what you’re doing — watching videos on YouTube, playing games, or just scrolling through Twitter — you’ll be more than content with these displays. I’m no display guru, but to my eyes they’re gorgeous.

Side note: After using the two phones side by side, this is one of the areas that made me gravitate toward using the Pixel 3 XL. The larger display is just really nice to have, and it actually surprised me how much I actually preferred having that extra screen real estate despite the notch. Going in I thought I was going to prefer the smaller Pixel 3, but the larger one definitely grew on me.

One of the issues many had with the Pixel 2 last year was its muted — but accurate — colors. This year, Google’s admitting that shipping those muted colors by default might have been a bit of a mistake as the Pixel 3 also defaults to a new “adaptive” color mode, which bumps up colors and saturation — but has been tuned to limit the over-saturation of skin tones and reds in particular.

External refinement

I already mentioned how I’m glad to see that this year’s Pixels are back to being nearly identical in terms of external design, but this new design is also a notable refinement over last year. The back is now all-glass (Gorilla Glass 5, just like the front), which means wireless charging (and the Pixel Stand!), but Google’s also keeping around the Pixel’s signature top-fifth glass back design. This year, instead of a separate piece of glass, the bottom portion is simply a soft touch glass — a matte finish on top of that single slab. The Pixel Imprint fingerprint sensor is also on the back again.

For one, this feels much better than last year’s coated metal back in my opinion — it’s one of those things that you just really won’t understand unless you touch the phone for yourself. If you’ve been used to the last couple years of glass-backed iPhones or any of the last several Galaxy phones with glossy-finished backs, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the Pixel 3 on touch alone.  It just feels so comfortable in the hand — there’s none of that sticky fingerprint grime.

Contrary to various reports, I don’t think the matte back is any more scratch prone than any other glass phone. We tested it ourselves by drawing “9to5Google” on the back so you could see how easy it was to wipe off. No big deal. I think the reason people think the matte is more scratchable is because they’re paying more attention — any scratches you manage to get on the back of your Google Pixel 3 would have just as easily ended up on the glass portion of last year’s model too. I’ve definitely not been babying my black Pixel 3 XL unit, and I don’t have a single permanent scratch.

The edges around the phone are metal, just like the last two years. Some early reviews — before the phone was even announced — noted that these felt somewhat plasticky. I sort-of see where that was coming from, but not really. They’re smooth and glossy and, while they aren’t stainless steel (rather, painted aluminum), they actually most closely remind me of the stainless steel edges around the iPhone X and iPhone XS. They just feel super premium in the hand to me — not plasticky.

Another thing about the external design: If you love the look and feel of the rest of Google’s hardware lineup, you’ll love these too. The “Not Pink” model has a bright orange lock button that adds just a bit of flair, while the “Clearly White” model has a mint power button. All of them just have this degree of “light hearted niceness” to their look that I haven’t seen on any other flagship phones. In the best way, Pixel 3 makes the iPhone and Galaxy phones look like they take themselves too seriously.

Over the last few years, Google has cemented its hardware design language, and I think it’s better here with the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL than any of the four phones previous. Google loves these soft colors that fit into your normal life and your home seamlessly, and the Pixel phones are no exception. I personally find the “Not Pink” the most attractive — especially with the official red case.

Another thing you might have noticed about the Pixel 3 hardware design is that there’s actually some resemblance to the things Google is doing in software design. Some have pointed to the rounded corners of the notch on the Pixel 3 XL as looking eerily similar to the new design for tabs in the Chrome browser. Google confirmed at I/O that this is not an accident. It really points to just how much thought Google’s putting into these designs and integrating them across all their products.

The specs

Most the usual specs you’d expect from a phone of this caliber are also here, of course. There’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, an Adreno 630 GPU for pushing those graphics, 4GB of RAM — which I’ve found to be a non-issue — 64 GB or 128GB of storage, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, GPS, eSIM, radios for compatibility with pretty much any LTE network, the usual proximity and ambient light sensors, a barometer, the Android Sensor Hub, and improved haptics. Oh, haptics.

A note on those haptics: They’re the best I’ve felt on an Android phone, but they’re not quite up to par with the first generation Taptic Engine which launched with the iPhone 6s in 2015. I’m not sure if there’s a patent getting in the way of any of these OEMs ripping off Apple, but it hasn’t yet. The vibration motor in the Pixel 3 is definitely the closest we’ve had yet, but it still just doesn’t give you the forceful kick that the latest iPhones do. It’s a shame, really. Maybe one day.

There’s a new Titan M security module, which Google says provides “on-device protection for login credentials, disk encryption, app data, and the integrity of the operating system.” Obviously, there’s no easy way for us to test that, but it’s nice to know that it’s there. I guess.

Battery life

The Pixel 3’s battery comes in at just under 3,000 mAh, while the larger Pixel 3 XL is 3430 mAh. I’m not one to religiously test screen-on-time performance, because I don’t find it to be a helpful indicator of real world use. But I didn’t have a single day with either of these devices where I felt the need to top up between nightly charges, and that’s using them extensively as review devices. The vast majority of people charge their phone once per night, so that’s my litmus test.