Google Pixel review: a technical deep dive

I hope you have enjoyed our reviews of the Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL, however since this is the first time that a phone has had the words “Phone by Google” engraved on it, I think it is worth taking another look at the Google Pixel, not to look at the user experience (which we have already covered) but to take a look at the technology, the geeky stuff, that Google has put into these devices.

To do this I am going to delve a bit deeper into the display, the SoC, the battery, the camera and the software of the Google Pixel. I will be using the smaller Google Pixel for my tests, however a lot of what I cover will also be applicable to the larger Pixel XL. Want to know more? Let’s go.

Specifications

A quick look at the table below will reveal just how much tech has gone into the Pixel and Pixel XL. Hopefully we can expand on this list of specifications a bit and get to understand the significance of some of these items:

Display

The Pixel comes with a 5 inch Full HD AMOLED display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4, while the XL has a 5.5 inch Quad HD AMOLED display also protected by Gorilla Glass. There is no doubt that the displays on both Pixel devices are first class and are a pleasure to use. Looking at some of the tech, we noted in our full review that the display on the XL has a slightly cooler color temperature of 7859 Kelvin, which essentially means the screen has a blue tint. When the display is set to the standard mode (rather than the default adaptive mode), the colors are warmer at 7131k.

This seems also to be true for the Pixel. In terms of color accuracy the display on the Pixel tends to be skewed towards blue when it is displaying green. Notice the top set of vertical points on the graph below, they are left of the pure green target line. The reds, blues and purples however are quite accurate, but not strictly uniform when it comes to the various brightness levels.

Talking of brightness levels the Pixel’s display has a maximum of 410 nits. That is what you get when the display is on auto brightness and you shine a torch into the light sensor. If you switch to manual mode and crank it up to 100% then the brightness is marginally less at 406 nits. 50% is 208 nits and as you can see from the graph below the brightness profile is quite uniform:

The System-on-a-Chip (SoC) in the Pixel and Pixel XL is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821. The 821 is the successor to the Snapdragon 820, Qualcomm’s popular SoC which is found in lots of Android devices including some variants of the Samsung Galaxy S7, the LG V20 and the OnePlus 3. The 821 tweaks the design of the 820 to improve power efficiency while increasing performance.

At the heart of the Snapdragon 821 are the quad-core Kryo CPU and the Adreno 530 GPU. Plus there are loads of other bits and pieces including Qualcomm’s Hexagon 680 DSP and the X12 LTE Cat 12/13 modem. You can see from the specification table above that the Pixel supports and impressive number of 2G, 3G and 4G network frequencies.

The Snapdragon 820 could be clocked at a maximum of 2.2GHz, however the 821 has been designed to go as high as 2.4GHz. Qualcomm isn’t too forth coming about the architecture of the CPU, however Google has published information which says that the Snapdragon 821 in the Pixel uses 4 Kryo CPU cores, two clocked at 2.15GHz and two at 1.6GHz. The 821’s quad-core setup is what is called Heterogeneous Multi-Processing (HMP).

In general, the quad-core processors found in desktops and laptops have a set of cores which are all equal in terms of their performance and power consumption. In a HMP SoC, not all the cores are equal (hence, heterogeneous). In the Snapdragon 821 the 2.15GHz cores are tuned for performance while the 1.6GHz are tuned for efficiency. When tasks are run on the 1.6GHz cores they use less power, they drain the battery less, however they may run a little slower. When tasks are run on the 2.15GHz cores, they finish sooner but they use more power to do so. Here is where it gets complicated. A task that finishes quicker but uses more peak power to do so, may actually use less energy as it completed the task in a short amount of time. However a task which uses less peak power may use more energy as it took longer to complete.

The ideal situation is where the smaller cores run tasks which don’t use much power but need to run for a long time (like handling the CPU aspects of streaming video). As you can imagine the hardware and software combination needed to make HMP work well is complicated. ARM has done a lot of work in this area with its big.LITTLE system including contributing code to the Linux kernel. As such ARM is quite open about its HMP efforts, however Qualcomm is less so. If you want to know more about big.LITTLE then please read how the Samsung Galaxy S6 uses its octa-core processor.

When it comes to performance the Snapdragon 821 is a beast! Here is a table of some common benchmarks scores for the Pixel:

To put those numbers into some context, the Pixel scores higher on AnTuTu than the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Huawei Mate 9. However it scores lower than the Mate 9 for both Geekbench and Basemark OS II.

I also tested the Pixel with my own set of custom benchmarks which I have used to test various SoCs in the past including the Kirin 950. The first of my custom benchmarks tests the CPU without using the GPU. It calculates 100 SHA1 hashes on 4K of data and then does some other CPU stuff, I call it “Hashes, bubble sorts, tables and primes. The Pixel gets the best score from any Android phone I have tested!

The second benchmark uses a 2D physics engine to simulate water being poured into a container. Two drops of water are added every frame and the app is designed to run at 60 frames per second. The benchmark measures how many droplets are actually processed and how many are missed. The Pixel scored 10178, which is a good score, but it isn’t the best. The current record holder is the Kirin 960 in the Mate 9, which scores the maximum of 10800.

My third benchmark is written in Unity3D. It is a terrain flyover that yields a frame per second score for a pre-programmed pass over the rendered world. The Pixel scored 37.3 fps, which is again the best score to date.

Battery

The Pixel comes with a 2,770 mAh battery while the Pixel XL has a 3,450 mAh unit. According to Google that means the Pixel has a 3G talk time of up to 26 hours. Josh, Lanh and Nirave found that during day to day usage you can expect around 5 hours of screen on time. According to my testing with a mixed usage of web surfing, gaming and watching video will give you 5hr 13mins of screen on time, which matches what Josh et al saw.

Google claim that you can get 13 hours of video watching out of the Pixel, but the search giant doesn’t say how bright the display is during the tests. However it does say that “uses that involve an active display will use battery more quickly.” So I guess the brightness level for those tests are low (and fixed). I tested how long the phone can play a looped video from local storage with the display at 47% (i.e. 200 nits). The result was an impressive 10.5 hours!

If you are wondering how much the brightness level affects battery life, well so did I! I re-run my video test, this time with the display at 100%, that’s over 400 nits. The result was an equally impressive 8.5 hours. So upping the brightness can cost you as much as two hours of screen on time for easy tasks like video.

As for charging, you can charge the Pixel from < 5% to 100% in just over 1hr 40 mins, while to get to 50% takes less than half an hour and to get to 80% takes an hour. If you are in a mad rush then you can get 25% charge in just under 15 minutes! As with all quick charge system, the initial charging is much quicker than the final phase above 80%. For example the Pixel uses half of the charging time to go from 70% to 100%.

Camera

The specifications of the camera on the Pixel are excellent: 12.3MP rear camera with f/2.0 and 1.55μm large pixels. There is Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) as well as Laser Detection Autofocus (LDAF). It can record 4K @ 30fps and HD @ 240fps. On the front is an 8MP sensor with f/2.4 aperture and 1.4 µm pixels.

So I thought it would be interesting to see how the Pixel compares to a DSLR! So I took four pictures in controlled conditions (with a lightbox) to see how each one fared. My DSLR is a Canon EOS 700D. As you can see from the pictures below the 700D makes better pictures in good light. The colors are truer, there is more color depth and nuance. However for the close up of the Tardis door I would say that the Pixel did a much better job than the Canon. The text is clearer and there is less stippling. Also in low-light I would also say that the Pixel won. The EOS picture didn’t come out quite right because it is out of focus and maybe with more work I could have made it better.

Software

The Pixel and Pixel XL run Android 7.1 Nougat which brings with it a number of new features including Google’s new Pixel Launcher and the Google Assistant. The former is an incremental update to the standard Google Now Launcher which does away with the app drawer by making the installed apps available by swiping up from the bottom. The latter is Google’s new AI-based voice assistant, the same one in Google Allo, but now available throughout the whole Android interface.

In terms of storage and RAM, fresh out of the box the Pixel uses about 6.5GB of internal storage for Android and the default apps etc., which means there is around 23GB of free space. Both the Pixel and Pixel XL come with 4GB of RAM and from a fresh boot the phones uses around 1.3GB of RAM. During my testing (which was mainly running benchmarks, taking photos, playing videos etc.) I haven’t seen the average RAM usage go over 2GB.

Besides these two big ticket items there are lots of smaller changes including launcher shortcuts,  a new storage manager called Smart Storage, GIF support in the Google Keyboard, and improved VR thread scheduling:

• App Shortcuts – These allow users to access key actions within an app directly from the launcher. You just long-press an app’s launcher icon to reveal the app’s shortcuts, then tap on a shortcut to jump to the associated action.
• GIF support in the Google Keyboard – Android 7.1 supports the new Commit Content API, which provides a universal way for keyboards to send images and other rich content directly to a text editor in an app.
• Smart Storage – If an app requires more space than is currently available, it can use the Smart Storage page to let the user delete unneeded apps and content to free up sufficient space.
• Improved VR thread scheduling – Android 7.1 provides new features to improve VR thread scheduling. Apps can now designate one thread as a VR thread. While the app is in VR mode, the system will schedule that thread more aggressively to minimize latency.

Wrap-up

There are many non-technical factors to choosing your next Android smartphone including price, availability, branding and long term support. However if we push those to the side for the moment at just look at the tech, it is clear that the Pixel and Pixel XL are leading edge devices. Here we find AMOLED displays and not LCD, plus the XL sports QHD resolution.

The SoC is the best Qualcomm has to offer today and the benchmarks show that it is the best in its field (in the majority of cases). You also have excellent cellular support with the X12 modem. On top of that you have a good camera, an above average battery, an option for 128GB of internal storage and the latest version of Android.

What we don’t have is an SD card slot, wireless charging, optical image stabilization, front facing speakers or proper waterproofing (like IP67). So while everything that the Pixel does include is top of the range, it might be what it doesn’t include that could be the deciding factor for you! Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Google Pixel XL initial review: first 48 hours

The latest and most official Google device is here. We’ve only had it for a few days total and while we are able to draw some conclusions in that time, we definitely wanted to continue putting the Pixel XL through its paces to be sure our thoughts indeed hold weight.

For now, we are bringing you what we think in this initial review of the Google Pixel XL!

Don’t miss:

• Best Android smartphones of October 2016
• Android 7.0 Nougat review: an Android version for Android fans

First, we open up the box. As the new de facto ambassador in the world of Android, it comes as little surprise that an adapter for USB and Lightning cables is included so that transferring data from other Androids or iOS devices is easy – simply connect the original cable to your previous phone and the other end, adapter ready, into the Pixel. The phone takes care of the rest. A USB-A to USB Type-C cable is included, but the plug adapter requires a cable that is fitted with USB Type-C on both ends, which is also in the box.

Google brings their own design sensibilities to the Android world, in a phone that was built from the ground up. The results are, unfortunately, pretty polarizing. Many of you have already sounded off on the design of the Pixel XL, either saying that it has a beautifully simple look or lamenting its almost generic aesthetic.

We are as split about the design as all of you.

We here at Android Authority are about as split as all of you. Personally, I had become rather accustomed to the somewhat barebones style of previous Google devices, considering that it mattered more what the capabilities were underneath the surface. There was a quiet but effective capability to the Nexus line, but each device brought single quirks to the style. The Nexus 6P had its camera ridge and the Nexus 5 had a large piece of glass adorning the camera, for example. For the Pixel line, Google gave their new phone one key differentiating feature – a top third encased in glass. I don’t particularly find it an eyesore, but I rather think of it as a boring alternative to the different quirks we used to get from phones that bore the Google name.

That said, the phone’s look and feel still do their job properly – they make the phone feel really solid and sleek despite a measure of blandness in particularly this Very Silver version. The Quite Black version might be a little easier on the eyes while the North American-only Really Blue edition is, indeed, very different, but doesn’t add much more than a different hue.

A smaller Google Pixel is available with a 5-inch screen but we have the Pixel XL which sports a 5.5-inch screen. Larger upper and lower portions make the phone feel a little taller than it probably needed to be, but if there is plenty going on underneath all that surface area, then it can be excused. Overall, the XL feels plenty hefty and takes the usual amount of hand gymnastics in order to be used in one hand. Despite the glass on the back of the device, most of the backing is made of a smooth metal that unfortunately makes it slide about in the hand a bit too easily.

The sides of the device remind us of the Moto Z Force, which had a pretty aggressive chamfer to add texture to the sides. This was definitely the right choice considering how much the phone can slide around because if the sides were just as smooth, dropping it would probably be much more likely.

We will try our best not to compare the Pixel to the Nexus too much, but we do admit that the sideways Nexus logo is a bit missed. Even with a barebones overall design, that logo was distinctive. This time around, it is simply a large G on the bottom third and the glass upper side, all of which basically make for a phone that does look different, but does it in a somewhat boring fashion.

Google opted for AMOLED touchscreens for the Pixel phones, but the smaller Pixel comes with 1080p resolution. The XL sports Quad HD, and it looks pretty dang incredible. A lot of YouTube videos have been viewed in our first few days with the device, and everything from animated content to daily vlogs look great at resolutions 720p and higher. We also had a good time with games, as colors are rendered with the proper amount of vibrancy. So far, the only gripe I had with this display is that it gets just a little too dim at the lowest brightness setting – then again, this is a common facet of AMOLED displays. On the other hand, the screen looks great even in broad daylight when pumped up to the highest setting.

There is a sense of polish and smoothness that is undeniable.

As one of the first phones to sport the Snapdragon 821, it should come as no surprise that the Google Pixel XL simply flies through its tasks without any issues. Especially considering the streamlined and pure version of Android that the Pixel sports, there is a sense of polish and smoothness that is undeniable. This is not to say that other Android devices lack in the speed department, there just seems to be a great deal of attention given to the transitions and movements among all of the Nougat 7.1 elements.

But even in situations when slowdown should have been experienced, the phone has performed wonderfully – for example, the first boot up and long setup process that included downloading and installing a ton of applications might have made the phone feel a bit warmer, but it didn’t give me the usual slowdown I experience with other phones.

We will be playing more games and performing more tasks for the coming days, but so far the Pixel XL is a good poster child for the Snapdragon 821 and, indeed, for point of using pure Android in the first place.

Hardware is a part of the Pixel phones that might put it at a disadvantage – after all, a Google device tends to not have all of the extra features plenty of Android devices sport.

Hardware is a part of the Pixel phones that might put it at a disadvantage.

That starts off with the lack of expandable storage, which I have already had to contend with in my weekend with the Pixel XL. My unit is a 32GB version, which means that 4K recording is not only stifled, but is a nuisance. Having a plethora of applications and, in particular, games installed takes up a lot of the 29.70GB made available to the user. With MOBIUS Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy 7, and Final Fantasy 9 installed, only about half of the available storage was left for me to do photos and videos with. And at the high quality 4K recording option, the camera constantly reminded me of the less than 15 minutes of recording time I had available to me. Granted, Google Photos on the Pixel allows for the full resolution uploading and saving of all photos and videos, but having to find Wi-Fi to upload and, for that matter, the need to let the app clean up the Camera folder is a step I am still not used to doing.

Sound is a welcome highlight for the Pixel, a phone that is supposed to take voice inputs at any time and play the soothing, if not robotic, voice of Google Assistant. To that end, the bottom mounted speaker (only one, the left one) is one of the best of its kind. It gets plenty loud and yet retains a good amount of body. It is by no means a good bass performer, but especially for evoking the voice of Google Assistant, it does the job incredibly well. For viewing videos or playing games, I did not feel the need to reach for a pair of headphones. Even so, the headphone experience on the Google Pixel is above average. There are no extra options and features in the phone for catering the sound like in the LG V10 or the HTC 10, but the default sound profile is still very enjoyable, with the headphone jack properly driving my pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphones.

Our battery life testing is still ongoing, but I can definitely relay my experience after the last few days. A 3,450 mAh battery unit keeps the Pixel XL going for what can be described as the expected portion of the day, which can be easily tracked with the battery section of the settings. Personally, I really enjoy the way Nougat 7.1 shows the graph and the amount of time that has elapsed since unplugging the phone, even in the quick settings dropdown. With all that said, a day of somewhat aggressive usage that included GPS navigation and plenty of built-in speaker blasting took the phone out in about 16 hours with 4 hours of screen on time.

Which brings me to an interesting change in my battery usage that has only come about due to the Pixel. As I mentioned, the speaker got a lot of play and was a part of the overall battery drain. This is because Google Assistant, the main software addition the Pixel introduces, is so effortlessly useful that I have been talking and listening to this phone more than any that came before it. This is also due to a great microphone that sports noise cancellation and voice recognition that remind me of previous Moto X devices.

See also: Google Assistant: The top features you should know26

Due to one key feature of Google Assistant – the Daily Briefing – I’ve not only gotten used to saying ‘good morning’ upon waking without even touching the phone, but I’ve listened to the Assistant’s built-in podcast player that only plays a curated list of news shows. The last two days saw over an hour of news brief listening in the morning – which actually registers on the battery usage tally.

Before we get deeper into Google Assistant, we have the other marquee feature of the Pixel XL – the camera, which is a 12.3MP main camera with f/2.0 aperture and a front facing unit shooting 8MP. While the cameras of the Pixel phones might look very similar to the Nexus 6P on paper, there are a few key enhancements that we’ve already noticed and thoroughly enjoy.

First of all, the app is the same Google Camera that you may already be used to from the Nexus and the Google Play Store, meaning that it is a simple to use, auto interface without manual controls. Modes include Panorama and Lens Blur, with Slow Motion available at 120fps at 1080p resolution.

HDR is now HDR+, a version of color and contrast enhancement that is technically always on. Though the option will show HDR+ Auto, most pictures show processing of HDR+ when they are accessed in the gallery immediately after shooting. Pictures are already well rendered, but having the HDR+ add that little extra bit will make for pretty consistently pleasing photos. That said, HDR+ does do a good job of adding some extra vibrancy to photos while bringing down the highlights in any picture that has a blown out area like the sun soaked sky. And the best part about the HDR+ is that it has basically no shutter lag – in only a few photos did I notice a small amount of processing after hitting the shutter.

Which brings us to the other main feature of the cameras – video stabilization. The camera of the Pixel XL does not come with optical image stabilization and instead relies on analysis of the gyroscope while recording and software based post-stabilization. One immediate positive feature of this electronic image stabilization is that it is available while recording 4K video, which is not a feature commonly found on current Android phones. However, it is very common for software stabilization to lead to weird warping of a video and the dreaded ‘jello effect’ that Google hopes their version of stabilization will remedy.

So far, video stabilization has been incredible

And so far, it has blown me away. I put it through a few simple tests that included one walking shot and a couple stationary handheld examples. In all cases, the difference is basically night and day – the stabilization does a great job of noticeably making footage smoother, making it seem like the phone was on a gimbal during my walking example. Even more impressive is the lack of the ‘jello effect’ when moving from side to side. For a user like me that likes to vlog, the stabilization makes this already good performing 4K shooter an even more impressive companion to have for pictures and video, even if available space is an issue in this 32GB device.

Overall, the camera has so far been very impressive and we will be doing more testing and comparisons with other Android devices to further consider its capabilities. For now, however, I have been very impressed with the camera and already consider it one of the better automatic shooters.

Which brings us to software, which is the latest version of pure Android in Nougat 7.1. Though the LG V20 was the first phone to come with Android Nougat, the ‘.1’ that the Pixel brings is quite significant and might make it one of the most sought after versions of Android. Unfortunately, it is unclear how much of this version of Android will actually make it to other, non-Google branded devices. And that might be a shame, because 7.1 is a delight to use, mostly due to Google Assistant.

Hold the home button and Google Now on Tap is nowhere to be found – unless you swipe up from the bottom again, that is – because it is replaced with the voice-centric Google Assistant. Talking to an Android device is now as seamless as it has ever been, as everything from questions to search queries to even time-killing can be done with Google speaking right back at you. As already mentioned, this means that certain features like a daily briefing can be enjoyed by just asking the phone to do it. Even better, setting up the voice recognition makes Google Assistant ready no matter where the phone is, as long as it is near enough to hear ‘OK Google.’

The microphone is delightfully sensitive and accurate, while Assistant is really responsive and quick. There is one hiccup, as Assistant doesn’t seem to be opening appropriate apps automatically based on the query anymore like it did during my First Look. Even the quick display of the top search result is still accurate, so a small tap on it is a small trade-off. Plenty of other features are available via Google Assistant and I found myself asking random questions just to see what it can do – I even played an odd game of Mad Libs where the Assistant asked me for all of the different words it needed to construct the ridiculous narrative.

Assistant is already quite robust, but I can only imagine how much more it will grow over the life of the Pixel XL – after all, it is the centerpiece of the new Google ecosystem that incorporates Google Home.

Assistant is already quite robust, but I can only imagine how much more it will grow over the life of the Pixel XL

Otherwise, all of the different elements of Android remain very familiar even with the Pixel Launcher as the interface. The app drawer is still around, thankfully, and is accessed by swiping up on the homescreen. Google Now is still available to the left of the homescreens, while the big ‘G’ at the top gives easy access to a search bar that felt a little obsolete once I got used to using my voice instead. There are a lot of built-in wallpapers that can be used singularly or cycled from a curated list that is updated every day. Personally, I am a fan of the Live Earth wallpaper that rotates with the homescreens and mimics the real life sun, moon, and cloud conditions.

The settings area is a little easier to navigate now in Nougat, and it now has an entirely separate area for on-demand help, though I haven’t used it yet. Multitasking users finally have a Google-made multi-window feature that is accessed by dragging a window in the recent apps screen to the area up top, but this is also something that I have not used extensively because moving in and out of the recent apps screen has been as smooth as ever.

As long as Assistant continues to evolve, the Pixel has a feature that, if it never comes to other Android devices, does a great job of differentiating itself. The usefulness of Assistant predicates on whether or not the user actually takes advantage of it, and so far I think that everyone really should. Try it out with Allo and if you really enjoy Assistant, imagine having that functionality baked into the rest of the experience.

We have definitely drawn a lot of conclusions about the Google Pixel XL so far, and we are going to see if that positivity continues in our testing. A full review of the phone will be done in the coming days, perhaps just after the release of all the pre-order devices on October 20. All versions of the phone are still sold out in the Google Store, which undercuts what many users thought would be the Pixel’s Achilles’ heel – the price. For $649 on the base 32GB Pixel, the Google phones certainly hold a premium price point even if, at first glance, it doesn’t seem to offer nearly as much as the rest of the Android army. This is a very valid argument considering the Google Pixel XL at 32GB is a whole $120 extra.

Read next:

• Google Pixel XL vs Galaxy Note 7
• Google Pixel and Pixel XL vs the competition

So, before scoring the phone on its own merits, we will leave this initial review at this thought: if the rest of Android did not exist and the Google Pixel stood on its own, it would be one of the best phones we’ve ever seen or used. Unfortunately for the Pixel, the rest of Android undoubtedly offers more and for far better prices across the board. But the Pixel damn near perfects the basics where plenty of Android phones inexplicably falter. And for the first outing of the Pixel, Google has so far done a damn good job.

Google Pixel XL initial review: first 48 hours

The latest and most official Google device is here. We’ve only had it for a few days total and while we are able to draw some conclusions in that time, we definitely wanted to continue putting the Pixel XL through its paces to be sure our thoughts indeed hold weight.

For now, we are bringing you what we think in this initial review of the Google Pixel XL!

Don’t miss:

• Best Android smartphones of October 2016
• Android 7.0 Nougat review: an Android version for Android fans

First, we open up the box. As the new de facto ambassador in the world of Android, it comes as little surprise that an adapter for USB and Lightning cables is included so that transferring data from other Androids or iOS devices is easy – simply connect the original cable to your previous phone and the other end, adapter ready, into the Pixel. The phone takes care of the rest. A USB-A to USB Type-C cable is included, but the plug adapter requires a cable that is fitted with USB Type-C on both ends, which is also in the box.

Google brings their own design sensibilities to the Android world, in a phone that was built from the ground up. The results are, unfortunately, pretty polarizing. Many of you have already sounded off on the design of the Pixel XL, either saying that it has a beautifully simple look or lamenting its almost generic aesthetic.

We are as split about the design as all of you.

We here at Android Authority are about as split as all of you. Personally, I had become rather accustomed to the somewhat barebones style of previous Google devices, considering that it mattered more what the capabilities were underneath the surface. There was a quiet but effective capability to the Nexus line, but each device brought single quirks to the style. The Nexus 6P had its camera ridge and the Nexus 5 had a large piece of glass adorning the camera, for example. For the Pixel line, Google gave their new phone one key differentiating feature – a top third encased in glass. I don’t particularly find it an eyesore, but I rather think of it as a boring alternative to the different quirks we used to get from phones that bore the Google name.

That said, the phone’s look and feel still do their job properly – they make the phone feel really solid and sleek despite a measure of blandness in particularly this Very Silver version. The Quite Black version might be a little easier on the eyes while the North American-only Really Blue edition is, indeed, very different, but doesn’t add much more than a different hue.

A smaller Google Pixel is available with a 5-inch screen but we have the Pixel XL which sports a 5.5-inch screen. Larger upper and lower portions make the phone feel a little taller than it probably needed to be, but if there is plenty going on underneath all that surface area, then it can be excused. Overall, the XL feels plenty hefty and takes the usual amount of hand gymnastics in order to be used in one hand. Despite the glass on the back of the device, most of the backing is made of a smooth metal that unfortunately makes it slide about in the hand a bit too easily.

The sides of the device remind us of the Moto Z Force, which had a pretty aggressive chamfer to add texture to the sides. This was definitely the right choice considering how much the phone can slide around because if the sides were just as smooth, dropping it would probably be much more likely.

We will try our best not to compare the Pixel to the Nexus too much, but we do admit that the sideways Nexus logo is a bit missed. Even with a barebones overall design, that logo was distinctive. This time around, it is simply a large G on the bottom third and the glass upper side, all of which basically make for a phone that does look different, but does it in a somewhat boring fashion.

Google opted for AMOLED touchscreens for the Pixel phones, but the smaller Pixel comes with 1080p resolution. The XL sports Quad HD, and it looks pretty dang incredible. A lot of YouTube videos have been viewed in our first few days with the device, and everything from animated content to daily vlogs look great at resolutions 720p and higher. We also had a good time with games, as colors are rendered with the proper amount of vibrancy. So far, the only gripe I had with this display is that it gets just a little too dim at the lowest brightness setting – then again, this is a common facet of AMOLED displays. On the other hand, the screen looks great even in broad daylight when pumped up to the highest setting.

There is a sense of polish and smoothness that is undeniable.

As one of the first phones to sport the Snapdragon 821, it should come as no surprise that the Google Pixel XL simply flies through its tasks without any issues. Especially considering the streamlined and pure version of Android that the Pixel sports, there is a sense of polish and smoothness that is undeniable. This is not to say that other Android devices lack in the speed department, there just seems to be a great deal of attention given to the transitions and movements among all of the Nougat 7.1 elements.

But even in situations when slowdown should have been experienced, the phone has performed wonderfully – for example, the first boot up and long setup process that included downloading and installing a ton of applications might have made the phone feel a bit warmer, but it didn’t give me the usual slowdown I experience with other phones.

We will be playing more games and performing more tasks for the coming days, but so far the Pixel XL is a good poster child for the Snapdragon 821 and, indeed, for point of using pure Android in the first place.

Hardware is a part of the Pixel phones that might put it at a disadvantage – after all, a Google device tends to not have all of the extra features plenty of Android devices sport.

Hardware is a part of the Pixel phones that might put it at a disadvantage.

That starts off with the lack of expandable storage, which I have already had to contend with in my weekend with the Pixel XL. My unit is a 32GB version, which means that 4K recording is not only stifled, but is a nuisance. Having a plethora of applications and, in particular, games installed takes up a lot of the 29.70GB made available to the user. With MOBIUS Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy 7, and Final Fantasy 9 installed, only about half of the available storage was left for me to do photos and videos with. And at the high quality 4K recording option, the camera constantly reminded me of the less than 15 minutes of recording time I had available to me. Granted, Google Photos on the Pixel allows for the full resolution uploading and saving of all photos and videos, but having to find Wi-Fi to upload and, for that matter, the need to let the app clean up the Camera folder is a step I am still not used to doing.

Sound is a welcome highlight for the Pixel, a phone that is supposed to take voice inputs at any time and play the soothing, if not robotic, voice of Google Assistant. To that end, the bottom mounted speaker (only one, the left one) is one of the best of its kind. It gets plenty loud and yet retains a good amount of body. It is by no means a good bass performer, but especially for evoking the voice of Google Assistant, it does the job incredibly well. For viewing videos or playing games, I did not feel the need to reach for a pair of headphones. Even so, the headphone experience on the Google Pixel is above average. There are no extra options and features in the phone for catering the sound like in the LG V10 or the HTC 10, but the default sound profile is still very enjoyable, with the headphone jack properly driving my pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphones.

Our battery life testing is still ongoing, but I can definitely relay my experience after the last few days. A 3,450 mAh battery unit keeps the Pixel XL going for what can be described as the expected portion of the day, which can be easily tracked with the battery section of the settings. Personally, I really enjoy the way Nougat 7.1 shows the graph and the amount of time that has elapsed since unplugging the phone, even in the quick settings dropdown. With all that said, a day of somewhat aggressive usage that included GPS navigation and plenty of built-in speaker blasting took the phone out in about 16 hours with 4 hours of screen on time.

Which brings me to an interesting change in my battery usage that has only come about due to the Pixel. As I mentioned, the speaker got a lot of play and was a part of the overall battery drain. This is because Google Assistant, the main software addition the Pixel introduces, is so effortlessly useful that I have been talking and listening to this phone more than any that came before it. This is also due to a great microphone that sports noise cancellation and voice recognition that remind me of previous Moto X devices.

See also: Google Assistant: The top features you should know25

Due to one key feature of Google Assistant – the Daily Briefing – I’ve not only gotten used to saying ‘good morning’ upon waking without even touching the phone, but I’ve listened to the Assistant’s built-in podcast player that only plays a curated list of news shows. The last two days saw over an hour of news brief listening in the morning – which actually registers on the battery usage tally.

Before we get deeper into Google Assistant, we have the other marquee feature of the Pixel XL – the camera, which is a 12.3MP main camera with f/2.0 aperture and a front facing unit shooting 8MP. While the cameras of the Pixel phones might look very similar to the Nexus 6P on paper, there are a few key enhancements that we’ve already noticed and thoroughly enjoy.

First of all, the app is the same Google Camera that you may already be used to from the Nexus and the Google Play Store, meaning that it is a simple to use, auto interface without manual controls. Modes include Panorama and Lens Blur, with Slow Motion available at 120fps at 1080p resolution.

HDR is now HDR+, a version of color and contrast enhancement that is technically always on. Though the option will show HDR+ Auto, most pictures show processing of HDR+ when they are accessed in the gallery immediately after shooting. Pictures are already well rendered, but having the HDR+ add that little extra bit will make for pretty consistently pleasing photos. That said, HDR+ does do a good job of adding some extra vibrancy to photos while bringing down the highlights in any picture that has a blown out area like the sun soaked sky. And the best part about the HDR+ is that it has basically no shutter lag – in only a few photos did I notice a small amount of processing after hitting the shutter.

Which brings us to the other main feature of the cameras – video stabilization. The camera of the Pixel XL does not come with optical image stabilization and instead relies on analysis of the gyroscope while recording and software based post-stabilization. One immediate positive feature of this electronic image stabilization is that it is available while recording 4K video, which is not a feature commonly found on current Android phones. However, it is very common for software stabilization to lead to weird warping of a video and the dreaded ‘jello effect’ that Google hopes their version of stabilization will remedy.

So far, video stabilization has been incredible

And so far, it has blown me away. I put it through a few simple tests that included one walking shot and a couple stationary handheld examples. In all cases, the difference is basically night and day – the stabilization does a great job of noticeably making footage smoother, making it seem like the phone was on a gimbal during my walking example. Even more impressive is the lack of the ‘jello effect’ when moving from side to side. For a user like me that likes to vlog, the stabilization makes this already good performing 4K shooter an even more impressive companion to have for pictures and video, even if available space is an issue in this 32GB device.

Overall, the camera has so far been very impressive and we will be doing more testing and comparisons with other Android devices to further consider its capabilities. For now, however, I have been very impressed with the camera and already consider it one of the better automatic shooters.

Which brings us to software, which is the latest version of pure Android in Nougat 7.1. Though the LG V20 was the first phone to come with Android Nougat, the ‘.1’ that the Pixel brings is quite significant and might make it one of the most sought after versions of Android. Unfortunately, it is unclear how much of this version of Android will actually make it to other, non-Google branded devices. And that might be a shame, because 7.1 is a delight to use, mostly due to Google Assistant.

Hold the home button and Google Now on Tap is nowhere to be found – unless you swipe up from the bottom again, that is – because it is replaced with the voice-centric Google Assistant. Talking to an Android device is now as seamless as it has ever been, as everything from questions to search queries to even time-killing can be done with Google speaking right back at you. As already mentioned, this means that certain features like a daily briefing can be enjoyed by just asking the phone to do it. Even better, setting up the voice recognition makes Google Assistant ready no matter where the phone is, as long as it is near enough to hear ‘OK Google.’

The microphone is delightfully sensitive and accurate, while Assistant is really responsive and quick. There is one hiccup, as Assistant doesn’t seem to be opening appropriate apps automatically based on the query anymore like it did during my First Look. Even the quick display of the top search result is still accurate, so a small tap on it is a small trade-off. Plenty of other features are available via Google Assistant and I found myself asking random questions just to see what it can do – I even played an odd game of Mad Libs where the Assistant asked me for all of the different words it needed to construct the ridiculous narrative.

Assistant is already quite robust, but I can only imagine how much more it will grow over the life of the Pixel XL – after all, it is the centerpiece of the new Google ecosystem that incorporates Google Home.

Assistant is already quite robust, but I can only imagine how much more it will grow over the life of the Pixel XL

Otherwise, all of the different elements of Android remain very familiar even with the Pixel Launcher as the interface. The app drawer is still around, thankfully, and is accessed by swiping up on the homescreen. Google Now is still available to the left of the homescreens, while the big ‘G’ at the top gives easy access to a search bar that felt a little obsolete once I got used to using my voice instead. There are a lot of built-in wallpapers that can be used singularly or cycled from a curated list that is updated every day. Personally, I am a fan of the Live Earth wallpaper that rotates with the homescreens and mimics the real life sun, moon, and cloud conditions.

The settings area is a little easier to navigate now in Nougat, and it now has an entirely separate area for on-demand help, though I haven’t used it yet. Multitasking users finally have a Google-made multi-window feature that is accessed by dragging a window in the recent apps screen to the area up top, but this is also something that I have not used extensively because moving in and out of the recent apps screen has been as smooth as ever.

As long as Assistant continues to evolve, the Pixel has a feature that, if it never comes to other Android devices, does a great job of differentiating itself. The usefulness of Assistant predicates on whether or not the user actually takes advantage of it, and so far I think that everyone really should. Try it out with Allo and if you really enjoy Assistant, imagine having that functionality baked into the rest of the experience.

We have definitely drawn a lot of conclusions about the Google Pixel XL so far, and we are going to see if that positivity continues in our testing. A full review of the phone will be done in the coming days, perhaps just after the release of all the pre-order devices on October 20. All versions of the phone are still sold out in the Google Store, which undercuts what many users thought would be the Pixel’s Achilles’ heel – the price. For $649 on the base 32GB Pixel, the Google phones certainly hold a premium price point even if, at first glance, it doesn’t seem to offer nearly as much as the rest of the Android army. This is a very valid argument considering the Google Pixel XL at 32GB is a whole $120 extra.

Read next:

• Google Pixel XL vs Galaxy Note 7
• Google Pixel and Pixel XL vs the competition

So, before scoring the phone on its own merits, we will leave this initial review at this thought: if the rest of Android did not exist and the Google Pixel stood on its own, it would be one of the best phones we’ve ever seen or used. Unfortunately for the Pixel, the rest of Android undoubtedly offers more and for far better prices across the board. But the Pixel damn near perfects the basics where plenty of Android phones inexplicably falter. And for the first outing of the Pixel, Google has so far done a damn good job.