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The stereo speakers seem a bit louder here than on the smaller Pixel 3, though there's not an appreciable difference. Once Google Duplex is rolled out, the phone will be able to do even more in the call department. Google Assistant can take over calling duties for you, sparing you from the tedium of tasks like scheduling hair appointments and making dinner reservations.
You’ll find smoother corners on the Google Pixel 3 XL – everything has been rounded off and flattened, giving Google’s Material Design software ethos a foothold within real life hardware. The frame edges are polished and the rear fingerprint sensor is flatter.The Pixel 3 has a 5.5-inch 2,160-by-1,080 OLED display that's thankfully free from the scourge of a notch. The resolution works out to a crisp 443 pixels per inch. While we've been seeing higher-resolution screens lately (like the 570ppi Galaxy S9), the Pixel 3 is still plenty sharp for the size. It's crisp enough to easily read text, watch videos, and play games, and you won't notice any real difference in clarity between the two devices. The one thing to note is that, while the screen is certified to support HDR content, it doesn't do any upscaling as we've seen on phones like the Sony Xperia XZ3 and the midrange Nokia 7.1 According to Dr. Ray Soneira at DisplayMate Labs, t he Pixel 3 XL has a top-tier display with excellent calibration accuracy and performance that is "visually indistinguishable from perfect." It falls into the same category as the Galaxy Note 9, the Galaxy S9, and the iPhone X/XS Max, earning a DisplayMate Best Smartphone Display Award, with each screen standing out for its own particular strengths. Like other flagship phones, the Pixel 3 is IP68 waterproof, allowing it to survive in over five feet of water for 30 minutes. It stood up to a thorough dunking and rinsing-off in the kitchen sink without issue.
You'll still find dual front-facing speakers on the Google Pixel 3. No one else is really doing this anymore (except Razer with the Razer Phone 2), so it's nice to see in a flagship device. You'll also get Active Edge, which allows you to squeeze the sides of the phone to call up Google Assistant. We much prefer this squeeze mechanic as opposed to a dedicated AI button on the frame, like Samsung does with Bixby button (which we often confuse for the volume down button).Yes, there's a successor now, in the Google Pixel 4, which has an extra 16MP telephoto camera as well as the 12.2MP main sensor of the Pixel 3. But even without this newer lens (and all the other Pixel 4 features), the Pixel 3 is still a photography champion – and comes in at an even more competitive price these days.
tips about smartphones that are the preferred option for Canadians who want to have fun on the go Wednesday, 10.25.2023 The Pixel 3's rear camera is capable of recording 4K video at 30fps and 1080p at 60fps. In both cases, video is smooth and stable, buoyed by a mix of optical and electronic image stabilization. We found video to be smooth, with minimal jittering or frame drops. Software and AI We’ve covered the biggest Android 9 Pie features in a separate piece, so I won’t go deep into them here. However a couple do deserve a mention. Wireless charging is a new feature for the Pixel phones, and a welcome change now that Google has launched the Pixel Stand wireless charger alongside its new devices. We haven't had a wirelessly charging Google phone since the plastic Nexus 6.
The real test of a phone like this isn’t how well it performs over a week or two – even the cheapest of phones start off fast – it’s how fast it stays once hundreds of apps are installed and it’s been in use for 12-18 months. The Pixel 3 XL runs a pure version of Android 9.0 Pie with at least two years of guaranteed updates. There's no bloatware aside from Google's app suite. Out of 64GB of storage on our review unit, we had 51.05GB free for use. Purchasing either Pixel gets you unlimited lifetime Google Photo storage. Conclusions It does give you more screen, sure, but not to the extent that the 6.3-inch diagonally measured spec suggests. To us, the 6.3-inch Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus and 6.4-inch Note 9 screens feel a bigger and more immersive, and the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus promise to mainstream the punch hole camera for even more screen real estate.
Give it a couple of hours, though, and the notch becomes much less obvious when you’re actually doing stuff. I’m not saying you’ll forget all about it, but in general day-to-day phone use I’m not constantly thinking ‘why is this notch here’.The Google Pixel 3 XL runs the latest version of Android 9 Pie with the exclusive Pixel launcher on top. This launcher adds in bits like the swipe-up app tray, gesture buttons and the adaptive time/weather widget. Where the Pixel 2 XL suffered with dull colours and terrible viewing angles, the Pixel 3 XL pops with contrast and just the right amount of saturation in brighter colours like red and green. Viewing angles are great too: tilt the phone and there’s no ugly shift to blue. Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. See how we test. Other connectivity protocols include dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC for use with Google Pay, and Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless listening. One thing we haven't mentioned is Digital Wellbeing. It's a new panel in the Settings menu that shows your device usage, what apps you've accessed, and gives you options to restrict your phone's hold over your life by letting you set a wind-down period before bedtime, limiting interruptions and graying out the screen to discourage use. Over time the phone uses machine learning to understand what apps you use and prioritize them over others when it comes to memory and power.