The Google Pixel 4 XL Review: Stuck In The Past In 2019
by Andrei Frumusanu on November 8, 2019 11:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Smartphones
- Pixel 4
- Pixel 4 XL
Video Recording
Video recording on the Pixel 4 is a relatively simple topic as Google hasn’t changed much to the formula other than the inclusion of the new telephoto module. Even this one addition isn’t quite fully supported by the cameras as Google’s 60fps recording mode is only available for the main camera sensor. Another omission, is the lack of a 4K60 recording mode. It’s quite unfortunately that Google still hasn’t been able to expand the recording features over the past few years.
In terms of video quality, it’s relatively ok. Stabilisation and bit-rates are competitive. I would strongly recommend to switch over to HEVC recording in order to save storage space. Dynamic range of the capture on the other hand isn’t really up to par with what we see from the competition, and the Pixel 4 largely falls behind in this aspect.
What’s really unfortunate is the audio recording quality. Unfortunately, the phone doesn’t seem to have any good wind noise cancellation. It wasn’t particularly windy when I was recording the samples, yet the wind noise is particularly distinct in the recordings.
Speaker Evaluation
The speaker setup on the Pixel 4 has changed substantially compared to the Pixel 3. Google is no longer using two front-facing speakers, opting for a more traditional earpiece + bottom firing speaker setup.
This does cause some problems and represents a downgrade for the new Pixel. While last year the Pixel 3’s stereo bias was actually biased towards the earpiece speaker as the stronger and louder unit, this year it’s very much extremely biased in favour of the bottom firing speaker. Volume isn’t an issue as the phone gets plenty loud.
The audio quality of the phone isn’t bad, however there’s a notable lack of mid-range and especially lack of lower mid-range which unfortunately leads to a less “full” audio playback and the phone doesn’t really compete with either Samsung or Apple’s devices in terms of audio playback ability.
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MooseNSquirrel - Sunday, November 17, 2019 - link
Just when you think comments cant get any dumber, one gets proven wrong.MScrip - Friday, November 8, 2019 - link
-- "I dunno if they're smurfing to not upset their partners..."Their partners sell 300 million units a quarter or 1.2 billion units a year.
Meanwhile... Google is lucky to sell 12 million Pixels the entire year.
So I'm not really sure the partners are worried about the Pixel... :)
surt - Sunday, November 10, 2019 - link
But the question is, would Google eat into partner sales if they made a good phone?MScrip - Sunday, November 10, 2019 - link
Even if Google somehow quadrupled their sales... that's still a pitiful 48 million units per year.Samsung can sell that many in TWO MONTHS. And that is *just* Samsung.
We haven't even mentioned Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and the countless other vendors who contribute to the 1.2 BILLION units sold per year.
So I don't think Google can do anything to "eat into" partner sales. There's simply too many of them.
Pixel 5 could be the greatest Android phone ever made... but it's not gonna put a dent in partner sales.
austonia - Monday, November 11, 2019 - link
Pixel4-XL-128GB here. better compared to the iPhone Pro\XL, which is more expensive for models above 64GB, but then have more storage and extra camera.the Google hardware seems pretty serious to me. first non-Apple with real face unlock (Soli-accelerated), squeeze for assistant, 90hz amoled at 1440p, Pixel Neural Core, 6GB RAM, etc. but of course the main draw is software and integration... it just works, and more sensibly than iPhone, IMO.
Spencer1 - Sunday, November 17, 2019 - link
I wish people would stop spouting this nonsense. Are we pretending the Huawei Mate 20 Pro with its full array of dot projected 3D facial scanning didn’t exist?727200 - Friday, November 8, 2019 - link
Ouch. I really don't understand Google's approach with regards to the Pixel line, especially the 4. I can swallow the fact that it's not the most bleeding edge processor in lieu of decent software. But they really sold themselves short with the 4. Soli is half baked, so is the 90hz panel regulation, and then you double down by excluding a fingerprint reader? Oh, and ZERO headphone adapter? All for a flagship price?? It screams "me too" while implementing terrible differentiation (aside from the camera). I'll pass.ElBerryKM13 - Friday, November 8, 2019 - link
Apple releases devices with 64gb "Oh so innovative, what a company" Google pixes releases 64gb "device is stuck in the past"Andrei Frumusanu - Friday, November 8, 2019 - link
https://www.anandtech.com/show/14892/the-apple-iph..."Unfortunately, the storage tiers this year also remain the same, at 64GB, 256GB and 512GB. I do find it extremely conservative of Apple to continue the 64GB base model given that the majority of the competition has switched over to 128GB as a minimum."
bji - Friday, November 8, 2019 - link
Why bother with evidence? Haters are gonna delude themselves into hating no matter the facts.