Google - Pixel 4 with 128GB Cell Phone (Unlocked) - Just Black

It wasn’t long ago that Google kept strictly to Android development. The original Nexus devices were as close as you could get to stock Android, as Google worked closely with a rotation of manufacturers to produce “pure Android” devices, but kept their distance from branding any hardware as their own. Of course, a lot has changed since then. The Pixel line of phones, now in its fourth generation, represent Google’s own entry in the Android smartphone market, continuing a new tradition of trying to deliver the best Android experience available. These flagship devices gain features that seldom trickle down to other devices, and each Pixel device gets a guaranteed three-year update window for new Android releases. Google set the bar high time and time again, and the Google Pixel 4 64GB Unlocked Smartphone attempts to set it one higher with an industry-leading camera and premium security and convenience features. Unfortunately, a few major missteps along the way make the Pixel 4 one of Google’s weakest phones yet. - Unboxing & Setup Mimicking other smartphones, Google’s unboxing experience is spartan but organized. A charger, USB-C cable, SIM tool, and a USB-C to USB-A adapter are included alongside a very short quickstart guide. As Android is primarily a software experience with many tooltips and tutorials that show on first use, this was to be expected. The initial setup, if you’re upgrading from an older Android phone, is a breeze. You will be prompted to power-on and connect your old phone to the Pixel 4 to transfer its data over via the USB cable, and if you have a different USB connector on the other device, the USB adapter will allow you to connect using the old phone’s USB cable. With a few on-screen prompts and confirmations, nearly all your old data can transfer over. This worked flawlessly transferring data from a fairly recent Android phone, but an older one with a custom (manufacturer-made) messaging app prevented message history and some other data from transferring. The remainder of the initial setup sets your Google device and account preferences, including how you want to configure gesture and Assistant controls if you haven’t set them on previous Android devices. Once setup is complete, apps identified during the data transfer (and any other apps you had downloaded previously) are re-downloaded from Google Play to update them to the latest version. - Screen & Sound The Pixel 4’s OLED screen is excellent. The display packs a 19:9 aspect ratio, wider than the typical HDTV, and the added height in portrait orientation makes reading articles or message apps easier. The screen is extremely sharp and gets bright enough to read virtually anywhere. The colors on the screen are exceptionally vivid, with the OLED panel offering high contrast and color depth. A new “adaptive EQ” feature uses the front camera to measure the ambient light, then subtly alters the screen colors to better balance against the environment. End result, the screen looks great anywhere. A new feature for the Pixel 4 is “Smooth Display,” a 90 Hz refresh rate option for the screen. This means the screen is capable of updating its image up to 90 times per second, while most phones with standard screens update 60 times per second. This sounds like a small difference but there is a noticeable improvement in smoothness when it’s activated, with apps and games looking more fluid than before. Unfortunately, Smooth Motion only activates at higher brightnesses, and I noticed some minor flickering when it was active. Google has a software update forthcoming to address. The front-facing earpiece speaker and a bottom-facing speaker offer stereo sound, and these speakers get pretty loud with little distortion at high volume. Though the EQ seems tuned for speech, bass reproduction is good when listening to music. There’s no headphone jack, as expected, so you’ll need to use a USB-C headphone adapter (not included) or a bluetooth set if you want to listen privately. - Performance The Snapdragon 855 processor lends itself to a fluid, responsive Android experience. 6GB of RAM also helps, with apps rarely reloading when switching to them. Flipping through screens and tabs is noticeably smoother than other phones I’ve used, though Google’s own Pixel 3 comes very close. Part of this is no doubt from the Pixel 4 being a pure Android experience - there isn’t a single preinstalled app that isn’t Google-developed. All customizations are on the user without interference from a carrier or manufacturer. Indeed, there isn’t a hint of lag or stutter anywhere on the phone, and apps that put lesser-equipped phones through their paces perform with aplomb. That the Pixel 4 doesn’t use the latest, fastest shartphone processor available speaks to how weighed-down other devices are with unnecessary customizations. The story continues when playing games. The integrated GPU is similarly not top-of-the-line, but has little trouble keeping up on demanding titles with higher details. The GPU is well-suited for the Pixel 4’s 1080p screen, wasting no power to render at higher resolutions for almost imperceptibly sharper details at this screen size. So long as you can withstand the hit to battery life, this phone can indeed game. - Camera The attached sample photos won’t do the Pixel 4’s camera justice (nor will the weather I experienced while testing). This is simply the best camera on any Android phone. Assisted by AI processing, the Pixel 4 takes some of the clearest, most detailed photos I’ve seen from any smartphone, making professional-looking shots as trivial as “point and shoot.” The Camera app continuously stitches shots together from the phone’s rear cameras and depth sensor, only saving the result once you press the shutter. The rear cameras also feature a welcome 2x optical zoom. It isn’t much, but any optical zoom beats digital zoom, letting you take closer shots with higher image quality. The ability to shoot 4K video is a great addition as well. Though I wasn’t too surprised I could capture great portrait photos and panoramas with minimal distortion, what impressed me is how well the phone does in low-light shots. Night Sight works magic to bring details out of the shadows, and now features an astronomy mode for crisp night sky shots. Some may criticize Google’s choice to not chase down high megapixel counts, but ultimately a larger sensor with less pixel density (the 12.2 MP camera, in this case) means it can capture much more light from dim sources. By comparison, the front-facing camera is just good, not stunning. It certainly delivers quality selfies and works well for video calls, but it lacks the low light performance and clarity that the rear cameras exhibit. It still performs well enough in most circumstances. - Gesture Controls & Face Unlock Here’s where things get clunky. Google went all-in on gesture controls for the Pixel 4, replacing the three-button Back-Home-Switch combination with “swipe-from-side,” “swipe-from-bottom,” and “swipe-from-bottom-and-hold” gestures, respectively. These would work fine if it weren’t for the bottom corners acting as “swipe-for-Assistant,” which led to many accidental activations when I intended to return to the home screen. Worse, a lot of third-party Android apps use “swipe-from-side motions” to pop open menus, and doing so on the Pixel 4 results in a “Back” action, making app navigation frustrating. You can hold during the swipe to bypass, but it wasn’t long before I disabled gesture controls entirely and reverted to the traditional 3-button home row. Admittedly I may have needed a learning period to adjust, but the entire experience was unintuitive and felt inconsistent even after a few days’ use. The one “gesture” I left in place was Face Unlock as I found it works reliably even in dark rooms. Face Unlock replaces the fingerprint sensor from older Pixel phones, removing this function entirely. Apps that used your fingerprint will need to be reset to use your app-specific password, and this technology has yet to be found in the majority of banking and payment apps as of this writing. - Battery & Charging The feature that falls shortest of expectations is among the most crucial of them all. The Pixel 4 has surprisingly poor battery life. Multiple days in a row, the battery drained from full to critically low in less time than a typical workday entails, perhaps 8 or 9 hours off-charger with moderate usage at half screen brightness, with no significant battery-draining apps running throughout the day. I’m floored Google approved this - I had Android phones from 2010 with better battery life. The only upside to such a short battery life is that it doesn’t take long at all to replenish the phone. An hour on the included AC adapter is about all it needs to fully charge. The Pixel 4 also supports wireless charging on compatible charging pads, though the phone won’t recharge at the same speed as the AC charger. Regardless, if you venture far from a charger often, carry an external battery pack. - Bottom Line With a phenomenal camera, an advanced, fluid Android experience, and a top-notch screen, are these features worth the tradeoffs of half-baked gesture controls and a weak battery life just to stay with the smaller model? At a $799 MSRP, it’s a tough sell made tougher by the existence of the Pixel 4 XL. An extra $100 gets a phone with a significantly larger battery and longer runtime with the same features as the Pixel 4, alleviating my biggest problem. A polished Android experience means little if the phone can’t last through a full day of use, and barring some updates that make the phone sip battery power, I can’t picture it getting much better as time wears on. Even though the phone is the epitome of pure Android, I can’t recommend the Google Pixel 4, and strongly suggest the Pixel 4 XL instead if you insist on having a purebred Google device.

As a longtime iPhone user, I was excited to come back to Android on a Google-designed phone to see the improvements that have been made over the last 5 years. After a week using the Pixel 4, I can safely say that this is the best Android experience you will find on any smartphone. Unfortunately, the excellent operating system is marred by a series of poor design decisions by Google. Too many corners have been cut, which leaves the Pixel falling behind its competitors. === DESIGN === - Google hasn't drastically changed anything for this iteration of the Pixel, and that's mostly fine. The "Just Black" color that I ordered is the only option with a glossy finish on the back, and it's a fingerprint magnet. I wish they would have made it a matte black like the sides of the phone. - The square camera hump on the back gives the illusion of a 3-camera setup, but there are actually just 2 cameras. I can't help but think this was done to keep up with the looks of the iPhone 11 Pro models. - The front is pretty standard-looking, but I'm not a fan of the huge forehead above the display which houses the front camera and facial recognition system. This huge bezel takes away valuable screen real estate and is unfortunately quite distracting when using the phone. - Overall: It's an ok-looking phone, but does nothing to stand out from its competition. I fear the huge top bezel forehead is going to be a turnoff for a lot of potential buyers. === DISPLAY === - Due to the large forehead, the 5.7" display is smaller than the displays of most other phones in this class. Having used Plus-sized iPhones for the past few years, this small display was jarring at first, but I've come to appreciate the smaller size and pocketability of the non-XL version. - The display is clear, sharp, and vivid, and it produces perfect black levels thanks to its OLED technology. However, it does not seem to get as bright as other OLED phones I've used. I often struggle to see images when using the phone outdoors. - Google touts the display as having a 90Hz refresh rate, but it rarely seems to run at this rate. From what I've read, the phone has to be at almost full brightness for this refresh rate to kick in, which for most people is going to be quite rare (especially when indoors). - I like the "always-on" feature of the display, which shows the time, date, and weather when you are near the phone. - Overall: It's a fine display, but again -- it does not stand out from the competition and actually seems a bit dimmer than its rivals. === SOFTWARE, FEATURES, & PERFORMANCE === - If you're an Android fan, you will obviously love the stock version of Android 10 on the Pixel 4. No bloatware, no third party software, no unnecessary logos -- just pure Android. - Google has moved from fingerprint authentication to facial recognition. It works astoundingly fast -- I would say almost TOO fast, to the point where I can't be sure that it's had a chance to accurately scan my face. Unfortunately, as it stands now, the phone will unlock even if your eyes are closed, which is a massive security issue. Google promised to fix this in a future software update, but the fact that they shipped the phone with a half-baked version of facial recognition is quite alarming. - The Pixel's new Motion Sense radar technology is actually more useful and accurate than I was expecting. As mentioned above, it can sense when you're near your phone to display the time on your lock screen. But it can also be used to skip through music tracks just by waving your hand above the phone. I find myself using the feature at my desk all day and when I'm at the gym. I'd say it works flawlessly about 85% of the time, while other times it just fails to recognize any movement. I don't see many other uses for the technology baked into the phone at the moment, but I'm hoping more apps will take advantage of it in the future. - The phone is blazing fast, but it's not quite as fast as the latest offerings from Apple. Google used a 1-year old chipset in this phone (the Snapdragon 855), so it is already behind many of its Android competitors using the faster 855+ chip. It has 6GB of RAM, but I wish Google would have given us at least 8GB to future-proof. - Overall: The software is excellent, and Motion Sense is pretty cool, but Google totally missed the security mark with its facial recognition system. For now, the phone is fast and responsive, I just hope it stays that way after future Android and app updates. === CAMERAS === - The Pixel lineup has been known for its stellar camera quality over the past few years, and that trend continues with one aspect of the Pixel 4: the primary camera. It takes jaw-dropping photos with stunning color accuracy and detail. Night Sight is a game-changer for me and works incredibly well, even if the resulting night photos have a bit of noise. - Google has added a telephoto lens to the Pixel 4. It works very well for being only a 2x lens. Thanks to Google's "Super Res Zoom" image processing, zooming in greater than 2x actually works incredibly well also. - If Google was only planning to add one camera, I wish they would have added an ultra-wide camera instead of a telephoto. Having used the ultra-wide on an iPhone 11, there's no doubt that it would be much more useful for me. - One thing that bugs me is the amount of time it takes to capture Night Sight and Portrait shots. The phone will tell you to "hold still," sometimes for as long as 5 to 10 seconds. - I really want to try the Astrophotography feature, but I live in a dense urban area with no stars in sight. However, Astrophotography pictures I've seen in other reviews looks pretty amazing. - Overall: Photo quality is stellar, at least on par if not better than the iPhone 11's main camera. But Google completely missed an opportunity to make the Pixel stand out by adding an ultra-wide lens. === BATTERY === - The battery is probably the weakest aspect of the Pixel 4. Google actually decreased the battery capacity from the Pixel 3 (2915 mAh) to the Pixel 4 (2800 mAh), despite the more power-hungry display on the Pixel 4. I simply don't understand the decision-making process here. At a time when virtually all other smartphone makers are striving to deliver increased battery life, it seems like this was just not a concern for Google. - In my week of use, the Pixel 4 has not lasted me a full day on a single charge. I average about 3.5 hours of screen-on time before the battery is almost fully drained. Luckily, most of my days are spent at a desk with a wireless charger, but traveling with this phone is going to be a real pain. - Overall: This unacceptable battery life alone is enough to make me very hesitant to recommend this non-XL Pixel 4 to any serious smartphone user. === OVERALL === My sense is that Google focused so much on perfecting the software and flashy features like Motion Sense that the company assumed they could skate by without any major changes to the hardware. If the phone were a couple of hundred dollars cheaper, I might be able to let that slide. But this is a premium phone at a premium price. The stale design, dim display, horrible battery, and lack of a game-changing camera are borderline unacceptable. Don't get me wrong -- this is not a BAD phone by any means. Just a couple of years ago, this would have been the best phone on the market. But it seems the tide has turned this year, and without any significant new features or changes, Google has failed to keep pressure on its competitors. That being said, I would still recommend this phone to anyone looking for the pure Android experience. But if you want any chance at respectable battery life, go for the XL model. 3.5 stars, with a generous round-up to 4 stars.

---- Summary ---- Pros: - Beautiful display - Reliable Google Assistant - Stunning camera photos - Quick face unlock - Seamless Android experience - Audio transcription - Waterproof up to 14 feet - Gestures with Motion Sense Cons: - Large top bezel - Loud and difficult to press volume/power buttons - No ultrawide camera - Average battery life ---- Review ---- Design: The new Pixel design is simple, unique and stylish. Whether its the orange, white or black model, each has a black aluminum edge with Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back. The phone looks and feels like a premium device. Unlike the orange and white models that have a matte finish on the back, the black model has a glossy finish. I like the glossy finish, but it does smudge and collect fingerprints more than the matte finish, so I would recommend taking a look at each model in a store near you to determine which you like best. The 5.7" Full HD+ OLED display is beautiful, especially with its 90Hz refresh rate that Google calls “Smooth Display”. As implied in the name, this makes animations like scrolling and playing games significantly smoother than the standard 60Hz refresh rate of most other phones. Once I experienced “Smooth Display”, I understood why it is called out as a feature of the Pixel 4. I am not a fan of the large top bezel, which is abnormal for similar new phones on the market with fronts that are almost entirely screen, but the reason for the Pixel’s large top bezel is to pack new and impressive technology, such as the radar sensor, into the top of the phone. Although I quickly noticed the large top bezel upon first use, I am accustomed to it now, so I hardly notice it anymore. The other minor design complaint I have is that the volume and power buttons are difficult to press and make a loud click each time they are pressed. As a whole, the Pixel 4 looks great and is well designed, but it is not without its flaws. Features: The responsive and fast Google Assitant that is built into the Pixel is one of my favorite features. Sure, there are ways to use Google Assistant on other Android devices, but I have yet to use one that is as effective and easy to use as the Pixel 4’s Google Assistant. It can be activated by voice or by squeezing the phone, and it is very reliable. My use of Google Assistant has increased because I trust that it will understand me and provide fast responses or actions. As mentioned above, the Pixel 4 has a radar sensor that enables Motion Sense, which allows you to control the phone without needing to touch it. For example, while music is playing, you can wave your hand over the screen to skip a song. Another use of Motion Sense is its ability to detect your reach. This can engage the face unlock sensors as soon as you reach for the phone, or quiet an alarm or ringtone. Engaging the face unlock sensors before you have even picked up and looked at the phone allows the unlock to work in the blink of an eye. My previous phone had face unlock, but I sometimes had to look at the sensor for several seconds or tilt my head a certain way to get it to work. The radar on the Pixel 4 can even detect if you move away from the phone and turn off the always-on display if you have it enabled. These are a few features of Motion Sense, and perhaps more will be released with future software updates. Another nice feature that the Pixel 4 has is the Google Recorder app, which transcribes live audio almost perfectly, and it does so without the need for an internet connection. Once transcribed, the text can be searched, and that will point you to where it is in the audio. I do not use this feature on a regular basis but find it particularly useful for meetings and lectures. Camera: Software smarts meets two 16.0MP and 12.2 MP rear-facing cameras, and the result is stunning photos. Just about every photo looks great with the high detail and contrast produced by the Pixel 4, but I am especially impressed with zoomed and portrait photos. Photos with 8X zoom taken on other phones often lack detail and look blurry, but the Pixel 4 is able to capture that detail and soften pixelations with its software. As for portraits, the Pixel 4 does a very good job of finding the edge of objects and choosing the background to blur. Night Sight mode is also effective. Dark photos that are taken indoors or outdoors are brought to life, but you do have to remember to switch to the mode because it does not automatically turn on. With much of the competition offering an ultrawide camera, I am surprised that Google did not include one on the Pixel 4. It would offer another level of photo capturing creativity, but not having an ultrawide lens is not a dealbreaker for me. All in all, I think the Pixel 4 has one of the best cameras on any phone. Performance: The Pixel 4 provides a very smooth experience. When I first started using it though, the gesture navigation made me think otherwise because I previously used a phone that had a constant home and back button at the bottom of the display. However, once I learned the gestures and got in the habit of using them, I realized that they compliment the quick navigation nicely. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor delivers high performance across apps, navigation and games, so I have yet to see any lag or app crashes occur. One of my disappointments with the Pixel 4 is the battery life. It seems to be on the low end of comparable phones. Switching from a phone that had more battery life than the Pixel 4 gives me a bit of battery anxiety towards the end of the day, but it usually does last a whole day for me, so perhaps I just need to become accustomed to having very low battery by the time I go to bed. For all that the Pixel 4 is capable of, I am sure it requires a significant amount of battery to power, but I wish the battery life was better than average. Verdict: My Android experience on the Pixel 4 has been seamless. While the hardware seems to be behind the curve in some ways, the software reliability and helpfulness makes up for the specs that this phone lacks. There is a lot to like about the Pixel 4, but I am especially fond of the impressive camera, beautiful display, quick face unlock and reliable Google Assistant. My only wishes are that the top bezel was smaller, the volume/power buttons were quieter and easier to press, an ultrawide camera was included, and that the battery life was better. With these wishes in mind, I cannot consider the Pixel 4 a five-star phone, but it is very close.

I've had the pleasure of carrying the Google Pixel 4 in my pocket and snapping photos and videos for the past few days. I'm an "enthusiast" photographer. I own several cameras and lenses and love shooting photos as a hobby. I find myself always wanting a pocketable camera for the times I'm not carrying one of my mirrorless cameras. I can honestly say that the Google Pixel 4 fills that need for me, at least for stills. The video quality could use some help. Video quality is mediocre at best, I wouldn't rely on it heavily, but it's good enough for most occasions. The best you get out of it is 4k 30fps, i prefer to keep it at 1080p 60 fps for the smooth look and smaller file sizes. But back to the still camera because this is hands down still the best I've tried on a smartphone for 2019. You could argue that other phone cameras are just as good or better, but I feel that google renders jpgs a bit better than the competition. Colors pop, especially in low light and skin tones look more accurate and pleasing to my eye. The dual exposure sliders in the camera are extremely helpful and welcome. One slider brightens or dims your exposure while the other brightens or darkens the shadows. This is very helpful for those backlit situations. I love being able to adjust all of that before taking the photo and not having to go back and edit the photo after. Google's computational photography is so good right now that I trust the camera to expose everything properly if I am in a hurry to get the photo. You get a standard lens and telephoto lens to shoot with, Telephoto + digital zoom works great in well lit situations, but don't expect magic in low light or nighttime photos with the tele and digital zoom. I've shared a few photos that I took with the Pixel 4, take a look! I think I will keep the Pixel 4 in my pocket all the time for my daily photos! I have to mention that Google Photos is also the best for backing up your photos and videos. I love the way it organizes your photos and videos and edits pictures automatically for you. I really wish google would have kept the Original Resolution perk for google photos with the Pixel, but it's really hard to complain when it's already free. And honestly 12mp is perfectly fine and usable for prints upto 8x10. I rarely print anything larger than that. Still with me? Let's talk a little about the actual phone. This is where I have a couple minor complaints. Mostly about the battery and storage. Battery life isn't the greatest, especially if you are a power user and will be playing games, taking photos / videos and browsing social media all day. Standby time is fantastic but be prepared to charge your phone fully at least once in the day. If you're like me, you might have to plug it in once mid day and again at night. My other complaint is the base storage. 64gb is nothing now a days. I think the base model should have at least 128gb. Apps are getting larger and you can easily chew through 64gb if you download a few games and shoot a few videos. Fortunately you get google photos for free to back everything up, but you'll end up having to free up storage often. Other than those two things. The phone is pretty handsome and feels great in the hands. I like the glossy black color. It looks elegant in a clear case. The screen is nice and vibrant. The 90hz display is pretty cool, everything looks and feels snappy. The games that take advantage of the 90hz screen look pretty awesome. I see some people complaining about the bezels, but they aren't terrible. I'd rather have the small bezels than a notch any day. The screen doesn't get extremely bright, but I didn't have any trouble viewing it outdoors in the sun. The face unlock is very fast, too fast sometimes lol. I have OCD and am constantly wiping smudges off the screen. My phone will unlock before I even get to wipe the screen with a cloth causing me to make accidental swipes on my phone. The phone does unlock when your eyes are closed! I don't like that, perhaps google will add an option to turn that off later. The radar technology in the phone is also pretty cool, I feel like it's a little gimmicky right now because there isn't a whole lot to do with it yet. You can use it to skip or rewind tracks on google music, you can use it to wave hello to Pikachu on your wallpaper lol, but I found myself forgetting that it's even there. Perhaps its the beginning of something amazing, maybe google or some other apps will add some really cool features that use it. At the end of the day, Would I recommend the Pixel 4? Yes and No. Google is charging a premium for a phone with hardware that has been out for almost a year and it really should have a bigger battery and at least 128 gb of storage. If you can find this phone on sale or get a great deal from a store or carrier, then yes I would recommend it. Especially if you are a fan of android and google assistant. The pure android experience is still great and you can expect to get software updates for at least 3 years from google. The camera is excellent , and I can't wait to drive out to the country side and try some astrophotography! Google's Night Mode / low light mode is still king! Pros; Excellent Camera Beautiful vibrant 90hz amoled display Stock Android / Guaranteed updates Fast charging power supply included Google Assistant Project Soli Radar Fast Face Unlock Cons: Small battery ( but charges fast) Video Quality needs improvement 64gb base model - skip it. get the 128gb.

My daily use phone is an iPhone xr, but I needed a good phone for work purposes since my work is all run through Chromebooks and Google. Decided this is a good one to try. Everything is great. Sharp screen, good sound, great picture. I love night photography, but I don't always have my telescope setup. The pixel 4 does great basic night pics. Really impressed! Face recognition works great. worked almost instantly with my Google home accessories. In fact, switching my iPhone data and connecting to my work and home networks took less than a half hour and was super smooth. Only minus is I've been playing with it nonstop since getting it, and had to recharge already. Battery drain seems fairly fast. My home and work have charging pads everywhere so it's not a huge issue, but it's surprising in a modern phone to not have at least 12 hrs use on a charge. Oh well. Still a great phone. Highly recommend it for those that want the simplicity of an iPhone with the flexibility of Android.

I am almost surprised at how much I have enjoyed the Pixel 4. If you want the simple, clean interface of an iPhone, but the freedom of an Android device, Google has provided a good phone at a good price. Switching from an iPhone 8 was easier than I had expected. During the initial set up process, you plug your old phone into the new Pixel using the included adapter. A few minutes later, and most of my iPhone apps, pictures, music, and contacts were securely in place. I was even surprised to see my wallpaper from the iPhone 8 made the transition. If you are getting an unlocked phone, make sure to get a new sim from your carrier of choice. Trying to plug a SIM registered for an iPhone into a Pixel can, I discovered, create a few headaches during activation and attempts to set up voice mail. I am new to Android devices. Whereas I had been with iPhones since the iPhone 4. But, I haven’t struggled with the new interface. Everything is explained incredibly well. The Pixel has such a snappy, clean interface, that I felt right at home rather instantly. I just like how this phone works. The refresh rate on the display helps keep the interface fluid. The screen was bright and clear. I really like how this phone fits in my hand. It's just a comfortable phone to use. The gesture controls work well. You can adjust the amount of pressure, but just a gentle squeeze on the bottom of the device brings up the google assistant which, let’s be honest, is much more advanced and integrated with the phone than Siri or Bixby. Battery life has been good. I can go a couple of days on my battery with moderate use. Charging is fast with the included USB-C charger. Wireless charging works well. Google loves to brag about the camera on the Pixel, and I think they are wise to do so. The camera rivals those of much more expensive phones. I love the nighttime pictures we got of our jack-o-lanterns. If I had to pick a fault with the phone, it would be the amount of storage included with the device. 64GB and 128GB options seem rather limiting. Google is hoping that people will offload the pictures onto their cloud service. That is doable, but if you want to keep the pictures in their original quality, you will need to pay a subscription fee to Google. I would have preferred to just have a micro SD slot or greater storage options from launch. But outside of the storage, I can’t say I have missed the iPhone 8. Apple had made it difficult to use non-apple accessories. I have a Fossil Venture Smart Watch. My iPhone would constantly lose connection with the watch and features didn’t work very well. With the Pixel, everything works, and I never lose watch connection. My Roav Google Assistant works much better. With the Pixel 4, I can start and continue Text conversations from my phone, my tablets, my Windows 10 PC. I read some mixed reactions to the Pixel 4, but I really like it. I would recommend this phone to someone who wants to get out of the Apple Eco System, but still wants a clean user experience. I have had an excellent experience with the Pixel 4, and I highly recommend it!

Disclaimer: I am primarily an iPhone use. I do have a tablet that is Android and see the merits in both. Coming from an iPhone 11, this Pixel 4 is a really nice phone in-hand. Narrower than the 11 (more on par perhaps with the 11 Pro), it feels so much better to hold and navigate one-handed than the iPhone 11. Slightly lighter feel as well. The screen is super sharp and buttery smooth on this Pixel 4. Basic Google non-bloated interface (which I like). The face ID on this Pixel 4 is faster and easier than the iPhone 11. No need to swipe and I could open from a little further away from my face. Camera is fantastic on this Pixel 4 as well. Easy interface and really sharp shots and videos. The main con is the battery life. I know much was burned during setup, but the pace it dropped in battery percentage was quite a bit faster than on my 11. I'd estimate that if the 11 got me 10 hours, this Pixel 4 would get me about 7 hours. I also did a side-by-side benchmark with Geekbench 5 (see photo). iPhone 11 tested way faster, but in-use, feels about the same speed to me. In the end, I think if this Pixel 4 had a couple hours better battery life, it would be 5 stars for sure!

The Pixel 4 is a great step forward for Google in their line of Pixel phones. You're getting the purest form of the Android operating system straight from Google with no carrier or manufacturer shenanigans that delay updates. The Pixel 4's high refresh rate screen (90Hz), Snapdragon 855 system on a chip alongside the 6GB of memory and 64GB of storage all help make using the phone feel smooth and speedy. The earpiece speaker and sound speakers are both very loud and my phone calls were clear. This model is unlocked for US Carrier and features a sim slot as well as an integrated esim card which is can be very convenient for people wanting to have 2 lines on one phone. The build quality on the Pixel 4 is nice as well, the phone feels balanced in the hand and features a glass back to support wireless charging. Battery life was about average leaving me with enough juice to get through the day on a single charge. On to the camera which is usually one of the main reasons people purchase Pixel phones and boy does the Pixel 4 not disappoint here. The Pixel 4 now includes 2 cameras on the rear of the phone alongside new software techniques this allows for super zoomed in photos with little loss in detail. Taking pictures with the phone almost feels like having a DSLR camera in your pocket and the improved Night Sight camera mode makes for great night shots. The front camera is also great for selfies and the front of the phone now has infrared sensors that allow for accurate face scanning for security and it also features a radar system for hand gestures. The hand gestures worked ok but it takes a little bit of time to get ahold of how to use them properly. All in all the Pixel 4 is one of the best Android phones available and it's a great smartphone people that love to use their cameras.