Customer Ratings & Reviews

Battery life is only thing that is really lacking. Only has face unlock, works 80% of the time

I am the most hard to please person when it comes to smart devices and have been through 5 phones this year alone. I can honestly say that if you are looking for an smart phone that just works and makes your life easier, this is it!

Pro: phone build very fast camera It's google! So you get updates 1st Con: battery life!

I saw pretty good reviews on this phone and then it went on sale. Since I was in the market for a new phone, I decided to give it a try. It is very easy to transfer info from old phone, also very easy to learn. The "swipe" features are opposite of my old phone and I am still constantly bringing up the wrong screen. However, for an inexpensive smartphone it works very well and is well worth the money.

I’ve been using Android phones since the G1 in 2008 and I’ve upgraded at least every two years ever since. I also have/had iPhones (through work), but for personal use I have always preferred the Android ecosystem, and particularly Google branded phones since the Nexus series, always looking forward to what’s next. That said, the Pixel 4 is the first time an Android upgrade left me feeling like I had taken a step backward in convenience. I’ll skip to the chase and write most about what I think is the Pixel 4’s most controversial feature -- Face Unlock -- and the adjustments I had to make for it. Face Unlock: First, I’ll come out and say that Face Unlock and I really didn’t get along at first -- I hated it for the first 24 hours and very much wanted my fingerprint sensor back, to the point that I seriously considered skipping the 4 and going back to my Pixel 2xl. A couple days into it though and Face Unlock and I are at least coming to terms. Interestingly, in my final setup, I’ve come to THINK of and TREAT Face Unlock kind of like it’s a fingerprint sensor built-in to the screen, and that helped me make peace with it. That might seem weird, but I’ll explain below and maybe it’ll help others too. My initial experience with the Pixel 4, particularly Face Unlock, was pretty frustrating. Long story short I ultimately had to completely disable Motion Sense and related options to get my phone to reliably stay in standby until I actually wanted to use it -- I’ll have to live without these features until Google makes them smart enough to avoid so many false triggers. These sensors in their default config, though well intended to facilitate fast Face Unlock, resulted in my Pixel 4 waking up too often, looking for my face, and then unlocking on its own even though I had made no deliberate attempt to reach for the phone or use it at all. Examples: Motion Sense kept causing my Pixel 4 to repeatedly “wake up, see me, and unlock” while in my car dashboard holder while driving. My best guess is that regular road/driving movements of the car and I would trigger the Pixel 4’s Motion Sense to think I was nearby and wanted to unlock the phone. I couldn’t determine the exact trigger but suffice to say in my first 15 minute commute with it my Pixel 4 unlocked about 20 times like this all on its own and it was pretty tedious. I kept putting it back into standby with the power button, but anywhere from a few seconds to a minute later it would wake up again all on its own, see my face (even though I was all the way back in my seat), and then fully unlock. I fiddled with A LOT of settings to get it to be less aggressive but in the end I had to disable Motion Sense almost entirely (except for Song Skip) to get it to stay at rest in my car. Similarly, I keep my Pixel 4 in a charging dock on my desk at work, in a spot where I can still see the clock and notifications -- it would often wake up, see me, and fully unlock as I was just moving my mouse around or reaching for things around my desk. Yes, I could move it somewhere else, my point is simply that the feature seems a bit too aggressive and sensitive for its own good. However, once I disabled Motion Sense (for now) my Pixel 4 now reliably wakes up and unlocks mostly only when I want it to, and this is where coming to THINK of and TREAT Face Unlock as an in-screen fingerprint sensor has helped it feel more natural to me -- With Motion Sense disabled I now often just tap my phone screen to wake it up, and that triggers Face Unlock. I think of that initial tap as using my fingerprint on an in-screen sensor and it helps me regard Face Unlock almost as an afterthought. I’m sure in a few more days I won’t even need that mental bridge, but as a huge fan of Android’s fingerprint sensors since the Nexus 5x it’s helpful to me in the moment. Where Face Unlock remains “ugly” is that it doesn’t recognize me even after a screen-tap when I’m in bed and reach for my phone on the nightstand next to me -- now I have to either fully lift my head from my pillow to give Face Unlock a clear view of my face, or go back to 2015 and use a pin/pattern to unlock the phone. This works, it’s easy, but it’s manifestly a step-backward in convenience compared to the sleepy-head days of being able to just reach for my phone on the nightstand and unlock it with a touch. Another setback in convenience is that since the Nexus 5x I have been able to reach for my phone from wherever it was and fingerprint-unlock it before I could even see the screen. Face Unlock is fast, but it “feels” decidedly slower and more intrusive since now there’s always some kind of delay, however brief, from when I pick up the phone to when I can use it. And of course, with no rear fingerprint sensor, gone is the ability to use the rear sensor as a swipe-down for the notification bar. If that’s a feature you used a lot you’ll miss it almost right away. All that said, I don’t mind Face Unlock as an option, but at this price the Google phones really should include both and let the user decide to use either or both. I fear however that even the option of a rear fingerprint sensor is now gone.in favor of reclaiming that space for other design considerations. Using the Pixel 4 itself is pretty dreamy. The screen is gorgeous, especially when the 90hz Smooth Display kicks in -- though it will drain battery faster. I personally favor consistency and battery life so I disabled Smooth Display for now until Google irons it out in a future update, but it is pretty gorgeous when it works and I look forward to when this feature is more reliable. I also got used to the all-gesture navigation pretty quickly. After just a couple of days I find myself trying to use them on the other Android devices in the family and being mildly-surprised when those devices react differently to these gestures that have already become second-nature to me.

Bought one for myself and my wife both love the phone, great camera and easy to setup.

If you want a powerful phone for productivity and great photos, this is for you. If you need 6+ hours of screen on time formedia and gaming, this isn't it. With that in mind figure out if this phone is right for you.

I bought my Pixel 4 with high hopes because I had a great experience with the Pixel 2. What a disappointment. The phone constantly glitches, fails, freezes, and restarts without notice. I contacted Google Support who gave me the run around for a good week. They had me go to a local U Break I Fix store. They told me that the entire motherboard had failed. I received my phone back and am having all of the same issues and then some. The motherboard basically IS the phone, so how on Earth could this be with a brand new one? Because it's a bad product to begin with. I have attached a screenshot showing the failure of the facial recognition. You can see the date as well and this has STILL not been resolved. Google's genius advice was to purchase a new one, send back the old, and IF they determine they are at fault, I will get reimbursed. That's a no from me.

I am never going back to samsung. This device is pure android. The camera is excellent, probably the best I have ever used on a phone. Its fast, reliable, and easy to use. extra bonus, no samsung software :)

I am never going back to samsung. This device is pure android. The camera is excellent, probably the best I have ever used on a phone. Its fast, reliable, and easy to use. extra bonus, no samsung software :)

Phone seems to be working well so far. I like the wireless charging as well as the ability to stream phone calls and audio to my hearing aids. Took a little time to get used to how to operate it but overall pretty simple.

This is a good simple android phone from Google with a great camera.

This is a very good flagship phone. Light, small and looks very good. Google is a contender in the flagship phone space. If you want the best camera on the market buy this phone.

Worst phone I ever owned. Terrible battery could barely make it through a day of light usage, The storage size was just too small an there is no expanding it. No headphone jack. The squeeze feature was nice actually.

This is an excellent light weight phone with great camera and display. Matte finish behind the phone feels great. Battery easily lasts for an entire day. Love this phone for being excellent yet simple.

Has been a great phone so far. Love the picture quality, the space available, speed of the processor. Battery life would be my only "complaint" but with the speed charger it's a non-issue

Coming from a Pixel 3, the setup and transition was a breeze. The camera and extra processing Google has incorporated leads to great pictures regardless of the light or background.

Great phone overall. Love camera. Very clear phone reception. But I have issues trying to se d a photo through text messaging. I send one photo and it sends it multiple times over a period of hours. Very frustrating. I’m current I in a queue to talk to a member of Geek Squad fir help

Pro: Great camera! Con: no slot for SD card for extra storage.

Great camera, ease of use with hey Google and hands free is amazing