Customer Ratings & Reviews

I bought and gifted my mom the very first Pixel XL when it came out about 4 years ago. That phone had been holding up pretty well until now, no complaints. I got her the 64 gb version which started to max out, so it was time for the upgrade. She loved her Pixel XL so much that she didn't want to switch to any other phone and I didn't want to give her the older generation Pixel. Fortunately, Pixel 5 came out and it was perfect timing. So I got this one for her and she just can't thank me enough. It's a big upgrade for her from Pixel 1 XL to 5 without compromising on the size (pic of both phones side by side attached for comparison). She just loves it. The only thing that she's still getting used to is the lack of three virtual buttons at the bottom that Pixel 1 XL had. It will take some time but she will get a hang of it for sure. It feels so nice to hold the phone and is very lightweight. I immediately ordered a phone cover & a screen protector as I know all modern phones are so delicate that they can break even if you just dream about dropping them. Lol. Since my mom isn't too much into tech, I had to set the phone up for her and do the usual data transfer. Surprisingly, it gave me bit of a hard time setting up/transferring data. Not sure what the problem was. It would get stuck at one point during set up process, just would not proceed and eventually give up. I tried 3 times and put it aside after failing every time. I then tried it again after about half an hour and it worked right away. It was walk in the park after that. I finished the setup/transfer and explored the phone little bit. I will admit, it's a great phone in comparison with the other Pixel that she had. My dad has a Pixel 4 and even in comparison to that, Pixel 5 seems a lot more upgraded. The only feature missing from Pixel 5 as compared to 4 is the facial unlock feature. Really, I'm not sure why you would remove one of the best features from your phone. I read somewhere online that according to Google, it's ‘a good trade-off’ to enable other premium features. I don't know about that but I do miss that feature. Hence the reason for deducting a star. This phone is equipped with 5G capability but I was not much excited about this feature as we don't have 5G coverage in our area but it's a good to have feature that we can use in future. It has a 90 hz display which is wonderfully smooth. The phone feels incredibly responsive and the difference between this and the Pixel 1 XL screen is very noticeable. Gives you just as much usable space as the 1 XL, but with so much less weight/bevel. Camera is also good. Every photo blows me away and the portrait mode is so good. The lack of an absolutely bleeding-edge sensor does not negatively impact the camera at all. The lack of a separate chip for processing images means that the time it takes for a picture to be visible in perfect quality after you take it is noticeable. It's not a problem at all if you're taking three or less pictures or if you're not immediately checking to see what the picture looked like, but if you're taking a bunch at once, you may occasionally find yourself getting frustrated by the seconds it takes to actually be able to flip through all the pictures. Pixel phones are among the best, if not the best, for taking photos, hence you can rest assured that it's quite easy to take awesome quality photos, without putting in much effort. The dual camera setup, features the standard wide angle & an ultra wide angle sensor. The photo editing/touching up software that comes with the phone is pretty impressive and fast, there is the ability to change the lighting and shadows in the pic after its been taken. I have not had enough time to deep dive but the few things I've tried have worked well. Fingerprint scanner is fast and accurate, a definite improvement over Pixel 1 XL. Battery life is phenomenal. Each charge seems to last about 1.5 days of regular usage. Much better than the previous phone. Wireless charging & reverse wireless charging are super convenient with metal enclosure. Again, an added feature that Pixel 1 XL didn't have. Sound quality is nice but sounds tiny to me at high volume, this is because there are no speakers built in but uses a vibration technology to play sound through the phone. I'm not talking about midrange where most people are likely to use but at full blast. This is the best choice for a modern android phone in 2020! It has great power-efficient specs, 90 Hz display, long-lasting battery, all-screen design (no notch!), very responsive fingerprint reader (for those who cannot use face unlock). I would definitely recommend it.

The Google Pixel 5 is a great phone. I am very pleased with this purchase

I love the Google Pixel line and think the Pixel 5 is an excellent phone. However, my issue is with the item that was delivered to me from Best Buy. It was supposed to be Geek Squad Certified - Open Box Excellent. This guarantees the phone should arrive with no scratches. The phone arrived with major scratches on it's screen. I was able to inspect the phone only 21 days after its delivery. The Best Buy site mentioned that there's an extended holiday return policy until January 16, 2021. Yet, the customer support told me that the return policy was only 14 days. I wasn't reimbursed in any way and am very frustrated by this purchase. Last time I buy at Best Buy.

Google - Pixel 5 5G 128GB (Unlocked) - Just Black The Google Pixel 5 with 5G is an interesting phone. The black aluminum body looks and feels very good in the hand. I really like the simple layout of just a power and volume button. The display is OLED and is able to use a 90Hz screen refresh rate. It’s a 6” 1080p screen with HDR10+ and looks crisp and sharp. I found the screen to have very nice colors out of the box. I also like that it supports the always on screen. The phone uses a Qualcomm 765 Snapdragon which isn’t the fastest chip out today but I never found it to lack in my usage. I don’t play mobile games so that might be a consideration. The phone comes with 128GB of local storage and 8GB of ram and it is IP68 dust/water resistant. The phone supports Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX HD support so if you have this aptX support in your Bluetooth headphone you will get very high quality music. I do wish Google supported SD cards with their phones but this was dropped long ago. The phone has stereo speakers on the bottom and they did sound very good. This was also true for incoming and outgoing calls. The back fingerprint reader was easy to setup and is very fast in use. The phone supports fast wireless and wired charging including reverse charging in the event you ever need to top off another device. As is the case with Google phones the picture quality is excellent and includes an ultrawide lens. The phone supports video recording up to 4k@60fps and 1080p up to 240fps. The camera does an excellent job in most any lighting condition. The phone comes out of the box with Android 11 and the October 2020 security update. As is typical with Google phones this is pure Android at its finest and is a pleasure to use. In my testing as seen in the attached image T-Mobile 5G service is all over the map in my local area. On one street I could match my home cable connection, on the next it was no better than 4G. The quality of the 5G was directly related to the signal strength. Where it was strongest the speeds and ping were good enough to replace my home cable service. If only the signal was more stable. This might not be due to the Pixel since this is the first 5G phone I have been able to test. Verizon has a different type of 5G then T-Mobile so the results could be very different. My take is when buying a new phone today, having 5G is a good idea but I would not let it be my primary reason to choose one phone over another. However as more 5G service is built out I would hope the stability also improves. I do like the Pixel 5. I really like it's camera and clean Android. The 5G is still a question to me but I am glad it's here. The new phones available give you lots of choices. I am not sure Google has enough here to make the case that their phone is better than the competition. This is also true now that Samsung has announced 3 years of support for their current phones. This was one of the primary reasons to choose a Google phone. The Pixel 5 is a very nice phone and I enjoy it but I find it hard to make it a solid recommendation with the other options that are available.

Some people might think I am a little biased toward Google products since I am a long time Google fan! So far, I've been upgrading my phone every 2 year, sticking with the odd number edition. I started with Pixel, Pixel 3XL and now Pixel 5. - 5G Speed: I am fortunate enough to live in San Diego where T-Mobile 5G is in majority places. I tested using Speedtest and it clocked in at 129Mbps download and 80.2Mbps upload! Impressive... - Camera: what Google lacks in physical lens, it makes up in its software. - UI: clean and no bloatware. Having said that, there are many new gestures that I am still getting used to. Given that I am switching over from Pixel 3XL, it's a bit surprising at the differences in the gestures. - Storage: 128GB, Google does this right! - Screen: When I switched from Pixel to Pixel 3XL, I remembered how happy I was to get more screen real estate, but there was always struggle in tucking my phone into my jeans front pocket. (I am 5'2"). Now, going back to 6", it's really hard to scale back again. I really wish Google offered Pixel 5XL this year. - Back cover: the material is a bit more plasticky than the smooth rubbery feel in Pixel 3XL.  Overall, at $699, I'm getting a super speedy phone with huge storage and the latest and greatest from Google line up. I am glad I stick with Google's flagship phone one more time!

I have been using Pixel Phones since the original came out. Some people may get caught up in the fact that this phone does not offer the highest-end 2020 CPU as Samsung or others do. I am here to tell you that Google does the best job in the industry in optimizing their phones and the user experience is fantastic without the high-end CPU. This keeps the cost of the phone down and much more reasonable than Samsung or Apple. Below are the highlights. - Fantastic Camera as always with Pixel Devices - Battery life is amazing. Lasting two days under some circumstances. - 5G connectivity - Size of the phone enables single-hand use - Fingerprint reader where it should be. No stupid face unlock. - 3 Years of promised updates from Google - This model is unlocked. Use it with any carrier - Price is amazing compared to Apple or Samsung flagship offerings Cons: -The stereo speakers are not as good as the stereo speaker with the competition. But not bad either. - Fast charging is nice, but not nearly as fast as some of the competitors. If you are looking for a "flagship phone" without some of the meaningless features that Samsung and Apple want to make you THINK you need, then this phone is for you. The price is perfect versus the competition and Google's 3 years of monthly update support will not be matched by Samsung or Apple, I can promise you that.

This is my first ever google phone. Looks: it looks like all the other popular phones on the market. Feel: it feels super light. Like to the point I’m fumbling it and dripping it. Need to get a cover for better grip. It’s like a feather compared to others. Function: from the start it reminded me of any other google product. Crisp and fast imaging. On T-Mobile I don’t notice any lag in service. Pros: it does what you need it to do if you are a phone call, text, social media and picture taking person. Customizing it to look your way will have you feeling at home quick. Cons: I absolutely strongly dislike the finger recognition on the back. That is where I naturally put my finger when scrolling on my phone and it randomly pulls down notifications and it’s frustrating. Once I get used to putting my finger elsewhere I will have a perfect phone bc during the pandemic not being able to do face recognition is troublesome as well.

I love the phone! I upgraded from Google Pixel 2. However I did reduce a star for quite a few things I didn't like: Audio quality is Very Poor (I'm glad I bought the pixel buds because the speakers on this phone are Not Good especially compared to my old phone). I don't like these new gestures that replaced the soft back button (I end up swiping and incidentally deleting things when just trying to go back to the last page - since the gestures are identical), and last but biggest peeve Google Maps doesn't work (Waze works but Maps doesn't and I'm wondering did I just get a bad model?). Other than that I totally love the phone (Camera, battery life, video quality, *speed is comparable to Pixel 2, wireless charging, long list of latest Android things), just wish the audio and gestures were better so I could give it 5 stars, also wish I knew why Google Maps doesn't work on a Google phone. I'd still take this phone over any other phone on the market today as you can read all the other positive reviews for all the great impressive features.

Battery life is excellent. The camera is incredible. I bought this phone for the astrophotography capability and it blows me away each time I used it. The display is nice. Coming from a phone with a 60hz display to this 90hz display made a bigger difference than I was expecting. Android 11's gestures has made moving from iOS to Android pretty simple as they're intutitve and familiar. It's a great phone at a great price. Not having a processor on the bleeding edge of speed and capability is a plus here. Day to day performance is smooth, fast, and reliable. Timely Android and security updates might be the biggest reason to buy a Pixel. To me the Pixel is android competitor to the iPhone because of Google's software support.

I upgraded from a OnePlus 6T and I have to say I love the Pixel 5. Speed wise it feels slightly quicker and very smooth and the size fits me better for one handed use. The finger print scanner works a lot better and is perfectly placed. I finally have wireless charging and WiFi calling capability now on my network. The speakers are definitely louder than the OnePlus too. Battery life is great, lastng all day and you can't beat Google's UI. Build quality is top notch on the phone as well.

Pixel 5 is actually better than I expected but I upgraded from a 3 years old phone. It has a very good battery life, wireless charging works great for me. I am still getting used to the finger scan at the back side because I used have it up front. Pictures are very good, speed for accessing websites and accounts is much better than my old phone. Very happy with it so far (after about a week)

I would say this is probably the best Android phone I've used in many ways. My favorite aspect of this is easily the design. I'm NOT talking about aesthetic/looks. I'm talking about how it FEELS in the hand and how the screen looks. It's the kind of phone you absolutely do not NEED a case for. Some might op for one to make it look better (ps don't get green; only the black looks half-decent). But you don't need it! Because of the metal frame it's sturdy, solid feeling, and you don't get scared dropping it. The texture on the back is great too. Grippy without being cheap-feeling. As far as the screen, while it may not measure up to iPhone-level colors and brightness, it makes up for it with the edge-to-edge design only interrupted by the hold-punch cutout from the selfie-cam. Cameras on this are not as good as iPhone-level but they get the job done and back-cam CAN crank out some impressive stuff with the right light. Performance isn't anything to call home about, but it's good and does the job you need it to. Battery life is really good. Overall I'd say this is a great phone for someone that refuses to buy an iPhone for whatever reason (though I still recommend iPhone for most people). FAR better than any previous Pixel phone which I simply couldn't recommend. Much better than gambling with a Samsung phone. OnePlus is the only brand that could pry give this a run for its money (I have yet to try the latest series) but I'd still give the Pixel the edge simply cuz of the camera and fact that google makes the hardware & software here.

A week in, I really like the Pixel 5. It's fast, the oblong form factor works, and the battery life is insane. I expect it to be pretty good for the first month or two but it's really, really fantastic. I like the textured back, and the camera isn't just good, it's fast. It seems to do a good job of connecting to 5G in my area but honestly my data needs are pretty modest, I might turn it off if it's better for the battery. Once change in Android, swapping the virtual buttons for gestures, I thought I was going to hate, but I absolutely love. Really there's only three gestures, for home, back and active apps, and they're very easy to remember and use, and they work 100% consistently. That's one of my biggest iOS gripes, that back isn't consistent between applications, and sometimes works differently within the same application (I'm looking at you, Facebook). If I was going to change one thing, I'd make the rear fingerprint sensor easier to feel by touch.

Perfect size! Good screen. Solid Battery. Great software and updates. Really good camera. Two complaints. The phone is smooth for most things but gets a bit bogged down more quickly than phones with the highest-end processor. This results in the phone getting warm when it's working harder. Also, the under-screen speaker at the top of the phone is loud but tinny sounding.

I've been using iPhones since their original release and occasionally tried Android phones here and there. In my younger years, the fomo of not having iMessage and FaceTime locked me into using Apple products for many years. I was using the iPhone XS Max before getting this device and my wife is using the iPhone 12. Enough history, now about the device. The 90hz display and minimal hole punch for the selfie cam is both a delight to use and look at. I was absolutely tired of the notch. Speaking of the notch, face ID during COVID was extremely annoying while wearing face masks. I genuinely really appreciate that Google went back to finger print scanners and ditched the face unlock from the pixel 4. Battery life is 10/10, I went 32 hours on one charge with 6.5 hours of screen time. I couldn't kill the phone if I tried. Also, the Google specific assistant features like call screen, auto hold, and other features are godsend with all these spam calls I keep getting. Most of my family have iPhones but over the years transitioned to whatsapp so I no longer worry about not having iMessage. I used to care about it for work, but after being stuck home, everyone now uses Zoom and MS Teams so I finally broke free from apples walled garden. As a father, husband, son and even business professional. Life's too short to use a device just to please other people. Pictures are excellent and still don't know how these night photos work. Dont worry about the snapdragon 765 as it performs so well I don't even notice a performance difference between this and the 8xx series snapdragons. No I'm not paid to write this review lol.

I would consider myself a phone geek. I choose specifications over all else when deciding my next phone purchase. At least so I thought. The Pixel 5 doesn't come with the lastest processor from the time it was launched, but Google is a software company. They know how to optimize phones. No stutters, lags, or hiccups to report. The battery is the best battery I've ever tested. Consistently get 7-8 hours of screen on time and I make it to bed with 20% left after watching YouTube, scrolling twitter and Instagram, podcast and music streaming with bluetooth etc. The camera is phenomenal. For stills, it's comparable to the iphone 12. In video there is a little warping which gets annoying but only in shaky situations. I have never loved a phone this much except for my beloved OnePlus 5. If you're on the fence, I would say give it a try. For all the phone you're getting with the price, there aren't many better deals

I got the Pixel 5 after trying out many other phones over the past several months. Every phone has its pros and cons. I believe that the Pixel 5 gives the most that I want in a phone for the price. The Pixel UI is smooth and simple. The cameras are, in my opinion, the best point-and-shoot cameras you can get on a smartphone. Battery life is SO much better than in previous Pixels, and the material used for the body is refreshing. My only critiques are that the video quality is great but not the best. The haptics are a bit of a step down from the Pixel 4 as well. Lastly, the under-display speaker should have just been a normal speaker grill. These compromises do not detract from my love of this phone. It is always the phone I end up going back to and end up carrying in my pocket. Can't wait for the Pixel 6!

I absolutely love this phone... Also I've only had this phone for about a week. I will update this review if anything changes. It's a great looking phone. I love the texture on the back of the phone. It's like what reviewers on YouTube say: it feels like stone. I wouldn't say it feels like some crude stone that you would find out on a hike or something. It feels like a fancy, smooth stone that you would buy to decorate your home. I've been at home most of the time so this phone has been without a case. I actually prefer it without it. Form factor is much smaller than a lot of phones, but the screen makes up a large portion of it due to the small, uniform bezels. I liked the screen The phone is really fast imo. I've never used anything else that has a better processor (Samsung S20, Pixel 4, etc.) so I don't have anything to compare it to other than my Nexus 6P. I haven't encountered any lag, especially in games. I usually don't play games on the phone, but I wanted to test its power. I played Gwent on the Pixel 5, and it was as smooth as butter. The battery life is phenomenal. I had about a little over 6 hours of screen time one day and there was still above 30% left. About 2/3 of 4/5 of that screen time was attributed to Gwent. Stock Android feels cleaner than ever. I've been stuck on Android 8 for the past 4 years so this definitely feels like a major upgrade for me. There's so many new features, but to name a few that I use A LOT are Bedtime Mode and Focus Mode for sleeping and studying, respectively. There were quite a lot of complaints on the sound of the Pixel 5. I'm not sure how well it works in places with a lot of noise since I've been home most of the time. In my opinion, I think the sound is between good, but it's not excellent. I would consider my Nexus 6P to have excellent sound quality because there were grills and a dedicated space for my speakers. By no means though, is the Pixel 5 sound horrible. I think there's a bit of a over exaggeration on the sound being bad. I don't mind I only use the speakers most of the time for watching shows or videos (and talking to people on the phone); it works well for all those. If you listen to music on your phone a lot through the phone speaker, then maybe it might not be to your quality. The audio sounds less punchier than my Nexus 6P which has great sound, but it still sounds alright. It's not a deal breaker for me because it sounds decent enough (also I use headphones or earphones to listen to music).

Being a Note 8 owner, I didn't feel like I was due for a major upgrade. But, with a kid on the way, I wanted to upgrade my camera and be able to use Gcam natively. I must say that the Pixel 5 is an impressive phone. All day battery life, snappy and fluid, Google Assistant (way better than Bixby ugh). Imo people tend to overblow the processor being "out of date", as long as the actual hardware implementation hold up well with the pure Android OS. Also, my mobile gaming has shifted to cloud services like Stadia or GeForce Now, where a powerful CPU is not needed (I've played 10+ hrs of Cyberpunk on this phone and it's better than consoles). I'm happy to have gotten the Sage color as well. It's an excellent phone for a realistic price, but if you really want a crazy powerful flagship phone, there are rumors of an early 2021 version.

I loved the pixel 4a because of the size, the price and the fact that it is just a well-rounded phone that does most things well. I wasn't impressed by the battery though. The pixel 4a 5g was even better, with a much improved battery and slightly better camera. The pixel 4a 5g is an incredible phone and with the current discounts is the best value for money in terms of Pixel phones, maybe the best value period. The size is what led me to the Pixel 5, it was personally just too big for my hands. Ok, so the Pixel 5 is an excellent phone. The size is perfect for me. The battery is phenomenal, it has a great camera, a beautiful screen, and the sound is better than ok despite some complaints in various reviews. It ticks every box and after a few days use, I haven't experienced anything that stands out as a glaringly obvious fault.