Customer Ratings & Reviews

I’ve always been hesitant to own an Android phone due to being overwhelmed by the operating system and navigating my way through it. I can genuinely say that the Google Pixel is user-friendly and performs far better than I had imagined. There’s a learning curve to the Pixel it’s not overwhelming. It didn’t take long to adjust to the fact that there’s no physical home button but instead, there’s a virtual one on the screen that appears no matter what app is opened when you double tap the screen. Having no physical home button would allow the phone to utilize more screen space but for some reason, there’s an empty spot where the tactile button would have been. This isn’t a deal breaker, just an observation. Where other smartphones require a thumb scan (usually in the location of the home button) the Pixel has a finger scanner on the back of the phone which wakes up the phone when you naturally cradle it in your hand. The Google Pixel runs on the latest Nougat operating system which I can definitely say it competes with other phone systems. Google Chrome, Google +, Google Photos, Gmail and Google Drive can all be synced to the Google Pixel making it a more of a powerhouse than it already it is. Customizing the phone is SMOOTH! Wallpaper, ringtones etc can be adjusted to your needs and wants. The HD wallpapers look STUNNING on the rich display. The voice recognition is incredible! Once I started using Google Assistant, I couldn’t stop using the voice capabilities! Rarely were my voice commands not understood. Now let’s talk about one of the most important applications which is the camera. The 12.3 MP camera is fast and has built in features that I haven’t seen on other smartphones like Sphere Mode and Photo Blur. Trust me; these are just a couple of fun photo features that can be played with. The camera does a great job with low light pictures. I did notice that sometimes in daytime photos, colors like red or green and be oversaturated but this was a rare occurrence. Here’s another fun feature; when you want to take a selfie with the camera app opened, you simply flick your wrist and the front facing camera is activated. Games such as Real Racing 3 and Angry Birds 2 load fast and look beautiful on this device. With all that said, I have to admit that there are some negatives to the phone but only a few. The Google Pixel isn’t water resistant which would’ve been nice to have. In my opinion, the Google Pixel feels too light in the hand. It almost floats as it were but this issue can be easily remedied with a phone case on it. Finally, stereo speakers would’ve been a really nice finish. At the end of the day, the Google Pixel XL is definitely an option for those that don’t feel comfortable with an iPhone or other brands. In fact, the Google Pixel XL might draw envy from other people.

If you are a fan of Google's (not Android in general) utilitarian style, then you will love this phone. I prefer a little more dressing on my phone however. The look of the phone is a bit boxy with no curved glass. It has a big white bezel that has no function on the bottom of the phone. There is no actual home button or touch features on the bezel, so it seems to be a bit of wasted space. On the other hand, it makes it easier to pick up the phone without accidentally hitting buttons. The fingerprint sensor works well, but it is on the back of the phone which takes a little getting used to and means you have to pick up the phone to use the fingerprint to unlock it. The screen looks beautiful with rich colors and sharp images. One odd thing I noticed is that when viewing pictures, it doesn't seem like it zooms in as close as other phones I've had. It pretty much stops zooming before the image starts to look degraded. Not a big deal I guess. The camera takes some stunning pictures, especially portraits. It has a lens blur feature that automatically blurs the background and makes the subject of the photo stand out better than any phone camera I've used. I love that feature. It also has a Photo Sphere feature that lets you take a series of pictures to create a 360 degree image. It's the next best thing to having a 360 degree camera. If you like to manually adjust settings to shoot like a pro, you're out of luck though. This camera is made for those that like to just point and shoot and get a really good picture without the work. The user interface is all Google. It's very sparse. I couldn't even figure out how to rearrange apps or create app folders except for on the home page. I prefer to have a clean home page with apps neatly arranged on an app page. That doesn't seem possible here, or if it is, it is not intuitive. There is no expandable storage for this phone, which means you can run out of room fast. You do get unlimited storage of pictures in the cloud, but who knows when/if you will have to start paying for that service. The battery life seems to be excellent and it really does charge up to 70% very quickly. Overall, I'd say this is a well made phone. If you like bells and whistles, you might want something different. If you like stripped down, no nonsense features that work well then you'll like this phone.

OK, I ran this phone through its paces over the last 24 hours doing everything I would normally do with my iPhone, and while I'm impressed with it as an Android phone it is not better than the iPhone 6 that it replaced and certainly not better than the 6S or the new iPhone 7. I'm going to walk that statement back for one thing. Speed. This phone is incredibly fast. Apps open in a blink of an eye and close down just as fast. I was quite impressed with that feature. Google is touting this a a great photo device but after doing some pixel-peeping (see what I did there) and some A-B comparisons of shots taken with the Pixel and the iPhone 6, the iPhones still produce a nicer shot. The color in the iPhone shots is brighter and they just have more pop! That being said I have not played with any of the shots in a photo editor because I wanted to see what they would be like right off the sensor. Speaking of editors though, I will say that the editing tools that Google baked right into their Photo app are really very good and I could have probably made the photos looks as good as the iPhone ones but again, the iPhone shots were really pretty good as they were. In the pictures below you can see the phone and all of its accessories as they were right when I opened the box. On the left you have the guidebooks and the phone in its wrapping. On the rights was a disconcerting array of cables and adaptors. On the top right you have the charging brick which only accepts a USB-C plug (ugh, now I need Lightning, micro-USB, and USB-C cables? Seriously?!). Below that is the USB-C to USB-C cable for use with the aforementioned brick. In the area to the left under where the phone was is a USB to USB-C cable to plug your phone into a normal brick, charging station, or computer. Above that in the little cubby above is a USB to USB-C adaptor primarily to be used to transfer data from an iPhone to the Pixel. I appreciate that Google is trying to take market share from Apple and to make it a bit easier to get your data from one device to another (heck Apple has been doing that for years with their computers to great effect), but it did not work out as nice as I would have liked. After connecting the two devices together, I had to log in to a website on the iPhone's browser and select the info to transfer. In the interest of time I just did the basics and did not try to move my huge photo or music libraries but stuck with the basic data to make the phone usable. While much of that data come over without a problem, some data came over weird and jumbled. The data that did come over easily is all of my Gmail and other Google app data which I kind of expected since Google does a nice job within their own ecosystem. I do have to say another couple of things that I like about the Pixel. The screen is big, beautiful, and bright and may even edge out the iPhone though I would have to put them at the same brightness settings a such to make a true comparison. Also, I like the fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone and how it immediately opens up the phone without a press. Just being able to rest my index finger where it would normally land anyway and having the phone pop on is nice and definitely helps this phone feel a bit more 'snappy' in its usage. OK, almost done with this review but I can't end without saying something about the battery and the call quality... wait, this is a phone and I'm actually going to have to talk to someone on it? The battery life is very good and gave me a full days worth of pretty heavy usage though I did not do any streaming of video or music since I never really do that anyway. Mostly, it was heavy internet surfing, photo use, and calling. Speaking of calling, I don't know what it is but the calls didn't sound as clear as they do on my iPhone. I'm using the Pixel in all the same places that I used my iPhone and even swapped the SIM card back into my iPhone to check and the Pixel sounded a bit hollow and distant. Not sure what that is about. I could still hear the other person but they sounded like they were talking into their phone from a distance unlike when I talked to them with my iPhone. So, final word. If you are deep in the Android ecosystem, then this is a great phone for you. It is fast and will do everything that you are used to doing very well. If you are in the Apple ecosystem, get an iPhone 7 or heck, even a 6S if you want to save some money. This is not the iPhone killer Google wanted but it is a solid phone and it will do a very good job for you no matter your OS allegiance.

Let's start with this, I've been a longtime user of the major competitor to Google's new phone. That said, the Pixel XL is a beautiful device that seems to be very well made, has a nice feel to it (both in weight and materiality). It's one of those phones you don't want to cover, but you'll be devastated the moment the case or screen is scratched. The phone is nicely packaged, with simple step-by-step instructions. It comes with a fairly large transformer/base (I'd call it a "square" but it's rectangular) that connects with the new USB-C cables. Two cables are included, with a standard USB attachment for transferring data and/or charging via legacy USB. The phone is fast and the screen resolution is quite beautiful. It's bright, but not annoyingly so, even when the intensity is fully cranked up. In more technical terms, it has a pleasant color temperature that's easy on the eyes. That, coupled with a 12.3 MP camera also means that pictures look great. And Google touts the fact you can have less onboard memory because they allow you to setup auto, free storage on Google Drive. I found cellular reception to be as good or comparable to others around me. WiFi reception was excellent- often picking up sources my laptop missed. The Pixel of course runs Android (version 7.1) I'm a techie and I have a love-hate relationship with Android. I love that it's highly customizable and I hate it for the same reason. You often have to dig deep or swipe around blindly trying to find out what you can and cannot change. If you aren't too curious, you can generally go along happily without tweaks. However, I have seen beginners who had literally every app open because they didn't know they could close them! The Google apps such as Gmail, Maps, Play and Play News are really nice. Visually pleasant highly functional. I found Google Assistant to be quicker and mostly more relevant than its major competitor, no doubt due the family ties to Google's search database. Some maintenance features that are nice include summaries of battery, memory and data usage in both text and graphic representation. My one big gripe - I just do not like the "home" button located on the back of the device. I can't get accustomed to it, and it doesn't save any extra space on the front... All-in-all this is a good smartphone that performs well, feels and looks great and will make a purchaser familiar with Android very happy.

A well-built, simple to use, and simple to navigate Android phone. Since the phone is coming from Google themselves, you don't have to deal with the bloatware that you find on many other phones, freeing up the internal storage space for your apps, photos, videos, music, and whatever else you want to carry on your phone. The camera is amazing and it is immediately accessible from the moment you launch the camera app, making it super easy to snag that photo or video without much of a delay. You can also configure the phone to launch the camera app by simple pressing the Power button twice in quick succession. The back facing camera can take pictures up to 12MP photos and shoot 4k video, the front facing camera can take 8MP photos and shoot 1080P video. Using the fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone feels relatively natural and once you have a finger or two enrolled, you can simply unlock the phone by pressing your finger against the fingerprint scanner. Making it easy to use with one hand to unlock and access the home screen. Sadly, it does not the ability to wirelessly charge or have an IR blaster for interacting with other devices that can receive IR signals. But considering all the other things that this phone can do, these can simply be ignored. You will definitely want to be careful when carrying the phone around because the aluminum exterior can be easy to slide out of your hand. So a phone case would be highly recommended. Overall, the phone is amazing and can be used by a wide variety of people. From those with little or no experience in utilizing a smartphone to someone who is savvy with the Android OS. The beautiful design matches up with what you would expect of a new a smartphone.

Quick bit about my current situation, I was offered this phone for testing purposes. Currently I have a Nexus 6P that I loved for a number of reasons, so this phone had quite a challenge to live up to. How did it do? Frankly, not bad. Out of box experience was almost perfect. From the container it was shipped in to the typical holiday feeling one gets when opening new gadgets, it was all there. I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but activating the phone on Verizon was the easiest thing I have done with them in a number of years. All I needed to do was move the SIM card from one phone to another. Transfer of data was as simple as saying “OK Google, Set up my new device” on the old phone and the magic that is Google Now/Allo took care of the rest. The only minor disappointment I had was that the transfer started by offering to link one device to another via USB cable. For some reason, it didn’t want to work with my 6P - which is disappointing, but easily enough resolved via Google Now. Before we get too far into this review, the next question has got to be “how much software did Verizon ship with it?” The answer is nothing above base carrier software - IE, the stuff that will stop those “VZWSYNC” messages from appearing when you have a voicemail. It doesn’t even come with the MyVerizon app! So now your voicemail is built right into the dialer, a nice touch if I can say so. Interacting with the Verizon network on this phone is far, far better than what currently exists (or possibly will ever exist) for the 6P. Look and feel is amazing. From day one with my 6P, the one thing that I hated was that it was ever so slightly too big for my right hand to reach the top left corner. That problem appears to be mostly gone now, and yes, I do view that as something worthy of upgrade points. Honestly, with the white coloring, it reminds me of something out of a certain fruit shaped vendor. The phone itself is slightly lighter and smaller than the 6P and I could definitely see myself using this phone on a daily basis. The only thing that I don’t particularly care for (outside from the white color) is the glass panel on the back. It doesn’t seem to do much for the phone visual appeal, but it should help with letting the phone talk to the world. Camera. Believe it or not, this camera is actually a huge improvement (in the one scene I tested). Taken in low light, the 6P had a slight blur with no flash, and a yellow hue to a shot with a flash. The XL had no blur for no flash, and though the flash picture did have a bit of yellow in it, it was not nearly as pronounced. Also, a new, amazing feature: the new camera app has a white balance slider on the side of the image - allowing you to tone down a picture while taking it with next to no effort. Audio quality.This was my one fear when I signed up for this device. The lack of front firing speakers is a fallback to an older time in my mind. The phone, built and designed by HTC, should have had full access to the HTC BoomSound technology. In its place, they put two down-firing speakers. The result? Muffled sound if you are viewing it head on unless you cup your hand around the base of the device. This was what killed off one whole star on my review. I rarely used the speakers on my 6P, but when I did, I didn’t have to worry about anyone hearing it. In the case of the XL, I had difficulties hearing it when I was in my small apartment alone. At this price point, this is unacceptable from my point of view. Phone quality hasn’t really improved or declined - though we have had the opportunity to improve mobile phone technology for 43 years. Cool new things. The latest version of Android OS ships with a feature very similar to f.lux called “Night Light.” Personally I hate adding red to my screen (and would rather be sleepless), but this feature adds something that a number of people have been seeking for a very long time. The new launcher itself is somewhat appealing and definitely reminds me of things that appear in Nova Launcher. Is it good enough to be my only launcher, no - I much rather Nova for the amount of customization. So, would I run right out and buy one as an upgrade from a 6P? No. There is not much more present in this device versus the last generation. Against a Nexus 6? Maybe. This is a nice upgrade, if a bit expensive. Against an Apple product? Yep, I’d take this thing any day - even with its cost.

When I unboxed the Pixel XL, I wasn't to sure what I was going to find. I can tell you that I was pleasantly surprised by it. The first thing that I did was compared it to the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. The size is pretty comparable and the weight is close as well. The screen comparison was the next thing that I looked at. The Pixel XL's screen is a little smaller, but it's very crisp in its presentation. The colors pop nicely and the video playback is smooth. It is definitely top notch and will be nice to have for travel with kids. To go along with the crisp video playback, I thought the sound was pretty clear too. The volume is certainly better than the S7 Edge with its speaker setup. It takes me back to the HTC One M7 that I once owned. The speaker combination and volume level helps bring it to another level. The last thing that I wanted to mention was the Google Assistant. I thought this was a nice addition to the Android OS. It's certainly their version of Apple's Siri and with time, it may be very useful. As it learns more about you, I can see it truly becoming the assistant that they envisioned. All in all, I thought the performed quite well. It would have been nice if the "buttons" and bezel were lessened to create more screen room. Some will be hung up on the 2 different surfaces on the body, but I like contrasts and I think that is what they were going for. While this phone doesn't go above and surpass the others, it certainly puts itself in the conversation when you are looking to acquire that new phone.

When I first saw this phone, I wanted it. I've used nearly every android device that has hit the market, and I really enjoy android. But I must say, you will never get the android experience you get on this phone from any other device running android. Just won't happen. Once you can get over the price like I did, you are golden. It is my daily driver, and I'm super happy to have it on hand. The software is worlds ahead of other android phones, and it's the original Google experience you would want on their first device launch. The hardware is great to me, because it's made by HTC. The cameras are very nice, battery is just amazing (at least 1 day of use, with about 5 to 6 hours of screen on time). I've not seen a faster phone out right now running android, just fluid...you will be happy. I gave it 4 starts though, because the price is way to high. No phone is really worth this much, when it lacks an SD, dual speakers, and higher memory on board. The really kind messed us over by only bringing 32gb or 128gb, very sad. 64gb should be the cost of the 32gb. But greed can get everyone at some point. They killed off the Nexus line, only to bring HIGH priced phones with less features. All in all, I'd still recommend this to TRUE android fans. PURE android is the best way to go.

I bought this as Black Friday Special. For the price I paid, this phone is fantastic. I upgraded from a Moto Z Droid. The Pixel is more responsive and fast. One huge downside is the fingerprint reader is on the back of the phone. Which is really inconvenient, because my phone is usually on desk. So to unlock it I have to pick then phone up. The Pixel takes great pictures. The phone speaker is so-so. It does connect to bluetooth devices really quickly. I would definitely recommend this phone.

For the most part, this is a fantastic phone. I have been jealous of my wife's Pixel for about a year. The OS is fast and the pics are amazing. My only gripes this far are that the Bluetooth connectivity is spotty and the dedicated search bar sometimes just freezes up. The Bluetooth keeps dropping the connection to my GMC Intellilink system in my truck. The search bar, initiated by tapping the Google icon on the home screen, sometimes acts as if it has totally lost connection to the internet. I can type in it but nothing happens. No search. No results. Apart from that, which seem to be software relates issues and, therefore, correctable, this is a great device. You haven't experienced Android until you've owned stock Android.

Could be better if it's not Verizon branded, but with Best Buy offering $100 gift card and being available when Google still out of stock, not a hard buy at all. The phone is great, battery last much longer than other, camera is awesome, 2nd probably only to Samsung (since I like the punchier color from Samsung). Quality build and feel great on hand. Finger-print reader is fast and quite accurate (meaning not having to try multiple times). Overall very pleased with the purchase.

I've owned a few Nexus devices before this. This is the best device I've had yet. Google and HTC did a fine job. Battery life is fantastic. The camera is great. And the screen colors are crisp.

Putting aside the debate about iOS vs. Android (everyone has their own preference), let's look at this phone from a pure experience perspective. It's clean android, with the latest system and the new google assistant. You can't get that anywhere else yet so if you like to speak to your phone, you'll definitely appreciate the cool new things it can do for you. If you're freaked out by privacy, then this isn't such a good feature! Build quality is high. The fit and finish is definitely polished and the screen is amazing. AMOLED beats the LCD in the iPhone 7 plus for color and saturation, but that's about the only place this phone wins. Things like the buttons, although solid, still have a small amount of 'wobble' to them. iPhone is absolutely precise. No play at all, just a firm press. Fingerprint reader on the back is natural for position when you're holding the phone but if you like to leave it on the desk then waking to see a notification is nowhere near as convenient as just touching a home button on the front of the screen. Photo quality is superb. But so is iPhone so I'm giving them a draw on this one. Resale value will definitely be lower than Apple. As much as you don't want to think about it, we all upgrade our phones regularly, so maximizing what we can get back is defintely important. Overall a great phone, probably the best Android out there and if you love that ecosystem, definitely the closest alternative to the iPhone. If you're still not convinced and you're looking for a phablet that isn't Apple, check out the HP Elite X3 Windows Phone. You may be surprised at how nice that one is!

My Galaxy S5 started self-destructing at the 12-month mark. This phone is such a relief! It works as it should. It fits my large hands well making the fingerprint feature quite useful. It is quick to respond and seems to pull in the weak cell service in my part of town, pretty well. Pictures, as expected, are great. I would have loved to be able to add memory, so the jury is still out on whether 32GB is enough for this phone.

I'm coming from a Nexus 6 and Nexus 6p, being a long time android user, the Pixel XL has excellent battery life and a great camera. However I feel it is an incremental upgrade to the nexus 6P, given the high price of entry it is a tough value decision.

I bought this phone for my wife, and she loves it. I have been able to use it a couple of times and I also like it. The speakers are awesome the screen is great I love the fingerprint scanner on the back , this is also one of the best cameras I've used on the phone. I have a Nexus 6p and the only thing that I like about the 6p over it is that it has front facing speakers.

The packaging is neat, it includes actually two type c usb 3.0 cables and one adapter (so you can transfer all your old phone settings and data connecting the two phones). I was able to setup the phone within less than 10 minutes of receiving it that way (older android phone to this one, I read you could also transfer from an iphone to this one downloading an ios app from google for this purpose). The phone is thin and sleek, a metal unibody and the glass camera cover portion didn't bother me as much as I thought. I must say this is the most quick and snappy android phone I ever used. No classic android lag at all. Its very polished and I'm loving the new Pixel launcher. The screen is gorgeous and I got zero defects. By the way, for anyone wondering, the phone is indeed carrier unlocked. Its a Verizon one, but you can pop in any sim card and it will work. I tried a tmobile one and all worked fine, so If you travel a lot like me, you can pop in a sim card of whatever country you are in (granted it supports the bands in such country). I'll point some pros and cons. Pros: -Perfect size, not as humongous as my previous nexus 6 but large enough to be considered a phablet. -Gorgeous quad hd screen. -Superfast charging with the included charger. -So far have been installing and restoring several apps and I have not gone down less than 50% battery, so battery life is very good. -Great call quality, tried a couple of phone calls and was crisp clear. -Finally a Google phone with a notification light! (none on my nexus 6). -It has a earphone plug! (I'm glad they didn't follow apple on this). -SIM unlocked. Cons: -No stereo front facing speakers, this should be the norm these days. -Average visibility on sunlight (its an super amoled screen, so all of them suffer this). -No SD card slot.

Great phone, good camera, battery last longer than my old phone, colors are brilliant, easy to use!

Google's pure Android device is a solid phone. Blazing speed, zero bloat, and excellent battery life. The only catch is that I had trouble keeping my device connected to the LTE/cellular networks for Verizon. Signal would sporatically drop out. However, Android 7.1.1 update seems to have fixed that issue. Just be advised, out of the box, you may have some connectivity issues. Other than that, I LOVE this phone.

Love the phone, great camera, look and feel is good. Quality of picture is great. I just wish it would have an sd slot to expand the memory capacity.