The iPhone 11 (left) has the best battery life, but not by much
7T benefit from their lack of an always-on display, but some (including me) will miss that feature.
The Pixel 4 XL was the most disappointing. The same OS ownership that gives Apple a ridiculous edge should propel the Pixel 4 XL to heights unseen by other Android phones, but the reality doesn’t deliver. The lack of optimization is extremely frustrating.
For example, I played a two-hour movie at maximum brightness with all ambient and adaptive brightness toggles turned off, and this is how much battery each phone used:
OnePlus 7T: 17 percent Apple iPhone 11: 19 percent Samsung Galaxy S10+: 19 percent Google Pixel 4 XL: 21 percent
The results are pretty close, but those percentage points add up over the course of a day, especially because most people won’t be using their phones to watch videos for 10 hours straight. And look what happened when I ran the same video a second time with auto- and adaptive brightness turned on for all three phones, tracking the battery drain:
Apple iPhone 11: 13 percent OnePlus 7T: 18 percent Samsung Galaxy S10+: 19 percent Google Pixel 4 XL: 20 percent
Apple’s advantage comes into play when iOS starts working its magic. Even with a significantly smaller battery, the iPhone 11 is able to last longer than any of
the phones here. All four handsets have lots and lots of pixels to power here, so lower brightness is definitely your friend. At the end of the day, the iPhone 11 consistently had the most juice left – and the Pixel 4 XL was always closest to the red – but every phone should get you through a normal day of use.
It’s hard to crown a champion here, so I’ll say this: the iPhone 11 and the Galaxy S10+ will last the longest, the OnePlus 7T is just a tick below, and the Pixel 4 XL will constantly worry you. But if battery life is your deciding factor for any phone, go with the iPhone 11.
Winner: Apple iPhone 11/ Samsung Galaxy S10+
Charging
We no longer need to wait hours to charge our phones – assuming you have the right charger. With a dead phone and the charger that’s included in the box, here’s how much juice you’ll have after an hour of charging:
OnePlus 7T: 100 percent Google Pixel 4 XL: 77 percent Samsung Galaxy S10+: 74 percent Apple iPhone 11: 33 percent
Two things here: the OnePlus 7T’s incredible Warp Charging, and the iPhone’s not-incredible 5-watt charger. While Apple’s ‘Pro’ phones enjoy a swift 18-watt USB-C charger, the iPhone 11 is still saddled with a Lightning-based 5-watt plug. So if you buy one, you’ll want to pick up a way bigger third-party charger.
Speaking of big, the OnePlus 7T’s Warp Charge 30T is easily the biggest of the bunch, taking up the better of two outlets when plugged in – and you’ll be using it every day, because the OnePlus 7T is the only phone here that lacks wireless charging. The other three phones all offer it, though the top speeds vary slightly:
Samsung Galaxy S10+: 12 watts Google Pixel 4 XL: 11 watts Apple iPhone 11: 7.5 watts
Ironically, the iPhone 11 wirelessly charges faster than it does with its bundled charger. Some people might scoff at wireless charging as a reason to buy a phone, but I’d have a hard time without it. So the OnePlus 7T loses major convenience points, even with the stellar Warp Charge.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S10+.
Performance
All of the phones include very fast and very efficient processors. Obviously the iPhone uses Apple’s silicon, while the Android phones are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipset.
Both the Galaxy S10+ and the Pixel 4 XL use the Snapdragon 855 processor, while the OnePlus 7T sports the newer Snapdragon 855+. It would take a serious user with equally serious benchmarks to discern any difference, but OnePlus buyers can boast that they have the technically faster Android phone.
Something’s not quite right with the Pixel 4. It should be the fastest of the bunch, with the purest
Android skin and Google’s hardware-software integration, but in test after test it performed slower than the others. It’s gotten worse since I wrote my review. Apps hang (including Google’s own utilities), system features lag, and even scrolling feels sluggish at times with Smooth Display turned on. It’s the only phone where I need regular restarts to keep things humming. I can only hope the performance issues will be fixed with an update. Just check out these BrowserBench Speedometer scores, which measure the responsiveness of web apps:
Apple iPhone 11: 153 OnePlus 7T: 69.1 Samsung Galaxy S10+: 53.8 Google Pixel 4 XL: 34
I ran this test several times on the Pixel 4 using Google’s own Chrome browser, and it never topped 35. Meanwhile, the A13 Bionic chip in the iPhone 11 is on another level – faster than its predecessor and the fastest of the bunch here, including in real-world results. Even the fastest Android UI here feels sticky when compared to the iPhone 11, and that’s without a 120Hz ProMotion display.
The harmony Apple creates between the silicon and software is second to none, as evidenced by these Geekbench benchmark score (where once again the Pixel 4 seriously lags):
CPU (Single-Core/Multi-Core) Apple iPhone 11: 1,330/3,531 OnePlus 7T: 791/2,789
Samsung Galaxy S10+: 710/2,639 Google Pixel 4 XL: 635/2,529
Compute
Apple iPhone 11: 6,402 OnePlus 7T: 2,693 Samsung Galaxy S10+: 2,397 Google Pixel 4 XL: 2,105
One area where Apple can improve, however, is startup time from a full shutdown. The Pixel 4 XL obliterated the other phones, and the iPhone consistently came in last place, even if only by a second or two: Google Pixel 4 XL: 11 seconds Samsung Galaxy S10+: 19 seconds OnePlus 7T: 20 seconds Apple iPhone 11: 21 seconds
Granted, we rarely restart our phones – and the iPhone needs it even less often than the Android phones here – but I’d still like to see Apple get closer to the Pixel with the iPhone 12.
The results here underscore my frustrations with the Pixel 4 XL: if Google can optimize start-up time, why can’t it do the same with the rest of Android? The Galaxy S10+ and OnePlus 7T basically run circles around the Pixel 4, but neither can touch the iPhone’s crazy speeds, even if you won’t notice them much.
Winner: Apple iPhone 11
Sound
After Apple famously dumped the headphone jack with the iPhone 7, the rest of the industry has slowly followed suit. First Google took it away from the Pixel 2, then OnePlus removed it with last year’s 6T. And once it’s gone, it’s not coming back.
The Galaxy S10+ is the sole phone in the bunch that retains a 3.5mm headphone jack. You even get a very decent pair of AKG-tuned earbuds in the box. But Samsung axed the headphone jack from the Note 10 and Galaxy Fold, so you can see the writing on the wall. You’ll get a pair of Lightning EarPods with the iPhone 11, but neither the OnePlus 7T nor the Google Pixel 4 XL includes a pair of buds, nor a USB-C-to3.5mm dongle. The phones’ own speakers also deliver
solid volume (the Pixel 4 loses its front-firing speakers, which gave it a serious sound boost last year).
Max decibels Samsung Galaxy S10+: 100 Google Pixel 4 XL: 98 OnePlus 7T: 97 Apple iPhone 11: 94
Along with their loudness, every handset but the Pixel 4 boasts Dolby Atmos spatial sound. While it’s debatable that you actually need Dolby Atmos support on a phone, it’s nice to have. Supported music and movies definitely feel slightly fuller (though you’re not going to forget you’re listening on a pair of smartphone speakers).
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S10+
Biometrics
We’re at something of a transitional period when it comes to biometrics. OnePlus and Samsung replaced the physical fingerprint sensor with an in-display scanner, while the iPhone 11 and Pixel 4 XL both use 3D facial recognition. The Galaxy S10+ has a better scanner than the OnePlus 7T, and the iPhone tops the Pixel 4 XL with facial recognition, but there’s more to the story than that.
The Galaxy phones used to have an iris scanner in addition to a fingerprint reader, so the in-display sensor feels like a step backward, especially because it’s neither as fast nor as reliable as the physical scanner. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 7T’s scanner is
faster than Samsung’s when it works – especially when paired with the 2D face unlock. But on the whole I struggled with it more than I did with the S10+. Both phones have continuously improved their sensors through software updates.
Apple’s had two years to refine Face ID. It’s speedy, secure, and simple, with smart features that help keep your data locked down.
That’s not the case with Google’s face unlock. It’s very fast and will even work if you’re holding your phone upside down, but it’s missing a key feature: attention, both in the literal and figurative sense. Google has opted against including eye tracking in the initial version, so if your eyes are closed, someone could still hold your phone up to your face to unlock it.
Winner: Apple iPhone 11
Storage
We’ve kind of reached the point where no one should ever run out of space on their phones, but just for the fun of it, let’s break down the pound-to-gigabyte ratio:
OnePlus 7T (128GB): £4.28 Samsung Galaxy S10+ (128GB): £7.02 Apple iPhone 11 (64GB): £11.39 Google Pixel 4 XL (64GB): £12.95
That’s a pretty big disparity, and you don’t need to be a math whiz to figure out that more gigabytes for less money equals better value. The same goes for the step-up models:
Apple iPhone 11 (64GB upgrade, £50): 78p Samsung Galaxy S10+: N/A Google Pixel 4 XL (64GB upgrade, £100): £1.56 OnePlus 7T: N/A
It’s disappointing that OnePlus isn’t offering a storage upgrade option for the 7T in the UK, but even so, it delivers the best internal storage value. It’s also disappointing that Google continues to sell 64GB of extra storage for £100, and no other Android phone here other than the S10+ offers an expandable memory card slot. But pounds-togigabytes, the OnePlus 7T takes this category.
Winner: OnePlus 7T
Operating system
I could spend the whole of this section debating the differences between iOS and Android and trying to convince you why the iPhone 11 has stronger app support and better gesture navigation, or why Google Assistant is superior to Siri and notifications are actually quite good on Android.
But the fact of the matter is, for every point I make about one, an equally salient point could be made about the other. The scale of iOS has lead to widespread bugs and issues that Apple struggles to squash, while Android’s fragmentation and generally slow update schedule is continuously frustrating. The two operating systems are extremely close now – heck, they both even have dark mode.
So let’s talk about Android vs Android instead. We often refer to Android as a universal OS, but each
phone brings a very different interpretation, affecting the overall experience as much as the specs and the hardware. Here’s what you get with the phones here:
Samsung Galaxy S10+: One UI Google Pixel 4 XL: Android 10 OnePlus 7T: OxygenOS 10
The One UI Android skin on the Galaxy S10+ is the most unique of the bunch, as far away from stock Android as a Galaxy phone has ever been. It’s also the smartest interface Samsung has ever designed, with intuitive controls, thoughtful layouts, and powerful apps. As the first Galaxy to ship with One UI, the
S10+ easily delivers the best end-to-end Samsung experience in years. Major updates are still an issue – One UI 2 based on Android 10 likely won’t arrive until 2020 – but Samsung has done a fantastic job with crafting an OS that’s all its own.
The OnePlus 7T is one of the very few phones to ship with Android 10. Its Oxygen OS skin is every bit as light and airy as its name suggests. It sticks close to Google’s vision of Android and even feels like an Android One phone at times. However, powerful customization and smart features, plus a healthy dose of speed, give Oxygen OS its own character while still giving Android purists enough to love.
The Pixel 4’s main reason to exist is as a showcase for the latest Android build, so like the OnePlus 7T, it ships with Android 10 on board. But unlike the iPhone 11, which runs iOS 13 like it was tailor-made (because it was), I encountered more issues with Android 10 on the Pixel 4 than I have with any other Pixel phone. App crashes and hangs, laggy scrolling, and general slowness has plagued my time with it. Worse, the November update that should fix things has been slow to reach my phone. Software problems with new phones are hardly uncommon – Apple certainly has its share of them each year – but the Pixel is supposed to represent the best of Android, and so far the Pixel 4 doesn’t.
Winner (Android): OnePlus 7T
Miscellaneous features
Each phone offers apps and features that are unique to the experience. The Galaxy S10+ has its Edge
shortcuts, which let you swipe from the curved area of the screen to access apps. The OnePlus 7T has a Reading Mode that desaturates the screen to make it easier on the eyes. The iPhone 11 has Animoji and FaceTime. They also all have some form of water resistance, though the OnePlus 7T isn’t IP-rated, so we don’t know how deep you can dunk it. On paper, the iPhone 11 is the most resistant, letting you submerge it in 2m of water for up to 30 minutes. (The Pixel 4 XL and S10+ guarantee a depth of only 1.5m).
The Pixel 4 XL brings something that you won’t find on the other phones here. Called Motion Sense, it lets you control parts of your phone by waving your hand above the screen. It’s limited to snoozing alarms, skipping tracks, and silencing calls for now, but it works extremely well and has incredible potential. In a world of near-homogeneity when it comes to smartphones, I commend Google for thinking and engineering out of the box with the Pixel 4 XL.
Winner: Google Pixel 4 XL
Camera
The camera is probably the main thing people research when buying a new phone, and I’m just going to say it here: each of these phones’ default cameras will take fantastic pictures out of the box without adjusting a single setting, despite some differences and deficiencies, as you’ll see here.
All have multiple cameras, but you’re getting only two with the Pixel 4 XL (standard, telephoto) and the iPhone 11 (standard, ultra wide), while the S10+ and 7T have three apiece (standard, ultra wide, telephoto).
The unique placement of the iPhone 11’s cameras have a purpose: it’s the only camera where you don’t have to adjust your shot when switching from standard to ultra-wide. It’s a small but meaningful attention to detail.
If you’re looking for the fastest, most accurate, most versatile, then the iPhone 11 is your champ, just barely beating out the Pixel 4 XL. Neither Google nor Apple offer users the manual controls in the stock camera app that the OnePlus 7T and the Galaxy S10+ do, but you wouldn’t need them if they did. The photo processing on the iPhone 11 and Pixel 4 are far enough ahead of the other phones here where you can be absolutely confident that you’re getting the
best possible picture when you tap the shutter, no matter the subject, mode, or lighting condition.
The bigger jump over last year can be seen in the iPhone 11’s Night Mode. While it will be criticized by some as merely playing catch-up to Google’s Night Sight, which debuted to wows on the Pixel 3, Night Mode is a revelation for nighttime photography, with a mind-blowing algorithm that produces better results than the Pixel 4 in some instances.
The iPhone excels in its understanding of what’s being shot. Other night modes simply amp up the brightness and exposure with varying results, while the iPhone 11 does a better job of preserving the shadows and overall integrity of the scene.
While both the iPhone 11 and the Pixel 4 XL usually snuffed the competition, more often than not, I preferred the nuance in the iPhone 11’s shot. Where the Pixel 4 XL’s Night Sight shots often seem like a Photoshop brightening filter had been applied, which affected clarity and sharpness, the iPhone 11’s shots had deeper blacks, crisper details, and less overall noise and graininess.
Small details aside, at times the iPhone 11 simply floored the competition. As you can see in the comparison shots opposite, all four phones did well with pulling out the colour of the darts, but the board on the wall is another story. The OnePlus 7T struggled mightily with white balance (a constant issue when shooting in low light with white backgrounds), and the numbers in the S10+’s shot are barely visible. The Pixel 4 XL handled the colour well, and illuminated the colours in the board and most of the bottom numbers,