GOOGLE PIXEL 2 XL
Pure Android OS, stereo speakers, great camera performance pOLED display has issues, no expandable storage, no headphone port
The Google Pixel 2 XL is the larger of Google’s two second-generation Pixel phones and features a 6-inch display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and rounded corners. While the side bezels are fairly slim, the top and bottom bezels are the biggest out of all of the ‘all-screen’ smartphones. Like most agship smartphones these days, the Pixel 2 XL is dust and water resistant, with an IP67 rating. The back panel of the phone is at, with a piece of glass adorning a section at the top for wireless signals to pass through. There’s also a single rear camera setup here, with a 12.2-megapixel, f/1.8 module.
On the right side of the phone you’ll nd the power button and volume rocker. One minor annoyance here is that most phones that have the power button and volume rocker on the same side, put the power button lower, closer to where your thumb rests, but Google has done the reverse, with the volume rocker on the bottom. On the left side there’s a single nano-SIM card tray.
On the bottom of the phone you’ll nd a single USB Type-C port. Yes, Google has ditched the 3.5mm headphone jack, but you do get a bundled USB-C to 3.5mm dongle included in the box, and the Pixel 2 XL also supports Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless audio.
The Pixel 2 XL has a 6-inch 2,880 x 1,440 pixels resolution (~538ppi) QHD+ pOLED display. Unfortunately, the display has some noticeable issues plaguing it. The screen has a grainy quality to it that makes the display look hazy, and while colors themselves are nice and vibrant, gradations between colors show some banding issues. There’s also a noticeable blue tint when viewing the screen o angle. Finally, the maximum brightness is a little low, although this is only really a problem when trying to view the screen under bright sunlight.
Audio on the Pixel 2 XL comes from new front-facing stereo speakers at the top and bottom of the display. Sound quality is excellent and reminds me a lot of the old HTC BoomSound speakers. There’s plenty of volume and a generous amount of bass too.
Naturally, the Pixel 2 XL runs on Android 8.0 Oreo, with its own Pixel Launcher to set it apart, UI-wise, from other Oreo handsets. The Pixel 2 XL runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core (4x2.35 GHz Kryo & 4x1.9 GHz Kryo) processor with 4GB RAM and an Adreno 540 GPU. Inside, there’s a 3,520mAh battery.