USA TODAY International Edition
GOOGLE PIXEL 2 A WORTHY RIVAL FOR THE IPHONE
It’s a strong upgrade over Google’s first foray into producing its own phones
It’s impossible to predict whether Google’s new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones will fare better than last year’s wellreviewed but poor-selling firstgeneration models.
Among other reasons, the smartphone crowd loves their iPhones and Galaxys, and Apple and Samsung obviously remain formidable competitors.
What I can say is that the new phones prove how good Google has gotten at hardware, bolstered by artificial intelligence and software. And if you’re in the market for a premium handset, Pixels belong in the conversation. For starters, the AI-infused Google Assistant that was a banner feature on the first Pixels is only getting smarter. And the already strong cameras are also getting better.
I’ve focused my testing on the Pixel 2 XL, the larger and, at $849 on up, more expensive of the two new Android Oreo-based Pixels. But those of you who prefer a smaller phone should certainly consider the more compact, though less stylish, Pixel 2, which costs $200 less to start. The phones are still cheaper than the four-digit busting price of the upcoming iPhone X.
Though you can buy the Pixel unlocked from Google or Best Buy and use it with any wireless carrier, Verizon is the exclusive seller among U.S. carriers.
I can recommend either Pixel phone, though there are some shortcomings worth noting.
A closer look:
DESIGN AND USABILITY
The XL starts up quick and is snappy to use, with a fingerprint sensor on the back for unlocking the screen that is equally fast. It does not have the kind of geewhizzy facial unlocking feature that Apple will be delivering on the iPhone X, though how well Apple’s Face ID will work is a big question mark.
The 6-inch display on Pixel XL is beautiful, though lovely displays have become the norm, at least for phones in this price range. I’m less wild about the physical design generally. The Pixels are not quite edge-to-edge as is the case on the all-screen Galaxy Note 8 or upcoming iPhone X. The bezels on the smaller Pixel are even wider, making the 5-inch display seem somehow smaller than it is.
While nitpicking, Google eliminated the standard headphone jack just as Apple did on recent iPhones. That means you have to rely on wireless Bluetooth headphones or on the USB-C adapter in the box to connect wired headphones.
Similar to Apple, Google will sell you additional adapters for $9 when you inevitably lose the included dongle. Unlike Apple, Google will not ship Pixels with any headphones so you’ll need to use your own. The external speakers on the device sound fine.
At least Google added water resistance, a major omission on last year’s Pixels.
The phone also supports a new version of Google’s Daydream virtual-reality headset.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Here’s where the Pixels especially excel. I shot some terrific pictures even in low light. Google, following the lead of Apple, added a portrait mode feature that blurs the background while keeping the main subject of your photo in focus. The effect, which is very nice, works on both the 8-megapixel front and 12-megapixel rear cameras.
Two images are automatically captured when you take advantage of the portrait feature. You can toggle back and forth after the fact to choose the one you like best or just keep both. Google accomplishes this feat with a dualpixel sensor rather than a second rear camera like on the iPhone 7 Plus, 8 Plus or upcoming X or Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8.
I do have another quibble here, however. To turn on portrait mode on the Pixel you have to go into a menu. I’d rather the control were front and center in the Camera app, just as it is on iPhones and Galaxy Note 8 that boast the feature.
Also new (and welcome) on the Pixel is a “motion photos” feature similar to live photos on the iPhone — basically a few seconds of video are captured along with a still image.
I was equally impressed when shooting video. Google says it fuses together optical and electronic image stabilization to cut down on your shakes, a test the XL passed when I shot footage from a bus window racing along a highway.
Too bad, though, that I could not yet test an upcoming interactive AR Stickers feature that promises to let you add playful augmented-reality emojis and characters to your photos and videos you shoot.
Google also offers one huge benefit to users: You can store all the photos and videos you take on the phone in Google Photos, even in their original quality.
NOW PLAYING
I love the idea behind the “Now Playing” feature that can automatically display the name and artist of a song playing in the background on the phone’s “always on” display.
Yes, it’s similar to what the Shazam app can do, except on the Pixel you need not go to the trouble of launching an app.
At times during my tests, however, the feature was slow or failed to identify the songs it heard. The good news is that Now Playing even works in airplane mode since songs are matched to a database of tens of thousands of titles stored on the phone. That also means that no data is sent off to Google. Google says if you enable the Now Playing feature, the database takes up less than half a gigabyte on your phone.
GOOGLE LENS
Google’s vision for Google Lens is that you can search what you see. If you take a picture of a book, landmark, poster, work of art, Web address, phone number and such, Google can surface information about the image or provide shortcuts for calling or texting. Or you can apply Google Lens to a photo that is already in your library.
Google Lens is in an early preview mode for a reason: It frequently doesn’t work. Still, it’s a promising feature that Google plans to bring to the Google Assistant as well in the coming weeks.
And in case you’re wondering, Samsung is taking a similar approach on Galaxy devices with its own Bixby personal assistant. Google Lens will also remind some of you of the Firefly feature on Amazon’s flop Fire Phone.
YOUR MAIN SQUEEZE
Pixel owners, like owners of other smartphones, can summon the Google Assistant by barking out the familiar “OK, Google” vocal command. On the Pixel, however, you have a silent method as well: you can squeeze the side of the phone. You can adjust the sensitivity of the squeeze and also use this gesture to silence incoming calls.
The feature isn’t completely novel. HTC, on its U11 phone, offered a similar capability. That’s no surprise given that HTC is manufacturing the Pixel 2 and that Google recently acquired some HTC employees to help with making hardware. LG is making the XL model.
BATTERY
The Pixels lack wireless charging, a feature that has been on Samsung phones and other devices for some time now and has finally come as well to the iPhone. Google does promise fast charging and says it can deliver up to seven hours of battery life from a 15minute charge. For what it’s worth, I reached an 18% battery charge level after 15 minutes. Fortunately, when fully charged, I got well over a day of mixed use.
Although it is not perfect, the Pixel 2 XL is a strong upgrade over Google’s first foray into producing its own phones. While it lacks some features found on other top phones from Samsung and Apple, photo buffs and Android fans will be very pleased with what Google has done with the Pixel 2.