The Pixel 4 XL is finally here, time for another unboxing
The Pixel 4 XL is arguably Googles most controversial smartphone yet, so I decided to get my hands
on the 4 XL to see for myself what all the hubba baloo is about. Now the box is typical
Google styled, clean, bright and let’s be honest is does draw you in, it’s clear to
see that even the packaging is based on Googles ethos of simplicity.
Lifting the top off the box the first thing that hits you is the back of the Pixel in
my case it’s the Oh so orange and boy oh boy is it orange, I feel like I have been
tangoed. Delving deeper into the box we have the usual stuff, an 18w usb c power adapter,
the 1 metre usb c to usb c 2.0 cable, the quick switch adapter, the start guide and
of course the sim tool.
Strangely enough there is a slight sweet smell coming from within the confines of the box
which makes a change to the horrible plastic rubbery smell you can get from other OEM’s.
Another odd thing I noticed is that the lid has a rounded square cut out which replicates
the camera only much much bigger. Not important but I’m just marking your cards. Google
have chosen not to include any headphones or a dongle in the box and believe me I looked
very hard for them. Not a major issue for me as I never use the headphones supplied
in the box from any manufacturer.
Taking a closer look at the Pixel 4XL, I have to say first impressions I personally like
the look, it is different and does stand out especially the oh so orange. The aluminium
sides have a matte black coating which I can appreciate because unlike other smartphones
which have polished frames it means no fingerprints. The same can be said about the frosted glass
back, that matte orange does not show any fingerprints at all, so be still my OCD finally
no constant cleaning. The volume rocker is also finished in the matte black whereas the
power button is in a kind of pale pinky orange hue making it very visible against the light
stealing matte black. The bottom of the phone has the speaker and mic grills and usb c charging
port, I love that symmetrical look however that changes on the back which has the square
camera housing in the top left corner for the 16mp and 12mp cameras, one of which is
a telephoto lens and of course the flash, a mic and a sensor.
The 6.3inch display on the front is Googles best smartphone display to date, it is a QHD+
flexible OLED panel with a PPI of 537, it has the modern 19:9 aspect ratio, HDR support,
always on display, its made of gorilla glass 5 and of course that buttery smooth 90hz refresh
rate. First impressions for me is that it does look like a high quality panel, more
good news the bath tub notch of the pixel 3xl is now gone and instead replaced with
a bezel that houses some new and exciting technology. Quick Gestures uses radar to sense
motion, helping you control your Pixel 4 xl without touching your phone, for example,
by waving your hand over your screen you can change tracks or snooze and silence alarms.
That bezel also houses the earpiece which doubles as the secondary speaker, there is
also an 8mp selfie camera and the ability to use your face to unlock your pixel as there
is no more fingerprint reader.
A few other specs to talk about are a 3700mah battery which I will be testing in more depth
over the coming weeks, 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM and in this case 64GB of built in storage
or in the case of the just black and clearly white variants you can get 128gb however no
expandable storage, I just wish this was more, but using the pixel day to day will show if
I really can live with only 64gb of storage. Complimenting this is the snapdragon 855 which
should perform well especially since the Pixel runs stock android so I don’t see that having
any issues.
So overall my first impressions, so far so mixed, I personally like the look and feel
of the Pixel 4XL in hand and it feels like it was designed to be used without a case.
The bezel doesn’t bother me and that screen does look gorgeous at first glance, however
I think to fully appreciate a pixel device you have to use it daily, specs don’t always
tell the full story. I am looking forward to trying out stock android and that transcribe
feature which if accurate will be a game changer for me personally.
So there you have it, my Pixel 4XL unboxing and first look, I will be making a lot more
content about this smartphone in the coming weeks so smash that subscribe button and bell
notification icon, give me a thumbs up and share this video on your social media to help
me grow the channel. Until next time this is Tech Zilla saying take care and peace.