- [Narrator] The best Android smartphone,
it's a phrase favored by pundits and pitchmen,
one even I have used on occasion,
but in the Android world, the best has often
been split into two very different camps.
For purists who wanted unadulterated software
and the fastest updates, there was the Nexus line.
For more mainstream consumers, companies like Samsung
eventually came to rule the roost
in a phone you could buy from your wireless carrier.
So what if you combined the best of the two?
You'd have an all new Google phone, a phone called Pixel.
This is the Mr. Mobile Review.
(upbeat techno music)
I first picked up a Pixel about 11 days ago,
and it's taken me the entire time
to warm up to the look of the thing.
The internet of geeks has kind of worn itself out
debating whether it more closely resembles
an iPhone or a midrange HTC design.
HTC built the thing, by the way.
To me, the phone just looks unfinished.
I'll forgive a big chin if it's got a reason to exist.
This huge empty expanse doesn't qualify.
And the half-glass, half-aluminum
backside feels somehow arbitrary.
Google does deserve credit, though,
for introducing even that much flair,
and the slight wedge shape of the chassis
means it avoids a protruding camera hump,
which some people find ugly.
Look, at the end of the day, looks are subjective.
If you want a little more pizzazz like I did,
you can snag the Really Blue version,
which is quite striking in person.
In the hand, the Pixel feels solid if slippery,
and for packing a five-inch display,
it's pretty manageable one-handed.
That display is a full HD AMOLED panel,
and the only complaint I have about it
is that it doesn't get as bright
as other panels in direct sunlight.
If you decide to shell out for the larger Pixel XL,
you get a 5.5 inch quad HD screen.
I never found myself wanting the added acreage, though,
there's plenty of room here to work, and it only gets
cramped when you're running two apps side by side.
That's a new feature for phones running Android 7,
and the Pixel also packs a few more tweaks
into its custom software, the app drawer
is now hidden behind a swipe gesture,
freeing up extra space in the dock.
The fingerprint sensor now functions as a kind of track pad
for deploying your notification shade,
which saves your thumb a stretch, and a long press
of the Home key now summons Google Assistant.
This is the Pixel's big push to integrate
AI into your everyday life, and Google is better
positioned here than any other player.
With Assistant you can use your voice
to ask general questions, get directions,
set reminders, things like that.
If that sounds familiar, it should.
This has been a standard feature of almost
every Android device for the past four years,
it just had a different name, Google Now.
In fact, I pressed play on one of Google's
new Pixel commercials, and then I picked up
the closest Android phone I had and followed along,
asking my device every question Todrick Hall
asked his Pixel, and what do you know,
this phone did everything his phone did,
and mine is less than half the price.
In fact, Google Now can even do some things,
like identify music, that Assistant can't do yet.
Thankfully you can still access Google Now on the Pixel.
None of this is to say Assistant is bad,
it's already developing new features,
like the ability to carry on a continuous conversation,
and even in its current form, it's far more
capable than, say, Apple's Siri.
The future is bright, but as of now,
it's just a re-branded version of something
Android has had since 2012,
it's kind of tough to get excited about.
Thankfully the Pixel brings another asset
that Android hasn't always been known for,
stunningly smooth software.
The Pixel just glides, everything is instant,
everything is effortless, almost everything just works.
I say almost because there are still bugs to be found,
like finicky Bluetooth connectivity and memory management
that's too aggressive at times, but those aside,
every interaction I have with this phone's software
reinforces my confidence in it.
And it makes the Pixel much easier to recommend
to the less tech-savvy people whom I formerly
might have steered toward the iPhone.
You know what also helps with that?
A great camera, and shooting on the Pixel is excellent.
Double click the Power button and you jump
right into a clean, easy-to-understand viewfinder.
Rudimentary white balance and exposure controls
are there if you want them,
but you don't need them to take a good photo,
you just point and shoot.
Even with automatic HDR on, the camera is fast.
It seems to have an easier job reproducing reds
and greens than some other smartphone cameras,
and it even holds its own in the tavern.
Though once you really start going dark,
the saturation goes to pot, digital noise comes out,
and it can get mighty grainy at times.
And maybe that's no surprise given
the lack of optical stabilization in the hardware.
The surprise comes when you flick over to video,
and despite that lack of OIS, find the smoothest,
silkiest footage you've ever seen from a phone.
That's thanks to the camera taking data
from the Pixel's gyroscope and using it to counteract
things like stumbles, hand trembles, and bumpy roads,
all of which I encountered in abundance
during my review period.
If you've ever taken a New York City taxi,
you know Manhattan's roads aren't this smooth,
and if you've ever ridden an Amtrak regional train
you know the rail isn't much better.
Yet the Pixel delivers.
Again, the lower the light, the worse the video quality.
Even in moderately lit scenes,
there's more grain than I've come to expect,
and Google has acknowledged the lens flare problem,
which gives some of your video a J.J. Abrams quality.
But with stabilization this epic and focus this fast,
I'm more forgiving of that than I'd otherwise be.
The only thing that really annoys me about shooting
with the Pixel is a tendency for the focus to drift,
especially when shooting through a window.
By the way, I shot most of this in 4k,
so if you want results like these and you plan to film a lot
you'll probably want to spring
for one of the larger storage options.
The Pixel has no memory card support.
Then again, one of the nice things
about owning a Pixel is unlimited backups.
Everything you shoot is automatically uploaded
to Google Photos in full resolution for free.
Other perks include solid if unremarkable
voice call quality, 24/7 customer support
right on the phone, and excellent battery life.
The Pixel's power pack is actually on the smaller side,
so this is even more impressive.
My daily use is pretty power-intensive.
I do a lot of streaming radio,
and I stream that radio to a Bluetooth headset,
and I'm usually using my WiFi hotspot
for about two hours, and even adding that stuff
to the usual email and social media onslaught,
the Pixel almost always lasts me well into the night.
When it's time to recharge, USB power delivery
gets me from empty to full in under 90 minutes.
To bring it all home, the Pixel is a very good smartphone.
It's got the smoothest Android build I've ever used,
it's remarkably fun to shoot video with,
and it comes packing useful and valuable features.
Where it stumbles is in pricing and availability.
If you're buying unlocked, the Pixel starts
at $650 for the 32-gig version.
In the Android world, where you can get a solid smartphone
for under $400 these days, that's tough to swallow.
It seems clear that the Pixel was meant
to compete directly with the iPhone,
also a very expensive smartphone,
and with the notable exception of waterproofing
and a national retail presence, the Google phone keeps up.
If what you want is the best overall Android experience,
and you're okay paying extra for the privilege,
then the Pixel is probably the phone for you.
If it's not, there are always alternatives,
and I've reviewed a lot of them.
And check out Mr. Mobile's other smartphone reviews
on YouTube, and be sure to subscribe
so you don't miss the next one.
Until next time, thanks for watching,
and stay mobile, my friends.
(ambient electronic music)