hey guys Eber here with Hardware Canucks and I want to make this quick video
comparing the Galaxy Note 8 to the newly announced Google pixel 2 xl quick
disclaimer this isn't gonna be an in-depth comparison between the two
smartphones but rather a quick rundown as to what are some of the features that
both of these devices bring to the table and which one offers the best bang for
your buck since both the note 8 and the pixel 2 xl are expensive smartphones
so let's get into it but first a quick message from our
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these smartphones the note 8 starts at nine hundred and thirty dollars and that
gets you a six point three inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of
twenty nine sixty by 1440 and a pixel density of 521 now depending on your
country or carrier it comes with either the Exynos 88-90 5 octa-core CPU or the
snapdragon 35 processor you get 6 gigabytes of RAM 64 gigabytes of
on-board storage that can be expanded via microsd 3300 milliamp hour battery
ip68 water and dust resistant rating wireless charging s-pen which is the key
selling feature for the note 8 when compared to other Galaxy devices now the
pixel 2 xl is the complete opposite end of the spectrum when compared to the
Galaxy Note 8 pricing starts at 800 $49 which is just $80 less than the note you
get a six-inch Peola display with a resolution of 2880 by 1440 so it's a
little lower than the note 8 but in real world use you're not gonna notice a
difference it comes with the snapdragon 835 cpu 4 gigabytes of ram versus 6 on
the note 8 so perhaps we could expect a performance hit with multitasking there
are two sorts options available with the pixel 2 xl 64 and 128 gigabytes but
that adds additional cost although it isn't expandable which is a bit
disappointing the battery is slightly larger on the pixel 2 xl you're
looking at roughly 3,500 milliamp hours versus 3300 on the note 8 its ip67
water-resistant it does not come with support for wireless charging nor does
it come a stylist from a design perspective I do
prefer the pixel 2 xl over the Galaxy Note 8 just because it doesn't
come with an all-glass back I would rather the hybrid premium coding
material on top of the aluminum unibody construction feels rock solid in the
hand the note 8 is still built pretty well but the glass back questions
durability plus it can easily get slippery
once it's all smudged up so do take note of that I should also mention that the
fingerprint sensor location on the pixel 2 xl is a lot more convenient to
reach whereas on the note 8 it's right beside the two cameras which is really
hard to get through plus over the course of my testing period with the note 8
I've had times where it wouldn't recognize my finger that will so I found
that to be a bit annoying however the Galaxy Note 8 does come with
a headphone jack whereas the pixel 2 xl does not so if that's something
that you consider as a must-have feature on a flash of Android smartphone I think
you should probably lean towards the Galaxy Note 8 just because it comes with
a pair of headphones out of the box whereas with the pixel 2 xl you're
only just getting the phone in the charger so from a value perspective I
feel like the Note 8 does offer pretty much the essentials of what you would
need for an Android smartphone or a smartphone in general the speaker setup
on the Galaxy Note 8 might be a little bit concerning because you're only
getting a bottom facing mono speaker on the device when compared to the dual
front-facing speakers on the pixel 2 xl now when you're watching content
on the Galaxy Note 8 you can easily block the speaker which completely mutes
the sound and it gets annoying especially when you're watching a
YouTube video before going to bed or just watching content in general now I
guess the trade-off would be the inclusion of a headphone jack and of
course the headphones that come out of the box but again these are trade-offs
that you'll just have to work around with it I'd like to hear your thoughts
on the speaker setup on the Galaxy Note 8 and the pixel2 xl which one would
you pick would you mind taking that hit with lack of a headphone jack on the
pixel 2 xl or are you okay with the fun facing or the rear facing speaker on
the node 8 with the addition of the headphone jack let me know the comments
down below the camera systems on both these smartphones are a bit different so
starting with the Galaxy Note 8 we have two 12 megapixel sensors at different
focal lengths and you can use either of those to take shots whether that's a
more wider shot if you want a more close-up shot you can use the set
a telephoto lens there's also another feature called life focus mode that
essentially uses the two cameras to isolate the subject from the background
and and you and the user is given the option to adjust the background blur but
there's also another feature where it takes a backup photo with the wide-angle
lens so if you end up messing up the
composition with a live focus mode you can ought also you can always rely on
that wide-angle shot to at least you know get something out of it now with
the pixel 2 xl you're only getting a single 12 megapixel sensor with an f-1
point in aperture Google is heavily relying on their AI assistants to create
this portrait mode but essentially across maximum creates the step map to
isolate pixels and it just refines the edges cross matches with the database
that includes facial analysis and object detection and it creates this powdered
effect so we have to like I can't wait to get my hands on the pixel2 xl
once it starts shipping so I can test it out in depth and stay tuned for my full
review of the pixel 2 xl when it comes out the software experience on
both these devices are gonna be completely different regardless of them
being Android smartphones so with the Galaxy Note 8 you're looking at Android
7.1 with Samsung's skin on top of it we should probably
expect Android or your update in the upcoming weeks
but that's again the downside with Samsung devices is they're very late
when it comes to pushing out updates whereas with Google phones they're
straight you know they're first in line to receive any security bugs software
upgrades even operating system upgrades the other positive thing about the pixel
smartphone is the clean stock Android experience it does not come with
bloatware applications which would then hinder performance whereas with the
Galaxy Note 8 it does come with bloatware applications especially when
you purchase it through a carrier and of course updates would then postpone over
time depending on which carrier you're with so from a software perspective I'd
much rather go with the pixel 2 xl smartphone because I'm first in line to
receive updates and it's it's a much more you know usable experience I prefer
soft Kendra just because of its clean and fluid UI whereas what Samsung I'm
just its Samsung now as I mentioned in the beginning of this video one of the
key selling features with the note it is a V S Pen and I guess that's one of the
distinguishing features of the note 8 even compared to the pixel 2 xl
because that phone does not come with a stylus whereas this guy does if you're
someone who has lilly relies on taking notes and if
you're working on constantly on the go if you're dealing with a lot of
documents which includes you know signing some of them the stylus will
come in really handy there are also other cool features that come with the
stylus so for instance you can take a screenshot and quickly you know
highlight things and send it to anyone there's an there's a function where you
can create live messaging features where it just basically creates animated texts
and it saves it as a gif or Jif and then you can share it to anyone there's a
live auto translate feature and of course much more shortcuts that you can
customize it to your own desire whereas with a pixel 2 xl smartphone like I
mentioned earlier it's a much more cleaner experience you're not getting
all those extra set of features that Samsung gives you with the note 8 or
even the galaxy estate in the SI plus lastly I want to talk about Bigsby and
Google assistant so lenore-- does come with Google assistant built-in but you
can also use Bixby if you want to really take advantage of that button by the way
it's really annoying but I'm glad that you can actually disable it Samsung has
rolled out an update with the note 8 smartphones where you can disable the
function completely but with a pixel it's just in much more cleaner
experience as I mentioned beginning it comes with Google assistant you it's
there when you need it there's a squeeze functionality that activates Google
assistant but that can also be disabled so we have options it ultimately comes
down to user preference so I'd like to hear your thoughts on the Galaxy Note 8
and the pixel 2 xl which one of these smartphones would you consider and
in fact which one of these two smartphones would you recommend to a
friend or family member let me know the comments down below stay
tuned for my full review of the Galaxy Note 8 I'm Eber with Hardware Canucks thank
you so much for watching make sure to subscribe for more similar content and
we'll see you in the next one