- Hey guys, this is Austin.
This is the Google Pixel 2 and this is the Pixel 2 XL,
but the question is are they worth it?
There's a lot new this year, but one of the biggest
differences is in price.
So the Pixel 2 is going to cost you $650,
but bump up to the Pixel 2 XL and it is $850.
Want 128 gigs of storage?
Then this guy's going to cost you $950.
Jump inside the box and there's actually a fair bit
that comes with the Pixel 2.
So the first thing we'll find is the actual smart
phone itself, but beyond that,
get a little bit deeper, we get a "Yay welcome to
#TeamPixel" bit, which I'm sure has all our paperwork,
SIM tool, that kind of thing.
There's also a USB-C to USB-A adapter,
we get what looks to be a whole bunch of extra cables!
Oh boy.
When Google announced the original Pixel last year,
something they were really big on is the idea
that it still has the headphone jack.
Now fast forward to the Pixel 2 and it's nowhere to be seen.
Now I get the idea that by dropping the headphone jack,
you're going to free up more space inside the phone
for sensors or batteries, or whatever,
but the problem is, unless you're fully on the
Bluetooth headphone train, USB-C is a bit
of a mess right now.
Say what you will about Apple dropping the headphone jack
last year, but at the very least there are some
decent Lightning headphone options available.
On the Pixel, you're pretty much limited to either
using the adapter that comes in the box,
or a very limited selection of USB-C headphones.
It's not all bad with the Pixel 2 hardware,
so while yes, it does look fairly similar to the last
generation, including the pretty large bezels,
but in return, we're now getting IP67 water resistance,
as well as some pretty solid front firing stereo speakers.
Move over to the Pixel 2 XL, and it is a surprisingly
large change.
So up front, it's rocking a six inch AMOLED display,
and while I wouldn't call it bezel-less,
the bezels are a lot thinner than on the standard Pixel 2.
Even though the Pixel 2 is made by HTC
and the XL is made by LG, the hardware is very similar.
So they're both still rocking a two-tone design
and while it looks nice, I actually do definitely
prefer the way that the original Pixel looked
with the very blue color, because you know,
yeah, I want all my smart phones to look like this.
Even though this is a glass and metal phone,
the metal part actually has this sort of coating on it,
which kind of feels like plastic.
Now if you check out JerryRigEverything's durability test
of the Pixel 2, you'll see that this coating
is not particularly durable.
I actually kind of like the way that the Pixel 2 feels,
but multiple people who've tried it immediately
thought that it was made out of plastic,
so take that for what it's worth.
Take a look at it in Geekbench,
and while it's fast, it is absolutely no match for the
Apple A10X in the iPhone 8, however,
thankfully benchmarks aren't everything.
What stuff like Geekbench doesn't get across
is that this is an incredibly snappy phone.
Animations are smooth, the responsiveness is quick,
and it always feels like it's one step ahead
of what you actually wanna do.
Honestly, this is one of the fastest Android phones
I've tested and it is right up there with the iPhone 8.
Part of that is thanks to an incredibly clean build
of Android 8.0 Oreo.
So there are some custom features,
including Google Lens, and this is actually built
inside Google Photos, it would be nice to see it in
the camera app, but what it's allowing you to do
is scan a photo and try to figure out what it is.
For some things it's not that accurate,
but for others, it is surprisingly good.
Although just not that useful to me.
What's a little cooler is Now Playing,
now once you enable this, essentially the phone
will always be listening for music
and if it detects it, it will actually give
you a notification.
This is kind of creepy, but it works surprisingly well,
especially if you're in something like a restaurant,
you might be able to actually pick up the song
that's being played over the stereo.
The Pixel 2 also has a squeezable frame,
so if you actually squeeze it on the bottom half,
it will trigger Google Assistant.
So, what does the fox say?
- [Assistant] Ring ding ding ding ding a ding
and wop pop pop pop pop pa pow,
or so I've heard.
(laughs)
Roll a 20 sided die.
- [Assistant] You got it.
(die hits table)
It's a 19.
- Flip a coin.
- [Assistant] Okay.
(coin lands on table)
You got tails.
- However, not everything is perfect.
Some of my biggest issues with the Pixel 2 is the display.
So on the standard size Pixel 2, it's fine.
It's a five inch AMOLED panel with a 1080p resolution.
Yes it could be a little bit sharper,
and the bezels could be a lot smaller,
but it's totally usable.
However, when it comes to the Pixel 2 XL,
that display is garbage town.
I mean it.
Garbage town.
This reminds me of really early AMOLED panels
from years ago.
When you're looking at it straight on, it's okay,
although honestly a lot of the colors,
like especially the reds look awfully brown,
but as soon as you move it even a little bit off axis,
it goes super, super cool.
This is okay on a cheap smart phone,
but when you're charging $850, it's basically
a deal breaker.
It really is a shame, because the Pixel XL 2
should be able to compete with stuff like the iPhone
and the Galaxy Note 8, but right now,
the screen holds it back, which to me actually makes
the normal Pixel 2 a much easier sell.
Yes, it has the much larger bezels,
but to my eye, is a way better screen,
and it's the phone that I've been using
the last few days.
Thankfully the giant bezels of the Pixel 2
don't go to waste.
It does have some very nice sounding front firing speakers,
those pretty much blows away any other flagship
that's out today, with really the only exception
being the iPhone 8.
And to my ears, they sound very similar,
way better than pretty much anything else
you can get right now.
One of the biggest upgrades on the Pixel 2
is that 12 megapixel camera.
Now that might not sound impressive,
but these are some of the best smart phone images
I've ever gotten period.
Some of the stuff is really crazy.
There is a ton of detail on these images,
and they've actually done a really good job
of getting even more dynamic range than most of the
already great flagships that you can buy in 2017.
Color is also good, maybe not quite as saturated
as some Samsung phones, but the low-light performance
has seen a huge bump up on the Pixel.
Now a part of that is because they finally added
optical image stabilization, and that paired with their
awesome image processing means that you can get
some surprisingly usable shots in very low light.
The portrait mode is also really good on the Pixel,
so while it doesn't have any kind of dual camera setup,
using software, they're actually able to get a very
similar sort of result, and the upside is
this also works with the selfies.
Now the Pixel 2 does shoot 4K video,
and you guys can actually look to see and hear
what that sounds like right now,
but as far as I'm concerned, this is one of the best
smart phone cameras that you can buy right now.
Although if you're using a Pixel 2 XL,
taking a look at these pictures on screen
might not give you too much confidence,
but believe me, the colors and the image quality
is absolutely there.
Last year's Pixel was a very, very good phone
with a couple of major compromises.
This year, Google basically nailed it, almost.
You might not mind the screen on the Pixel 2 XL,
but it is just simply not in the same league
as other flagships, and when you're paying $850,
you should expect the best in everything.
I really like the standard Pixel 2.
Yes, the screen is a little bit small,
and the bezels are big, but the rest of the phone
is so good that it's kind of worth it.
It is absolutely one of the best smart phones
that you can buy.
So what do you guys think about the Pixel 2
and the Pixel 2 XL?
Let me know in the comments below,
and I will catch you on the next one.