Google’s Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are finally reaching their end of life. Here’s everything you need to know about them.
Since their release in October 2018, the Google Pixel 3 and the Google Pixel 3 XL offered some significant upgrades over their predecessors, while still clearly belonging to the Pixel family. Read our full reviews of the Google Pixel 3 XL and Pixel 3 for all the details. On top of the usual processor upgrade, both Pixels sport a dual-lens, front-facing camera designed to elevate your selfie game to the next level, some additional software smarts to get the best from the single-lens main camera, and support for Qi wireless charging. Google’s design has also been refined compared to the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Here’s everything you need to know about the Pixel 3 and 3 XL and their most recent update now that they’ve reached the end of their life cycle. As Google promised, the Pixel 3 and 3 XL received three years of software and security updates, taking them from Android 9 through Android 12. Google confirmed to Digital Trends that the Pixel 3 and 3 XL received their last security update in October 2021. As witg the Pixel and Pixel 2, there will be one more “wrap up” update in the first quarter of 2022. At first glance, the Google Pixel 3 looks a lot like the Pixel 2, but look closer and you’ll see that Google has cut the bezels down, enabling it to pack a 5.5-inch OLED screen into a body that’s actually a hair smaller than its predecessor’s. Not only has the screen size jumped by half an inch, but it’s also sharper, with a 2,160 x 1,080-pixel resolution that results in a respectable 443 pixels-per-inch (ppi). Thankfully, there’s still room for stereo front-facing speakers. Flip around to the back and we find the same two-tone design as previous Pixels, with a fingerprint sensor in the middle and the camera lens at the top left, but this time the back is all glass, which allows the Pixel 3 to support wireless charging. Alongside the usual understated black version, there’s also white with a mint green power button, and an all-new “Not Pink” option with an orange power button.
