After a rocky start, Google’s tweaks and changes have given the Pixel 2 XL the appeal that it needed. It’s not the best design to encase this new
Google stepped away from the Nexus family in 2016 and launched the Pixel smartphones, adopting the line of the previous Chromebook Pixel and Pixel C and presenting a Google-designed premium product.
The Pixel 2 XL is the second-gen, looking to replace one of our favourite 2016 phones. It’s an ambitious device, switching to an 18:9 display and looking to refine the bodywork of the previous device.
But somewhere along this road Google hit a bump.
Google has kept a design quirk in the Pixel 2 XL with that split rear that we saw on the original model. It’s reduced on this model — manufactured by LG — leaving only a small section at the rear top that’s glass, with the rest of the body metal.
The front is all glass, with the surface curving at the edges to flow into the aluminium bodywork. The fit and finish is great, displaying great quality in all directions and coming in two colours: black or black and white. The black version is a little more stealthy, while the black and white version is adorned with an orange power button. Little details matter and this gives the design a lift, although the general theme here seems to be slightly understated compared to the more showy iPhone X or Samsung Galaxy devices.
This phone is IP67 rated, giving it the water-proofing which it needs to sit in this flagship position: the previous version wasn’t and that was the biggest criticism of the phone. The metal work is also coated for a surface that has some grip: this doesn’t feel like the metal body of the iPhone 7 or HTC 10, it feels distinctly different, which we like.
But let’s talk about size. Measuring 157.9 x 76.7 x 7.9mm, the first thing you might notice is that this phone is larger than it perhaps needs to be. It’s only slightly smaller than the iPhone 8 Plus so despite the shift in display aspect (with the aim of giving you a big screen without a big body), the Pixel 2 XL doesn’t really achieve that aim.
Pitching the size against more formidable competition, it’s noticeably larger than the LG V30 (which has the same 6-inch 18:9) display, so in some regards, the Pixel 2 XL is a little unambitious: it makes a move to a different aspect display while not fully delivering one of the greatest benefits of that design shift, namely, a more compact body.
One of the things the design allows for is front-facing stereo speakers. The performance from those speakers is good, but only good, so they perhaps don’t justify the space they’re given. They’re no match for HTC BoomSound, lacking the richness and volume of HTC’s solution.
Other things to note are that the 3.5mm headphone socket is gone, so it’s USB Type-C for audio, or the dongle in the box to use your old headphones. The fingerprint scanner remains on the rear in a sensible place, certainly more practical to use than Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and Note 8 models and we found this perfectly fast to unlock the phone. It also offers a swipe shortcut to quickly pull down the notifications area.
We’re going to focus on the display next, because we think it’s worth a few more words than normal. As we’ve already detailed, the Pixel 2 XL moves to a new display aspect, following the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S8+, LG V30 or the Apple iPhone X.
It is, we suspect, the same panel that’s used in the LG V30, given that it’s referred to as p-OLED (which LG tends to use as Samsung dominates the AMOLED nomenclature) and the exact same size and resolution as the LG V30, but when the Pixel 2 XL initially launched, it looked totally different.
The thing that we all expect from OLED displays is that they give nice deep blacks but also vibrancy and pop. It is vibrancy and pop that the Pixel 2 XL lacked when it launched, which drew a lot of criticism. Google clarified the position, saying that the Pixel 2 XL has been tuned to look more natural and support a wider colour gamut. That’s also supported by Android 8.0 Oreo and the result is that you’re looking at the original colours that were created.
In that «natural» state, this display looks pretty flat and lifeless compared to any number of existing devices. It doesn’t look as good as the old Pixel XL, the iPhone 8 or the LG V30. It doesn’t look as nice as the OnePlus 5 or even as vibrant as the smaller Pixel 2.
But in that form there is a strange dichotomy to this display: while things like your Instagram feed won’t have the sheen that all other top smartphones offer, the Pixel 2 XL’s display works really well in particular conditions. Watching Star Trek Discovery on Netflix, the Pixel 2 XL looked many times better than the LG V30; by contrast, LG’s phone looks red in shadows and noisy in lower light scenes, with the Pixel 2 XL delivering cleaner accuracy — despite LG claiming that it would be showing the HDR version. Discovery is notable because so much is set against darkness.
A fix for the muted display was released, however, adding a new «saturated» option. While some supported Google’s original position of «natural», we found it lacklustre. Fortunately, the release of that additional display option pulls the phone back into the enjoyment zone for us. With that mode engaged, the Pixel 2 XL is more comparable to other flagship phones. It addresses our biggest complaint with the phone.
Some people have complained about «burn-in» on early devices, although we’ve not seen this on the second Pixel 2 XL that we have. Others also criticised off-axis colour shift. For us, this was never as big a deal as the display tuning itself, which leaves us a lot happier with the Pixel 2 XL following this software update. Perhaps it isn’t natural and even if Google claims it’s a byproduct of what we’ve become accustomed to, it’s still what we want to see.
With the display behind us, it’s easy to say that the Pixel 2 XL is every bit as powerful as other flagship devices of 2017. Yes, some have 6GB of RAM — like the OnePlus 5 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 — but on the whole, the Pixel 2 XL runs as fast and as smoothly as other devices. We’ve extend this further and say that Google’s pure Android software means that the Pixel 2 XL often runs smoother over long periods than some Samsung devices.
It’s here that you’ll notice a benefit over the older device too: it will handle some more demanding tasks with ease, for example, you won’t get asked if you want to turn down the graphical textures in Total War Battles Kingdom, because the phone can handle it. You’d expect pure Android to run smoothly on this hardware and it does — except for the occasional app closing unexpectedly. There might be some software gremlins still in the works.
We didn’t find it to run hot, however. Even during the initial start-up and mass of app installations we opted to do, the phone still stayed cool.
The consideration worth floating on the hardware setup is that the first device to launch with this hardware as the Samsung Galaxy S8, a full 6 months ago, so during the lifetime of the Pixel 2 XL it will be surpassed by the Snapdragon 845 devices in early 2018. Still, the pace of smartphone progress is such that you’ll never be up to date, unless you always by the newest phone as soon as it launches.
Google themselves point to the hardware race in smartphones, preferring to say that AI is part of the future for making phones better and that it will be machine learning that enhances experiences. It depends, of course, whether it’s the Google AI experience you want.
Turning to the battery and the 3520mAh cell in the Pixel 2 XL provides good day-long performance. As with most of these large format devices in 2017, it’s fairly easy to get through a day with some left in the tank. Stock Android isn’t especially strong on battery saving measures and this could be better: power saving feels like a limp home mode, rather than giving you granular power savings all through the day.
Fast charging is in place to bring that battery back into contention, using that USB Type-C on the base. This is very much the norm for Android devices these days, especially at this level.
The Google Pixel 2 XL launches with Android Oreo. That used to be one of the major selling points of Google’s devices — you got the latest version of Android first — but with Oreo already updating on the older Pixels, there’s less «newness» about these new devices. The position still remains, however, that you’ll be first on the list for updates to new versions in the future, with the Android 8.1 beta already roll-out.
There is some newness to get excited about and we do really like the new Pixel Launcher. This makes a few tweaks, changing the relationship between the home screen, the Google app and searching, slightly. There’s now a search bar at the bottom of the home screen and this will give you live search results both for your contacts and Google searches, as well as offering up common apps that you use.
This leaves the Google App off to the left with your tailored «feed» in it. This is the remnants of what was started by Google Now and we still find it very useful. It knows what you search for, so it knows what you’re interested in.
There’s also the shift to bring more information to the top your home screen, with calendar appointments appearing here. If you’re a busy person, it’s surprising how quickly little details like that enhance the experience. It’s a perpetual reminder and so much more useful that sitting in with the rest of your notifications.
