Google's Pixel 3XL is for people who want the best smartphone, not the best design
The Pixel 3XL has the foundation that makes great smartphones "great."
The Pixel 3XL has everything that other top Android phones have:
- An excellent, sharp display
- Fast and responsive performance
- Good battery life
- Water resistance
- Wireless charging
- A fast and responsive fingerprint sensor
- A great camera (more on this later)
These are more-or-less standard expectations form a high-end Android phone these days, and the Pixel 3XL ticks every box.
Google's Pixel 3XL shines in a meaningful way that most other Android phones don't.
There's just something about using a device where everything is made "in-house": The Pixel 3XL is a marriage of Google's hardware and Google's software. It's the Google experience rather than the "Samsung and Google experience" or the "LG and Googl experience." While some other Android devices can suffer from conflicts with performance and updates, the Pixel runs like a tight, well-oiled machine.
Android 9.0 "Pie" on the Pixel 3XL feels up to date, optimized, clean, responsive, fluid, and reliable. Other Android smartphones that aren't made by Google check some of those boxes, but not all of them.
Some exceptions are OnePlus phones and the Essential Phone, both of which run the cleanest versions of Android outside of Google's own Pixel devices. To note the Essential Phone has been getting Android updates at the same time as Pixel phones, and it's the only non-Google phone to do so.
What do I mean by clean and why is it so important? It means no bloatware and a "less is more" approach to features that makes it easier to use than a phone with lots of features.
The notch isn't great, but it doesn't ruin the experience.
After using the Pixel 3XL for a week, I've come to completely ignore its massive notch. It doesn't detract from the experience of using the phone at all.
If you write off the Pixel 3XL because of its notch, you'll be doing yourself a disservice for the sake of looks. You'll be missing out on everything that's great about the Pixel 3XL, including the great software and the absurdly good camera, which I'm coming to next.
The camera is phenomenal.
I've taken photos with many of the top Android phones, but none please me as much as those taken with Google's Pixel phones.
There's a depth to the Pixel 3XL's photos that other phones can't quite seem to muster. It's from the perfectly balanced contrast between light and dark areas, where light areas aren't too bright, and dark areas aren't too dark. Photos seem more natural than those taken with other phones, which can have an overly processed look.
Now, whenever I take photos with other high-end phones — even Apple iPhones — there's a little voice inside my head that tells me "The Pixels take better photos; this one's not going to look as good as if you took it with the Pixel."
The Pixel 3XL's camera is just astoundingly good.
Even with a single lens, the Pixel 3XL has one of the best portrait modes.
The portrait mode on the Pixel 3XL is pretty amazing, and I can adjust the amount of background blur after taking the shot, too. I could even make my cat Wally blurry and make the background crisp after taking the photo if I wanted to. But no one in their right mind would blur that face.
If you're looking to spend around $900 on a new smartphone, the Pixel 3XL should be your top pick.
$900 might seem like a high asking price for a smartphone with a massive notch and a burly chin. Indeed, other phones with more persuading designs will be more appealing if someone is basing their decision on looks.
But I'd urge anyone to look past the notch and chin. Otherwise, you're missing out on a fantastic smartphone that runs a nice, simple, and clean version of Android and gets updates on time. And, perhaps more importantly to a typical smartphone user, you'd be missing out on the best smartphone camera you can buy.
Google's Pixel 3XL is quite simply the large-screen Android phone to get if you can fit its $900 price tag into your budget. If not, I'd take a good long look at the upcoming OnePlus 6T from OnePlus, which will cost $550 and will be announced on October 30 for a release date of November 6.
The Pixel 3XL goes on sale in the US on October 19, and in overseas markets on November 1.
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