First week with the Google Pixel 3 XL

I've been using a Google Pixel 3 XL since last week. Here are some follow-up notes on my experiences so far.

Cost

First, let's talk about money. This is a topic I take very seriously and I think it's especially important when you consider how much of a cost-price rider the costly toy toys usually cost most riders. free with a loan of indefinite duration. But I do not have infinite money to spend, and when it comes to buying my own devices, which I often do, I try to be as economical as possible.

And half the time is about as economical as possible on what remains Google's flagship handset. I complained about the high cost of the Pixel range for each of its three years and generations, and I mourn the days when the reasonable prices of Nexus 6P and 5X were achieved. But $ 500 is much easier to swallow than $ 1,000. The calculation is so simple that even I can follow it.

In this case too, I had $ 300 in PayPal, which I use for discretionary shopping, typical of gadgets. And a Pixel 2 XL that does not rejuvenate and has no value in exchange. So the moment was well chosen too.

I thought the Pixel 2 XL was worth about $ 200 in exchange, but this assumption was based on a random assumption. It turned out that my estimate had been inflated by about 25%: Gazelle and Amazon Trade-In tell me that the phone is really worth about 150 dollars. Well.

Whatever the real value of the trade, I like the idea of ​​exchanging an old device for a new one, and I do it whenever possible. This is especially useful for expensive devices – I swapped an old iPad Pro and MacBook Air when I bought the new MacBook Air, for example, and an iPhone 7 when I bought the # 1. IPhone XR – but it's as much about getting rid of clutter as anything else. A device in, (at least) a device.

Of course, with the Pixel 3 XL in particular, I hope that its value will be greater if a Pixel XL 4 made sense in the fall. Or that it will last longer than the Pixel 2 XL, at least. Especially since the Pixel 2 XL that I used is a refurb.

In simple terms, the Pixel 3 XL that I bought is not worth $ 1,000. But $ 500? Absolutely.

Protective case

I really appreciate the feel of modern smartphones, but with their all-glass designs, these are accidents that are waiting their turn. I will always cover my phones to protect them and preserve their value of recovery. I like a lot of cases made by Apple for its iPhones and I try to find cases like those used for my purchases other than those on iPhone. But for the Pixel 3 XL, I decided to give up for the moment an expensive leather case (between 40 and 50 dollars) – after all, it is always possible that I do not even keep the phone – and that I pass cheap. Cheap but I hope effective.

The two cases I chose are the Tuopuna Air Armor and the ESR Essential Zero case. Nor are particularly noteworthy beyond the fact that everyone proves that you do not need to spend a lot of money on a decent case.

I prefer the ESR case because it lets appear the natural color of Pixel 3 XL (officially called "not pink" but really tanned). But it's not so appealing and I've used the Tuopuna case more, especially when I go to the gym, so the phone does not just slip out of my pocket when I'm using a machine.

And regardless of your feelings about the cases, you will I'd like one if you go with a Pixel 3, no matter what it is: The all-glass body is slippery like a bar of soap, as my wife had pointed out the day before. Arrival of suitcases. She was even afraid to pick it up.

nick

It is impossible to discuss the Pixel 3 XL without noticing this nick. It's wider than any phone, by far. It is so ridiculous that when images of the device leaked, a popular theory of conspiracy claimed that Google was simply falsifying leaks. It was out of the question that they release a phone with such a terrible design.

Well, they did it. And as all Pixel 3 XL users will tell you, you'll get used to it. This is true of almost everything, in reality, but not phone notches. But it's true no matter. Only people like me, who experience several different phones each year, would really complain about it.

It should also be noted that even with this notch, the screen is still more usable than the Pixel 2 XL. It's not much more, maybe a quarter of an inch vertically, but it's there.

Whatever it is, I can not wait for Google to eliminate this problem with a built-in front camera on the screen in the next pixels.

Camera

Since the Nexus 6P and 5X in 2015, Google has the best cameras for smartphones. Indeed, it was not even close. (Sorry, iPhone fans, that's right.) And then Huawei has arrived.

Thanks to the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, launched at the end of 2018, Google's pixel range is now second only to photographic prowess, and the Pixel 3 series surpasses that of photography in one area, the photography in low light. But with the P30 Pro, Huawei has definitely erased the title: not only are the performance in low light conditions better, but according to critics – I will soon review the P30 Pro myself – but its 5X optical zoom is transformational.

Thus, the Pixel 3 XL has suddenly become a part of the photography department. But consider two points.

First of all, it's a wonderful Also, and even if it will never compete with the optical zoom capabilities of the P30 Pro, the Pixel 3 XL takes great pictures, no matter what the lighting conditions. If you have a habit of using a recent Huawei phone, it is a step forward.

Secondly, the fact that Google can accomplish this with a single camera lens, at least on the back, is a miracle: other handset manufacturers, including Huawei, rely on multiple lenses to make their stellar shots. Google uses only one, in addition to its amazing artificial intelligence capabilities. If it were finally to adopt a second, even a third, in the future pixels, it could be a real competition again. (The Pixel 3 XL has two front cameras, which allows a super wide mode special for selfies, which is really useful.)

I have not made comparisons side by side yet, but it seems that this Pixel 3 XL will be a lateral gesture for anyone with a Pixel 2 XL. Meaning, do not upgrade just for the camera. But for all the others, without Huawei's customers, the camera is a great reason to proceed with an upgrade.

Reliability issues

Given the number of issues with the Pixel 3 XL, some of which have been resolved since launch, others not, I am obviously very eager to see how this phone behave realistically. This is doubly stressful because my previous Google device, the Pixel 2 XL, was also a nightmare of unreliability. (Mine has been replaced twice because of hardware issues.) So, I'm using the unofficial bug of Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL and tracking issues under Android Police and my own handset experience as a guide.

The biggest problem I've seen with my original 3 x XL was solved: memory problems that triggered background audio from music, podcasts or audio book apps stopping when I was using another app (like Camera) are no longer present and have apparently been resolved. in a software update of December 2018. So far – and yes, it's early – the performance has been excellent in all areas.

The audio problems I've noticed have been partially solved. The strange vibrations felt during the audio playback are still present in the body of the device (because, I think, the transition to aluminum glass), but they no longer trigger any audible distortion. The stereo problem, where the volume is skewed to the right side (no notch) when the camera is held in landscape orientation (as when playing a movie), is still present, but is not dramatic. Some of the other phones I've used still have a mono sound, which is acceptable. Not great. But acceptable.

The audio problem that I mentioned last week – where my Powerbeats earphones stopped working while I was at the gym was perhaps a user mistake. (Shocker.) I noticed the next day that the volume of the headphones was full, and fixing the problem obviously solved the problem. Since then, I bring a pair of extra earphones (wired) to the gym, just in case.

The other problem, perhaps related to the fact that the phone seems to heat up, including at the gym, is something that I felt again. But that does not happen often – it may have literally happened only twice – and I have not been able to understand what triggers it.

To my knowledge, I have not yet encountered a problem reported by the fact that the photos taken have not been recorded, but it will take me longer to be sure. And I did not experience any of the issues listed on this bug and problem tracking page. I will continue to use the phone and evaluate its reliability and performance, of course.

I am satisfied with the entire Pixel 3 XL. I like the form factor, the clean image of Android and the total compatibility of Google Fi. The camera, if not as happy in HDR as the Mate 20 Pro, is excellent. The life of the battery has been good overall, although I can already say that it does not match that of Huawei. I would have liked Google to keep the headphone jack. And returning to a rear-mounted fingerprint reader has been a good thing: it's fast and efficient.

Faster than necessary.

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