Review of Google Pixel 3 XL based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 [8 pages]
16 Oct 2018 OCWorkbench
Last year, we reviewed the Pixel 2 XL and was impressed by it’s low light photography. This October, Google launches it’s 3rd generation Pixel which provides even more power, fun and play on the smartphone. #teampixel
Welcome Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL in 2 sizes of 5.5″ and 6.3″ and in 3 colours, Clearly White, Just Black and Not Pink. (I would prefer a Blue though). The Pixel 3 XL comes preinstalled with Android 9 Pie and the Google Assistant which you can activate by squeezing the sides of the phone. Both are powered by Qualcomm Snapdrago 845 at 2.5 GHz + 1.6 GHz, 64 bit Oct Core processor. It comes with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB or 128 GB storage.
The Pixel 3 has a 5.5″ FHD+ OLED at 443 ppi at 18:9 ratio while the larger Pixel 3 XL has a 18.5:9 6.3″ display QHD+ OLED at 523 ppi. Both spots 100,000:1 super contrast ratio with 24 bit depth colours, true black level and HDR support.
The Pixel 3 XL spots a front and back 12.2 MP dual pixel camera. The rear camera is a f/1.8 aperture with autofocus + dual pixel phase detection. It also has optical and electronic image stabilisation for compensating movements during photo taking or video recording. It can record up to 4K video at 30 fps.
The front vamera is a 8 Mega pixel wide-angle and telephoto camera with Wide-angle: f/2.2 aperture & DFoV 107° and Telephoto: f/1.8 aperture & DFoV 75°. It can record up to Full HD at 30 fps.
The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL now comes with stereo speakers on the front panel and is much louder than the Pixel 2. It also comes with 3 mics for noise suppression.
The non-removable battery is a 2915 mAH. It is larger than the previous generation by just a few 100 mAH. It supports 18W / 2A USB Type C charger with 18 W fast charging and wireless charging using the Pixel Stand.
The phone supports Wi-Fi 2.4GHz + 5 GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, Google Cast etc. It comes with a single nano SIM and is eSIM capable.
World-wide network/carrier compatibility with:⁶
GSM/EDGE: Quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
UMTS/HSPA+/HSDPA: Bands 1/2/4/5/8
CDMA EVDO Rev A: BC0/BC1/BC10
WCDMA: W1/W2
FDD-LTE : Bands⁷ 1*/2*/3*/4*/5/7*/8/12/13/17/18/19/20/25*/
26/28/29/30/32/66*/71
TD-LTE: Bands 38*/39/40/41*/42/46
Supports up to CAT 16 (1Gbps DL/75Mbps UL), 5x DL CA, 4×4 MIMO, LAA, 256-QAM DL and 64-QAM UL depending on operator support
eSIM capable
[nextpage title=”Unboxing of the Google Pixel 3 XL”]
Unboxing of the Google Pixel 3 XL
[nextpage title=”Google Pixel 3 XL Performance – Antutu, PCMark, Speedtest”]
Performance – PCMark, Antutu and Speedtest
PCMark measures the workloads on office productivity like web browsing, editing etc.
The benchmarks give a rough indication on how well the device performs under load.
Although devices might be powered by the same processor, the results might vary depending on how software is being optimised for battery life. The Pixel 3 XL scores 9106 which is a high score as compared to the devices on PCMark database.
Antutu Benchmark
In this benchmark, we see that the Pixel 3 XL ranks in the average pack of Snapdragon 845 smartphones from various manufacturers LG, Samsung, Sony etc.
Speedtest using Zero1 SIM
As a CAT 16 LTE device, we expect it to deliver high speeds. Sometimes, download speed varies from location to location. In our previous Pixel 2 XL review, we managed to reach 250 Mbps for download speed.
[nextpage title=”Google Pixel 3 Camera Features”]
Google Pixel 3 XL camera
Pixel 3 XL not only improves on it’s hardware, it introduces many improvements in software to ensure the best image and video quality. As Google is a software company, computer learning and camera AI are major ingredients in the Pixel 3. As usual, it takes outstanding image in any light condition without meddling with exposure, ISO etc. The new features e.g. Top Shot will recommend the best shot with smiles instead of eyes shut during a photoshoot by using machine learning to find great shots around your photos were people are smiling with eyes open. It also detects blur,, gaze and focus to recommend great shots and save them in beautiful HDR+ and higher resolution. Digital Zoom has always been a challenge for taking a good picture. Pixel 3 uses Super Res Zoom and is able to get a sharp and clear picture (see picture on last page) though analysing the movements while you are holding the phone.
With Photobooth, you don’t need to press and snap a selfie as it takes a shot when it see a smile on your face. For those who like groupfies, the front wide angle allows you to cover a wider angle so that your friends won’t be left out in the photos. Pixel 3 XL now comes with Google Lens built into the camera. You can now take a picture and it can identify plants, animals. Thanks to machine learning, it can even tell you the name of the flowers. Enjoy AR stickers in Playground where you can take videos or selfies with Iron Man standing right next to you.
Other features include HDR+ which comes default. It takes up to 8 frames and merge them together for amazing photos in any light with zero shutter lag.
Good news : All photos and video taken will be uploaded in original quality to Google Photos with no storage limit until 31/Jan/2022 after which they will remain free at original quality.
[nextpage title=”Day and Night shots taken with Pixel 3 XL”]
Now let’s take a look at some of the photos taken. The first 3 shots were taken in a overcast afternoon. The rest of the pictures are taken at Marina Bay at night. The 8th picture (Marina Bay Sands Hotel) was taken with digital zoom across the river and it turned out pretty well.
[nextpage title=”4K video shot using Google Pixel 3 XL”]
4K Video shoot
Below is a 4K Video shoot without tripod. The OIS and EIS stabilised the video.
[nextpage title=”Slow motion video shot with Google Pixel 3 XL”]
Slow motion videos
[nextpage title=”Conclusion”]
Conclusion
Google’s Pixel 3 XL demonstrates capability of achieving good quality night shots with a combination of hardware and software through machine learning. Sometimes I wonder why some manufacturers are promoting as much as 4 rear cameras (I can understand that software do have it’s limitation, e.g. wide angle without wide angle lens). With one rear camera and good software, Pixel 3 XL is able to achieve amazing digital zoom, bokeh effect without the need of a secondary or tertiary camera.
Seriously, I am not a selfie fan. The wide angle camera fronting the device is not that useful to me. Perhaps the next version could integrate a telephoto + wide angle as back camera with software to achieve low and wide angle shots.
Similar to the Pixel 2 XL, the Pixel 3 XL lacks a manual mode option in the software. If you love doing light painting, you may be disappointed as there are no manual adjustments to ISO and exposure available in the camera app. Third party applications may help have such options.
Video shooting is greatly enhanced with the optical and electronic image stabiliser. You can now record in full stereo as recording was mono on the Pixel 2 XL. The Pixel 3 XL front facing speakers are loud and reminds me of the Boom Sound on LG G7+ ThinQ.
When it comes to a smartphone, battery life is utmost importance. I don’t understand why Google chose to use a 2915 mAH battery instead. In our test, a full charge took around 1 hr 40 mins. In contrast, the OnePlus 6 took just over an hour to do a full charge.
Can the battery last for a day ? The battery was fully charged up to 100% yesterday from 1350 hrs to 1530 hrs. It was used to play YouTube, online radio, running benchmarks, snapping photos. The battery indicator indicated a 11% left at 2:26pm today (leaving the phone on overnight). That means, a full charge can last you around 24 to 26 hours of usage without a recharge.
If you are a frequent traveller, you might be disappointed the Pixel 3 XL only has a single SIM slot. Personally, I prefer physical dual sim slot. If there are any issues, you can simply replace it with a prepaid card. If you are on eSIM, how are you going to contact your service provider if you are out in the wild without a data sim ? From the package, it looks like you can have 2 networks (one SIM and one eSIM). The eSIM network can be added via QR code in the settings. It is unclear if local telcos will launch plans with eSIM for the Pixel 3 / XL on 1st Nov 2018.
One of the nicest feature of Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL is the Call Screening function. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work here in Singapore as it only works in US, English language (changing the assistant language doesn’t work, I tried it!).
Google Pixel 3 Call Screening is not available to non English US users
In Conclusion, Pixel 3 XL has made a smartphone that continues to take the best pictures regardless of the lighting conditions. Be it Portrait or night shots, the image quality is superb. Looks like it will score at least 100 in DXOMark.
In addition, Google will be improving the Pixel 3 XL with more features like Driving mode which automatically detects driving using signals like audio detection, Fast Pair 2.0 for secure connection to bluetooth and a Night Sight which uses computational and AI to capture vibrant and detailed photos in low light without flash.
Google Assistant can now understand and speaks Mandarin on PIxel 3 and Pixel 3 XL (only).
Google Pixel 3 XL accessories can be bought at Amazon.
Google Pixel 3 / Pixel 3 XL Price Information
Google Pixel 3 / Pixel 3 XL Press Event & Demos
Google PIxel 3 US Launch event
Pros :
- Night photography
- Performance
- Google Assistant
- Front facing stereo speakers
- Water and Dust Resistance
Cons:
- 2915 mAh battery
- Wide angle lens only for selfie (front)
Ratings
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