In the above shots, the Pixel 3 focused fast and captured highly detailed images with minimal noise and blur. When it comes to capturing objects like trees and buildings, the Pixel 3 is true-to-life, capturing details like shadows, textures, and crevices without overly smoothing them like the LG V40 or oversaturating colors like the Note 9. That said, we're really getting down to minute details here—all four phones are fantastic shooters. Obviously the Pixel 3 XL has a bigger screen than the Pixel 3, but it's also sharper. It boasts a crisp 6.3-inch Quad HD OLED display with a 2,960-by-1,440 resolution in an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. This works out to 523 pixels per inch, sharper than the Pixel 3 (443ppi), the iPhone XS Max (458ppi) and the Galaxy Note 9 (516ppi). The Pixel ships with Android 9.0 Pie, the very latest version of Google's mobile operating system. The phone is free from bloatware, and comes with the guarantee of two years of updates at the very least. We've already covered many of the changes Pie brings, including the redesigned gesture navigation, integration with the Pixel Stand, improved Google Assistant, and features like call screening and the upcoming Google Duplex.

As far as additional audio goes, the front-firing stereo speakers may not be room-filling at maximum volume, but they were more than sufficient to attract the attention of my colleagues when blasting Iron Maiden. The Pixel 3 supports 24-bit audio with the included Pixel Buds. The Pixel Buds are comfortable to wear, come with an adjustable ear loop, and integrate with Google Assistant. I found audio quality to be robust, with a crisp and accurate range, though the LG G7 with its dedicated quad DAC still provides more customization for audiophiles. This is a fantastic all rounder phone with a fantastic display and camera, and it is definitely worth the money if you are looking for something new that has a unique design and does everything you need it to. Once Google Duplex is rolled out, the phone will be able to do even more in the call department. Google Assistant can take over calling duties for you, sparing you from the tedium of tasks like scheduling hair appointments and making dinner reservations. The Google Pixel 3 XL ends up being the best option for people who want photos as flawless as they come on a smartphone, and are already used to a wielding sizable handset. It’s hard to downsize, even if the tighter dimensions of the 5.5-inch Pixel 3 are a better fit for most people.

🧭 Sensors

Featuring a Snapdragon 845 processor and 4GB of RAM, the Pixel 3 XL delivers silky smooth performance in everyday use and specific tasks, but its benchmark scores trail some other Android phones. We also ran 3DMark Slingshot Extreme to measure graphics performance. The Pixel 3 XL reached 4,396, which is comparable to the iPhone XS Max (4,339) but not as high as the Note 9 (4,639).

As good as the Google Pixel 2 XL was, it was severely hampered by a pretty awful display. The LG OLED display used last year received much criticism due to terrible colours and harsh blue shift when it was tilted. A few software updates from Google helped boost the colours somewhat, but the damage was already done. The 5.5-inch OLED screen fits into modern times. It's big and expansive, and sits in a phone that's smaller than we had expected given the screen size rumors. The entire thing measures 145.6 x 68.2 x 7.9mm and weighs 148g. It's roughly the same size as the Pixel 2, which had a smaller 5-inch display. The Pixel 3 XL runs a pure version of Android 9.0 Pie with at least two years of guaranteed updates. There's no bloatware aside from Google's app suite. Out of 64GB of storage on our review unit, we had 51.05GB free for use. Purchasing either Pixel gets you unlimited lifetime Google Photo storage. Conclusions Even though the display is big, this isn’t the best phone for media viewing – simply because that notch does get in the way. Some apps, YouTube and Netflix for example, can give you the option to expand video behind the notch or default it to 16:9. However, Google Play Movies has no such option, even though it’s visible on the smaller Pixel 3, so movies play in a small box with lots of wasted space. Google Pixel 3 XL – Performance The Pixel 3 has a 5.5-inch 2,160-by-1,080 OLED display that's thankfully free from the scourge of a notch. The resolution works out to a crisp 443 pixels per inch. While we've been seeing higher-resolution screens lately (like the 570ppi Galaxy S9), the Pixel 3 is still plenty sharp for the size. It's crisp enough to easily read text, watch videos, and play games, and you won't notice any real difference in clarity between the two devices. The one thing to note is that, while the screen is certified to support HDR content, it doesn't do any upscaling as we've seen on phones like the Sony Xperia XZ3 and the midrange Nokia 7.1Google’s design approach is more functional than fashionable, favoring its selfie twin cameras with a bit of asymmetrical screen distraction. For gaming, the larger XL display helps to make your games stand out and appear bright and lifelike. Snapdragon 845 gives a speedy performance, and the stereo speaker helps games come to live, so much so that you may struggle to keep your eyes away. The Google Pixel 3 is the ideal smartphone for anyone who cares about photo quality and isn’t satisfied with their phone’s picture-taking abilities today. It has the camera smarts and Android Pie-powered AI smarts of the Pixel 3 XL, without the awkward notch cut-out at the top. And, unlike the comparable, one-hand-friendly iPhone XS, it’s cheap – at least by 2018 and 2019 flagship standards.