Google introduced its Pixel Smartphone at Made By Google event in October 2016. The smartphone caused the most intense interest on the part of all the fans of electronics and mobile devices. Still does! It is available in regular and extra-large sizes. But with a quite large difference in price. In UK the Google Pixel 128GB is currently priced at £799.00, while the Google Pixel XL 128 GB is currently priced at £1,099.00. The Pixel and Pixel XL are metal one-piece devices available in “Very Black” and “Quite Silver”, with a limited edition version in “Really Blue”.

The smaller model has a screen diagonal of 5 inches and a resolution 1920×1080 pixels. While the Pixel XL is 5.5in on the diagonal with 2560×1440 pixels resolution. Both phones are fitted with an AMOLED screen – Full-HD AMOLED at 441ppi for the Pixel and Quad-HD AMOLED at 534ppi for the Pixel XL – which offers vivid colours and great contrast. Both models are protected with 2.5D Corning® Gorilla® Glass 4 that is rounded on the edges of the screen for a smoother feeling at touch.

Google Pixel is sized 5.6 x 2.7 x 0.2 ~ 0.3 inches (143.8 x 69.5 x 7.3 ~ 8.5 mm) and weigh 143 gm, while the Pixel XL is 6.0 x 2.9 x 0.2 ~ 0.3 inches (154.7 x 75.7 x 7.3 ~ 8.5 mm) and 168 gm.

The 2 models differ also for the battery installed: a 2,770 mAh battery for the Pixel and a 3,450 mAh battery for the Pixel XL, which guarantees a 20-25 percent greater autonomy.

The battery life in numbers:

PIXEL

  • Standby time (LTE): up to 19 days
  • Talk time (3g/WCDMA): up to 26 hours
  • Internet use time (Wi-Fi): up to 13 hours
  • Internet use time (LTE): up to 13 hours
  • Video playback: up to 13 hours
  • Audio playback (via headset): up to 110 hours
  • Fast charging: up to 7 hours of use from only 15 minutes of charging

PIXEL XL

  • Standby time (LTE): up to 23 days
  • Talk time (3g/WCDMA): up to 32 hours
  • Internet use time (Wi-Fi): up to 14 hours
  • Internet use time (LTE): up to 14 hours
  • Video playback: up to 14 hours
  • Audio playback (via headset): up to 130 hours
  • Fast charging: up to 7 hours of use from only 15 minutes of charging

The camera itself is capable of capturing videos in 4K and, importantly, at 30 frames per second. Of course, the best is 60, but even considering video cameras, how many do we know that can do this? So i would not complain. And if we talk about the frame rate, the shooting is also provided with a frequency of 240 and 120 frames per second. And, of course, traditional camera shoots 1080p at 30 and 60 frames per second choice. By the way, the front camera is also capable of capturing videos at 1080p.

It is difficult to identify a clear winner between the Google Pixel and Pixel XL, the first with lower weight and price, the latter with its larger, higher-resolution screen and higher-capacity battery. I would say that there are times when each of them is a winner. And the only difference is a matter of preference. But if you are a video games addict you should definitely go with the Pixel XL.

What can we compare this phone with? I would not compare it with other models on Android, because it is not entirely correct, since in this unit, we see a symbiosis of metal and software that is not available to other manufacturers of smartphones with Android. I would compare it to the iPhone instead. Even the pricing looks similar.