Google Pixel 3 and 3XL Preview – Intelligent and a little stubborn

So when we joined Google’s press conference in Berlin on Tuesday, October 9, we weren’t as curious as we were with previous product launches. Still, we were very happy to be there, as it was the Pixel 3 XL in particular that had been leaked a lot about; the Pixel 3 was mostly unaffected. And more importantly, this was the first opportunity where we could use and experience both devices ourselves. Fortunately, along with extra details that Google gave during the announcement, there turned out to be plenty of news about these new Pixels to discover. Especially on the camera level, just as we have seen with many other manufacturers recently, enough has been renewed.

Bigger screens, comparable phones

The biggest difference between the Pixel 3 phones and its predecessors is the larger screen. The smaller version goes from 5″ to 5.5″ and the XL model is now 6.3″ instead of 6″. Google has done that without making the phone itself bigger, but by making the screens more elongated and the screen edges smaller. In addition, the large model now has a notch, which stands out because it is a lot higher than the notches on many other phones. You can decide for yourself whether that is beautiful or ugly. Not a fan of notches? Then you can always go to the smaller Pixel 3 that has a ‘normal’ screen. Or you turn it off in the software.

Why does one have a notch and the other doesn’t? According to Google, people buy a big phone because they want a big screen. The goal with the XL was therefore to have as much of the surface as possible as screen, hence the notch. Buyers of the smaller Pixel would care less about a lot of screen space, according to the manufacturer. Yet the small Pixel also looks quite different, since its predecessor had old-fashioned thick edges above and below the screen and they are now considerably smaller. Apart from the notch , the step from the Pixel 2 XL to 3 XL is less significant, because last year’s model also had relatively small edges around the screen.

Having spent some time with them, including a head-to-head comparison between the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3, we’d venture to say that the new Pixels feel nicer in the hand. This is due to the edges all around, which have been made a bit more convex.

Despite the smaller bezels, stereo speakers are also present on these phones. A good choice if you ask us; every phone and tablet should have them. We didn’t get to do extensive testing and Google’s demo room was a bit noisy, but our first impression is that the speakers on the new Pixels sound fuller and could be louder.

Also this year, Google continues to build on the design that it came up with with the first Pixel. With this third generation of Pixels, the back again consists of a matte surface containing the fingerprint scanner and a large strip of glass at the top. Where the matte part of the Pixel 2 still consisted of metal with a special coating, the back of the Pixel 3 models is completely made of glass. However, a matte coating is still present, so that the back is visually divided into two blocks. So they look almost the same, but are probably a bit more fragile. It is still possible to launch Google Assistant by pressing the edge of the phone.

That glass back is necessary to enable wireless charging, because that is one of the innovations in the Pixel 3. With this, Google returns to a technique that it already used years ago with the Nexus 4, 5, 6 and 7, but the absent in recent years. It is a nice addition and with a maximum charging speed of 10W it goes fairly smoothly too.

While there isn’t much wrong with the design of the Pixel 3 and 3 XL, we do wonder how much longer Google will continue to stick to the same design. We are used to the fact that phones look somewhat the same two years in a row, but with three years Google is pushing the boundaries. Although it of course says nothing about the innovation under the hood, the eye also wants something if you, as a consumer, again pay many hundreds of euros for a new phone.

Cameras: more on the front than on the back.

While other manufacturers are increasing the number of cameras on the back of their phones year on year, and we’re likely to see models with as many as four cameras later this year, Google is sticking to a single camera on the back again this year. Do you want extra wide photos? then you will have to shoot a panorama. Do you want to zoom in strongly? Then you are forced to crop your photos. That is a pity, although it must be said that in terms of image quality, Google manages to squeeze the maximum out of that single camera setup. Even a year after its introduction, the Pixel 2 still holds its own and the Pixel 3 builds on that. We therefore look forward to putting the camera to the test at a later time.

At the front, Google has added an extra camera, intended to take better selfies when you are with a large group. The angle of view of that extra camera is therefore a lot wider than that of the normal front camera, so wide that quite a bit of distortion can be seen before you take a picture. Fortunately, this is corrected when the photo is saved. It’s a nice feature to have if you take a lot of selfies with your friends, or if you’re standing in front of a building and want to get both that building and yourself in the picture. We find the fact that Google places a wide camera on the front and not on the back remarkable. It seems to insinuate that people would rather take wide selfies than wide regular photos. Whether that applies to all users, we doubt.

Cameras: more features

The camera software has some new tricks, one of which has to compensate for the lack of a telephoto lens. When a user digitally zooms, the camera takes several shots, taking advantage of the slight movement of the user’s hands. As a result, according to Google, different photos can be taken that have a different perspective and therefore capture different details. Because that information is merged, a photo with more detail is created, so that the image quality does not deteriorate sharply when you zoom digitally. The philosophy isn’t new – Pentax and Sony, among others, offer it in their more expensive cameras – but we’ve never seen it in a smartphone before. At the time of the review, we’ll see how well this works as Google says.

Google’s camera app also has a new layout on the Pixel 3. The latter is welcome, because switching between the different modes is now faster. No longer do you have to open the hamburger menu at the top left; you can now just swipe left and right on the camera image. There is now a Photobooth mode, which automatically takes a photo if you smile or make a funny face, for example, and the Top Shot function should ensure that the best photos are automatically selected from the photos you take. Handy if you want group photos without closed eyes. Google also showed a single example of Night Sight, a feature that should improve photos in low light. How? by using machine learning, the company was not much more specific. The feature should come to both new and old Pixels in November.motion autofocus, where you tap on a person or animal, after which the autofocus will do everything it can to keep the subject sharp continuously.

Photos can now also be saved as raw files in addition to jpeg files. Google said surprisingly little about the video options, probably because hardly anything has changed. Recording is still done in up to 4k at 30fps. There is no option for 60 frames per second. Videos can now be compressed with the hevc codec.

Hardware and screen

Under the hood, there is not much to report about the new Pixels. Both models are powered by a Snapdragon 845 in combination with 4GB of ram. The Snapdragon 845 octacore is the fastest soc that Qualcomm currently has in its range, but the amount of memory seems somewhat meager. Not that you can’t get by with 4GB, but Xiaomi already offers 6GB in its Pocophone for a much lower price. And extra ram is always welcome; it allows the phone to hold more apps in memory, so you’re less likely to see an app reload when multitasking. We had nothing to complain about the speed in our hands-on session, although that was actually not a problem with the previous Pixel generation.

Where Google used a Samsung OLED screen for the small Pixel and an LG OLED screen for the XL last year, both screens seem to come from LG this time. Google does not say that literally, but in both cases speaks of a flexible OLED , a reference that we previously encountered with LG screens. The OLED screen used for the Pixel 2 XL received quite a bit of criticism in terms of color reproduction and viewing angles. Now it is always difficult to check that in a poorly lit environment and in a short time, but we have the impression that the screens in the new Pixels are less or not affected by this. A visit to our test lab should provide a definite answer.

Google has placed two self-developed chips in the housing: the Pixel Visual Core and the Titan M. We also saw the first with the Pixel 2 and can be used by developers to hardware accelerate certain photo edits, including Google’s hdr+ mode. Google did not use this chip with the Pixel 2 itself, but they do with the Pixel 3. That may also be the reason that Google Lens, a function of the camera app that can recognize objects in the image, now also works offline, with the computing power coming from the phone and not from the cloud.

The Titan M is used to process and store certain sensitive information. Think of storage encryption, processing of login data and securing the lock screen.

The Pixel Stand; a kind of mini smart display

Along with the new Pixels, Google is marketing the Pixel Stand; a holder with a built-in wireless Qi charger on which you place the phone. The phone’s software recognizes this and then displays a special interface based on the Google Assistant or, for example, a slideshow with photos. Google’s demo devices only did the latter, so we’ll have to wait for the review before we can say anything about how useful this is. The Pixel on the Stand can also act as a kind of wake up light; if you have set an alarm, the Pixel can show a smooth surface just before that that becomes increasingly brighter, to simulate sunlight.