The unlocked Google Pixel ($649 for 32GB, $749 for 128GB) is almost identical to its larger sibling, the Pixel XL ($769.99 at Verizon) . The Pixel is a better phone for those who prefer the ergonomic advantages of a 5-inch design, while the 5.5-inch XL tickles the fancies of the phablet crowd. You lose some screen resolution by stepping down in size, but aside from that, the phones are virtually identical in terms of features and performance. Both have top-notch Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processors, the latest Android OS with guaranteed updates, 24/7 live help, and built-in Google Assistant capability. That makes the Pixel one of the best 5-inch Android phones available, and an Editors' Choice along with the Samsung Galaxy S7 ($183.74 at Amazon) .
Design, Display, and Features
The Google Pixel ($649.99 at Verizon) takes many of its design cues from the Apple iPhone 7 ($288.00 at Visible) , including a metal unibody chassis, a bottom-firing speaker, and a rear camera that sits in the upper-right corner. We received the Quite Black Pixel model for review, which is more like a very dark gray, but still looks sleek. It's also available in Really Blue and Very Silver.
The Pixel is one of the more reasonably sized Android phones you can get. It measures 5.7 by 2.7 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and weighs 5 ounces. The Galaxy S7 is nearly identical, at 5.6 by 2.7 by 0.3 inches, but slightly heavier at 5.4 ounces. The 4.7-inch iPhone 7 is smaller and lighter than both at 5.4 by 2.6 by 0.3 inches and 4.9 ounces.
Like the larger XL, the back of the Pixel has a pane of glass inlaid in the upper half, with a fingerprint sensor set in the middle. It's a unique design that prevents the Pixel from looking like every other phone out there. With Pixel Imprint you can register up to five fingerprints to unlock the phone, though it seems to take ever-so-slightly longer to wake and unlock compared with the Galaxy S7 and iPhone 7. Motion gestures let you swipe down on the fingerprint scanner to access the notifications shade, which is convenient.
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You'll find a USB-C charging port on the bottom with a speaker and mic on either side. The Power button and volume rocker are on the right, a SIM card slot is on the left, and a 3.5mm headphone jack is up top. You won't find a microSD card slot, so you're limited to internal storage, as with the iPhone. The phone also lacks waterproofing and wireless charging. If any or all of these features are important to you, your needs will be better met by the Galaxy S7.
The Pixel has a 5-inch, 1,920-by-1,080 AMOLED display. It's very bright, and at 441 pixels per inch (ppi) text is crisp and clear. It doesn't quite match the S7's 5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED panel (577ppi), but it's sharper than the iPhone 7's Retina display (326ppi). Colors look accurate, viewing angles are terrific, and using the phone under direct sunlight is no problem. That said, the larger Pixel XL boasts a Quad HD panel with 534ppi, and for the price, it's somewhat disappointing to see the drop in resolution here.
Left to right: Google Pixel, Apple iPhone 7
Network Performance and Connectivity
We received a Verizon model of the Pixel for review, but it's unlocked and supports bands for use on all US carriers. You have a wide array of GSM (850/900/1800/1900), CDMA (800/1900), and LTE bands (1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/20/25/26/28/29/30/41) for solid performance on any service provider. We tested the phone on Verizon, the winner of our Fastest Mobile Networks award for the third year in a row. In Midtown Manhattan the phone delivered strong network performance, with a top download speed of 41Mbps. It also supports dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC, and Bluetooth 4.2.
Voice calls are good, with clear transmissions through the earpiece and solid noise cancellation for outgoing calls. There's a minor robotic edge to voices, but it doesn't impact overall clarity. Earpiece volume could stand to be a bit louder.
Processor, Battery, and Camera
Like its larger sibling, the Pixel is powered by a top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor. On Geekbench, which tests CPU performance, it received a single-core score of 1,524 and a multicore score of 4,127, roughly the same as the Pixel XL (1,661/4,136). Those results are similar to those of the Snapdragon 820–powered Galaxy S7 (1,695/3,955), likely because Geekbench hasn't been optimized for the Snapdragon 821 yet. Neither phone is a match for Apple's A10 Fusion-powered iPhone 7, however, which scored 3,490/5,662.
The JetStream browser benchmark, which shows how the phone handles advanced Web applications, provides a better picture of the improvement you can expect. The Pixel scored 55.227, significantly higher than the S7's 41.201.
The Pixel has 4GB of RAM, which is more than ample for multitasking and gaming. I was able to play graphically demanding games like GTA: San Andreas and Asphalt 8 without any trouble. And unlike the Pixel XL, the Pixel never ran physically warm in testing.
Battery life is solid. The phone clocked 7 hours and 21 minutes of runtime in our test, in which we set screen brightness to maximum and stream full-screen video over LTE. That's actually better than the larger Pixel XL (6 hours, 43 minutes), likely thanks to the Pixel's lower-resolution display, and roughly 2 hours longer than the iPhone 7 (5 hours, 45 minutes). But the Galaxy S7 bests them all with 9 hours. That said, the Pixel XL showed seriously strong standby time, lasting an entire weekend with power to spare; I suspect the Pixel will be about as good. It also supports fast charging with the included adapter, charging to full in roughly an hour.
Camera
Camera performance on the Pixel is identical to the XL. Both have a 12.3-megapixel rear camera with laser autofocus. We tested the Pixel against the iPhone 7 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S7, two of the best smartphone cameras available. All shots were taken with Auto mode and no other adjustments.
Overall camera performance is excellent. In well-lit situations, such as our shots of the Flatiron Building and a flower bed above, the Pixel captures clear, detailed images, favoring brighter colors a bit more than the S7 and matching the iPhone 7 Plus in overall clarity and detail capture. In lower light it also does well, beating out the S7 in capturing details in areas with shadows or darkness, as our shot of a statue below illustrates.
The Pixel's rear camera is capable of recording 4K video at 30fps and 1080p at 60fps. In both cases, video is smooth and stable, assisted by the excellent electronic image stabilization (EIS). We tested the EIS by walking the length of a hallway in PCMag's office with the Pixel, and then compared the results against those of the Galaxy S7 and the iPhone 7 Plus, both of which use optical image stabilization (OIS). The Pixel has excellent stabilization for a device that uses software-based rather than physical lens adjustments, but naturally, the S7 and iPhone 7 were more stable when it came to panning around. The Pixel tends to jitter and lose focus during turns.
The 8-megapixel front-facing camera takes good, clear shots in most circumstances. It also allows for solid video chats via Duo.
Software, Google Assistant, and 24/7 Help
The Pixel ships with Android 7.1 Nougat, a version of the operating system that is not yet available on any other phone. It brings some significant changes, including an app screen that's been removed from the home screen and can only be accessed by swiping up, and some less significant ones, like circular app icons. And Google promises to deliver software updates to the phone, which is a heck of a lot better than you can expect with many other Android devices.
The Pixel is a marked departure from Nexus phones like the 6P ($149.95 at B&H Photo Video) and 5X ($89.99 at Amazon) . It's the first phone with Google Assistant built in, which is essentially the company's version of Siri. You can call it up by holding down the Home button or by simply saying "OK Google," and use voice commands to carry out various tasks such as receiving weather updates, making phone calls, and adding events to your calendar. Replies aren't perfect, though, and certain queries will just return a Google search result. It uses machine learning, so we expect it will get better over time, especially when it integrates with Google Home. Non-Pixel users can still access Google Assistant through Allo, but having it built in is definitely a plus.
The other big selling point of the Pixel is 24/7 live support. Accessed through the Support tab in the Settings menu, it allows you to text with or request a phone call from a Google support representative. We tested this service twice, before launch and a week after. Text chat works best in terms of accessibility. We were quickly connected with a support representative after a brief wait. Support quality varied from person to person, but all were eager to assist and one even followed up by email and offered a return merchandise authorization to make sure our issue was resolved.
Phone support is available 24/7, but our experience here wasn't as smooth. Wait times in getting a call back are longer, and two attempts made to contact phone support over the weekend seemed to go unanswered, though a representative did follow up later by email. Still, the live support Google offers with the Pixel is significantly better than anything you'll get from nearly any other phone manufacturer. It's next in line behind Apple's Genius Bar, which you definitely can't access from your own home.
The phone has an unlockable bootloader (except for the Verizon retail model), which means you can root the phone and install ROMs. In terms of the software load, you'll find the standard set of Google apps, along with three bloatware apps—My Verizon, Message+, and go90—which can thankfully be uninstalled. (If you buy the Pixel directly from Google you won't have these preloaded.) You're left with 25.11GB of available storage out of a total of 32GB. That's on the low side, but you get free unlimited storage for photos and video with Google Photos, which helps. Still, given the absence of a microSD card, we advise you pay the extra $100 for the 128GB version, which brings your total up to $749.
Conclusions
Overall, the Google Pixel is one of a handful of reasonably sized Android phones that, because of its hardware, can compete with flagship phablets. That makes sense, because at $649-$749, it's priced right in line with those high-end models. If software is of paramount importance to you, no other Android phone on the market can match the Pixel. If you're more interested in hardware, the Samsung Galaxy S7 is the phone to get. It has a higher resolution display, a waterproof design, expandable storage, and longer battery life. Both phones fulfill different needs, and are equally worthy of our Editors' Choice.
If you lust after the latest Android software and cool new features in the Google Pixel XL, but are turned off by large phones, the 5-inch Pixel is a superb alternative.
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