With its fourth iteration of their flagship Pixel smartphone, Google’s done the impossible: they’ve made arguably the perfect Android device. That’s saying something; back in May, it was reported that there are 2.5 billion active Android devices out there in the world. The Pixels have obviously been the pinnacle of Google’s smartphone division, but there’s something about the Pixel 4, which was released on October 24, that’s heads above not just every other Android device out there, but even above the Pixel 3, which has been my primary device since its release in October of 2018.
When I first saw what Google was announcing for Pixel 4, I was hype. While I’m not anti-iPhone, I’m definitely pro-Android, or rather, I’m very pro-Pixel. With this job having me in my Google Drive on the regular, it just makes things easy for my personal and professional lives to have the power of Google in the palm of my hand. For the past two weeks, I’ve carried around two phones on some Kevin Gates ish in the hopes of figuring out if the Pixel 4 XL trumps the Pixel 3 in what I need for my day-to-day. Spoiler alert: it does, but in more ways than I imagined previously. Here’s a look at why I’m ready to dead my Pixel 3 and shift my entire life to the Pixel 4 XL.
That screen
One of the biggest adjustments for me was going from unlocking the Pixel 3 (and all previous Pixel devices) with my fingerprint to the Face unlock feature that was instituted with the Pixel 4/4 XL. iPhone users have had this for a minute; my wife is still rocking with an iPhone X, so I was familiar with the Face unlock feature. I will say, they weren’t bluffing: the Face unlock on the Pixel 4 XL is definitely quicker than the iPhone’s feature. At times you’ll still need to use a code to unlock (especially if you turn off or restart the device, but being able to just stare at the phone and have it (quickly) open up makes things so much easier.
This might not be a big deal for people who don’t work in the writing profession, but I do interviews on the regular. While I don’t normally record calls with my phone, I was interested when Google announced that the Pixel 4’s recorder app was not only searchable, but it had a built-in transcriber. Regularly, you’d get a piece of audio (say an interview) transcribed by someone for future use. With this recorder, it transcribes audio for you...in real-time. You can see it happen as the audio is being recorded; tap a button and the words appear moments after being spoken. The best part? When you upload the audio from your device to Google Drive, it immediately uploads a text file with the full transcription for you. While it’ll take some time for transcription services to be rendered obsolete, but this makes my job a lot easier.
That camera
Over the last two weeks, the battery easily outperforms the Pixel 3. I get that I’ve had the Pixel 3 running strong for a year, but even with my personal and work emails running on both phones, as well as my updates for Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook going to both, the Pixel 4 XL has easily lasted longer than the Pixel 3. I can put the Pixel 3 through its paces and be damn near dead towards the late afternoon. The Pixel 4 XL? Easily getting a full day’s worth of battery life...and then some. Time will tell if the Pixel 4 XL will last as long with months of use, but so far? The battery life is solid.
That verdict?
