Daniel Rotar

August 21, 2020

iPhone SE vs Pixel 4a vs OnePlus Nord vs Samsung Galaxy A71!

Daniel Rotar

August 21, 2020

So, I’ve got four Phones right here: the iPhone SE 2020, the Google Pixel 4a, the OnePlus Nord as well as the Samsung Galaxy A71. All of these Phones cost between $300-$400, so I really want to see which one is worth it the most?

In this video, I’ll be comparing everything from the Design, Display, Camera, Performance, Special Features, Battery & Price to let you decide which one out of all these four Phones is the best one for you! We have seven sections and I want you to pick a Phone for each of those sections and then at the end you’ll see which Phone is the best for you, as that’s the one that you’ve picked the most.

Get those snacks ready and enjoy!

Design

Starting off with the Design, these four Phones couldn’t be any more different.

On the front, the iPhone SE has the most outdated Design as it uses the exact same front as the iPhone 6 from 2014. The Pixel and the Samsung are very similar, as in they both have extremely thin Bezels and just a Single Camera Cutout, the Samsung in the middle and the Pixel on the left. The OnePlus is similar as well, the only difference is that it has a Dual Camera Cutout on the front, rather than a Single.

The new, reduced price of the A71 makes it a far superior alternative to the lower-end A51.

Design is indeed a personal preference, but from the front at least, I do prefer the Galaxy A71 the most. Just as a side note, in case some of you are wondering why we chose the A71 rather than the A51, the A71 has now dropped in price and it does have better specs than the A51. Taking a look at the back and the Build Quality, there are some major differences between these Phones.

The Galaxy A71 definitely feels the cheapest. It has a full Plastic back and Frame surrounding it. Then it’s the Pixel 4a, which still has a Plastic back, but since it’s Matte and the Frame itself blends in with the back, it does indeed feel far more premium than the A71 does. Then we have the OnePlus Nord, which uses a Glass back and a Plastic Frame. This one already feels so much better than the other two. Finally, we have the iPhone SE, which has a full Glass back and a Metal Frame. The iPhone definitely feels the most premium, but we do have that six year old Design on the front, whereas these other three Phones all use a modern 2019/2020 Design.

So, out of all these four, I actually do like the OnePlus Nord the most, Design-wise. We have a very modern looking front, while not necessarily sacrificing too much on the Build Quality. That’s my pick but let me know which one you’d pick, Design-wise.

Display

Moving on to the Display and I have to say, all of these Phones have a very good Display Panel. There’s not a single one that I wouldn’t recommend, but there are indeed some differences between all of these Phones.

The biggest difference is when it comes to the Size. If you’re looking for a small and compact Phone, then the iPhone and the Pixel are the best options. They’re about the same size, the Pixel 4a is only a tiny bit bigger but the Display size difference is quite noticeable. The iPhone has the smallest Display, at 4.7”, while the Pixel 4a has the second smallest, at 5.8”. The good news is that you can easily use both of these Phones with one hand, whereas the other two are just so much bigger. The OnePlus Nord comes with a 6.44” Display, while the Galaxy A71 comes with the biggest Display out of these, a 6.7” Panel.

With the A71, bigger is not necessarily better.

Now, the second big difference between these Displays is the Display Panel technology that they each use. All of these Phones except the iPhone, have an OLED Display. The iPhone has an LCD Panel. This means that you have perfect Black Levels and essentially an infinite Contrast on all of these, compared to the iPhone.

The third difference is when it comes to the Resolution and the Pixel Density. So here, the Pixel 4a actually has the highest at 443 PPI. Then, it’s the OnePlus at 408 PPI, then the Samsung at 393 PPI and then the iPhone at 326 PPI. What this means is that when you’re looking at the Displays up close, the Pixel 4a has the sharpest image, while the iPhone has the least sharpest image. If you watch a lot of YouTube videos, all these Phones, with the exception of the iPhone, can play 1440p as well as 1080p YouTube content. The iPhone can still play 1080p, but the Display is lower than 1080p so you’re not actually watching 1080p content here, but rather 720p at a higher Bit-Rate.

The fourth difference is when it comes to colour and how good these Displays are for editing photos and videos. I personally prefer the Pixel and the iPhone as I feel like they do have the most natural colours, but the OnePlus and the Samsung are both very good as well.

You get decent Displays with any of these models, but the OnePlus is my pick here. — You get decent Displays with any model, but I would say the OnePlus is my choice.

In terms of Brightness, the iPhone came out on top with a max of 720 Nits, then we had the Pixel narrowly behind at 710, with the OnePlus & Samsung much lower down at 560 & 550 respectively.

Then we have the Refresh Rate. All of these Phones, with the exception of the OnePlus Nord, have a 60Hz Refresh Rate. The OnePlus Nord has a 90Hz Refresh Rate, meaning that anything that you do on the OnePlus would feel significantly faster and more responsive than on the other Phones. Animations are 50% more fluid and using it in general feels so much nicer, compared to the other three Phones.

Now, those were the big changes, but there are a few more smaller differences as well. For example, the iPhone SE has a True-Tone Display, which can automatically adjust its Colour Temperature to match the lighting conditions around you, making it much easier on the eyes when you’re reading. The Samsung and the Pixel both feature an Always-On Display and the Pixel allows you to tap the Display once to turn it on, wheres on the OnePlus and Samsung you have to double-tap and on the iPhone you have to press the Home Button to even turn the Display on, which is not as convenient.

Overall, I like the OnePlus Nord’s Display the most, but the Pixel is definitely on my second choice. Let me know which one has your favourite Display.

Camera

Moving on to the Camera, this is where it gets tricky. The iPhone SE has a Single Camera Module, which is actually the exact same Camera as the Main Camera Module on the iPhone 11 Pro’s.The Pixel 4a also has a Single Camera Module, which is the same exact Camera as the Pixel 4 XL. So, both the SE and the 4a have flagship level Cameras.

The OnePlus Nord and Samsung Galaxy A71 on the other hand, have mid-range Camera Modules, each with four individual Modules, which I’ll get to in just a bit.

The Nord is the only one with both an Ultra-Wide Angle & a Macro Module.

The OnePlus Nord and the Samsung also have an Ultra-Wide Angle Module, which is something that we do not have on the iPhone or the Pixel. The OnePlus also has a 2MP Macro Module, but it’s pretty bad and I wouldn’t really use it, but it’s there. When it comes to night time photography, the iPhone is the only one that doesn’t have a Night Mode.

When it comes to video, the iPhone is the only one that can do 4K60, with all the other ones capping out at 4K30. Moving on to the Front-Facing Camera, pay attention to the HDR Processing and the Sharpness, if you get a chance to test these for yourself. In terms of front video, the OnePlus Nord can actually record 4K30/60, while the other ones are stuck to 1080p30.

Overall, when it comes to day-time shots, I like the iPhone SE the most. But the fact that we don’t have a Night Mode or an Ultra-Wide Angle Module might make you go for the OnePlus or Samsung, in case you’re looking for that extra bit of flexibility. My choice here is still the iPhone, as it does have the best video capabilities on the back and that’s something that I do use quite a lot, especially when I’m travelling. But, the Pixel 4a is an outstanding choice as well. It also comes with the Astrophotography Mode, which is still the best one on any Phone.

Do let me know what was your choice in terms of the Camera.

Performance

When it comes to the Performance, CPU wise, the iPhone SE has the most powerful Processor, which is the Apple A13 Chip. This is the exact same Processor that’s inside the iPhone 11 Pro.

The iPhone SE 2020 comes with the best Chip, but the Pixel is very well optimised for what it has.

All of the other Smartphones have mid-range level Processors, with the OnePlus having the second most powerful Chip, the Snapdragon 765G, while the Pixel and the Samsung both have the Snapdragon 730G Processor. With the RAM, the iPhone has 3GB, while the Samsung and the Pixel both have 6GB, the OnePlus has 8GB.

When it comes to the Storage, the iPhone has 64GB as the baseline, while the other three all have 128GB. After using these Phones, I have to say that the OnePlus definitely feels the fastest. That 90Hz Refresh Rate makes a massive difference, so even though it is not the most powerful one, using it makes it feel like it is.

Special Features

What about the Special Features? Is there anything unique that each of these Phones has? Ironically, the iPhone actually has the highest number of Special Features. We have IP67 Water Resistance up to 1m of depth for up to 30 minutes, as well as Wireless Charging.The OnePlus Nord is indeed sealed on the inside, so it might be able to sustain some water, but it doesn’t have any official IP Rating.

What Apple saved on the Design, they put into adding some very useful features.

While the iPhone and the Pixel have a Capacitive Fingerprint Reader, the Samsung and the OnePlus have an In-Display Fingerprint Reader. Samsung’s one is ok, but the OnePlus Fingerprint Reader is crazy fast. The Samsung however, has a microSD Slot, in case you want to expand that Storage even further.

In terms of the Speakers, the iPhone and the Pixel both have Stereo Speakers, while the OnePlus and the Samsung have Mono Speakers. If you care about 5G, the OnePlus Nord is only one that supports 5G, but the Samsung & the Pixel have a Headphone Jack.

Now, there is one more Special Feature which makes a huge difference on these Phones, and that is the Haptics. The iPhone, the Pixel and the OnePlus all support Haptic Feedback. The typing experience is by far the best on the Pixel, followed by the OnePlus. The iPhone doesn’t have any Haptic Feedback on the Keyboard, unless you install the Google Keyboard.

Overall, in terms of Special Features, I gotta give this one to the iPhone. Water Resistance, Wireless Charging, Stereo Speakers and those Haptics, these are all some very useful things to have.

Battery

When it comes to the battery, the iPhone has the smallest Battery at 1821mAh, followed by the Pixel 4a at 3140mAh, then the OnePlus at 4115mAh and then the Samsung at 4500mAh. I haven’t used these for long enough to be able to tell you which will last you the longest, I would put my money on that being the OnePlus Nord, especially if you set the Refresh Rate to 60Hz.

All of these Phones support Fast Charging up to around 50% in 30 minutes, but the OnePlus supports up to 70% in 30 minutes and it already comes with a ‘Warp’ Charger in the box, whereas the iPhone, for example does not. Battery wise, the OnePlus takes this one.

Price

So in the end, which one is worth it the most? Well, at the moment, in the UK for example, the iPhone SE costs £420. The OnePlus Nord costs £380, the Samsung Galaxy A71 costs £360 and the Pixel 4a costs £350.

Now, in terms of each of the previous categories, I picked:

These are the prices for each one at the time of writing. We chose the Nord, which one would you get?

Design - OnePlus Nord,

Display - OnePlus Nord

Camera - Pixel 4a

Performance - OnePlus Nord

Special Features - iPhone SE

Battery - OnePlus Nord

Price - Pixel 4a

So my choice here is definitely the OnePlus Nord, but another thing that you should keep in mind when buying these Phones is longevity. The iPhone SE, since it’s an Apple product and it also comes with the A13 Processor, will be supported for many years to come.

Google does tend to support their Phones for a long period of time, but the Pixel 4a comes with the Snapdragon 730 Processor, which is a bit on the lower-end so I’m not sure how well this Phone will age up. I actually think the OnePlus Nord will age up better and then in last place we have the Samsung Galaxy A71.

Daniel Rotar

August 7, 2020

First Impressions

Google Pixel 4a - My First Impressions!

Daniel Rotar

August 7, 2020

First Impressions

Google sent over their brand new Pixel 4a in what is a pretty soft launch for a Smartphone. If you want to see the live Unboxing, you can check out the video above. For now, we’re going to focus on my First Impressions after spending a day with it. So, let’s get into it.

Design

Design-wise, I absolutely love it. It’s very tiny at 5.8” and is almost identical to an iPhone X, XS or an iPhone 11 Pro and around the same size as the iPhone SE 2020. This is a very small Smartphone, which is easily usable with just one hand. The back is made out of Plastic, so there is no Glass here as this is only a £350 device. We also have a Fingerprint Reader on the back with no In-Display Fingerprint Reader at all. Additionally, I also really love how the Camera Module looks, it’s so tiny and cute. The Pixel 4a just looks like a baby Pixel 4.

A nice inclusion for their target market.

On the right-hand side we have a coloured Power Button, as well as the Volume Slider. On the top, we have a Microphone and a Headphone Jack, I haven’t seen this in ages! I guess that, because of the lower price, Google assumes that the market that they are targeting this at would not have Wireless Headphones. This is a good option for just giving people more options as you can, of course, still use Wireless Headphones on this if you want. We don’t have anything on the left-hand side and finally on the bottom we have the Speaker, a USB C Charging Port as well as the other Microphone. Speaking of Speakers, we do have Stereo Speakers on this, which is fairly rare to see on low-to-mid range Smartphones.

Moving on to the Display and like I said before, this is a 5.8” Panel but what I haven’t said is that this is actually an outstanding Panel, especially at this price. It is an OLED Display with a Resolution of 2340x1080 and a PPI of 443. It supports HDR as well as Google’s ‘Now Playing’ feature, which shows you the exact song that’s playing in the background, even when you’re not connected to the internet, which I think is just insane. It is a 60Hz Panel but it does support Always-On functionality. The fact that we have no Notch or thick Bezels, but rather a single small cut-out for the Front Camera, makes this the best looking Pixel Phone that Google has ever released, in my opinion.

Camera

The Pixel 4a can still do 4K60 Video Recording.

So what about the Camera? Most of the people that would buy a Pixel Smartphone, would buy it for that amazing Camera. Well, I’m pleased to say that the Camera on the Pixel 4a is identical to the main Camera on the Pixel 4. That means that this is a 12.2MP Sensor with 1.4μm Pixels and an f/1.7 Aperture. The Front Camera is also identical to the one on the Pixel 4, an 8MP Sensor with 1.22μm Pixels and an f/2.0 Aperture. We have 4K Video Recording with the Back-Facing Camera but only at 30 FPS. Again, this is the same as on the Pixel 4.

We even get Optical Image Stabilisation and Dual Pixel Phase Detection Autofocus, which is something that you usually only see on high-end Smartphones. You even get the insane Astrophotography Mode, which is still the best way to take photos of the night sky on any Smartphone. We got this with the Pixel 4 first and now we also have it on the 4a.The Pixel 4 had one of the best Cameras ever, on a Smartphone, and we’re getting that on a Phone that costs £350, which is pretty incredible.

Specs

The Processor is not the fastest, but Google do a great job of optimising what they do have.

Then, we come to the Specs? Well, CPU wise, we get the Snapdragon 730G Processor, which from these ‘Geekbench’ results, is significantly less powerful than a Pixel 4’s Snapdragon 855 or not even to mention the iPhone SE”s Apple A13 Chip. But, using the Pixel 4a seems to be just fine. It’s very fast, very responsive, so it looks like Google has done an outstanding job when it comes to optimising the software for this lower-end hardware. The only place where I’ve definitely noticed a Performance downgrade, over the Pixel 4, was when processing photos, but that’s was it. We also get 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM, the same as on the Pixel 4, as well as 128GB of storage, which is again the same as on the Pixel 4.

Special Features

So what about the Special Features? Is there anything we’re missing out on, from the Pixel 4? Well, we don’t get Wireless Charging or Water Resistance. That 3D Depth Sensing Array on the front is gone and so is the FaceUnlock.The Speakers are a bit worse but other than that, we get most of the features. Even Fast Charging is just as fast as on the Pixel 4, up to 18W, and we do get a Fast Charger bundled in the box, which is great.

The Haptic Engine on this feels amazing and I’m not talking about a Vibration Motor, I’m literally talking about the Haptic Engine. This is actually a first for a Phone of this price to include. It feels pretty much as good as the one on the Pixel 4, meaning that the typing experience is absolutely incredible.

So, what’s the catch then? Well, it only comes in one size and only in this one single black colour but other than that, this is just an outstanding Smartphone. Now, is it better than the iPhone SE, or the OnePlus Nord or the Samsung A71?

Daniel Rotar

July 24, 2020

Leaks & Rumors

Pixel 5 - Google’s Making a MASSIVE Change!

Daniel Rotar

July 24, 2020

Leaks & Rumors

What is happening with the Google Pixel 5?

Google’s upcoming Smartphone for 2020 seems to have been completely forgotten, or so you would think, since we haven’t had any major leaks yet. By this time last year, Google themselves even tweeted the full Design of the Pixel 4 because of how many leaks we had at that point.

Not only that, but we even had full Review videos of the Pixel 4, months before the Phone was even announced. The Pixel 4 ended up being the most leaked Phone since the iPhone 4. Whether or not some of this was done on purpose, we cannot know for sure. But, what we do know is that the Pixel 5 is just three months away and we’ve barely heard anything about it.

So, here’s everything that we do know about the Pixel 5, so far!

Design

Let’s be honest, Google has never had a good looking Pixel Phone. The Pixel 1 from 2016 looked just like the iPhone, which at that time had some gigantic Bezels. Not only that, but the fact that the Pixel also had the Android Navigation Bar made that chin look even more gigantic and the back just looked…weird.

The Pixel 2 from 2017 thinned out the Bezels considerably, but 2017 was when we got the iPhone X and the Samsung Galaxy S8, so we started getting Bezel-less Smartphones and Google was, once again, at least a year behind.

Then, the Pixel 3 from 2018 had that gigantic Notch, even bigger than on the iPhone, but that Notch didn’t have any 3D Facial Recognition Sensors, like on the iPhone. Instead, it only had a secondary Front Camera, which was a Wide Angle, but that was it. The back of the Pixel 3 was improved with the inclusion of Frosted Glass, which I absolutely loved.

The Pixel 4 in Orange was easily the best looking Phone in that line-up.

Then in 2019, we had the Pixel 4 and instead of Google removing that gigantic Notch altogether, like what most of the competition was already doing, Google went back to the Pixel 2’s Design with thicker Bezels on the top and bottom. Now, we did get a 3D Depth Sensing Camera with the Pixel 4, just like the iPhone, but the Pixel 4 still looked very out-dated.

That’s the thing, when you build a Smartphone, you can indeed make it extremely exciting for us (the tech nerds) by adding Sensors that can sense your hand from 30cm away and cool stuff like that. But, the majority of people won’t care about that at all, they only care about how good the Phone looks and how much it costs. With the Pixel 5, it seems like Google will finally be focusing on these two things.

We’ve had a recent link from ‘xleaks7’ who, in partnership with ‘Pigtou’, shared some CAD Models and some renders of the Pixel 5. It seems that Google will finally bring a modern Display to the Pixel line by dropping the Notch and the Forehead altogether, going for an In-Display Camera Cutout. You know, just like what other manufacturers have been doing since early 2019. The Frame surrounding the Phone, the Bezel, is now thinner and seems to resemble the one that we have on the iPhone X. The sides are pretty much identical to the Pixel 4, with a coloured Power Button and a Volume Button on the right-hand side and nothing on the left, aside from the SIM Card Tray. The back is really where we might see some more changes.

So, on the leaked CAD files, the Camera is just identical to the Pixel 4 one, at least when it comes to the number of Modules. This is very disappointing to see as most Smartphone manufacturers are moving towards four and even five Camera Modules, Google is still sticking with just two. Also, the Fingerprint Reader from the Pixel 3 is returning, at least according to the CAD Models.

I honestly don’t see this happening at all. Everyone has been using In-Display Fingerprint Readers for a few years now and I really don’t see Google going back in time and having a Fingerprint Reader on the back but it is Google, so anything’s possible. We’ve actually removed that from our Concept and we’ve obviously embedded that into the Display Assembly, we’ve also added one more Camera Module for a total of three.

Finally, when it comes to the colours, the Pixel 5 is rumoured to come in two colours, Black and White, but I would expect them to release at least one “special colour”, similar to the ones we’ve seen previously such as “Oh So Orange, “Purple-ish” and “Not Pink”. We haven’t had any leaks in terms of that, so we’ve created our own colour. We call this ‘Tasteful Turquoise’ and I think it just looks incredible, especially with that white Power Button. I would definitely buy this, should Google actually release this colour.

Display

That was the Design so, what about the Display? The Pixel 4 had a 90Hz Refresh Rate, so will we get anything crazy like 120Hz this year? According to all the leaks that we’ve seen, Google will be keeping the same 90Hz Refresh Rate as last year but the Display size is said to be getting smaller, from 6.3” to 5.78”, making it around the same size as the iPhone XS. This is still said to be an AMOLED Display, with a QHD Resolution.

However, this year it seems like we would also be getting the Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a XL. According to some code found by ‘9to5Google’ in the latest version of the Google Search app, Google would not have a Pixel 5 XL and instead, they would only have a Pixel 4a, 4a 5G and Pixel 5.

Speaking of the Pixel 4a, the official render of the Pixel 4a has appeared on Google’s website and we even got to see a full billboard featuring the 4a, which matches with the Design of the Google website listing. It seems like the Pixel 4a’s launch is imminent and the Pixel 5 leaks seem to match up with the 4a’s front Design, so it is quite likely that Google would be announcing all of these, at the same time.

That’s also why there’s a lot of confusion when it comes to the Specs, as we’ve seen reports that Google would keep the Pixel 5 as a mid-range device this year, which I’ll cover more in just a second.

Camera

In terms of the Camera, ‘OnLeaks’ has posted a schematic that shows not just all of the upcoming Pixel phones for 2020, but also their Camera Arrangement. He did mention that this is likely not 100% accurate, at least on the Pixel 5’s side, as we’re still awaiting on a lot of details to be confirmed. Nonetheless, that schematic does point to the Pixel 5 having a Triple Lens Camera Module, as opposed to the Dual on the 4a. But, one of these Modules would be the Flash, which would mean that the Pixel 5 only has two Cameras, the same as the Pixel 4. The Pixel 4a would only have one Camera.

The leaks are also saying that the Main Camera on the Pixel 4a would be identical to the Pixel 4’s, which was mostly identical to the Pixel 3’s Camera. We don’t know yet if that second Module on the Pixel 5 would be the same Telephoto that we had on the Pixel 4, or a new Ultra-Wide Angle Module. I’m really hoping that it’s an Ultra-Wide, or even better, a Triple Lens Camera with both a Telephoto and an Ultra-Wide Angle Module.

But the thing is, even-if the hardware remains the same, Google’s magic is all in Software. That is why the Pixel Phones have such a great Camera, because of that Google Image Processing.

Performance

When it comes to the Performance, this is a bit of an odd one. We’ve seen many reports that Google would not be including a new flagship level Processor in the Pixel 5 this year, so no Snapdragon 865, but instead they would be using Qualcomm’s mid-range 765G Processor. This is a fairly decent Processor and also Qualcomm’s lowest-entry Chip that would give you 5G.

In terms of RAM, the Pixel has always fallen short of its flagship competitors.

But, the problem here is that all the leaks are saying that both the Pixel 4a, the 4a XL and the Pixel 5 will all have this Chip. This begs the question…what will the Pixel 5 have over the 4a’s, aside from that extra Camera Lens? Also, why would Google make such a move?

Keep in mind that the Pixel Phones, as they were released in October, are quite late in terms of implementing a new Processor. Qualcomm announces their new Chips in December. So, just two months after the Pixel Phones launch, they would already be outclassed by a faster Processor. While Pixel Phones were very well optimised in the past, we haven’t really had any performance issues. RAM management issues were always a problem, as Pixel Phones only came with 4 or 6GB of RAM when other Smartphones already have 8GB, 12GB or even 16GB. The Pixel 5 is said to be sticking to 6GB of RAM.

Special Features

When it comes to Special Features, Water Resistance and Wireless Charging will still be there, at least on the Pixel 5, but it seems like the 3D Facial Recognition Camera Array on the front is going away.

While that is a bit of shame to see, as Google has even done a better job when it comes to Face-Unlock than even Apple, the majority of users would still pick a better looking Phone than a not so great looking Phone that comes with more features.

Battery

In terms of Battery Life, the Pixel 4 had a fairly poor one. The 4 XL was better, but it still wasn’t great.

At the moment, we don’t have any leaks in terms of the Pixel 5’s Battery Life but from the looks of it, it would remain identical to the Pixel 4’s, or even getting a bit smaller due to the entire Device being smaller. Fast Charging is also expected to remain the same at 18W.

Release Date

The Pixel 5 is likely to break away from the usual October launch.

When are the Pixel 4a and Pixel 5 going to be released? Well, the Pixel 4a’s launch seems to be imminent. Not just judging but the sheer number of leaks that we’ve had on it, but also by the leaked press image on Google’s website. Plus, the Pixel 4a has been long overdue, this was supposed to launch back in May.

The Pixel 5 on the other hand, is a bit of a different story. You see, Pixel Phones have always launched around October, but we’ve also had a ton of leaks in the past, around this time. This means that Google could either delay the Pixel 5 until November, or even December, or they could be releasing the Pixel 5 alongside the 4a’s as a slightly higher-end version of it, rather than a true flagship Smartphone. I do think that this is what will happen.

Price

The problem with Pixel Phones has always been the fact that they were priced like flagship Smartphones, but they lacked a lot of features that the competition had. These were Features such as a modern Design, a high amount of RAM or a Dual/Triple Camera Module. Even the Processors were out of date two months after the Pixel Phones launched.

However, with Google marketing the Pixel 5 as a mid-range device rather than a flagship, they can still keep most of those features and they can cut back on the CPU Performance. This was already pretty good to be honest. All of this means that they can drop the price as a result. Therefore, the Pixel 4a is said to start at $350, while the Pixel 5 would be priced around $500-$700. However, the Pixel 5 would need to seriously outclass the 4a’s, if Google wants to charge this much for it.

So, at the end of the day, there’s nothing really that points to the Pixel 5 being a revolutionary Smartphone at all, or even a Smartphone that competes with the flagships of today. Google has tried to compete with the flagships for so many years now and aside from the Camera, which was indeed flagship level, they have failed. They seemed to have just moved into another direction, focusing on the mid-range market instead.

ZONEofTECH

December 14, 2019

Reviews

Google Pixel 4 XL - The ZONEofTECH Review!

ZONEofTECH

December 14, 2019

Reviews

This is the Google Pixel 4 XL and you see, although the Google Pixel isn’t that popular of a phone, at least not when compared to Samsung, Apple or even OnePlus or Huawei, it’s actually one of the most interesting smartphones on the market right now.

You see, the reason why iPhones are so successful, why the UI is so smooth, why they get day one updates, and why they integrate so well in Apple’s ecosystem is that Apple makes both the hardware and the software. Then on the Android side it’s pretty much impossible for anyone to do that aside from Google because they make Android, and if Google made their own hardware they would be the only direct competitor to Apple’s crown.

And they have been making their own hardware for the past three years now, with their Pixel phones. This is their brand new fourth generation of Pixel phones that just came out in October, and this is my full in-depth review, and I have mixed feelings about this. You’ll see why in just a second!

DESIGN

Ok, so starting off with the design, let’s be honest. Google hasn’t really been the best at designing things.

The Pixel 1 which came in 2016, looked like an iPhone 7 did, but we did have a massive on-screen navigation bar, which actually made the bottom bezel look even bigger so it wasn’t the best looking phone. Then back was equally as bad as we had a dual tone metal and glass back, but it was all dark grey and looked very odd. I was never a fan of the first Pixel’s design.

Then the Pixel 2 came out in 2017, and this was the year when smartphones drastically changed their designs, with the iPhone X and Samsung Galaxy S8, which removed the home button and shrunk down the bezel considerably, in favour of a full-screen display design that we were all wishing for. But rather than doing that, Google gave the Pixel 2 massive bezels again, it was an improvement over the Pixel 1 but still pretty outdated when compared to the competition. However, I did really like the Pixel 2’s Panda look, I think that back was one of the best backs on any smartphone but the front was still outdated.

The design of the Pixel 1 (Left) 2 (Middle) and 3 (Right)

When the Pixel 3 then came out in 2018 we had that very deep notch, which was even uglier and deeper than the iPhone’s. But the Pixel 3 didn’t really have any smart tech inside of that notch, aside from a more powerful speaker and a wide angle camera module, which was just a single module. The back was improved again, so now it had a dual tone look, but all of it was glass. The top portion was standard glass, whilst the bottom portion was now frosted glass which had a really nice touch to it. The frame had a ceramic feel even though it was just polished metal, but overall the Pixel 3 had the most amazing back I’ve ever felt on any smartphone. Design wise and feeling wise, from the back at least, the Pixel 3 was just amazing. So things were getting better.

Now we have the Pixel 4, which is pretty much the same recipe as the previous Pixels. From the front it reminds me a lot of the Pixel 2XL from 2017, which wasn’t a bad design by any means, but we’re in 2019 now and phones have very thin bezels, and large and bright displays, but the Pixel 4 still looks like it came out three years ago, from the front at least. When you remember that the Pixel 5 will come out in October of 2020 which will make the Pixel 4 look even worse and even more outdated in the meantime.

So that’s the front, but the back is a completely different story. We now get a much bigger camera module than on the other Pixels, but don’t be fooled because even if this camera module looks extremely similar to the ones on the iPhone, the Pixel 4 only has a dual camera module rather than the triple one that, most other smartphones received in 2019. So Google’s again behind the competition in terms of the number of camera modules, more about that in the camera section of this video.

The Clearly White Pixel 4XL and the Oh So Orange Pixel 4

But I have to say, if the Pixel 3 had the best back on any phone for me, the Pixel 4 is even better! We now have a single smooth piece of glass, so no more dual tone this year, which is a bit unfortunate, but this glass is again frosted glass which feels absolutely amazing. You see, it leaves no fingerprints, yet it still has that glass feel to it. Then the frame of the phone has a matte plastic-like texture to it, but it’s not plastic it’s actually metal. It is hard to describe it, but in a way, it feel like paper. So overall, this is by far the best looking and feeling back I’ve ever seen and felt on a phone. The power button is also made of a different colour, which adds a very nice touch to it.

The Pixel 4 now comes in three colours. We have ‘Just Black’, which I’ve personally never held in my hands or even seen one in person, but that’s the only one that has a glossy back. The others, ‘Clearly White’ and ‘Oh So Orange’ have the same matte texture on the back, and yes, I’m absolutely in love with how the phone looks from the back. It’s got that Nintendo feel and look to it so to say, love it!

DISPLAY

Moving on to the display, the Pixel 4 comes with a 6.3” 3040x1440 resolution OLED display, which is actually pretty good. It’s very sharp at 537 PPI, it’s got a 100% DCI-P3 coverage, so it’s actually very colour accurate.

A colour comparison between the Note 10+ (Left) and Pixel 4XL (Right)

Now I do have two complaints regarding this display. The first being that the colours are a bit dull when compared to the Galaxy Note 10+ for example, but that’s more to do with Google’s colour profile than the display itself. Then my second complaint is the brightness of this display. So it’s just over 400 nits which is ok, it’s actually brighter than the OnePlus 7T Pro’s display by a tiny bit, but noticeably dimmer than the Samsung Galaxy S10, Note 10 or the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Now this is not necessarily a big issue, but if you use your phone outdoors a lot in bright sunlight, then this is something to consider.

However, my favourite part about this display is that just like on the OnePlus 7 Pro and 7T’s, we now have a 90Hz refresh rate! The means that everything you do on this phone, the UI, and all the animations are 50% faster and more fluid than on any other phone with a standard 60Hz refresh rate display. Also, after a recent software update, the Pixel 4 is pretty much at 90Hz all the time, compared to just when it had over 60% brightness, like it was when it was released.

Then something else that I really like about the Pixel, is that they’re are pretty much the only phones that come with an Always-On Display, aside from Samsung and some LG phones. For me, being able to see the time and notifications all the time, is a huge plus.

So overall, while the display is pretty good, I would’ve loved to see thinner bezels alongside a slightly brighter display.

CAMERA

The camera is an interesting one, because you see, Pixel phones have always been considered as one of the best if not even the best device, for mobile photography.

The Pixel 4, just like the 3 and 2 before it, has an incredible camera, but not as good as I would’ve hoped. You see, firstly the main back camera uses the exact same sensor as on the Pixel 3. It does however have a larger f/1.7 aperture compared to f/1.8 on the Pixel 3, so it does let more light into the sensor, but other than that it’s the same camera from the Pixel 3, which is quite disappointing. I was hoping Google to make some big changes with the Pixel 4’s main camera.

An example of the SuperRes zoom from the Pixels (Source: Slash Gear)

So whilst they haven’t changed the main camera they have added a second module. However, rather than Google adding a wide angle module, like everyone else is doing in 2019, Google decided to finally add a telephoto module, like everyone else was doing in 2017! Now, I’m not implying that Google should be up to date with the latest trends here, no. My point here is that the wide angle module is technically more useful than a telephoto module. You see, whilst you can zoom in digitally, you cannot take a wide angle photo without a wide angle lens. Google even had their SuperRes zoom before, which actually did a very good job, for a digital zoom, even rivalling some high end smartphones that had a dedicated zoom module. But what’s worse is that it’s not even a 5x telephoto module, it’s just a regular 2x optical zoom.

Also, I’m very disappointed with the video on this phone. The Pixel 4 still cannot do 4K60 video recording, which the iPhone added in 2017, again two years ago. All the major smartphones can do 4K60 now, even most of the mid-ranged ones can.

The front camera is good but Google has now removed that wide angle module, meaning that you cannot take group selfies anymore, since the front camera isn’t as wide. However, they have made the regular lens wider than the previous regular one, meaning that you still get an overall wider field of view, which is good! But what’s not good is that the front camera can only shoot 1080p 30fps, which compared to the iPhone 11 Pro’s 4K60 or the Note 10’s 4K30, is just terrible.

An example of the Astrophotography capabilities of the Pixel 4 (Source: Google AI Blog)

Night mode is great, same exact one as we have on the Pixel 3, however I did find the Pixels to add a lot of noise in some of the shots, so overall I actually ended up preferring the iPhone 11 Pro’s night mode and the OnePlus 7T Pro’s night mode, over the Pixel’s. But what Google has added with the Pixel 4, is a brand new Astrophotography mode, which is huge! You can now take photos of the night sky, similar to what you can take with a DSLR camera.

But that’s pretty much it. Aside from the Astrophotography mode, the camera is pretty much the same as before, even a downgrade on the front. I’m genuinely disappointed, and because of those issues I just cannot recommend the Pixel 4’s camera, as the competition offers a much better camera overall, with significantly better video, a significantly better front camera and a wide angle lens on the back.

PERFORMANCE

Performance wise, the Pixel 4 is ok. It’s very fast and fluid, I give it that. In our Ultimate Speed test between the Pixel 4 and the Note 10+, the Pixel 4 loaded apps just as fast as the Note, even-though the Pixel 4 has a much slower UFS 2.1 storage, compared to the twice as fast UFS 3.0, like the OnePlus 7T & 7T Pro or the Note 10+.

CPU wise, we don’t get the Snapdragon 855+, just the 855 which is almost a year old at this point. The 865 is now official, so Google’s already a year behind in terms of the CPU. This is down to their weird release cycle, where they release their phones in October, whereas Qualcomm announces a new CPU in December.

RAM wise, we do get a bump to 6GB of RAM from the Pixel 3’s 4GB of RAM, but even that’s still half of the 12GB of RAM that Samsung or OnePlus offer and that definitely shows. RAM management is pretty poor on this phone, it could barely keep any apps open in the background when compared to the Note 10+.

However, we do get day one updates and software support for around three years. The Pixel 1 from 2016 is still fully supported which is great. You cannot really get this level of customer support, unless you go with an iPhone. OnePlus is another great option, but they don’t offer you day one updates, you do have to wait a few weeks or months in order to get those.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Face Unlock is now available on the Pixel 4 XL

Now, when it comes to the Special Features, we do get one that stands out from the competition, and that is FaceUnlock. This is actually the reason for that big forehead, since that’s where all the 3D depth mapping sensors are housed. It’s essentially the same system that Apple uses for FaceID on their iPhone X and newer. But the difference is that Google also added a small Radar chip, which is from their Project Soli, that can detect your movement much more accurately than a camera could. This chip works in conjunction with the FaceUnlock system, in order to make the FaceUnlock process insanely fast. Literally, from the moment you pick up the phone, the Pixel lights up the display and in less than a second, it’s already unlocked. Which is pretty nuts! It’s noticeably faster than the iPhone’s FaceID system but it’s far from perfect. You see, third party app support is non existent at this point, so if you’re thinking of using your face to access your banking apps or anything like that, you cannot do it yet. Another slight issue is that it also works when your eyes are closed, which Google said that they will fix but we just don’t know when that’s going to be.

Now that Soli Radar chip I mentioned also allows you to control your music and interact with the Pixel by using your hand gestures, which is a really cool party trick, but in practice it just doesn’t work. It’s the Samsung Galaxy S4 from 2013 all over again and it just does not work the way it should, and the way maybe Google was hoping it would work. While you can indeed swipe left and right to go back now, it seems like Google forgot about the case where some apps use swipe gestures to bring the Menu up and the new Pixel Gestures are messing up with app menus because of this.

The speakers are no longer front facing, like on the Pixel 3, they do sound good, not as good as on the iPhone 11 Pro Max or the Note 10+, but still pretty good.

Apart from that, we don’t have WiFi 6, or reverse wireless charging, or a microSD card slot, or even more than 128GB of storage, which is the maximum amount that you can get on this phone. In fact Google has even removed some of the features that the Pixel 3 used to come with, such as the unlimited photo and video storage at full resolution for free, with Google Photos. That was one of the key selling features of the Pixel phone and Google removed it! What are you doing Google?

BATTERY

So you have probably seen a pattern so far in terms of how I feel about each section of the Pixel 4, and the battery is the same, it’s decent.

It is far from what the competition offers, and that’s because the battery itself is quite small, at just 3700mAh on the XL and 2800mAh on the regular Pixel 4. When you take into account that 90Hz turn on, it’s noticeably worse than on the OnePlus 7T Pro, which wasn’t that great already. So overall the Pixel 4 XL has an ok battery life with a decent fast charge of up to 50% in just 34 minutes, which is right on par with the competition, so there’s that at least.

VALUE

So the final question, is the Pixel 4 worth it? Sorry Google, but it’s a no from me.

It costs £830 or $900 which is cheaper than the Note 10+ which costs £1000 ($1100) and the iPhone 11 Pro which costs £1150 ($1150), but if you compare the Pixel 4 to the OnePlus 7T Pro which costs £700 or $550 for the OnePlus 7 Pro in the US there’s no competition, they are much better phones! The 7T Pro for example has better performance with the Snapdragon 855+, up to 12GB of RAM, up to 256GB of Storage, a more modern design, a larger display, a larger battery.

The cameras are worse on the OnePlus but not really by that much, and you can even install the Google Camera apk and get a much more improved camera that way. I was honestly bored with the Pixel, so much so that I just could not use it as my daily driver, because it was a downgrade from my iPhone, my Note and even my OnePlus.

So Google, I’m guessing fifth time’s the charm?

ZONEofTECH

October 21, 2019

In-Depth Comparison

Pixel 4XL vs iPhone 11 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ vs OnePlus 7T Pro - Blind Camera Comparison!

ZONEofTECH

October 21, 2019

In-Depth Comparison

The Google Pixel 3 had some of the best camera abilities on a smartphone at the time of its release. Now the Google Pixel 4 has an additional lens on the back and one less on the front.

We compared it to the most recent releases from Apple, Samsung, and OnePlus to see how it would compare. You can check out our full blind camera comparison above, but here are a few of the shots from the test. Let us know which ones you prefer and why in the comments!

Also, the order of the phones in this article are not the order of the phones in the blind comparison.

FRONT CAMERA - WIDE SELFIE

REAR CAMERA - PORTRAIT MODE

REAR CAMERA - HDR (High Dynamic Range)

REAR CAMERA - ZOOM

REAR CAMERA - FOOD

REAR CAMERA - ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY

So which one did you like overall? Don’t forget to watch the full camera comparison to make your full decision, as there are 30 different tests for each camera!

ZONEofTECH

October 15, 2019

News, Unboxings

Google Pixel 4 - Announced!

ZONEofTECH

October 15, 2019

News, Unboxings

Google's October 2019 Event is over, and being a Pixel 3XL owner I was hoping for some improvements on what I felt was a pretty decent phone. There had been many many leaks on this phone and basically all of them were right. You can check out our article on the Final Leaks and Rumors surrounding the Pixel 4 if you like to see for yourself. If not, let me give you the rundown.

Also check out Daniels live reaction unboxing at the video above.

DESIGN

The limited edition ‘Oh So Orange’ Pixel 4 (Source: Rabbit TV)

The design is exactly as we had seen, block colour body rather than the dual tone, with a black camera module on the back, no large notch on the front for the XL, but instead a larger forehead which house some of the newer features to the Pixel of the Soli Radar chip and the Face Unlock Flood Illuminator. It is also coming in the colours that we thought it would do; ‘Just Black’, ‘Clearly White’ and the limited edition ‘Oh So Orange’.

In terms of the screen we are getting a 90Hz refresh rate OLED display on both, with the Pixel 4 having a 5.7” display, up 0.2” from the 3, and the Pixel 4XL will have the same size screen as the 3 XL with 6.3”. Both the phones are going to be slightly larger than their predecessors, with the 4 being 1.5mm taller than the 3 and the 4XL being 2.4mm larger than the 3XL.

CAMERA

So we are getting minor changes to both the actual build of the phone and the screen on the phone. But what I personally look for in a phone is a good camera, and with the Pixel 3XL having an extremely good camera, I was excited to see what improvements were going to be made. Unfortunately I was let down.

The hardware on this is no huge improvement over my current Pixel. Whilst we are getting a new camera module on the back, with a 16MP main camera and a 12.2MP secondary camera, we still have no Wide Angle but a new telephoto lens! That’s right, we hoped they wouldn’t do it, we didn’t want to believe the leaks but they were right. Come on Google, why do we still not have one? We touched on this in our Leaks and Rumors Article but you can always zoom in post, but you cannot take a wide angle image without a wide angle lens! In addition, we were right in thinking that there was going to be a single camera on the front, which is only 8MP, so no real improvements here, and it can only do 1080p at 30FPS. The Pixel 3 could do that, so why Google isnt trying to match both Samsung and Apple, who are able to do 4K on the front facing cameras, I don’t know. In terms of the rest of the video capabilities here you are, they are pretty much the same as the 3 but some are locked to specific FPSs:

Rear Camera

4K @ 30FPS
720P @ 240FPS
1080P @ 30, 60 and 120 FPS

Front Camera

1080P @ 30FPS

I am hoping that there are some major improvements when it comes to the software of the Pixel 4’s camera that would make up for the lack of improvement in the hardware. But whether those software improvements will come to the 3’s as well, we will have to wait and see.

Something new that is coming with the camera though is the Astrophotography, which was further shown off at the event. What this appears to be is an extended Night Sight of soughts but this astrophotography requires a 4 minute exposure time in order to take the image, so unless you want to stand perfectly still while it takes the picture, I’d suggest getting a tripod for it, unless you want to be in the picture, in which case you will have to stand still for the entire exposure time. Personally I see this as quite a gimmick but I could be surprised.

An example image of the Astrophotography from the Pixel 4 (Source: 9to5Google)

CPU & RAM

So whilst all the leaks have been right so far there was something that we did get wrong, the CPU. We thought that these were going to come with the Snapdragon 855+, which is essentially an overclocked 855. However, we are not getting any overclock at all, and are instead getting the Snapdragon 855 regular, which is the same processor you find in an S10. However, although that sounds great, the S10 had the best CPU at the time seeing as the S10 was released in March and the 855 was released in December of last year, but the Pixel could have had the 855+ which was released in July.

But we did get the RAM correct, with 6GB up from 4 on the 3XL. This is another questionable move, seeing as many phones come with 12GB of RAM nowadays.

PRICE

We also got the prices wrong, and in a good way this time. So from the leaks it looked like we were going to have to spend £730 for the 4 and £1,000 for the XL, but luckily those were overestimated prices and instead the Pixel 4 will start at £669, and the XL at £829. But whether that makes up for the lack of improvements, we will have to get one and find out!

CONCLUSION

So in the end I am not massively impressed. The design to me isn’t great, we are getting no huge improvements in performance or camera, and the only large camera update to me seems gimmicky but I am interested to see what kind of pictures it produces.

Until I have seen one for myself and had a go with it, I personally wouldn’t look to upgrade from my 3XL as there simply isn’t enough to make me want to upgrade, and if anything now could be the time to get a Pixel 3 if you’ve been wanting one as the price is sure to drop.

ZONEofTECH

October 8, 2019

Leaks & Rumors

Google Pixel 4 - Final Leaks & Rumors!

ZONEofTECH

October 8, 2019

Leaks & Rumors

The Google Pixel 4 is coming out this month! This will be one of the best smartphones to get in 2019, and it might have the best camera in a smartphone for 2019, alongside some very unique features. Personally I’m very excited for the Pixel 4 and here’s everything you need to know about the soon to be device from Google.

This article contains 8 sections: Design, Display, Camera, Performance, Special Features, Battery, Release Data & Price, so you’ll definitely need some popcorn and drinks for this one!

DESIGN

Ok, so Pixel phones are mostly known for 3 things; the amazing camera, the pure stock android experience with no bloatware and day one updates, and the not so pretty design.

The Pixel 1 looked like an iPhone with no home button, but it did have on screen buttons which made the bezels horrendously thick. The Pixel 2 which was released in 2017 already had an outdated design, when compared to the competition, such as the Galaxy S8 or the iPhone X. The Pixel 3 from 2018 had the famous notch which was even bigger and more noticeable than the one on the iPhone X, while lacking any 3D Depth Sensing technology or Face Unlock like the iPhones had.

And now the Pixel 4 will have another questionable design. Google has tweeted about this and even posted a few teasers. There are so many leaks for this phone that I think its the most leaked phone ever!

A hands on showing the forehead of the new Pixel 4 (Soure: 9to5Google)

First off, the Pixel 4 no longer has that huge notch. Instead we have a fairly noticeable forehead that resembles the one that we had on the Pixel 2XL, back in 2017. But this year Google is actually packing some serious tech inside that forehead which I’ll cover soon, so it’s not just there without any purpose. The side bezels are fairly thin, they do look to be about the same thickness as on the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max, and finally the bottom chin does appear to be thicker than on most phones today, but this one might also have its own purpose.

Moving on to the back we no longer have that iconic dual tone look that Pixel phones were known for, instead we have a single colour glass panel, which is again said to have the same frosted material that the Pixel 3 had and that the iPhone 11 Pro’s now have.

Google’s ad in Times Square showing the new ‘Oh So Orange’ colour and new camera module. (Source: Reddit)

The leaked colours at least, are black, orange and white. Google even had a massive Time Square poster, teasing the Pixel 4 which featured the orange model, so orange is definitely confirmed at this point. Evan Blass (@evleaks) also confirmed this colours, with their names apparently being “Just Black”, “Clearly White” and “Oh So Orange”!

Finally, and probably the most noticeable thing on the back, is that camera module which looks so different to how it looked on the previous Pixels. It looks very similar to the iPhone 11 Pro’s module the only differences is that it’s black on the inside rather than matching the colour of the back of the phone. In a way it does look very similar to the camera module on the iPhone 11 Pro mock-ups that we had. It’s not a triple lens camera module unfortunately it’s just a dual one but I’ll be covering that more in the camera section of this article.

Also, the fingerprint reader is now gone and it has now been replaced by something even better. This means that the back has quite a clean look and I overall I do think that Google’s moving into the right direction when it comes to the design. It’s still not as sleek as the S10 is, or the OnePlus 7 & 7T Pro but it will come with some very unique features which I’ll cover later on.

DISPLAY

Moving on to the display, the regular Pixel 4 will come with a 5.7” FullHD+ display, at 2160x1080 resolution and 424 PPI, whereas the Pixel 4 XL will come with a 6.3” QuadHD+ panel, so 3040x1440 resolution at 534PPI.

These will both be OLED displays, with Gorilla Glass 6, HDR support, 100% DCI-P3 coverage so they will be very good panels but they will also feature something quite special, a 90Hz refresh rate display! A high refresh rate display such as this, is something that we already have on phones such as the OnePlus 7 Pro, the 7T’s, the Asus ROG gaming phones, and the Razer phones. What this means is that all the animations would be 50% more fluid than on a regular phone which has a 60Hz refresh rate panel. Your laptop, your computer, your monitor, most of them also have 60Hz. So the Pixel 4 will be more fluid than those.

CAMERA

Now the Pixels are known for having amazing cameras but the thing is the camera hardware itself was never anything ground-breaking. Instead, Google’s machine learning has been by far the best in the industry and they’ve been able to deliver some amazing results.

Where all the other manufactures have had dual, triple, even quad camera modules, Google has only had one module. In 2018 with the Pixel 3, we did get a dual front facing camera module, which was one of the first in any smartphone. We had a wide-angle lens for group selfies which was actually a very useful thing to have, but literally nothing extra on the back.

So this year we are getting a dual camera module on the back, which means that Google would still be a year behind the competition. Smartphones in 2017 and 2018 got a second telephoto or a zoom camera module, then a wide angle in 2019. Unfortunately, according to all the leaks that we’ve seen the second module on the Pixel 4 will actually be a zoom module rather than a wide angle module, which is pretty disappointing. You can always zoom in digitally but you cannot take a wide angle shot, without a wide angle lens.

What’s even more disappointing is that Google already has a very good digital zoom. Google calls it SuperRes zoom, and while it’s nowhere near the quality of an actual zoom module, it’s very very close. So whilst all the leaks seem to be pointing to a zoom module, I’m still holding out for it to be a wide angle.

From the looks of the leaked designs, the Pixel 4 wont have the same dual front facing camera module that we have seen previously (Source: Genk.vn)

Now, speaking of the modules, it seems like we won’t be getting a dual camera module on the front anymore. From the official images that Google posted there is only one camera module there, I’ll talk about all the other sensors once we get to the special features section. However, this is expected to be a wide angle lens, or ultrawide as everyone’s calling it now, which means that Google will probably take all photos zoomed in digitally at a lower resolution and them zoom out for that wider field of view, when you need to. A similar technique to what Apple is now doing with the iPhone 11 Pro’s.

In terms of the camera specs the selfie camera is reported to be an 8MP sensor, f/2.0 aperture with 1080p video recording at 30fps. This is quite a big downgrade from the 4K60 that the iPhone 11 Pro for example can do. The back camera is reported to be a 12.2MP sensor with f.1.6 aperture. Same 1 / 2.55” sensor like we had on the Pixel 3 but with that f/1.6 aperture from f/1.8, which means we will be getting more light to the sensor, which in turn means better low light photography.

Video recording with the back facing camera will finally be bumped to 4K60, as the Pixel 3 could only do 4K30 and we’ve had 4K since on phones since 2017 with the iPhone 8.

In addition this camera will actually have two brand new features. The first one being called the ‘Pixel Neural Core’. This is essentially the next gen version of the Pixel Visual Core which was the imaging chip found in the Pixel 3. This was also the chip responsible for processing the data required for the Night Sight photography. Speaking of Night Sight probably the most impressive camera features for me at least, we are getting a brand new Astral Photography mode which seems to be an even more improved version of Night Sight.

We do now have full leaked images from the Pixel 4 thanks to 9to5Google, which you can check out below.

They’re definitely coming from a Pixel, I can tell that by looking at the portrait mode shot in the first image, where the subjects are clearly separated from the background, so they look as if they were added in photoshop.

That portrait mode of the dog looks incredible (Image 2). That’s some very good background separation right there, were the image becomes blurrier the further away you get from the lens, and that 2nd camera module is definitely helping make that portrait mode look realistic.

There’s also a Night Sight shot (Image 3) that look very good and has that signature Pixel look, where the colours are quite vibrant and cool compared to the warmer tint that we get with Samsung phones and iPhones.

Image 4 is a sample of the Astral photography mode which just look mind-blowing! I can’t believe that these were taken on a phone.

And then we a leaked Macro shot (Image 4) which just looks stunning, look at that detail!

Then we also have samples of food (Image 5) which seems to be very sharp and very colour accurate.

PERFORMANCE

Now, when it comes to the Performance, Pixel phones have never been that impressive. I mean sure, they were smooth and fluid and got day one updates but raw performance wise, they were quite weak when compared to the competition. This is because Pixel phones get released in October and they are one of the last smartphones to be released in the year. Whereas Qualcomm announces their new processors in December, so Pixel phones only get two months until they are already outdated.

In terms of the CPU, the Pixel 4 will come with the Snapdragon 855+. This is actually a fairly new CPU, being launched back in August, however it is just an overclocked 855 and not anything like the 865 will be, which will be announced around December. Still, the 855+ is a very good processor and a pretty big bump from the 845 that the Pixel 3 had.

Aside from the CPU, Pixel phones were also lacking RAM. The Pixel 3’s only come with 4GB of RAM which for an iPhone that’s quite normal but for an Android phone, 4GB of RAM is usually what you now find on low end handsets. Google stated that they don’t need more RAM since they optimise their Pixels very well which unfortunately hasn’t been the case. They were lots of complaints with the RAM management on the Pixel 2 & 3, which Google could easily fix by just adding more RAM in the Pixel 4. And they will, it’s just that the leaks suggest a bump to 6GB of RAM from 4, which isn’t that much. Today we have Android smartphones that come with 12GB and many more than come with 8 as standard. So even 6GB would be slightly outdated.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Ok, now aside from the camera upgrades, and the performance improvements, what are the features that make the Pixel 4 unique? Well, this is where we get the biggest improvements!

A leaked tear down of the forehead showing the implementation of the Soli Radar Chip (Source: Genk.vn)

First off, we get the brand new Soli chip. So this is essentially a miniaturised radar that can detect and measure movement much better than a camera can. In fact, Google had a special team just working on this Soli chip. What this chip allows you to do is control your Pixel 4 using Air Gestures. Now this isn’t anything new. We’ve had this with the Galaxy S4 and some other smartphones as well, and while you will be able to just wave at your Pixel to stop an alarm or skip to the next song, I still find this to be a gimmick.

Leaks suggest that Face Unlock will be coming to the Pixel 4 (Source: Genk.vn)

But the good news is that It will work in conjunction with the other sensors in that forehead, to enable the second big new special feature, Face Unlock. Just like we have on the iPhone X and newer, the Pixel 4 will have a full 3D Depth sensing camera. At the moment, no one apart from Apple, Huawei and now Google, are using this tech, mostly because it’s quite expensive. But, Google Face Unlock might be even better than Apple’s, thanks to that Soli Radar chip. Reportedly, the Pixel 4 lights up the display as soon as it sees your face, and unlocks the phone. This is will make it so much faster than Apple’s approach, where you have to lift the phone or tap the display, for the display to even light up. Also, if you take a look at the entire list of sensors that Google has inside that forehead, they’re actually using 2 Face unlock IR cameras, rather than just 1 like Apple uses. This could mean that Google will be using those for even better 3D depth mapping or even faster and more secure unlock.

The 3rd new feature will be UFS 3.0 storage. So just like the OnePlus 7 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10, the Pixel 4 will have the fastest storage on the market, with Read speeds of just over 1GB/s, which is really impressive to have on a smartphone! This will go really well with that 90Hz refresh rate panel.

The 4th, and final, new feature is 8x zoom with the back facing camera. We’ve seen some hands-on videos with the final retain unit of the Pixel 4. Unfortunately it seems like it will have a telephoto module rather than an ultra wide angle module, like I am hoping. And that 8X zoom would be digital instead of optical but hey, at least it’s there.

BATTERY

In terms of the battery, this is reported to be 2800mAh for the Pixel 4 and 3700mAh for the Pixel 4 XL.

Interesting enough, this is actually a downgrade on the Pixel 4, from the 2915mAh that the Pixel 3 had, but it is however an upgrade on the Pixel 4XL from the 3430mAh that we had on the Pixel 3XL.

No updates on the fast charging as to whether it is going to be improved in any way.

RELEASE DATE

So the actual Pixel 4 event is happening on October the 15th, which is just next week! This will be when Google will unveil the Pixel 4, the new Pixel Buds and possibly some brand new Google Home’s as well.

In terms of when the Pixel 4 would actually be released, this should also be on the 15th. Usually it’s about a week or two after the unveil but considering the amount of leaks that we’ve had, including people making videos with the actual retail unit of the Pixel, months before release, seems like Google already has the Pixel 4’s ready to ship.

PRICE

Price-wise we’ve only had one leak from a website called Elara, which was discovered by 9to5Google and according to this leak the prices for the Pixel 4’s would be 820 euros (£730) and 1126 euros for the XL (£1,000). Now although this is quite the price increase from the Pixel 3’s, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case. The Soli radar chip and Face Unlock are indeed some very expensive components which will increase the manufacturing cost of the Pixel 4. But at the same time, Google didn’t sell a lot of Pixel 3’s so they really shouldn’t be bumping up the price.

Also we’ve had a leaked listing of what we get inside the box, posted by 9to5Google, and it seems that we get a USB c to USB C charging cable, the power adapter, which is actually the same 18W charger that we got with the Pixel 3, the sim eject tool and the quick start guide. So no headphones again, which to me is another reason why Google should drop the price, since all the other smartphones at this price point do include headphones and more accessories, especially when it comes to Samsung.

CONCLUSION

Ok, so in the end, what do I think about the Pixel 4? Well, it’s not out just yet so I’ll reserve my final thoughts until then but based on all the leaks that we’ve seen, it’s going to be a very strong phone. Basically a OnePlus 7T Pro, with a much worse design but with Face Unlock, Air Gestures, a much better camera and even more stock OS with literally day 1 updates.

It won’t be the prettiest but it might just be the best android phone of 2019.

ZONEofTECH

January 31, 2019

Reviews

Google Pixel Slate Review

ZONEofTECH

January 31, 2019

Reviews

Now I’m actually a really big fan of Google myself. I absolutely love what they are doing as a company. Pretty much all of their software products are entirely free to use, their Google Home products are definitely the best ones overall and although the Pixel’s had some issues, for the most part they’re brilliant!

But Google has recently released a tablet, well kind of. The Pixel Slate is Google’s new 2 in 1 and it’s not that great at all. Here’s why.

HARDWARE

The Pixel Slate comes with a 12.3” display, the same as on the Microsoft Surface Pro 6. It’s a 3000x2000 resolution LCD panel at 293PPI, so it’s actually sharper than an iPad Pro’s display. I would say that the display was better than that of the Surface Pro 6 as it’s brighter and the colors just pop. However, it’s not as color accurate as the iPad Pro’s display, nor does it have the 120Hz refresh rate. Overall though, it’s a great display.

The difference in bezels between the Slate (Left) and the Microsoft Surface Pro 6 (Right)

Whilst it is a better design then the Surface Pro 6, having smaller bezels and thinner frame, the iPad Pro is even better with noticeably thinner bezels, and a much thinner, smaller form factor too.

I like the fact that there’s no camera bump and there is 0 branding aside from a slight ‘G’ logo in the top left corner. Speaking of cameras, the Pixel Slate comes

with two of them. The one on the back is an 8MP f/1.8 aperture and 1.12μm, that can record 1080p video at 30fps max and the one on the front is an 8MP f/1.9 aperture larger 1.4μm pixels. So yes, the front camera is better than the back one, but overall they’re both only ok.

The Pixel Slate also comes with dual front stereo speakers which are also ok, but they do crackle at high volume, which is something I would expect to see in a $100 tablet and not one that starts at $600.

But something that I do really like about the Pixel Slate, is that it comes with 2 USB type C ports, one on each side, which means you can charge it whilst also connecting it to an external monitor for example.

SOFTWARE

So instead of the Pixel Slate running Android, it runs on ChromeOS. Now I personally prefer this over Android, because it’s a bit more capable and it also supports all the Android apps that your phone or Android tablets do, so it’s a win-win in my books. You can play your favourite games, you can download Photoshop and Lightroom CC, and any app that you use on your Android smartphone or tablet. Overall ChromeOS is more desktop-like than iOS is on the iPad, which does not support external HDD’s at all or extended monitors in extended mode.

However there are 3 very big issues with ChromeOS on this specific tablet.

The first is the app layout. So if you have an Android tablet you probably know how poorly Android is optimised for tablets. I found that most of the apps on the Slate would not scale properly and I ended up with a massive UI.

The second big issue is that even though ChromeOS is a more similar to a full desktop OS rather than a mobile one like iOS and Android are, there are still no high end professional apps. There is no Adobe Premiere, no Photoshop, no 3D modelling apps literally zero of the high-end tools that you would get on Windows or macOS. So while ChromeOS can do more than iOS on the iPad Pro can, most Android apps have a completely unoptimized layout and the only version of Photoshop that you can get is the mobile version.

And finally the third big issue in terms of ChromeOS on this tablet, is the performance.

You see, the Pixel Slate comes in a ton of configurations.

You can get; a Celeron CPU with 4 or 8GB of RAM, an Intel Core m3 variant with 8GB of RAM (which is the one that I have), an i5 with 8GB of ram and an i7 with 16GB of RAM.

The i5 and i7 are still m5’s and m7’s, it’s just Intel’s naming scheme which is very misleading, so these are still those low power Y series processors.

Now performance wise, you would expect these to be really good but honestly, even the highest end Pixel Slate (the i7 model with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage) which costs a whopping £1,550 in the UK scores less than an iPhone X from 2017 in both Single-Core and Multi-Core!

Comparative Single and Multi-Core scores between the Pixel Slate and iPhone X

So now you’re probably wondering if the top of the line £1,550 i7 model is so weak, how weak is the baseline £550 Celeron model?

Well we’re talking 1,941 for the Single-Core and 3,045 for the Multi-Core.

Nope, that’s not a joke, this is for real! The Celeron Pixel Slate has a worse performance score than an iPhone 6S from 2015! It’s just a tiny bit more powerful than a 2014 iPhone 6, but weaker than a Samsung Galaxy S6 edge.

Now, Google sent me the m3 model, not the Celeron. But I have to say even the m3 lags like crazy! The lag on this thing reminds me of my Samsung Galaxy S4 running touchwiz and a ton of bloatware, definitely not something you should be seeing on a stock Android tablet made by Google that costs £750.

On top of all of this it also has bugs, and a lot of them at that. The Pixel Slate is the glitchiest, buggiest device I’ve had in years! For example, I was stuck on the app drawer and the Slate would not go to the desktop, no matter what I did. The back button wasn’t doing anything and neither were the gestures. I had to restart the Pixel Slate in order to fix it and guess what? It started happening again shortly after!

So why hasn’t Google included a Qualcomm processor, like the Snapdragon 845 that we have in the Pixel 3 XL to get a significantly better performance. I don’t know, honestly I have no idea. If any Google engineers are reading this, I would love to hear why you didn’t go with ARM processors as you would’ve gotten significantly better performance on this.

There’s also a couple of other things that the Pixel Slate didn’t get right, like the fact that there’s no double tap to wake on this which is a must on such a large tablet. It also doesn’t have a home button, so the only button to unlock this is the power button which also acts as the fingerprint sensor, which is cool but this means that unlocking this thing is a pain!

ACCESORIES

By now you can probably tell that I would not recommend the Pixel Slate to anyone. But are the accessories good enough to make me change that opinion?

Well, kind of.

The keyboard itself is much better than what you get with the iPad Pro. The keys are actual physical keys that you can feel, and typing on this isn’t bad. Aside from this, it is backlit with brightness and volume controls which you don’t get on the iPad Pro’s keyboard.

It also has a trackpad which works great, but probably the best part about is it the magnetic back which gives the Pixel Slate unlimited adjustability so you can place this at any angle that you want. This makes it light years ahead of what Apple’s offering on the iPad Pro which is not backlit, has no volume or brightness controls, no trackpad, no actual physical keys and only two adjustable angles.

The Pixel Slate Keyboard does costs £190 compared to the £179 that the Apple one costs but I personally feel that that’s okay considering that the Slate Keyboard is so much better.

The comparison in design between the Pixel Slate Keyboard (Left) and the Microsoft Surface Pro 6 Keyboard (Right)

However, when you compare it to Microsoft’s Surface Pro keyboard, the one that only costs £100, it doesn’t hold up. The Surface Pro’s keys feel better, the trackpad is more sturdy, and you can raise it if you want, rather than just having it lay flat like the Pixel Slate one .

There are also no magnets on the bottom of the Pixel Slate keyboard so it doesn’t even close properly. It just slides around which isn’t the best design.

But what about the Pixelbook Pen? Is this Pen better than the competition?

The 2nd gen Apple Pencil magnetically attaches to the side of the iPad and the Surface Pen does the same. The Pixelbook Pen however, does not do that. The Apple Pencil charges automatically when it’s connected to the side of the iPad. The Pixelbook Pen, as well as the Surface Pen, both require an actual battery which I’m not a fan of at all. And the Surface Pen has a eraser on the top, whereas the Apple Pencil and the Pixelbook Pen does not.

Surface Pen (Top), Pixelbook Pen (Middle), and Apple Pencil (Bottom)

So you can probably tell that the Pixelbook Pen offers the least amount of features of the three. It’s quite chunky, it doesn’t attach to the Slate, it has no eraser, and no automatic charging, it’s worse than both and whilst it costs less than the Apple Pencil it is more than the Surface Pen.

CONCLUSION

So in summary, the top of the line Pixel Slate cost more than an iPad Pro and the Surface Pro 6 whilst also being the worst one out of the three! It’s glitchy, slow, and has such a messed up app layout system going on. Sorry Google, I usually like what you’re doing and if this was £200 I could maybe overlook the issues and recommend it. But considering how expensive this is and all the issues that is has I wouldn’t recommend you pick one up.

I am hoping that Google makes the 2nd gen Slate better by putting in a better processor, a Qualcomm one and optimises ChromeOS, fix all the glitches, improve the accessories and heavily drops the price.

If you need a 2 in 1 the best one out there is still the Surface Pro 6, and if you need a great tablet, the best one out there is still the iPad Pro.