Battery Life

In terms of battery life, we should be expecting the Pixel 3 to do better than the Pixel 2, as we have an 8% larger battery coming at 2915mAh compared to last year’s 2700mAh unit. On the other hand, we also have to consider the Pixel 3 has a larger screen that needs to be powered, and the SoC efficiency can go either way. For our battery tests, we set the device brightness to 200 nits using our colorimeter tools.

Web Browsing Battery Life 2016 (WiFi)

Unfortunately, the Pixel 3 sees a regression in terms of battery life, ending up 18% or 1.5 hours behind the Pixel 2 in the web browsing battery test. I did some quick power characterisation, and the Pixel 3 uses about 90mW more power when idling at minimum brightness in airplane mode. Stretched over a 9-10 hour period, this is about 8% of the total battery capacity. On top of this, the phone has to power a bigger screen, and we have a much more performant SoC. Overall the Pixel 3’s battery life doesn’t end up as particularly surprising.

PCMark Work 2.0 - Battery Life

In PCMark, the Pixel 3 sees better performance, as the SoC is able to counter-act the phone general less efficiency. Here the Pixel 3 lands just slightly ahead of the Pixel 2, landing in the middle of the pack in terms of battery life.
Display Measurement Camera - Daylight Evaluation - Superzoom and Scenic
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  • Dr. Swag - Saturday, November 3, 2018 - link

    https://www.xda-developers.com/google-camera-photo...
  • satori3000 - Saturday, November 3, 2018 - link

    Appreciated. Was hoping this was an application, I'm not side loading anything
  • Impulses - Saturday, November 3, 2018 - link

    It's gonna be available as an update to the stock camera pretty soon.
  • zodiacfml - Saturday, November 3, 2018 - link

    Impressive, beating a camera site on the review of the camera. I also like your emphasis on the highlights. I am particular with this especially on brightly colored objects. I prefer this choice of Google.
    You are correct that it has crushed blacks to increase contrast due to the soft highlights.
    I think you can control exposure despite in HDR mode for night scenes.
    Lastly, the phone gives me an impression of a Nexus 5 but it has good pricing unlike this.
    Why dont you set a static scene studio for resolution and low light tests?
  • Ethos Evoss - Saturday, November 3, 2018 - link

    Overrated crap phone ..
  • Simsurf - Sunday, November 4, 2018 - link

    I simply refuse to pay more than $1000 for any phone. When did we start accepting this as the norm. Still rocking an immaculate refurbished pixel XL 128gb for $500 on eBay twelve months ago. And when this one dies I'll get last year's model again. If I want to play games I get in my PC. If I want a good photo i use my dslr.
  • Commodus - Sunday, November 4, 2018 - link

    You can't always bring your PC and DSLR with you though, can you? I don't know about you, but if I'm out on the town with my partner I'd rather not lug a big camera around just in case there's a good photo opportunity. It's about having the best experience that's always available in your pocket.
  • Impulses - Monday, November 5, 2018 - link

    There's pocketable P&S with 1" sensors or even tiny M4/3 bodies that can outshoot $1K phones with relative ease tho, and they're still plenty portable... Photography enthusiasts are spoiled for choices these days despite a shrinking market... I'm not picking sides, I've now bought two Pixels (OG & 3) and I shoot some of those same camera options I alluded to.
  • Arbie - Tuesday, November 6, 2018 - link

    "There's pocketable P&S with 1" sensors or even tiny M4/3 bodies that can outshoot $1K phones with relative ease".

    Examples? I want small size and good low-light performance at auto settings.
  • zodiacfml - Tuesday, November 6, 2018 - link

    It is not even increasing part cost. The Pocophone F1 has flagship specs at only $300

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