The Google Pixel 4 XL Review: Stuck In The Past In 2019
by Andrei Frumusanu on November 8, 2019 11:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Smartphones
- Pixel 4
- Pixel 4 XL
Battery Life
Battery life of the Pixel 4 series was a concern from the very first moment we had confirmation about the phone having a 90Hz panel, yet doing nothing special or even regressing in terms of the battery capacity of the two models. I put the Pixel 4 XL through the paces in all three display modes, testing the battery life at 60Hz, 90Hz auto, and 90Hz forced refresh rates.
Unfortunately, as expected, the results aren’t too fantastic. The device that we should be comparing things to is the OnePlus 7 Pro – both devices feature 1440p 90Hz displays with the same SoC, it’s just that the Pixel 4 XL has a smaller battery at 3700mAh. While the Pixel 4 XL is lagging behind the OP7Pro, the interesting thing is that Google’s 90Hz seemingly uses less of a power hit than OnePlus’ implementation, degrading by 7.7% versus 8.7% when comparing full 90Hz versus 60Hz.
Given the results and the fact that Google dual-sources with LG, I very much doubt the Pixel 4 XL is taking advantage of Samsung’s newest more efficient OLED emitter generation which is said to be 15% more efficient.
In PCMark, the results are also average to bad. 60Hz to full 90Hz incurs a 12.3% penalty, which is again slightly less than the 13.6% of the OnePlus 7 Pro. Naturally we can’t come to a conclusion of saying Google’s 90Hz is more efficient, maybe OnePlus’ 60Hz power management is just better implemented.
Battery Life Conclusion - Average to meagre, still useable for the 4 XL
Overall, the Pixel 4 XL’s battery life isn’t very competitive. It’s amongst the worst results we’ve had for a 2019 device. I have to be accountable to myself here as whilst the phone has worse battery life than the OP7Pro, it’s not that much worse. Having said that the OP7Pro battery life was still completely useable, the Pixel 4 XL is also still very useable as it is. The problem again is that the Pixel came 6 months later, and in the face of a new iPhone generation which brought immense leaps in battery life, the Pixel 4 XL doesn’t seem to be that wise a purchase.
I really find it unfortunate that we weren’t able to test the battery life of the smaller Pixel 4. This model’s 2800mAh battery is 25% smaller and also comes with the wildcard of having an LG panel which historically have always been less power efficient. I can easily imagine that the battery life of that model is outright disastrous, and given coverage by other reviewers, it seem this would be an apt description of the situation.
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warreo - Friday, November 8, 2019 - link
Not trying to be politically correct or anything, but the "schmuck" bit about wireless earbuds is a bit unnecessary even if it is tongue in cheek. I've got a pair of Jabras I got on sale (you don't have to spend a "heavy premium") and the experience has been completely freeing compared to even the wireless cans they replaced. Not saying they're for everyone, but the popularity of Airpods and true wireless earbuds clearly shows they have massive appeal to many.I'll get off my soapbox now.
Andrei Frumusanu - Friday, November 8, 2019 - link
> I've got a pair of Jabras I got on sale (you don't have to spend a "heavy premium")$100-150 is a very high premium for the sake of having audio. I'd argue the popularity of Airpods are very much less about wireless audio and more about them being style and status symbols.
generalako - Friday, November 8, 2019 - link
And the fact that most flagship phones don't have headphone jacks, so people are "forced" into buying them.Spunjji - Monday, November 11, 2019 - link
I will never stop thinking that "true wireless" earbuds are a terrible idea. Even laying the physical issues of losing them or the case aside, you're charging a small battery to charge two even smaller batteries through induction, so the overall power efficiency is *terrible* and they're guaranteed to be e-waste within 4 years at the very most.s.yu - Wednesday, November 13, 2019 - link
The only way to fix this is to be able to service the batteries yourself. I could do that to my Philips Sonicare now and it could last many years to come until spare parts cease to be available but I reckon the earbuds are a lot more difficult.Quantumz0d - Friday, November 8, 2019 - link
This phone is DOA.- No 3.5mm jack, "Made for Google" Apple copy bs
- No SD slot
- 4K 60 nope, No high FPS capturing either.
- No Wide angle (It's funny when LG did this for 2016 and up no one batted an eye but when Apple does this its a ground breaking innovation. Also Pixel ia over as Huawei is too good (Which is really sad given its coming from a State funded corporate CPC stooge)
- No UFS 3.0
- No 256GB base like Note 10+ nor base 128GB
- 6GB bog standard RAM, in 2016 OP3 had 6GB RAM.
- Google and all are praised for camera but no one reviews the Manual / Pro camera modes. A big sham that we don't get any of them on Pixel or iPhone but they are touted Best. Especially when LG and Sony break the mold with Manual/Pro Video settings (Siny just started with Xperia 1 while LG was doing since V20.
- Pathetic battery.
- Weak construction, Jerryrig tests failed, even that shitty paint is cheap feeling.
- Propreitary System UI, uses AOSP only in name but Google slowly killing all of the OSS components into Pixel experience a massive shame.
- Scoped Storage Bullshit (Android 10 bonus) a.k.a Death of Filesystem access.
- Huge Forehead over rounded design, My V30 has much smaller bezela over this POS.
- Pixel 4 has Huawei type Read Only Filesystem. EXT4 is RO in this crap making Custom ROM scene a pain. Like Pixel 3 Dynamic Partitions (P4 adds this too) and they also have A/B slotting BS, what does this mean ? - Multiple flashing of TWRP, Zips, need to change a lot of things as traditional mod flashes won't work.
The only good thing is Fastboot OEM unlock Bootloader unlock without any Code drama.
Quantumz0d - Friday, November 8, 2019 - link
No HDR as display is crap in 2019. My V30 clocks at 600Nits from 2017. And from S8 too.No USB Video Out too. A massive shame as OP, Samsung, LG, Sony, Huawei all have it.
This phone is crap.
Quantumz0d - Friday, November 8, 2019 - link
Also forgot to add the lack of proper fingerprint scanner and add that Face ID clone. Google Rick Osterloh doesn't have any shame and their lead designer lady is stupid as well.Andrei Frumusanu - Friday, November 8, 2019 - link
It does have HDR.Quantumz0d - Friday, November 8, 2019 - link
Andrei thanks for reply. But isn't the HDR requirement at 500Nits optimum ? I see its maxing at 438 which is pretty poor esp in 2019. Also HDR10 is advertised on Samsung panels for a long time. Even LG from V30 onwards. Also same for Dolby Vision.