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
Camera - Low Light Evaluation
Night-time photography was starting with the Pixel 3 and the introduction of Night Sight, one of Google’s fortes. The new Pixel 4 is able to improve in this aspect through a few different means: A new and improved camera sensor, a larger lens aperture to capture more light, and a new Night Sight algorithm that promises to improve and iterate upon the existing implementation.
[ Pixel 4 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
[ S10+ (S) ] - [ S10+ (E) ]
[ iPhone 11 Pro ] - [ Mate 30 Pro ]
[ P30 Pro ] - [ G8X ] - [ Xperia 1 ]
Starting off with the first sample, the differences to the Pixel 3 are quite minor. Besides the different colour of the lighting, the overall composition of the scene and details are pretty much the same between both phones. There is a difference in noise levels between the two, but it’s hard to conclude any one is better than the other.
The Pixels still lead Samsung’s devices, but Apple and Huawei are ahead of the Pixel 4 in terms of detail retention.
[ Pixel 4 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
[ S10+ (S) ] - [ S10+ (E) ]
[ iPhone 11 Pro ] - [ Mate 30 Pro ]
[ P30 Pro ] - [ G8X ]
In the next shot the differences between the Pixel 4 and 3 are more evident. The new phone has better dynamic range and thus is able to resolve more information in the darker shadows of the scene, such as the main buildings facades.
Apple’s night mode didn’t trigger here which leaves Huawei’s devices as the contenders.
[ Pixel 4 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
[ S10+ (S) ] - [ S10+ (E) ]
[ iPhone 11 Pro ] - [ Mate 30 Pro ]
[ P30 Pro ] - [ G8X ]
[ Xperia 1 ]
We’re only seeing minor differences in the P3 <> P4 comparison here. The P4 has slightly better shadow detail and noise handling. Google, Samsung and Huawei all produce great results as Apple falls behind here as again Night Mode doesn’t trigger.
[ Pixel 4 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
[ Galaxy S10+ (S) ] - [ Galaxy S10+ (E) ]
[ iPhone 11 Pro ] - [ Mate 30 Pro ]
[ P30 Pro ] - [ G8X ] - [ Xperia 1 ]
The darker it gets, the more evident the improvements of the Pixel 4. The new phone here holds a clear edge over the Pixel 3. The result is actually not that far off from the Exynos S10, with the Pixel having slightly better noise handling. The Snapdragon S10’s night mode seems to continue to be algorithmically inferior. The iPhone 11 is able to get a lot of detail out of the visible areas, but algorithmically isn’t able to extract much light out of the shadows which remain pitch black. Of course, Huawei’s large RYYB sensor is able to capture a stupid amount of light.
[ Pixel 4 ] - [ Pixel 3 ] - [ Galaxy S10+ (S) ]
[ Galaxy S10+ (E) ] - [ iPhone 11 Pro ]
[ Mate 30 Pro ] - [ P30 Pro ]
[ G8X ] - [ Xperia 1 ]
The phones here are quite in line. The Pixel 4 has an edge in detail which it shares with the Huawei phones, with Apple and Samsung closely behind.
[ Pixel 4 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
[ Galaxy S10+ (S) ] - [ Galaxy S10+ (E) ]
[ iPhone 11 Pro ] - [ Mate 30 Pro ]
[ P30 Pro ] - [ G8X ] - [ Xperia 1 ]
The Pixel 4 is able to get a little bit more light than the P3 but it’s not too much a major upgrade. Google lags behind Apple in terms of detail here as the iPhone is able to get a much sharper picture, although lacking details in the darker areas where the sensor just doesn’t pick up any light.
[ Pixel 4 ] - [ Pixel 3 ]
[ Galaxy S10+ (S) ] - [ Galaxy S10+ (E) ]
[ iPhone 11 Pro ] - [ Mate 30 Pro ]
[ P30 Pro ] - [ G8X ] - [ Xperia 1 ]
This last shot again showcases the Pixel 4’s better light capture ability as it’s able to notably turn down the ISO levels compared to the Pixel 3, with the resulting shot being significantly sharper. The Pixel 4 is far ahead Samsung and Apple, only trading blows with Huawei.
Low-Light Conclusion – Excellent Upgrades
Overall, the low-light ability of the Pixel 4 is closely tied to how Night Sight performs. Google’s camera here is excellent and the algorithm tweaks are augmented by new main sensor which is able to reduce noise levels more significantly. The differences between the Pixel 4 and Pixel 3 grow the darker it gets as the latter’s sensor just isn’t able to capture enough light.
Google and Apple are battling with each other over their implementations. Sometimes Apple gets the better and sharper shots, however this only ever rarely happens as Night Sight generally provides the better results and isn’t limited by an uncontrollable automatic activation such as on the iPhone 11. Samsung Exynos devices are closely following the Pixel 4 in terms of quality. Huawei generally still has the low-light leadership amongst current flagships.
One aspect that I didn’t test in this review was astrophotography. The reason for this was pretty stupid but also very revealing of the feature’s real-world usability: I wasn’t able to get out of my city’s light pollution area and 90% of the nights since I’ve had the phone were under cloud cover. Whilst I’m sure there’s other people who’ll be able to take advantage of the feature for some good shots, it’s also pretty much a gimmick given its very limited usability.
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watzupken - Tuesday, November 12, 2019 - link
To me, the great Android experience is basically negated by poor battery life, QC and high price on the Pixel 3 and 4 series. Battery life for a mobile device is an essential requirement which this fails bitterly for a flagship phone. I agree it's a very gimmicky phone. It's rare to see reviewers being so harsh in their conclusion, but I feel Google really deserved a harsh wake up call and not be half hearted when they design a product.nostriluu - Tuesday, November 12, 2019 - link
I really think the author missed the point of the Pixel series. They are about Google's machine learning based smarts, which are well ahead of other providers. I plan to buy a Pixel 4 for the on-device transcription feature alone, though other features, not related to the the up-to-dateness of its SoC, are making me hesitate.kaesden - Thursday, November 14, 2019 - link
the one benefit of this phone vs a samsung, is getting a clean Android install without a bunch of bloatware installed on it by either samsung and/or the carrier's image, which allows for timely updates rather being 1-2 years behind all the time. However i dont see this as a compelling 'upgrade' from a pixel 3 at all.BabelHuber - Friday, November 15, 2019 - link
I think that this review is a bit too harsh.I agree that the Pixel 4's battery is a bit too small, but the 4 XL should have sufficient capacity.
The Pixel 3a XL I have lasts 3 days under light use and more than a day under heavy use, in fact I never was able to deplete the battery within a day before I came home, even when it was late in the eveing and used the phone excessively.
So with a bit worse battery runtime, the 4 XL should still be fine, perhaps except of the most extreme use cases.
I have played around with both the 4 and 4 XL and they both are very snappy and the face unlock works as advertised. It's not enough improvement for me to upgrade, though.
When we skip all the fancy gimmicks, there are a lot of pros for the Pixels:
- Bootloader unlocking and re-locking with fastboot, no crap like KNOX or warranty void
- Very easy to apply updates even when rooted
- Pixel users get new features first, like Google Lens
- Timely, monthly security updates (at least for 3 years)
- First to new Android versions via Google's beta channel
- Still a very good camera (in my opinion)
- The best software. I know this is subjective, but I e.g. cannot stand Samsung's or LG's launchers, phone apps, contacts etc.
The software features are the main point for me personally. I don't give a rat's a$$ about bezel sizes, popup cameras or slightly better screens, but I want the newest software and being able to easily root the thing.
Other people might put mnore emphasis on things I don't care for, but for me Pixels are the best.
MooseNSquirrel - Sunday, November 17, 2019 - link
Agree. The actual experience of owning and using the phone matters more than opinions about marginal differences in specs.Ive had the Pixel 3 since release and its great, especially the camera. Battery life is fine.
Frankly any of these top phones are great, regardless of who makes them. I just refuse to buy into Apples annoying walled garden and so will never own an Iphone.
Hubert Satheesh - Monday, November 18, 2019 - link
Well if Astrophotography and Soli radars are gimmicks, what about forced touch for 6s? I just remembered about the glowing tribute to force touch when it was launched in 6s in Anandtech. It praised how it's going to be the future of touch... only to be discarded by Apple a few yrs later as it was not practically useful. Though astrophotography is not a common occurence brushing it aside as gimmick makes one wonder whether theres an inherent bias towards anything Google and being lax on Apple!! Going by the same yardstick, the reviewer makes noise about pixels low display brightness. Now how many of us practically use our phone in bright sunlight to want that? Do we really need levels abouve 800 and 1000? So practicality is not the issue in most cases. As much experience and features a phone can pack, its better. If not you, someone will be benifitted by it. However it's of crucial importance for the pixel team to read such reviews as they are out of touch with reality. It's as if the team is living under a rock!! It's interesting to see how chineses OEMs with limited budget, resources and know how, easily surpass the mighty google in hardware and software design. Google needs a serious introspection.tranceazure1814 - Thursday, November 21, 2019 - link
When you can buy a OnePlus 7 standard model with snapdragon 855 and 256gb of UFS 3.0 and 8gig of ram and android 10 oxygen for 300 pounds,with far better battery life and decent camera why would you pay for a pixel 4coronafelix - Tuesday, August 25, 2020 - link
Really odd camera review, zero testing when it comes to subject focusing or how the cameras deal with actual subjects. Which makes sense considering the narrative mostly focuses on samsung's 'advantage' in dynamic range. (I do agree with their advantage there, but they have weaknesses as well). I think more categories needed to be tested for all cameras..TheinsanegamerN - Thursday, October 1, 2020 - link
It looks like a much better phone then the pixel 4, but for $700 I'd expect a headphone jack and at least a 5000 MaH battery, or no headphone and 5500+MaH. I've given up on google ever using SD cards again.