The Google Pixel 5: A Mini-Review - Small Package, Small Value?
by Andrei Frumusanu on January 22, 2021 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
- Pixel 5
Conclusion & End Remarks
Today’s review of the Pixel 5 wasn’t the usual full-fledged piece we’d dedicate to Google’s year devices, with the goal of the piece more towards making sure we’ve covered the phone ahead of the flurry of new generation devices that are coming next week. That’s a pretty stoic take to start the conclusion of the Pixel 5 with, but I think that’s also the general correct conveyance of my thoughts on the device.
The Pixel 5 is generally a good phone. The highlights of the device are its unique build and materials, with the plastic-coated aluminium frame giving the phone a unique feel that’s actually breath of fresh air in a market of glass sandwich phones. Google’s approach and industrial design here I think are a success – both in terms of build materials and also the general simple but very functional design of the phone.
The device is a smaller form-factor, and most importantly very light-weight, something which is becoming increasingly rare in today’s industry trends. The company also doesn’t compromise on things such as battery capacity even though the Pixel 5 is of a diminutive stature, and the long battery life is actually also one of the highlights of the phone, addressing one of the important problems that had plagued the Pixel 4.
Performance of the Snapdragon 765 in every-day usage is good, and Google’s software is plenty optimised and the device feels very responsive in lighter tasks, although the hardware disadvantages do appear in anything that’s more demanding. The GPU performance in the Pixel 5 is atrocious – we can’t really explain why the phone performs so much worse than other Snapdragon 765 devices, but if you’re looking for a phone for any kind of 3D gaming, the Pixel 5 is not for you.
The camera experience on the Pixel 5 is good. Daylight pictures are competitive, and the new ultra-wide-angle module addresses a much-needed gap in experience in Google’s Pixel line-up. Low-light photography is saved through Night Sight, however by today’s standards there are superior camera experiences out there by the likes of Apple and Samsung.
Finally, there’s the question of price and value, and that’s where the Pixel 5 encounters some very large hurdles.
In the US, the Pixel 5 launched at $699 and that is still the price today. The problem here is that that’s still quite steep compared to other newer competitive options, a Galaxy S20 FE now costs $599 and outperforms the Pixel 5 in nearly every aspect. The new upcoming Galaxy S21 launching at $799 also completes the pincer-attack from the high-end, not to mention the pressure Apple is putting onto the Android ecosystem with the newer $699 iPhone 12 mini and $799 iPhone 12. European users also see a similar situation, with the added issue that Google isn’t even officially selling the Pixel 5 in many countries.
Furthermore, while the Pixel 5 is a good phone, it’s not dramatically different to the Pixel 4a 5G. They have the same SoC, the same camera system, the 4a 5G actually gains a 3.5mm headphone jack, and only trades in the 90Hz screen and IP68 water resistance in return, for only $499. Yes, the mmWave version costs $599 there, but I really wonder if that’s actually of any wise value in this product segment.
In the end, I still feel like Google’s release schedule is handicapping the company’s product lines. If the Pixel 5 had been released in early 2020, I think it would have had an easier time to rationalise itself. Being released in November, the phone really only had a couple of months opportunity to position itself in the market before getting crushed by the new spring generation refreshes – if one could argue that it had a competitive positioning at all at release.
I think Google overall did well with the direction they took with the Pixel 5, it was the wise choice to go for this product segment, however the company still needs to unbundle the Pixel release schedule with the Android release schedule, and try to further optimise the pricing of the phones. The Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a 5G are much better positioned devices, and probably a wiser purchase compared to the Pixel 5.
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Jon Tseng - Friday, January 22, 2021 - link
>It’s been a couple of months now since Google announced the Pixel 5 –>Unfortunately we didn’t quite get to a timely review of the device due to
>other important industry coverage.
lol Anandtech's "it'll be ready when its ready" approach to deadlines is one of the most endearing features of the site
On that note has an Ampere/RTX3080 review on up yet? Obviously a somewhat hypothetical purchase but would be int to hear the view..
erple2 - Saturday, January 23, 2021 - link
Interestingly, maybe Anandtech is right to not actually post a review of the effectively unavailable RTX 30x0 GPUs. They're not available to most people anyway. Maybe Anandtech has been silently protesting the "paper" launch of the next gen GPUs? :)MattMe - Friday, January 22, 2021 - link
I've owned the original Pixel, Pixel 3 and now the Pixel 5.I really liked the approach to offering top tier devices in a smaller form factor when the original was released, and appreciated the vanilla Android experience. The cameras have been fantastic, in all scenarios, I have been honestly left astonished at what the camera can capture even in challenging lighting environments.
I dropped and broke the glass on my Pixel 3 otherwise would likely have kept it another year or so, but having had a look around I opted for the Pixel 5. One thing I noticed right away that I don't feel the charts here get across is the real world battery life. I'd consider myself a power user, but not particularly focused on heavy workloads (I don't often play games or run other demanding apps on my phone outside some image editing and music creation/production), but I have noticed 50% of my battery remaining at the end of the day quite often, whereas on my Pixel 3 (even when it was new) I would be needing to charge by the end of the day.
The screen is great, the cameras are still fantastic, the resin/plastic back feels comfortable and grippy, the size is perfect. I really have no qualms whatsoever.
My main reservation before purchasing was the CPU, I'd heard that it was a noticable downgrade to the Pixel 4 and even 3 but in reality I have not noticed this. I read reviews mentioning how you can see image processing completing when opening a picture immediately after snapping it, but I always saw that on my Pixel 3 too. If anything I feel this is quicker than the 3 over all, and I never felt CPU-bound with that device!
All this is to say, I agree with the review. :)
The price could be lower, compared to the 4a5g may not be great, but in comparison to the 4 last year as a 'flagship' I would say it is.
I'm much more pleased with the device than I expected and would happily recommend it.
MattMe - Friday, January 22, 2021 - link
That was a long one, I think I'm surprised by how it feels like an upgrade over the Pixel 3, despite many reviews talking about how it's a downgrade. I'd rather pay less if the only trade off is the CPU, which appears to be the case for the 5.BedfordTim - Friday, January 22, 2021 - link
The reason I have always ruled out Pixels is storage. For phone where one of the main selling points is photography, 128GB is not enough and expandable. I filled 160GB on my old Lumia 950.supdawgwtfd - Friday, January 22, 2021 - link
I have a Pixel 3.Unlimited cloud storage ;)
Photos only now are limited on cloud storage Pixel devices.
iphonebestgamephone - Sunday, January 24, 2021 - link
Not everyone has unlimited data ;)tipoo - Friday, January 22, 2021 - link
Hard to believe the GPU in this underperforms what was in my iPhone 7, 5 years ago. They went really low end with this chip. Now Android seems well enough tailored for low end hardware that you're not feeling it too much, but certainly with intensive apps and games you would.GC2:CS - Saturday, January 23, 2021 - link
But A10 took like 6 or 7 W at full load and throttle badly to 3.This sucks up one. You cannot directly compare those.
Spunjji - Monday, January 25, 2021 - link
I mean, you can - and you just did.This is more efficient but slower than a 5-year-old chip. It would be fair to expect something that is both more efficient and *at least* as fast, given the intervening progress with manufacturing processes. Qualcomm can definitely build such a GPU, but they're choosing not to. It's sad.