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
Battery Life
Although the Pixel 5 is a small phone, Google still managed to with a rather large 4080mAh battery – which notable given the 151g weight of the device. Coupled with a 1080p 90Hz screen which seems to be of good quality, the Pixel 5 should do alright in the battery tests.
Indeed, in our web-browsing test, the Pixel 5 ended up lasting 12.5h, which is an excellent result for a device of this calibre. The phone seems to be significantly more efficient than the Pixel 4 XL last year, and it also does better than even some newer flagships this year which use less power-efficient displays.
In the more SoC power dominant PCMark battery test, the Pixel 5 also does very well at 11.1h runtime. The similar-specced LG Velvet beats it, but only due to a larger battery as well as a 60Hz display.
In general, the Pixel 5 does very well in terms of battery life and it seems to be amongst the most power-optimised devices in the market – usually small phones have to compromise on battery life compared to their larger battery siblings, however the Pixel 5 here does not.
It’s actually a stark contrast to last year’s Pixel 4 devices which had large power consumption issues – whatever compromises Google had to make, such as a different SoC, dropping Project Soli, or just overall power optimisations, it seems to have worked well in favour of the Pixel 5.
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Ananke - Wednesday, January 27, 2021 - link
$700 is a lot of money without the corresponding value.In this regards "value for money" is iPhone SE for $400
otonieru - Sunday, January 24, 2021 - link
It would be stupid to pay $700 for this specifications.dontlistentome - Sunday, January 24, 2021 - link
Wife an I both have Pixel 5s to replace Samsung S8s. Perfect for what we needed - smallish, not too bothered about mega res screen, good battery, google sw, waterproof, wireless charging and the front camera was about as unintrusive as they get nowadays.On launch in the UK the phone was £600 but they bundled Bose QC35II headphones. Quick bit of ebaying netted £150 so the phones were a much more acceptable £450 (having said that, they gave the phones with the 4a too...).
Overpriced? Probably, but we paid for the lack of irritations and for those 3 or 4 features we'd got used to.
eclectech - Sunday, January 24, 2021 - link
I read this whole review on my Pixel 5. Fortunately the phone didn't consume a lot of power while doing it.Billjriv - Sunday, January 24, 2021 - link
Just buy the phone with an already cracked screen that way you save 2/3rds the cost it's like buying a Mustang from CopartPeskarik - Monday, January 25, 2021 - link
This phone is not worth upgrading from my Pixel XL which is why I did not upgrade.Put a better processor in it, put 3.5mm jack back in, put a good battery - I will buy.
Take Google camera and put it into a Sony Xperia 5II phone (you can take 5G out, for what I care) - I would buy that.
Zan Lynx - Monday, January 25, 2021 - link
I bought a Pixel 5 when it came out. I wanted the 5G and my older Pixel 3 XL was getting old and scratched up.I love the battery life. With my usage it can make it through almost two days without a charge.
The 90 Hz update was new to me and I really like it. When scrolling it feels so much better.
I haven't noticed any speed problems on web pages. They all seem fast enough for me. The sites that are slow are also chunky and slow on my Ryzen 5950X desktop, so the problem there really isn't with the phone. It's with the web developers.
I think it is about the same as the Pixel 3 but I also like the charge time. 30 minutes on the USB-C cable and it is up to 80%. With the great battery life that's enough for the rest of the day.
johnmartin123 - Tuesday, January 26, 2021 - link
.johnmartin123 - Tuesday, January 26, 2021 - link
I brought this phone few weeks ago and I have to say this one is far better than pixel 4 because the battery runtime is much better, the speed is better and I'm experiencing the best with the phone. I've a business in social media management Alexandria and I do most of my work with this phone. https://www.course1.com/ check our website.zsdersw - Thursday, January 28, 2021 - link
Google's UI on the Pixel phones is far superior to all other makers' UI skins, and that overcomes all of the idiotic "concerns" made in this article.