Given the huge number of leaks building up to Google’s launch, we now know pretty much everything about Google’s Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. Interestingly, however, there’s not much of a hardware upgrade here to see and the best things about Google’s new flagship phones actually lie in their software.
The hardware has barely changed and to say the least, is not impressive, It has a Snapdragon 845 processor, which is fast but not as fast as the A12 in the iPhone XS. There’s only a 64 and 128GB storage tier and no SD card, and the phone has only 4GB of RAM with many phones in the market coming with a 6 or 8 GB RAM. Also, there are not many differences between Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL themselves.. Battery life is alright but not impressive or better than any of the other phones out in the market. It is thus hard not to notice therefore that the best features on the new phones: from better camera algorithms to a much smarter Google Assistant, the standout features on this year’s models are almost all in the software.
It’s the third year of Google’s initiative on hardware and while some its hardware categories are actually performing quite well compared with the competition, it’s success in the smartphone category particularly with respect to hardware still has to catch up to its Google’s name in innovation.
For instance, the biggest hardware changes when it comes to the Pixel 3 ‘s camera are the second wide-angle selfie camera on the front and a flicker sensor on the rear. This means that the most significant changes to the Pixel 3’s camera results come from the software. The Pixel 3 is a whole lot better at the HDR+ trick of taking multiple photos and combining them through software into a single image with a range of software features to tweak around with those images. Most of these features are built into the camera app which means you WILL actually use them instead of just playing around with them once and then forgetting all about them. The “Top Shot” feature, for instance, will suggest the best picture from a burst which is quite the time-saver.
Another area, where Google has tried to make do with software is the Super-Res Zoom feature that uses the extra data from your handshaking to create a zoomed image. This actually works but again it is not as good as a dedicated second lens.
Android 9.0 Pie on the these latest Pixel handsets is the main attraction for Android fans here and it will no doubt provide a fast and smooth experience. Also, the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL is guaranteed to get at least three years of Android software updates and security updates so that’s a big plus.
As far as hardware specs go, the Pixel 3 is just another face in the crowd. Where it does stand out, however, is its software and Pixel 3 is no doubt one of the fastest phones right now and has incredible camera performance along with a host of other great software features. However, it’s worth paying a pretty buck just for that depends on how much you are willing to pay just for the experience and not all users will be willing to pay that much for just that.