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
System Performance
One aspect Google Pixel devices have always excelled at is performance. With every generation, Google had opted to customise the BSP stack and improve on Qualcomm’s mechanisms to be able to extract as much performance out of the SoC as possible. In recent years these customisations haven’t been quite as evident as QC’s schedulers became more complex and also more mature. The Pixel 4 again makes use of Qualcomm’s scheduler mechanisms instead of Google’s own Android Common Kernel. The Pixel 4 also arrives with Android Q which is one of the very few devices in our testbench which comes with the new OS version.
We’re testing the Pixel 4 at three refresh rate settings: the default 60Hz mode, the automatic 90Hz mode, and the forced 90Hz mode. As with the OnePlus 7 Pro earlier in the year, we’re expecting to measure differences between the different display modes.
Starting off with the web browsing test, we’re seeing the Pixel 4 XL perform quite averagely. The odd thing here is that it’s showcasing worse performance and scaling than the Pixel 3 last year in all but the forced 90Hz mode. It’s also interesting to see how the forced 90Hz mode is able to post an advantage over the regular 90Hz mode even though the content of the benchmark doesn’t contain anything in particular that would have the automatic mode trigger to 60Hz.
In the video editing test, which isn’t all that significant in terms of its results, we do however see the differences between the 60 and 90Hz modes. Again, it’s odd to see the 60Hz mode perform that much worse than the Pixel 3 in this test, pointing out to more conservative scaling of the little CPU cores.
In the Writing test which is the most important sub-test of PCMark and has heavier workloads, we see the Pixel 4 perform very well and is in line with the better Snapdragon 855 devices out there.
The Photo Editing scores of the Pixel 4 are also top notch and the best Snapdragon 855 device we have at hand.
The data manipulation test is another odd one that I can’t really explain it performs better on the forced 90Hz mode over than the automatic 90Hz mode.
Finally, the Pixel 4 ends up high in the ranks in PCMark, really only trailing the Mate 30 Pro.
In the web benchmarks, the Pixel 4 performs quite average to actually quite bad, compared to what we’ve seen from other S855 phones. I’m really not sure why the degradation takes place, I’ll have to investigate this more once I have another S855 with Android Q.
Performance Conclusion
Overall, performance of the Pixel 4 is excellent, as expected. The big talking point here isn’t really the SoC or Google’s software, but rather the 90Hz screen of the phone. It really augments the experienced performance of the phone, making it stand out above other 60Hz phones this year.
That being said, unlike last year, I can’t say that the Pixel 4 is amongst the snappiest devices this year as that title was already taken by the new Huawei Mate 30 Pro with the newer generation Kirin 990. Unfortunately for Google, performance of the Pixel 4 will be a rather short-lived selling point as I expect the competition (which don’t already have the feature) to catch up with high refresh screens, and also surpass the Pixel as the new generation Snapdragon SoCs are just a month away from launch.
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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.