Gear Review: Pixel 4, I like you but you’re bringing me down

By the time you’re reading this, the Pixel 4 phones will already be out in stores, and true believers of a god called Google would have already decided if they want it or not. 

For those still on the fence, I feel you. It used to be pretty easy when it came down to choosing your phones. If you like a fuss-free experience and already like using MacBooks and other Apple services, get an iPhone. If you like to tinker around a little more and use an operating system you can customise to your liking, get an Android phone. 

If you appreciate taking consistently amazing photos with something that’s always in your pocket? Pixel’s the answer. But with the rest of the world finally catching up in smartphone camera tech (looking at you, iPhone 11 Pro), the divisions are getting smudgier. 

Personally, it’s hard not to root for an underdog. I mean sure, the Android OS has a 62.9 per cent share of the consumer market here (well over iOS’ 36.3 per cent), but Google’s own hardware hasn’t exactly set things on fire. Pixel phones remain in the realm of the tech enthusiast, while the rest of the mainstream would simply go for the likes of Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi. 

This year, it’s a little harder for me to heartily espouse the cult of the Pixel because, despite Google’s best efforts, there are always a couple of flaws that dampen the joy of using the Pixel 4’s lauded features. 

Case in point: Motion Sense. Through the magic of pure engineering wizardry, the Google Soli project has been shrunk to the point where the chip can be stored on at the top of the phone, right next to the earpiece speaker. I’ll skip the technical mumbo jumbo — it’s an always-on radar that can detect your hands moving near the phone. 

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The draw here is that Motion Sense is actively aware of your presence and what you want to do to the phone. It helps by automatically turning on the display when you’re close and switching it off when you’re not. Google extolled that the Pixel 4 knows when you’re reaching for the phone, and can detect the gestures you make in front of it. The promo video shows how easy it is if you want to change tracks or hitting snooze — but instead of touching the phone, you just need to gesticulate “Nah”. 

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In theory, it’s amazing. In practice — my hands slick with oil and spices in the kitchen — Motion Sense works less than 50 per cent of the time. The radar just often fails to register hand movements, resulting in something that looks less like Minority Report and more like me furiously waving my arms in front of the phone because it refuses to skip Lil Pump. 

The hit-or-miss element is a damn shame because when it does work, it feels like magic. The Pokémon Wave Hello app — which teaches you about Motion Sense gestures — is pretty cute though. 

What Motion Sense excels in is enhance the capabilities of other functions — the best one being the grease that speeds the gears in unlocking the phone with your face. Oh yeah, fingerprint unlocking is gone and Pixel 4 is all about its face scanner. It works pretty much the same way as iPhone’s Face ID (using infrared), but faster. Way faster. 

Remember that radar? It knows when you’re reaching out for the phone and by the time you pick it up, the Pixel 4 has already activated the infrared cameras. By the time you even look at the screen, it’s unlocked. 

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Which is great! Until you realise that the face scanner works even with your eyes closed. Basically, if someone wants to Paylah over your money to their own account without consent, they can probably do it by just holding the Pixel 4 to your face when you’re asleep. And without a fingerprint scanner as the alternative biometric option, it’s less secure. Google is fixing the closed-eyes issue through a software update, by the way — but it’ll only arrive in the coming months. 

At least there’s the buttery-smooth display. The Pixel 4 comes in two screen sizes — the XL version with a 6.3-inch display and the 5.7 inches non-XL version — and both of them are OLED. This year, Google has finally embraced the high refresh rate life with a beautiful 90Hz display for both phones. It’s ecstasy for the eyes. 

But here comes yet another let-down. The Pixel 4 doesn’t run at its maximum 90Hz all of the time and will switch the refresh rates according to what’s running on the phone. Reddit then discovered that the phone actually automatically drops to a 60Hz refresh rate when the display brightness goes below 75 per cent. That means that when I’m indoors (which is most of the time) I’m not getting the full smooth display experience. 

[embed]https://twitter.com/derekmross/status/1187457789662257152[/embed]

What I did, in the end, was head into the developer settings and force the 90Hz setting to be always on, which impacts battery life in a huge way. Which brings me to my next point: terribly mediocre battery life. 

Thank the old gods and the new that Google included the fast charger inside the box because the battery just doesn’t last that long. Even without forcing the 90Hz display, I found that my Pixel 4 XL (3,700 mAh) could barely last a day on average-to-higher use. I can’t even imagine how it’s like on the standard Pixel 4, with its dinky 2,800 mAh battery capacity. 

So far so meh, but if there’s one thing you can rely on, it’s the Pixel’s fantastic camera system. After years of touting how it only needs one lens and a whole lotta AI to achieve image superiority, Google finally relented and slapped on another lens on the Pixel 4. But instead of an ultra-wide lens to capture more scenery, we get telephoto. Which is a bit of a bummer considering that we’ve always had the option to zoom in on the Pixel using Google’s amazing digital “Super Res Zoom” but never could do wide shots. 

Other than that, there’s really not much to complain about the Pixel 4’s dual-lens camera system. It still shoots amazing, sharp photos in bright daylight; it makes pitch-dark environments look illuminated through the software wizardry in Night Sight; its portrait mode can craft beautiful bokeh shots out of anything (though it still struggles with hair).

Though it still lacks manual functions, at least the Pixel 4 allows dual exposure controls on the viewfinder, letting you slide and adjust brightness and shadows live while you’re composing your shot. It’s awesome for artistic photos. 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwejDRFqZxE[/embed]

I wasn’t able to test out the Astrophotography mode in one of the most light-polluted cities in the world, but Night Sight works better than ever before. 

One other underrated feature of the Pixel 4 is the Recorder app, which is a godsend piece of tech for reporters who conduct interviews on the ground regularly and, like me, absolutely detest listening to their own voice during playback. I let it transcribe an entire conversation I had with Google Asia Pacific Managing Director for Hardware and Retail Martin Geh, and the results are pretty decent.

At this point in time, it might as well be deja vu. Every year, a new Pixel phone gets its specs heavily leaked, building up a superb amount of hype for months before the actual release. Every year, Google launches a new Pixel phone, which always seems to hold potential for greatness but falls short of achieving it thanks to a number of flaws. Four generations in and it still feels like we’re beta-testing these Pixel phones, constantly hoping that the next version will be the fully-formed embodiment of Android that Google has always envisioned. 

Alas, this year’s just another year of beta-testing. And without expandable storage, the fastest processors and unlimited cloud backups of uncompressed photos (so we have to subscribe to Google One), it’s becoming tougher to consider forking out the cash for flagship phone prices. The Pixel 4 is a solid phone, but maybe next year’s edition will be the one you can finally, confidently purchase.

 

ilyas@asiaone.com