Up next in 10
There's lots to like with Google's latest Pixel phone, the Pixel 4 (and its bigger cousin, the Pixel 4 XL), but there are still some features that are clearly works in progress. Camera? Amazing. Video? Clean and crisp. But everything else? It's a bit of a mixed bag...
Tech expert DaveTaylor of https://www.AskDaveTaylor.com/ checks out the Google Pixel 4 XL, runs through a variety of demos and almost tries to unlock it with his face, eyes closed. Almost. But that's just one of the issues marring this otherwise pretty terrific Android 10 smartphone.
Check it at Google's Store: https://store.google.com/product/pixel_4
#teampixel #giftfromgoogle
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Is this the best phone ever from Google? Let's find out
0:11
Dave Taylor here, and I'm looking at this. This is the Google Pixel 4 XL
0:16
XL is extra large. It's a pretty sweet new phone. So, obviously, running the very latest version of Android, as you would expect from Google
0:24
But let's talk about the specs. So, features a 6.3-inch quad-holt. HD plus O LED screen. It's a beautiful screen running at 90 hertz, so it is a really fast refresh rate
0:37
The resolution is 1440 by 3040. That's plenty of resolution at 537 pixels per inch. That is a really dense screen
0:47
It's no wonder it looks so good. Also features Gorilla Glass 5. Whoops, sorry. I just did something. I don't know what happened
0:55
But features Gorilla Glass 5, which makes it a pretty rugged phone. But of course, you're probably
0:59
probably going to want to use something like this, which is the case that actually came from
1:04
Google. Google sent me all sorts of stuff. Here's the box from the original phone. I actually
1:09
have an unboxing video if you want to see everything that's in there. Go check that out for sure
1:13
Now, it's powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and has an Adrino 640 GPU and pixel neural
1:23
core. It's a lot of chips, a lot of processing. It's a pretty fast and powerful phone. And when you
1:29
get to the photography, this is where it's really a standout. But we're not quite there
1:34
Bluetooth 5.0 APTX HD. So if you're using wireless devices, you really want those that support
1:41
APTX HD ideally, but at least APTX and it will just give you a better sound for sure
1:47
The battery is pretty hefty. So the only difference between the four and the four XL
1:53
there's two differences. One is size. This is 6.3 inches on the screen and the four is a little
1:59
smaller and this features a 3,700 mill amp hour battery and 18 watt fast wireless charging
2:07
So the pixel four is a smaller battery, but it's a smaller phone. So, you know, you don't
2:13
suddenly get this massive difference in battery life. I like the fast charging. I am using
2:19
the Google Pixel Wireless Chi charging stand. This is really great because obviously with the
2:25
pixel line, it knows and it can actually charge as fast. as possible. So it's just chugging along right now. And there even knows that it's on the stand
2:34
so you can put it into a certain mode where it can do like a photo, slideshow and stuff while it's
2:39
charging. Pretty cool, actually. Now, also has six gig of RAM and your storage options are 64 gig or
2:47
128 gig. It's a $100 difference between them. This is the 64 gig version. I know you can't see
2:53
It's not any thinner or thicker, right? So let's talk about cameras, right? So on the back
2:59
it interesting the shape looks exactly like the iPhone 11 Pro with its three cameras but this has two cameras so the two cameras are a 12 megapixel f1 28mm meters so that really a wide angle shot there and a 16 megapixel F2 45 millimeter
3:21
From a video perspective, the rear-facing camera, the one you're going to use most often
3:27
can shoot 4K at 30 frames per second, 1080p at 30, 60 or 120 frames per second, and 720p at an impressive, 240 frames per second, and 720p at an impressive, 240
3:38
frames per second. Now, one thing I didn't say is 4K at 60 frames per second. So some people have gotten
3:44
really upset about this, but I have to say I've never shot 4K video on any phone I've ever used. So
3:51
I'm not sure this is super important, but if it is and you really need 4K at 60 frames per second
3:57
this ain't your phone. It just doesn't quite have that speed to be able to push that data through
4:02
But it all looks really good. And just a second, I can give you some examples. Now, the front-facing
4:08
camera. The whole front system is actually really interesting. As you can perhaps see, let's see if I can
4:13
bring up just a white screen. So the top has about a maybe quarter inch black push down. So instead of
4:24
having that notch or cut out or a hole punch or whatever you see on other phones that Google has just
4:29
said, you know what, we have so much going on on the top. We're not going to have those weird little
4:34
edges. We're just going to have it be straight up there. So it is a
4:38
symmetric. So the bottom goes much closer to the edge than the top does, but you know what? It doesn't
4:43
really matter. I don't think anyone's really going to care. And frankly, you won't even notice
4:47
within like 10 seconds of using the phone. But that does mean that they do have two forward facing
4:54
I'm sorry, they have the one forward facing camera, but they got a lot of other technology and a lot
4:58
of other sensors, including a new sensor called motion sensor, which is a radar system. So I'll get
5:04
to that in just a minute. But the front facing camera is
5:08
8 megapixel з 2.0, 22 millimeter, and it can shoot video 1080p at 30 frames per second
5:15
So you're probably not gonna be doing a whole lot of video capture with the front facing camera
5:19
but the rear facing camera's really cool. Now, enough talking. Let's get some examples
5:25
So first, here's just a photo I shot with the rear facing camera, and you can see it's crystal clear
5:31
The details are beautiful. And then what I really enjoyed, though, it took a while to get the hang of it is night shot
5:37
This is a nighttime shot of my street and notice the stars you can see in the sky
5:44
It's a little creepy how good it is. But here's the thing you need to know is you need to hold your camera really steady
5:50
because it takes a couple of seconds for it to pull enough data in to make that shot
5:55
So if you're trying to just hold it like this, it's hard. I took that shot by having it rest on a surface and then I wasn't even breathing
6:04
I was just like super focused on being as still as I possibly
6:07
could. Did a really nice job. Now, another one, here's this a little more wacky. This is a 3D
6:13
pano. So this looks really cool. On the phone, you can move your phone around and you can see
6:20
like it this 3D sphere effect Obviously the photo itself is a little bit more dolly maybe There a portrait mode You can see how it did a great job with the boca to give us a background
6:34
that's out of focus. And then finally let me give you a video and this is just of a stream. So
6:39
I'll be quiet and you can listen to. Did a really nice job with that stream video. I mean it's really impressive. I really like the
6:51
The only thing I'll say is that I've found that the slow motion can often be out of focus or just lack a clarity
6:58
And I'm guessing that's just going to be one software update away. So really cool
7:03
Now we have this motion sensor thing. So let me go. I'm going to go into Spotify
7:09
And I don't actually have the rights to play this music, but we'll just run with it because I want to just show you
7:15
So here we are. And now if I do this. Oh, ha ha, it doesn't work on the charging stand
7:22
Let's take that off and let's see if I can do it not on the charging stand
7:31
There we go. So you can see I can change tracks just by waving my hand sometimes
7:39
I think there might be an optimal distance or something. See, live as it happens, that's what goes on here
7:46
So, suffice to say, it works. It obviously is going to work better if it's just sitting on the surface
7:53
Maybe, maybe not. It's not working here. But be that as it may, it's kind of a neat idea, the radar
8:00
Honestly, though, it's super gimmicky. This is why I haven't even tried it very much, because, you know, how often are you
8:06
going to be near your phone and say, oh, go to the next track? Honestly, you could probably do it with the voice system
8:12
So it does have face unlock, and people have been saying, oh, by the way
8:16
You can unlock a face or unlock using a face where the eyes are closed
8:21
And I have verified that's true. But now face unlock doesn't work at all for me
8:24
So I don't know if they did a tiny incremental update that turned it off. But I have it
8:29
It tells me I have face data stored in the system. But when I try to unlock it with my face, it just says fail
8:36
So I don't know whether that's a judgment on my face or what
8:39
But there's still a little bit of work to be done in that area. In terms of eyes open, eyes closed, that's just a dumb
8:46
one. Come on, you know, seriously, Google, that's an easy one to figure out when you're doing
8:50
face ysis. But then again, if you do have something like a fingerprint, I suppose you could also
8:55
have it be where if I'm asleep and someone picks up my sleeping hand and puts it on the phone
9:01
they can unlock it. So it's not like it's this huge open privacy hole that otherwise wasn't there
9:08
but biometrics are only as good as they are, right? We've seen plenty of Hollywood movies where
9:13
people pick up like a spare eyeball or something and do a retina scan and I mean obviously that
9:18
works it works in the movies right but suffice to say is that really an issue I don't really think so
9:25
now it also has a really cool app called recorder that does voice transcripts live as you're
9:31
talking again something worth checking out Google has a really cool demo on that and then other than that really it waterproof waterproof is good In the box it includes a charging cable and a wall charger It does not include any sort of wireless charging
9:47
mechanism, which you wouldn't expect, but it also doesn't include headphones. And by the way
9:52
there's no audio jack on this either. So no 3.5 millimeter jack. It's powered by and charges through
9:58
USBC, which is cool. I'm hoping Apple will switch to that. It's a nice, simple
10:04
plug and connector. And the case that Google sent me is also very nice. It's really a pretty
10:10
impressive phone. There's some pieces that are still feel a little bit like works in progress
10:17
I'm not at all convinced that the radar system is of any relevance and they could probably
10:21
disable it and 99% of users wouldn't even know. Face unlock is important. It is something
10:29
that they want to do. I will say that on my iPhone 10 and 10S and 11, I'll
10:34
I've really gotten used to picking up my phone, and by the time I get to it, it's unlocked
10:38
That's actually pretty slick, and I'm confident Google will get that all worked out, too
10:43
It's not that hard. So, really, the only thing left to talk about is the price and the color, I suppose
10:48
Let me pop this off so you can see the color. But before we get there, let me ask if you can subscribe to my channel, you can see my pratfalls, my stumbles, the things that don't work
10:58
More importantly, you get really honest reviews, and that's worthwhile, right? So click that subscribe button
11:04
Super appreciate it. Great. Now, this is the Google Pixel 4XL, 6.3 inch screen
11:12
This happens to be an oh so orange. Really nice. And notice they have an orange case too
11:18
The case is actually a little more muted than this really crazy orange here
11:22
You can also get it in clearly white or just black. And the pixel 4 starts at $7.99. The pixel 4xel, which is the larger version
11:34
is $899 for the 64 gig configuration or $999 for the $128 gig configuration
11:42
This also marks the first time that Google is now working with all the major cell phone carriers
11:47
here in the United States, so you can go anywhere you want from AT&T to T-Mobile and pick up one
11:52
Or you can get it from Google directly, or it wouldn't surprise me if you can find it on Amazon
11:57
So there's a lot I like about this. I think that Google's really coming along, and they've come a long way with the picket
12:04
I really liked the pixel 3A, which was just the previous generation
12:09
And one of the things I really liked about it was it was way more affordable
12:12
But this is a pretty nice flagship phone, as they say. And there's lots to check out
12:17
And having the very latest version of Android, nothing to complain about
12:21
This is a really solid option. And I think you might want to check it out if you're an Android user
12:26
So with that, I will catch you in my next video
#Consumer Electronics