Google Pixel 4 and 4XL: Seven things you need to know

The Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL have been finally announced, putting an end to the plethora of leaks including Google’s own tweet that revealed the design months before the announcement.  From the design and specs to prices and retail boxes, a lot of the details have been heavily leaked and reported. However, the official announcement by Google has revealed many things that the leaks didn’t tell you. We have summarized seven important things below that you need to know about the Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL.  

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1. Camera Upgrades

The obvious change is the inclusion of a dual camera setup in form of a Telephoto lens. There are four key improvements to the camera with Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL. The night sight feature is improved, allowing you to take pictures of the milky-way on your phone. The camera app also uses AI to auto adjust the white balance. The Super Rez Zoom feature is also improved, which allows you to zoom in further in your images. In addition, portraits are better as the subject detection (including hair) is improved for a better blur effect. Lastly, the camera app also features live HDR+ preview in the viewfinder, which has dual exposure control and performs real time image processing before you have taken the picture. This is a great feature as it allows you to see the image before you have take the picture. In terms of the Front Camera, the important thing to note is that it has a fixed focal length, so you are not able adjust the focal length for a wide-angle selfie. Video capture was a big disappointment as the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL do not support 4K 60fps video recording.

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2. 90Hz Display

Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL are the first pixel devices with 90Hz OLED smooth display. With a refresh rate of 90Hz, you get a very smooth picture when scrolling web pages, watching videos, or playing games. The 90Hz display also makes the phone seem faster as the screen is very quick to respond to your input. This is the main reason why the display on the OnePlus 7 Pro was our favorite display, which also offered an AMOLED 90 Hz screen. The 90Hz display is the main selling point of the Pixel 4 devices this year as not many phones provide such a high refresh rate. The google pixel 4 will have a real advantage as the OnePlus 7 Pro device will not be sold in any stores, whereas Google has announced that Pixel 4 will be available with all major carriers in the U.S. 

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3. Pixel 4 gets smaller battery

One of the disadvantages of the smaller Pixel 4 is that battery capacity has been reduced to only 2800 mAh, which will prove to be a challenge with the 90Hz display. Google claims that it will offer all day battery but we know that battery performance takes a hit over time and the Pixel 4 doesn’t look favorable when it comes to battery performance. The Pixel 4XL on the other hand gets a 3700 mAh battery. Both Pixel 4 devices will support wireless charging. 

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4. Radar enabled Face ID

With the Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL, Google claims to have the fastest face unlock time of any smartphone. The IR camera, Dot projector, Flood Illuminator and Soli radar sensor chip on the front captures a 3D rendition of your face, which can’t be fooled with a picture. Pixel 4 encrypts face data end-to-end via the Titan M security chip, which is used for secure payments and app unlocks. The radar chip also enables quick gestures by sensing motion without you touching the phone. Currently, Google allows you to silence alarms, skip songs, and play with Pokemons on your screen. 

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5. No headphone jack

The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL do not have a headphone jack on the phone. As much as we would like to have it, we will just have to learn to live without it.  

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6. Google assistant gets an upgrade

Google assistant can now answer your requests instantly, which is also integrated into Android and inside apps. The new Google assistant allows you to navigate your phone with just your voice. 

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7. High Price but Low Storage

The biggest disappointment with the Google Pixel 4 devices is the price. The Pixel devices will available at $799 (£669) for a 64GB Pixel 4 and $899 (£829) for 64GB Pixel 4 XL. In the US, you can spend $100 more to upgrade to 128GB version. These are very expensive phones, especially when you compare them to the newly released Apple iPhone 11, which sells for $699 and has a similar camera.  

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Technical Specifications

	Pixel 4 XL	Pixel 4
Display	Full screen 6.3"/160.0 mm display	Full screen 5.7"/144.7 mm display
	QHD+ flexible OLED at 537 ppi	FHD+ flexible OLED at 444 ppi
	HDR Support (UHDA Certification)	HDR Support (UHDA Certification)
	19:9	19:9
	Smooth display (up to 90 Hz)	Smooth display (up to 90 Hz)
	Ambient EQ	Ambient EQ
Battery	3700 mAh	2800 mAh
	Fast, wireless charging.	Fast, wireless charging.
	All‑day battery	All‑day battery
Design	Soft‑touch glass back	Soft‑touch glass back
	Active Edge™	Active Edge™
	Water‑resistant	Water‑resistant
Memory and storage	6 GB RAM	6 GB RAM
	64 GB or 128 GB , plus unlimited storage at high quality with Google Photos 5	64 GB or 128 GB , plus unlimited storage at high quality with Google Photos 5
Processors	Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 with Octa‑Core	Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 with Octa‑Core
	Pixel Neural Core™	Pixel Neural Core™
	Titan M security module	Titan M security module
Rear camera	12.2 MP dual‑pixel rear camera	12.2 MP dual‑pixel rear camera
	ƒ/1.7	ƒ/1.7
	Auto‑focus with dual‑pixel phase detection	Auto‑focus with dual‑pixel phase detection
	Optical + electronic image stabilisation	Optical + electronic image stabilisation
	77° field of view	77° field of view
	1.4 μm pixel width	1.4 μm pixel width
	16 MP telephoto camera	16 MP telephoto camera
	ƒ/2.4	ƒ/2.4
	Auto‑focus with phase detection	Auto‑focus with phase detection
	Optical + electronic image stabilisation	Optical + electronic image stabilisation
	Spectral + flicker sensor	Spectral + flicker sensor
	52° field of view	52° field of view
	1.0 μm pixel width	1.0 μm pixel width
Front camera	8 MP wide‑angle camera	8 MP wide‑angle camera
	ƒ/2.0, fixed focus	ƒ/2.0, fixed focus
	NIR flood emitter	NIR flood emitter
	NIR dot projector	NIR dot projector
	2 NIR cameras	2 NIR cameras
	90° field of view	90° field of view
	1.22 μm pixel width	1.22 μm pixel width
Camera features	Group Selfie Cam	Group Selfie Cam
	Night Sight	Night Sight
	Top Shot	Top Shot
	Portrait mode	Portrait mode
	Super Res Zoom	Super Res Zoom
	Motion Auto‑Focus	Motion Auto‑Focus
	HDR+	HDR+
	Frequent faces	Frequent faces
	Dual exposure controls	Dual exposure controls
	Motion Sense	Motion Sense
Audio	Dual stereo speakers	Dual stereo speakers
	USB‑C™ audio	USB‑C™ audio
Operating system	Android 10	Android 10