Google Pixel 4 In-depth Analysis, Screen, Battery, Performance, and opinion

Google presented in mid-October the new Google Pixel 4 and Google Pixel 4 XL, arriving with some interesting new features such as a double rear camera, a 3D facial recognition system, and a front sensor to recognize gestures in the air.

The Google Pixel 4 has a 5.7 ″ OLED screen with FullHD + resolution, Snapdragon 855 processor, 6 GB of RAM, 64 or 128 GB of storage, 2,800 mAh battery, 12MP + 16MP dual rear camera (telephoto), 8MP front camera and, of course, Android 10. It is on sale from 799 dollars.

Last year, Google launched the Google Pixel 3 with thick frames surrounding the screen and the Google Pixel 3 XL with a notch deeper than normal, which generated criticism of the brand for its appearance.

This year, Google has followed the path of Pixel 3 and has provided Google Pixel 4 with a top-notch frame but much wider than what we find in any smartphone in its category.

The reason for this unusual size is the presence of a 3D camera for facial recognition in the upper frame and the Soli radar chip for the identification of gestures in the air, in addition to the front camera.

The front of the Google Pixel 4 is completely flat, without any curvature on the sides that conceals the thickness of the side frames.

The lower frame is much narrower than last year, but it is still thicker than that of its competitors. Also, now it does not include a speaker as it happened in Pixel 3.

Google Pixel 4 has an aluminum frame with a matt finish, and the back is made of glass. Both the screen glass and the back glass are protected by Gorilla Glass 5.

The back of the Pixel 4 no longer presents two finishes as in the models of the last two years but the entire rear glass surface is uniform, flat and with a glossy finish.

The upper left corner of the rear panel houses the camera module with a square appearance that reminds us, to some extent, of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro. It is a fairly large module for only two cameras. Its position in a corner makes the phone dance slightly when pressing on the screen while it is resting on a table.

Google Pixel 4 has a thickness of 8.2 mm. and a weight of 162 grams, so it is one of the lightest smartphones we can find. This may influence the battery size, which is much smaller than in other smartphones.

Google Pixel 4 is available in black, white and orange colors. The glossy finish on the back makes the footprints marked on the surface although at least in the black model they are not too visible.

A characteristic detail of the last Pixel has been that the power button has a different color than the chassis. This happens in Pixel 4 since the black model has a white button and the black white and orange models have an orange button.

Next, we will review the different elements found on the sides of the phone.

On the right side, we find the white power button and, just below, an elongated volume control button. In my opinion, both buttons offer more resistance than usual.

On the left side, we find the slot for the nano-SIM card (does not support Dual SIM or microSD card)

The top of the phone is also free of any item.

The bottom of the phone has a USB-C connector and, on one side, the main speaker.

Google has provided the Pixel 4 with protection against water IP68, so we will not have to worry about whether it falls into the water or spills liquid on it. In any case, it should be remembered that the manufacturer’s warranty excludes water damage, so we should not introduce it in water except by accident.

Google Pixel 4 arrives with a 5.7 ″ flexible OLED panel protected with Gorilla Glass 5. The panel has Full HD + resolution (2,280 x 1,080 pixels), which makes the pixel density very high: 444 dpi.

Despite not having Quad HD + resolution, Pixel 4’s screen looks very sharp, so I don’t miss having a higher resolution.

Google Pixel 4 sub-pixel matrix is ​​a Pentile type, as is usual for OLED panels. On LCD screens, sub-pixels are organized one after the other in red-green-blue (RGB) rows, while on OLED screens, sub-pixels are organized in geometric shapes such as rhombuses.

With equal resolution, PenTile screens look less sharp than RGB, but the high resolution of the Pixel 4 screen makes that, in this case, that is no problem.

Google claims that the Pixel 4 screen is UHDA certified as a Premium HDR device. To achieve Mobile HDR Premium certification, the screen must reproduce more than 90% of the DCI-P3 color range.

If you are not familiar with color ranges, you should know that most recent smartphones cover the standard Android color range: Rec. 709 / sRGB.

The most advanced try to comply with the DCI-P3 range used in the film industry and a few points to the even wider color range: Rec. 2020.

No current panel is capable of displaying the full-color range Rec. 2020, but many panels cover the DCI-P3 range, such as Google Pixel 4.

Another novelty that brings the screen of Google Pixel 4 is in its refresh rate, which goes from the usual 60 Hz to 90 Hz. This higher rate translates into a more fluid viewing experience, especially when scrolling in applications such as Chrome, Twitter, Instagram or in the photo gallery.

Now, not all applications are seen at 90 Hz but some of them – like Google Maps or Waze – are always seen at 60 Hz, possibly to save battery power. Google Pixel 4 also changes to 60 Hz during video playback and in low ambient lighting conditions, although Google plans to release an update to correct this last point.

Google offers three color modes for the screen: Natural, Enhanced, and Automatic (default). The “Automatic” mode has been designed to show the radiant (and supersaturated) colors that most users prefer. This mode allows you to display the full DCI-P3 range.

For users who prefer more natural colors, Google offers two optional modes: “Natural”, which points to the range sRGB offering the most realistic and “Enhanced” colors, which expands the colors artificially (sRGB + 10%) so that they see something more intense (but not much).

To analyze the quality of the screen, various tests have been carried out with the CalMAN Ultimate professional software and an X-Rite i1Display Pro colorimeter.

With the Automatic color mode, the average error in color accuracy turns out to be 3 dE, while with the Enhanced color mode, the average error in color reproduction remains at 2.2 dE. For reference, a value below 4 dE is considered excellent and above 9 is considered unacceptable.

If we activate the Natural colors mode to achieve greater accuracy at the expense of more muted colors, the average error in color accuracy is reduced to 0.9 dE, which is a spectacular value – as a reference the iPhone 11 Pro shows a 1.0 dE error – and the maximum error is 2.5 dE (here the iPhone 11 Pro stays a little better, in 2.3 dE)

As for the color temperature, tests show a temperature very close to 6,500 ºK in the three color modes, which is the ideal value.

Leaving aside the theme of colors, another important factor when evaluating a screen is the maximum brightness, which in the case of Google Pixel 4 turns out to be 445 nits according to measurements.

This maximum brightness is achieved both in manual brightness mode and in automatic brightness mode. Some smartphones have a brightness enhancement mode that, in automatic mode, temporarily increases the brightness by being under intense light, but this is not the case with Pixel 4.

the measurement of brightness has been taken while the screen is fully illuminated in white, which is the worst scenario for an OLED screen.

However, by reducing the white illuminated area to a rectangle that occupies 25% of the surface, the maximum brightness practically does not increase since Google has implemented a mechanism for the brightness to be uniform regardless of the number of pixels on. Other manufacturers like Apple do too.

Speaking about brightness, it is worth knowing that since Android 9 Pie, the system includes functionality called adaptive brightness, which adjusts the brightness of your screen according to your preferences and usage environments. Every time you change the brightness level to which you have chosen the phone, it learns about your tastes.

Like any OLED screen, black is pure and, in tests, the colorimeter has not been able to measure any brightness level. Consequently, the contrast ratio of the screen is infinite – Google speaks of 100,000: 1, which is the same.

OLED screens have a peculiar behavior when viewed from an angle. On the one hand, the light emitters are closer to the surface than on the LCD panels, and this makes the contrast and brightness vary less when we move from the center, but on the other hand, the Pentile matrix causes the colors to distort.

In the case of Google Pixel 4, the viewing angles are very wide and there is no change in color when viewing the screen from an angle.

An interesting feature of the Pixel 4 screen is the Always Active Screen function that causes the phone to display the time, date, temperature, battery level, and notification icons.

Google Pixel 4 offers the night light functionality that filters blue light so we can sleep better at night. It is possible to configure when we want this screen mode to be activated, as well as to vary the intensity of the blue light filter.

Finally, it also has a feature called Attention to the screen that prevents the screen from turning off if you are looking at it. Use the front camera to detect if you are looking at the screen, so it consumes more battery.

Google Pixel 4 features the powerful Snapdragon 855 processor built-in 7 nm, the most powerful Qualcomm chip to date without the recently announced Snapdragon 855+.

This chip integrates four high-performance Cortex-A76 cores – one that can reach 2.84 GHz and three cores that can reach 2.4 GHz – and four efficient Cortex-A55 cores that can reach 1.8 GHz.

The Snapdragon 855 offers up to 45 percent superior performance in a single core and up to 35 percent in multi-core compared to its predecessor, the Snapdragon 845.

Also, Qualcomm highlights the ability of its processor to maintain sustained performance over time.

This chip can be configured with the X50 5G modem to offer 5G connectivity but Google has not seen it necessary to provide this feature to Pixel 4 since it would have made the product more expensive and, today, 5G networks are not yet widespread.

Qualcomm has also improved the integrated WiFi modem, which now supports Wi-Fi 6. The DSP Hexagon 690 incorporates a neural process unit (NPU) and the ISP Spectra 380 incorporates a Computer Vision Engine that can perform calculations on videos up to 60 FPS, for example, to emulate the Video Portrait effect.

Google Pixel 4 arrives with 6 GB of LPDDR4x RAM, an amount that is below other high-end smartphones, which in many cases reach 8, 10 or even 12 GB of RAM. In favor of Pixel 4, we must say that it does not have a heavy customization layer like other manufacturers, so 6GB should be sufficient.

Google has incorporated its Titan security chip into the Pixel 4 to store sensitive information such as password data, storage encryption key, application data, operating system integrity information, etc.

We also found a new Neural Core chip that accelerates machine learning algorithms that are used for artificial intelligence (AI) applications such as camera image recognition or Google Assistant natural language processing.

Google Pixel 4 has obtained very high results in all benchmarks, as expected since it has one of the most powerful processors that we can find in a smartphone.

Focusing on the user experience, Google Pixel 4 moves very smoothly, especially highlighting the speed and smoothness of the animations and scrolling when moving through the interface thanks to the refresh rate of 90 Hz of the screen.

There are no performance problems found when using various apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Google Maps, Chrome and others. Everything moves quickly and without stops.

The fact that it has 6 GB of RAM facilitates the multi-task and, in general, there are no problems encountered of closing apps in the background.

In terms of graphic capacity, the Snapdragon 855 incorporates an Adreno 640 GPU, which offers a 20 percent performance improvement over its predecessor, the Adreno 630 GPU.

This improvement is achieved thanks to the Adreno 640 GPU owning 50% more FP16 and FP32 computing units and, also, its 7 nm manufacturing process makes it 20 percent more efficient.

In the graphic performance tests, the Pixel 4 has achieved good results, as expected since the Adreno 640 GPU of the Snapdragon 855 is very powerful.

To check the real graphic performance in 3D games, three hard 3D games have been tried – Asphalt 9, Dead Effect 2 and PUBG – and, in all of them, the gaming experience with the Google Pixel 4 has been very good.

Google Pixel 4 is sold in 64 or 128 GB variants of internal storage. As a curiosity, Google has decided to use the F2FS file system instead of the traditional EXT4, just like it did with the Pixel 3.

The technical details of F2FS (Flash-Friendly File System) are a bit complicated but its main advantage compared to EXT4 is the performance improvement, especially at random write speeds.

To date, only some Android devices have dared to use F2FS, mainly due to stability issues. Without going any further, Google used it fleetingly with the Nexus 9 but returned to EXT4.

Unfortunately, Google does not offer the possibility to expand storage with micro-SD cards, so you will have to choose the correct storage capacity carefully.

If you are fond of taking pictures and videos, you will do better if you buy the 128GB alternative. Also, as we will see later, Google no longer offers unlimited storage of original quality photographs in the cloud.

In the connectivity aspect, Google Pixel 4 is compatible with Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac at 2.4 and 5 GHz, Bluetooth 5.0, 3G / HSPA +, 4G / LTE, NFC and GPS.

Google Pixel 4 is equipped with a single nano-SIM card slot. It does not support traditional Dual SIM with two SIM cards but you can have two SIMs if the second card is an eSIM.

Google Pixel 4 does not have an infrared transmitter nor does it have an FM radio.

The USB 3.1 Type-C port is compatible with USB OTG, so we can connect external storage devices. However, you cannot send a video signal through the USB-C port.

Google Pixel 4 does not include a fingerprint reader but Google has incorporated a secure facial recognition system that scans the face using infrared to generate a 3D model and compares it with that of your face.

This system is similar to the Face ID of the iPhone and, therefore, is much safer than 2D facial recognition using a front camera that other smartphones use, since it cannot be fooled by photographs or videos.

Google’s facial recognition system works even with your eyes closed, which can be a security issue since someone could unlock your phone while you sleep. In any case, Google plans to fix this limitation soon.

Facial recognition is done quickly and reliably, so you will not have any problem when unlocking the phone. Because it uses infrared, it works even at night or in dark situations.

The main drawback of this system is that most third-party apps such as banks still do not recognize it as an authentication system so, due to the absence of the fingerprint reader, you will have to use the password or PIN to access.

Finally, Google has incorporated a chip with an innovative technology called Soli radar in the upper frame of the Pixel 4, which in some countries is not allowed. This chip allows offering the Pixel 4, what an innovative functionality called Motion Sense.

Motion Sense is able to recognize hand gestures in the air to handle certain functions of the Pixel 4 without touching the screen. At the moment, Motion Sense has only two utilities:

Skip songs forward or backward by moving your hand to the right or left.
Postpone alarms and silence calls by moving your hand from side to side.

Unfortunately, it seems that Google does not plan to open Motion Sense to developers, which in my opinion greatly limits its use.

In addition to recognizing gestures, Google Pixel 4 detects when you approach the phone and prepare for facial recognition. This can be somewhat frustrating when, for example, you place the Pixel 4 in front of you to see the screen always active and the phone, when detecting your presence, activates the face unlock without you wanting to.

In my opinion, today, the utility offered by Motion Sense is quite limited and is still a curiosity without much practical application. If other functionalities are incorporated in the future, it may have more interest.

The battery of Google Pixel 4 has a capacity of 2,800 mAh, which is a rather small amount for a smartphone with this screen size. I would have liked to see a battery of much more capacity.

In tests, the Pixel 4 has remained 7 hours and 33 minutes with the screen brightness calibrated to 200 nits. This result does not stand out against other high-end smartphones, which in some cases exceed nine or ten hours in this test.

In my opinion, the battery of Pixel 4 remains somewhat fair, especially if you usually take many photographs and take videos. With more moderate use, you can endure all day but what is certain is that you will not get too much at night.

Android 10 includes a feature called Smart Battery that takes into account those apps you use most and limits the use of the battery in the background. If you still need to stretch the battery life, even more, the Battery Saver option increases the duration by deactivating some functions of the device, as well as updating apps in the background.

As for the charging process, Google Pixel 4 is compatible with 18W USB-PD 2.0 fast charging technology.

Using the charger that comes in the box, the entire charging process takes a total of 1 hour and 36 minutes, so it is quite fast. 50% is reached in half an hour.

Google has incorporated wireless charging into Google Pixel 4, which works with any Qi-compatible charger. Although Google does not provide any official information on the loading speed, we have known that it supports up to 15 W.

Pixel 4 arrives with Android 10, which is the latest version of Google’s operating system.

Google terminals offer an experience close to Android although, in the case of Pixels, the company is allowed to make some changes in the launcher with respect to Android.

Google has placed the quick-search bar at the bottom of the initial screen, near your finger, with the likely intention of using your search engine more frequently.

This bar allows you to search both on the Internet and on the phone itself, but I would prefer that the bar be higher and have more app icons at hand.

With Android 10, Google offers a gesture control interface system.

If you slide your finger from bottom to top of the screen, you will open the app drawer, but if you keep your finger pressed on the screen, you enter the multitasking view where all open apps are seen.

If you drag your finger from both the right and the left edge, you go backward.

These gestures do not quite convince me since, sometimes, I open the multitasking interface by mistake when I try to go to the home screen. In this regard, I think that the gestures of iOS and those implemented by other manufacturers are less confusing.

In the multi-task view, if you scroll laterally you will move through the list of open apps. To close an app, you can swipe it up.

If you press the round icon that appears above the reduced image of each open app, you can get information about the application, pause the application or activate the split-screen view.

While in an application or on the home screen, you can drag your finger along the bottom edge of the screen to the right or left to scroll between applications.

At the top of the app drawer, there is a search box that also allows you to invoke Google Assistant and, just below, the same list of most used apps that we saw before.

As we have said before, the Pixel 4 screen has the Always On Screen functionality, which shows the time, date, temperature, battery charge level, and notifications pending reading, and it is possible to turn on the screen with a double Tap on it.

A curious feature of the Pixel 4 is that it is continuously listening to the music that plays and, if it identifies the song, it shows the title on the lock screen.

This functionality does not use the Internet connection or send data outside the phone but instead uses a local database of the most popular songs in each region.

Certain actions can be carried out faster by using gestures. For example, if you press the power button twice, the Camera app opens and, with the camera open, if you turn it twice quickly on the vertical axis, the front camera is activated.

Google has re-incorporated Active Edge functionality. Simply press the side frames of the phone tightly to open Google Assistant, even when the screen is off, or to silence alarms and incoming calls.

Google has incorporated in Android 10 a Dark Theme that makes the interface and compatible applications show dark tones.

The Dark Theme is not only more comfortable for the view when you use the phone at night but also consumes less energy since black pixels do not require energy on OLED screens.

Today not all apps support the Dark Theme but it is a matter of time for developers to adapt their applications.

An updated Smart Response function that suggests actions based on notifications is also new.

If a notification includes a link, for example, Smart Response suggests that it be opened in Chrome.

The same for the addresses, where the notification can take you directly to Google Maps, or videos in which you can open YouTube. It can also suggest answers if it detects that they are asking you a question in the notification of a messaging app.

Android 10 incorporates a couple of new privacy and security features, including the ability to share location data with applications only while you use them and a new privacy section in Settings that brings together all privacy options in one place.

Google أPixel 4 also incorporates a new Subtitle functionality that shows a voice to text transcription in real-time when the phone detects that content that includes a person’s voice is being played.

The good thing about this functionality is that it can be used with any application (for example, when watching a video on Twitter as in the attached image).

This functionality is the same as that used in the new Recorder app, which allows you to convert voice to text and then search for parts of the recording.

When Google introduced Android 10, it announced a functionality called Concentration mode that, for the moment, is only available to users who have signed up for the testing program of the Digital Wellness application.

Concentration mode allows you to mute specific applications for a while.

Another of the features that will come later to Pixel 4 is the new Google Assistant, which will have a lighter design.

Thanks to the powerful Google Pixel 4 hardware and advances invoice processing, the assistant will be able to answer more questions instantly on the phone, without having to send the request to the cloud.

In addition, the Assistant will consider the context of your request to respond better. For example, as explained by Google, you can tell the Assistant: “Ok Google, show me my photos of New York,” then add “those in Central Park” and finally share them easily by saying “send them to mom.”

Google Pixel 4 offers stereo sound thanks to the presence of two speakers but, unlike the Pixel 3, the bottom speaker is not on the front of the device but next to the USB Type-C connector, so the stereo perception is not as good.

Also, the position of the lower speaker makes it possible to accidentally cover it by hand when we hold it horizontally when watching a video or playing.

In any case, most smartphones have this same problem since, otherwise, the lower frame could not be so fine.

As a curiosity, while in other smartphones there are 15 volume steps between absolute silence and maximum power, in Pixel 4 there are 25 steps, which allows you to better refine the volume level.

Google Pixel 4 lacks a headphone jack and Google doesn’t include headphones in the box, nor does a USB-C 3.5mm adapter. so you will have to resort to buying it on your own or using Bluetooth headphones.

Google has left Play Music as the default music player and now this feature falls on YouTube Music. YouTube Music is a streaming platform that offers a very wide catalog of music and music videos.

The free version of YouTube Music has some important limitations, such as that it is not possible to listen to music in the background with the screen turned off or when using other applications. The free version plays ads when listening to streaming music and does not allow you to download music to listen to it offline, but allows you to listen to MP3 files stored locally on your phone.

The subscription to YouTube Music costs € 9.99 per month but with the Pixel 4 you receive six months of free subscription.

The Photos application shows all the images stored on the phone organized by albums, as well as by people, sites and things identified in the photographs.

The Photos app also incorporates a section called Assistant that suggests retouching to our photographs, collages of the best photographs, creation of animations, etc.

Another possibility offered by Photos is to create photo books using our photographs. The app itself can suggest books if it identifies trips or special moments, and the books start at 12.99 euros.

While the Pixel 3 offered unlimited storage of photographs in original resolution and maximum quality for more than three years, the Pixel 4 does not offer this advantage but the photographs stored in Google Photos in maximum quality take up space in our quota of Google Drive.

The Photos application is also used to play videos. The video playback interface is very simple and does not offer any advanced functionality beyond the usual playback controls.

Google Pixel 4 is Widevine L1 certified, so you can play HD content from streaming services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. Also, since the screen supports HDR, we can enjoy HDR content from YouTube, Netflix, and other streaming services.

While most high-end manufacturers have been using two, three or more cameras on the back of their devices, Google has been using a single rear camera on their Pixel.

This year, for the first time, Google has incorporated two rear cameras in Google Pixel 4.

The presence of two cameras is an important advance but it still leaves Pixel 4 behind other competitors that include an ultra-wide-angle camera and, in some cases, a depth ToF sensor.

Starting with the main camera of Google Pixel 4, this camera has a 12.2MP sensor with a lens with aperture f / 1.7. This opening is quite wide and, therefore, should let in a lot of light.

In good light conditions, Google Pixel 4 captures excellent images with great sharpness and vivid colors.

This year, the Pixel 4 offers Live HDR + (real-time HDR +) in the camera’s own viewfinder while you are taking the picture and, in addition, has added controls to modify exposure and live shadows. In this way, we can take pictures with the appropriate settings in shooting time, and not by post-processing.

Google is so convinced of the benefits of the HDR + mode that it has hidden the control that allows it to be disabled and we cannot even make it visible manually in the camera settings, as was the case with Pixel 3.

The mode Night Vision was one of the outstanding features of Pixel 3 and has been improved in Google Pixel 4. This mode improves the quality of photographs taken in low light by combining up to 15 sacks, whenever you hold the phone firmly after pressing the shutter button.

Unlike the Night mode of the iPhone 11 Pro, it is necessary to activate this mode manually, although the phone itself suggests its use when you are going to take a photo in low light.

The previous Pixel already offered a good Portrait mode that managed to separate the plans by software with a single camera. Now, with the presence of two cameras, the Portrait mode has been improved since the phone has more information to determine the depth and offer a more natural blur effect.

Google Pixel 4 saves two versions of the images captured in Portrait mode, with and without blur, so we can always return to the original image if we are not happy with the result. In addition, it is possible to edit the photograph and adjust the degree of blur afterward, as well as dye the background black and white and leave the person in color.

A curious aspect of Google Pixel 4 is that, despite having a telephoto camera, the photographs in Portrait mode are taken with the main camera but making a cut of the image that the sensor captures so that the subject looks larger. The advantage of this approach is that the main camera offers better quality than the telephoto camera but, in return, the face is distorted more because it is wide-angle and megapixels are lost with the crop.

In general, Google Pixel 4 does a good job of separating the subject from the background and applies a progressive blur effect depending on the distance. In addition, Google has managed to recreate the circular blur pattern produced by SLR cameras quite faithfully.

Google continues to incorporate in the Pixel 4 a feature called Top Shot that helps avoid taking a picture at the wrong time.

Top Shot starts taking pictures from before you even press the shutter button and, once you’ve taken the shot, select the best picture – for example, the one where everyone comes out smiling with their eyes open.

Google has incorporated a curious functionality in the Pixel 4 called Frequent Faces that memorizes the people who appear most in your photos and captures the Top Shot when they smile, when they do not blink, etc. in the presence of more people.

Google Pixel 4 has a second telephoto camera that offers optical zoom close to 2x (in fact, it is 1.8x) using a lens with f / 2.4 aperture that is not too bright.

Unlike other smartphones, Google has not included a button on the camera interface to switch to the telephoto camera but it is automatically activated when it exceeds approximately the 1.8x image magnification level.

Although other smartphones have cameras that offer higher levels of optical zoom, Google says it can obtain comparable results thanks to the high-resolution zoom functionality that comes to fill this gap.

As for the video recording of the rear camera, Google Pixel 4 can record video at 1080p and 4K at 30 fps but cannot record 4K video at 60 fps. This is an important limitation against its high-end competitors that can record video at the highest quality.

An interesting aspect is that it is possible to select if we want to save the videos in the traditional H.264 format or in the more modern H.265 format, which reduces the size of the videos without decreasing quality but is not as compatible.

Google Pixel 4 has an 8MP front camera with an f / 2.0 aperture lens, which is helped by the 3D facial recognition camera to achieve blur (bokeh effect) in the portraits.

The camera offers facial retouching and, by default, the “natural” intermediate setting is selected. If you don’t like it, you can disable it completely. Google has explained that it has had experts in wedding photography to perform a natural skin touch that enhances beauty.

When taking selfies, Google has added a synthetic flash thanks to the illumination of the entire screen. This flash is selectively applied to the faces of the people who appear in the photograph to illuminate them and not the background.

The front camera is also capable of taking pictures in Portrait mode, and the result is quite good.

The front camera is capable of recording 1080p video at 30 FPS and has digital video stabilization that acts by slightly cropping the image so that the faces are stable.

Google Pixel 4 is on sale for $ 899.00 for the 64GB version and $ 999.99 for the 128 GB variant. This is a tighter price than other high-end smartphones.

In addition to the Pixel 4, Google has also launched the Pixel 4 XL, which is exactly the same except for the screen size of 6.3 ″ and, logically, a larger battery.

If you look at other phones, we have several interesting options in the high range that can compete against Pixel 4.

The Samsung Galaxy Note10 + ( $ 1,099.99 and $ 1,199.99) has a large 6.8 ″ OLED screen, Exynos 9825 processor, 12GB of RAM, 256/512 GB of expandable storage via micro-SD, 12MP + 12MP rear camera (telephoto) + 16MP (large angular), 10MP front camera and 4,300 mAh battery with fast charging at 45W.

The Huawei P30 Pro ($728.00, $ 732.94, $ 947.99) is another interesting alternative as it has an OLED screen of 6.47 ″ Full HD +, Kirin 980 processor, 8GB of RAM, 128/256/512 GB of storage, quad rear camera 40MP + 20MP + 8MP + ToF, 32MP front camera and 4,200 mAh battery with direct and reverse wireless charging.

The OnePlus 7T Pro ($ 1035.93) has a 6.7 ″ screen, Snapdragon 855+ processor, 8 / 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, 48MP + 8MP rear camera (telephoto) + 16MP (ultra-wide-angle) ), 16MP pop-up front camera and 4,085 mAh battery

Google has launched this year two new smartphones, Google Pixel 4 and Google Pixel 4 XL, both exactly the same except for the size of its screen (5.7 ″ versus 6.3 ″) and, obviously, also the battery capacity.

The best:

Worst:

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