Pixel 2 review: A great smartphone that still holds its own against the Galaxy S9

The relentless march of phone releases presses on and we’re fresh from the launches of flagships from Samsung, with the Galaxy S9, and Nokia’s 8 Sirocco handset. This, of course, puts older handsets – even if they’re older by mere months – on the back foot, such as Google’s Pixel 2.  

However, Google has just revealed it is ending OS support for some of its even older models this year, namely the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, meaning there is a very valid reason to trade up. With this in mind, especially if you’re a fan of Google’s range, you may be torn about upgrading to the Pixel 2. Well, before you make up your mind, take a read through our Pixel 2 review below.

My original review continues below

This time last year, the differences between the Pixel and Pixel XL were so small that we felt comfortable putting both reviews under one URL. You couldn’t get away with that this time around: the differences between the handsets are not just visible in size and price, but in verdict – one is a strong thumbs up, while the other is a big old “meh”.

When our box of Googly goodness arrived last week, Jon – being reviews editor – got first dibs. The fancy looking Pixel 2 XL was his for the weekend, while I had to settle for the more boring-looking Pixel 2. I got the last laugh. While Jon was having all kinds of issues with the Pixel 2 XL, me and its smaller brother were having a wonderful time getting acquainted.

Barring a couple of caveats, I’d recommend the Pixel 2 to anyone, while Jon would struggle to advise you buy the Pixel 2 XL. Read on to find out why.[gallery:1]

Buy the Pixel 2 from Carphone Warehouse

Google Pixel 2 review: Design

Did you like the look of the original Pixel? If you did, you’re in luck. The Google Pixel 2 looks very similar to the original Pixel – in fact, a barman at a Kingston pub asked me if I was using a Pixel when I was paying for drinks with Android Pay, because he was having issues with his.

Is that a problem? Not really. Okay, there’s no edge-to-edge display like the Samsung Galaxy S8 or iPhone X, but then the Pixel 2 does retail between £50 and £370 cheaper. It’s thin, light, and I personally like the textured aluminium back, which feels less slippery than the glass of its rivals. The distinctive glossy glass panel is back, albeit smaller than last time around, but other than that it’s fairly understated. Even the familiar Google “G” is quiet: dark grey on a black background.

It’s the same weight as last year, tipping the scales at only 143g, but it has lost a little from its waistline, measuring a svelte 7.8mm to last year’s 8.5mm. This isn’t the overwhelming positive it first appears, though – in fact, it’s the very definition of losing weight in the wrong places. The Pixel 2’s crash diet has ensured that the 3.5mm headphone jack is gone. Gone, but not forgotten at least – Google does throw in a USB Type-C to 3.5mm adapter in the box, which is better than nothing. Be thankful for small mercies.[gallery:2]

There’s another downer on the design front, although it’s one that will come as no surprise to anyone who’s ever bought a Google-branded handset. There’s still no room for expandable storage. In other words, the 64 or 128GB of onboard storage is all you’re ever going to have.

That particular pill is made easier to swallow with Google’s offer of unlimited photo storage in Google Photos, but even that has a catch – it runs out in three years.

Google Pixel 2 review: Screen

Turning on the Pixel 2 for the first time reveals a screen that’s very hard to tell from the original Pixel – which is to say that it’s very good indeed, but you’re retreading old ground by reading this section. It’s the same 5in display, the same 16:9 aspect ratio, the same 1,080 x 1,920 resolution and AMOLED technology… and the same 441 pixels per inch.

Weirdly, colour accuracy is a tiny bit worse than last year’s but there isn’t a great deal in it and I doubt you’d spot it with the human eye. On the positive side, it does go a touch brighter, rising to a maximum brightness of 418cd/m² compared with last year’s 411cd/m². Being an AMOLED screen, contrast is perfect by definition.[gallery:3]

So, on paper, some minor changes, but all you really need to know is that in person, the Pixel 2 has a brilliant screen with bright, vibrant colours and oodles of detail. Videos look great, and icons look beautifully sharp. It may be more of the same, but when the same is as good as last year, it’s hard to stay mad.

Crucially, this makes it much better than the Google Pixel 2 XL, which as Jon found in his review, suffers from discolouration when viewed even from the slightest of angles. You may wonder if we just had a faulty unit – but we looked at those loaned to our sister publications IT Pro and Expert Reviews and found exactly the same issue.

Google Pixel 2 review: Performance

Performance is great, as you’d expect from any flagship Android handset in 2017, but the Pixel benefits especially from the clean, trim version of Android Oreo it comes with. While other handsets are waiting patiently for the rollout, Google goes first and it’s a joy to use. This will be the first handset to get Android Papaya, Penguin, Pancake or whatever weird name Google comes up with in 2018.

Still, even the most bloated of Android installations would sail along with the Pixel 2’s specification, which it shares with a few of its key rivals. Just like the HTC U11, Sony Xperia XZ Premium, OnePlus 5 and the US edition of the Samsung Galaxy S8, the Pixel 2 is masterminded by the powerhouse Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor – a 2.35GHz octa-core monster. This is backed by a decent 4GB of RAM, meaning it lines up exactly alongside the S8, U11 and XZ Premium – only the OnePlus 5, with its extra 2GB RAM, stands in front.[gallery:4]

What this means is that, in terms of performance, there’s very little to choose between all the main players, as you can see from the graph below. Even the extra RAM in the OnePlus 5 doesn’t count for much.

Marginal differences but, honestly, at this point personal preference and price differentiators should be your deciding factor. The same stalemate is reached in 3D performance, with the Pixel 2 achieving 56fps on the visually intensive GFXBench Manhattan onscreen test. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and HTC U11 achieve lower results here, but only because they have higher resolution displays and therefore must render more pixels per frame.

In terms of battery life, Google doesn’t quite meet the high bar set by last year’s Pixel. While that managed 16hrs 23mins in our punishing battery test (a looped video with screen brightness locked to 170cd/m² in Flight mode), this year’s handset managed “just” 14hrs 17mins. That puts it right in the middle of the pack: longer lasting than the Sony Xperia XZ Premium and HTC U11, but well short of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and OnePlus 5.

Of course, a looped video test, while a useful yardstick, doesn’t replicate all real-world conditions, and for the days I’ve been using the Pixel 2, I’ve found battery life to be very good indeed. Battery seems to drain very slowly from light screen use, and so far I’ve yet to dip below 30% before turning in for the night. And with the bundled fast charger, getting it up to full capacity is pleasingly speedy, too.

Google Pixel 2 review: Camera

So far, the Google Pixel 2 is doing well – but then so is every other flagship phone. True, you save £20 on the price of its main rivals, but that’s the kind of saving eaten up over the 24 months of a contract. Long-term Pixel users will know that Google’s ace in the hole is the camera, and once again for still shots, this is simply the best smartphone camera you can buy.

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In bright conditions, the Pixel 2’s 12.2-megapixel, f/1.8 OIS- and EIS-stabilised camera manages to surpass the high bar set by the original Pixel, and even exceeds the very high standards of the HTC U11 and Samsung Galaxy S8. The dynamic range and colour saturation are spot on and the white balance is far more accurate to boot. The original, on the odd occasion, would tinge images a little yellow – there’s no evidence of that here.

But it’s low light shots that make the smartphone camera and, in these tricky conditions, the Pixel 2 truly excels. Once again, the dynamic range and colour saturation are superb. Colour retention is excellent, while noise is brilliantly kept under control. The original Pixel managed slightly richer colours, but that advantage was offset by the aforementioned slight tint of yellow. The more neutral Pixel 2 gets the nod here.

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And there a couple of new features to play around with as well: “Motion photo”, which captures a short snippet of video at the same time as your stills, a bit like the iPhone’s Live Photos feature; and “2Portrait”, which does an incredible job of recreating the blurry background bokeh you get from shooting with the aperture wide open on a DSLR.

Hold on to that champagne though, Google. There’s a downside. And that downside is video.

While 4K video is crisp and bursting with detail, the colours are all over the place. They seem to be hyper-saturated, and a direct comparison with last year’s Pixel and the Samsung Galaxy S8 shows that detail capture is considerably softer.

Google regains points for its brilliant use of EIS (electronic video stabilisation), which records footage that looks like it could have been recorded on Steadicam – but you can’t escape the feeling that this is a missed opportunity. Hopefully, the strange saturation can be improved by OTA updates.

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Google Pixel 2 review: Software and extra features

Still, if anyone can fix that, Google can, as evidenced by its superb implementation of Android 8.0 Oreo. It’s not only clean, lean and spritely, but it’s packed with clever features, too. The always-on screen, for instance, is an incredibly useful use of the phone’s OLED screen, lighting up only the pixels it needs to while displaying the time, date and key notifications permanently on-screen.

Google also puts this to use with its next insanely clever feature “Now playing”, which listens to what’s going on around you, recognises songs automatically and displays them at the bottom of the always-on screen – and it does this without needing a live internet connection.

Then there’s “Active edge”, a feature that apes the HTC U11’s squeezable frame to launch Google Assistant from the lockscreen or quickly silence incoming calls, and Google Lens. Alas, the latter is only a preview of the advanced AI feature demonstrated during Google I/O earlier in the year (no live, in-camera image analysis yet), but you can see the potential. Pop into Google Photos and feed Google Lens a photo or two from your stream and you’ll quickly be impressed by its ability to recognise objects and landmarks; you’ll also quickly realise that it’s far from finished.

Google Pixel 2 review: Verdict

So, the million dollar question (well, £629 – blame the weak pound): should you buy the Google Pixel 2? That’s not quite the straightforward yes or no question it appears on paper and depends a lot on your personal preference. Let’s try and personalise this verdict.

If you like the look of the Pixel 2, but prefer a bigger handset, don’t plump for the Pixel 2 XL until they sort the screen out. Look to the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus or Note 8. Maybe even the Huawei Mate 10, if it’s as impressive as it seemed in our time hands-on with it.

If you want the most bang for your buck, the Pixel 2 seems appealing but, despite undercutting the Samsung Galaxy S8, Sony Xperia XZ Premium and HTC U11 on price, it’s still £180 more than the OnePlus 5. And at this point, you can easily find the S8 for around £500.

Okay, that’s who shouldn’t buy the Pixel 2. Who should? The advantages the Pixel 2 have are two-fold for my money: the camera and the company. The former is easy to explain: this is by far the best camera phone on the market, taking phenomenal shots in tricky conditions.[gallery:6]

But it’s not so much better than you can argue it’s worth ignoring the HTC U11 or Samsung Galaxy S8 for. The Googlyness (for want of a better word) might just be, however. The stripped back OS enjoyed by the Pixel 2 is a joy to use. It’s snappy, comes with everything you need and isn’t overloaded with bloatware. I keep finding charming little things that make me squeal with delight. Example: watching the highlights of Derby County’s heroic 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest, I received a message, so pressed the home button to investigate. Without asking, the match was minimised to a dinky picture-in-picture square, playing on while I responded.

That’s a small thing, but it’s an important one. While other companies often trip over themselves trying to overload their phones with new features, Google adds ones you find naturally and feel just right. Plus, Google handsets invariably get software updates and new versions of Android first. If that matters to you, the Google Pixel 2 remains a solid recommendation.

Just don’t be tempted by the XL.

Buy the Pixel 2 from Carphone Warehouse

Google Pixel 2 specifications
Processor	Octa-core 2.35GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
RAM	4GB
Screen size	5in
Screen resolution	1,920 x 1,080
Screen type	AMOLED
Front camera	8-megapixel
Rear camera	12.2-megapixel
Flash	dual-LED
Storage (free)	64/128GB
Memory card slot (supplied)	No
Wi-Fi	802.11ac
Bluetooth	5.0
NFC	Yes
Wireless data	4G
Dimensions	145 x 70 x 8 mm
Weight	143g
Operating system	Android 8.0
Battery size	2,700mAh