This is a live review, and will be updated regularly. 

Internet reviews about this phone have been cruel. The reviews put me off from buying the Google Pixel 2 XL for a while, but I decided to take the plunge. Boy am I glad I did?

Display (8/10)

First things first, let’s address the elephant in the room. Other internet reviews have overstated the blue shift issue. So much so, that I constantly find myself tilting the display in all directions to see if it’s is as bad as they say.

Good news: you’ll barely notice the blue shift, unless you are staring at an all-white screen at an angle you generally wouldn’t. For good measure, I checked the blue shift on my wife’s Samsung Galaxy S8. Even the S8 has this issue, but nobody seems to be bothered about it. So if the hue and cry on the internet about the Google Pixel 2 XL’s blue shift bothers you, don’t let it anymore – it’s not an issue.

Screen burn-in: is a non-issue. I have used the phone heavily for the past four months – the Pixel 2 XL is my daily driver – and I haven’t seen any screen burn-in. It also helps that Google released software updates designed to prevent any such issues.

Overall, the display is very good. It isn’t in the league of the Galaxy S8 – and that’s an indictment. I do expect Google to give me the best display out there. One for Google to fix with the Pixel 3. Having said that, you’ll do nicely with the Pixel 2 XL’s display.

Tip: If you want the colours on the screen to pop (a la Samsung), then head over to Settings > Display > Advanced > Colours and choose Saturated. In my experience, this is the setting people like the most.

There is a software bug with the phone, when you use it in a dark room (think bed-time) with adaptive brightness on. The adaptive setting feels so aggressive it switches off a lot of the pixels on screen. And in a dark room, this leads to a poor experience. Videos are so dark you can’t make out parts of the frame. So Netflix in the dark wasn’t fun. Games are also affected – some of the caves in Asphalt 8 Alps route were pitch dark. Really Google?

I took to dialing up the brightness of the display all the way to 80% or even 100% to offset the software bug in the hope of ‘seeing again’, but to no avail (note adaptive brightness was still on).

Solution: Then I found the solution one day when I simply switched off adaptive brightness when it was dark. Even at the lowest manual brightness setting, I found that switching off adaptive brightness fixes the issue with dark patches on the screen, and everything feels normal. I’ve raised a ticket on the Pixel Community forum – and have been patient for 3 months as Google grapples with this issue. One might argue this isn’t as much of a deal, but think about it – some/most of us go to bed with our phones daily, and you have to either keep the lights on or remember to switch adaptive brightness off in the dark and switch it back on in the morning. That’s not something I’m willing to put up with when I’ve paid for a flagship from Google.

Price (1/10)

That’s right – I’m reviewing Price as a feature.

This is a Google phone. It’s top of the line. It’s got probably the best smartphone camera out there. As of this edit (29 April 2018), you have the Samsung Galaxy S9+ with its variable aperture and the Huawei P20 Pro that are supposedly better at photography, but I doubt they can challenge Google’s camera software chops, or the dedicated visual core that works its magic on photos.

Android is at its purest, and I found that I didn’t even need TrueCaller anymore – Google was getting reasonably good at identifying spam calls.

We’ll look at the other features later, but 850 to 950 dollars (US) for a phone? That’s what pushed me away from the iPhone X in the first place – exorbitant pricing.

When OnePlus is selling their flagship for 500 USD, I expect Google to be responsible toward Android fans and charge a reasonable price. Sure, don’t charge just 500 USD. But how about 700? The point is, the Pixel 2 XL is priced so high it falls into the same price bucket as the Samsung Galaxy S phones and the iPhone X. I then expect a level of refinement to match the build and software quality of the S8/9 or the X. And that’s missing with the Pixel 2 XL.

Battery Life (9/10)

Very very good. And I’m tempted to change this to Excellent and give the Pixel 2 XL 10 out of 10 if I get more juice. Being my daily driver, I’m still playing around with the phone so my usage is more than it would normally be.

For the heavy usage I currently put it through, the Pixel 2 XL gives me great battery life. I don’t ever worry about the phone lasting me through the day. Rate at which the battery drains is extremely reliable, which is fantastic for an Android phone. I can easily get through the day and go to bed with between 30% and 40% battery remaining. On busy days (I have a day job, you know), I go to bed with more. My average daily usage is a mix of streaming (Netflix, I hate you!), social media, music, messaging, that awesome camera and mails. The screen is big and bright so lets me do more with my phone, which is fantastic (although not so good for impulse shopping).

So why am I not giving it 10/10 already?

Using the camera tends to put a dent on the battery life. I am an avid (albeit rookie) smartphone photographer, so I tend to spend a lot of time taking pictures when I’m out and about. The battery drain I see when I’m using the camera is on par with any other smartphone – including the iPhone.

Having said that, I expect more from Google on this front. With a dedicated visual core (more on this later), I expect Google to do more to optimise power efficiency of its devices. Google Pixel devices are rated the best smartphone cameras on the market. I expect this to also mean better power management.

Update – 29th April 2018: I’ve grappled with some battery drain issues in the last 2 months with the Pixel 2 XL. This period has coincided with me trying to access office emails on my Pixel 2 XL as part of a pilot to allow BYOD access to Android devices other than Samsung. Incidentally, I recently learnt how I can switch off office emails during weekends and holidays, and found that when the BYOD mail access was paused, then the battery drain issue disappears. Today, I’ve got 1 hour 45 minutes SOT and still have 70% battery left with BYOD switched off – which is spot on around the 5 hour SOT that I’ve grown to expect from the Pixel 2 XL.

With that, let’s look at the best thing about the Google Pixel 2 XL – its Camera.

Camera (11/10 – if that were possible)

Pixel 2 XL’s camera is the best you can get out there today. Unless you have a serious need for a dedicated DSLR or mirrorless camera, the Pixel 2 is all you need.

The photos this beast spits out are truly gorgeous, and eminently useable straight out of the camera. That visual core does a lot more than I could imagine.

Colours render perfectly naturally. Contrast and details in the frame are captured evenly. The ‘Auto’ enhancement setting brings out the scene mostly as you see it with your eyes.

Panorama and Photo sphere are on the mark almost all the time.

The biggest differentiator is the single sensor camera at the back. Portraits are excellent, without the second sensor being present. That’s some true Google magic. As if this weren’t enough, the selfie camera acquits itself admirably, with a portrait mode of its own.

Pair it with Snapseed or Adobe Lightroom, and you have a very powerful camera that provides eminent edit-ability on your smartphone itself. Have a look at some of the snaps from the Pixel 2 XL below.

Music

I don’t really miss the headphone jack. Been a wireless headset kind of guy for close to a decade now. Having said that, the fidelity of wireless music on this phone is on par with iPhone- which isn’t saying much. The Xiaomi Mi A1 and OnePlus 5T give better music output with DiracHD. Google does have a trick up it’s sleeve- support for wireless LDAC from Sony, but it is too early to expect OEMs to adopt this standard. I’m looking for headphone manufacturers that support LDAC streaming quality in the future to make the most of audio on the Pixel 2 XL. For now, only Sony supports LDAC on (some of?) their headsets. Will keep you posted if I find a headset that makes a difference to listening. Good news is that the technology is there, and is part of Android Oreo so we should get to see wide support soon enough.

Bluetooth streaming

Bluetooth connectivity is rock solid, on par with iPhone – and that’s saying a lot. In a review for Xiaomi Mi A1 earlier, I had mentioned how Bluetooth struggled when paired with truly wireless earbuds like three Jabra Elite Sport. I faced no such issues with the Google Pixel 2 XL.

With the Mi A1, I chose streaming from the iPhone when I was out and about in Hong Kong. With the Pixel 2 XL, I didn’t have to make this ‘sacrifice’. Carrying just one phone in the pocket for my streaming needs makes life easy.

Speaker grill and the design

Lack of Dual SIM (1/10)