Google can get away with those omissions because $699, Google is pricing the Pixel 5 much lower than other flagships. Nonetheless, it offers few reasons to choose the Pixel 5 over the Pixel 4, let alone competitors. So why should you?<\/p>\n
Truth be told, I struggled with that question myself. In fact, until recently, I wasn\u2019t sure if I even liked the phone, if I\u2019d once again make a Pixel my daily driver. So as I started writing this review, I treated it as a pros and cons list, and ultimately realized that there\u2019s a lot more that I like than I dislike. The Pixel 5 is not an exciting phone, but it is a good one.<\/p>\n
What I like<\/h2>\nFinally, a phone that looks a little different<\/h3>\n
I can\u2019t remember the last time I reviewed a phone that was not a glass sandwich. The array of phones with glass back panels has become so ubiquitous that I think it\u2019s starting to look gaudy.<\/p>\n
The Pixel 5, mercifully, looks different. Google managed to implement a metal frame while maintaining wireless charging capability \u2014 and adding reverse charging \u2014 by using a super thin layer of resin on top of the aluminum. This resin is painted with speckled \u2018sage green\u201d finish on my review unit, which I love. In a world of glossy fingerprint magnets, this is a welcome new aesthetic.<\/p>\n
The front of the phone is more generic, having a camera hole punched into the screen like so many other 2020 phones, but at least Google managed to shrink the phone\u2019s forehead by removing the gesture sensor and earpiece. This allows for a 6.1-inch screen in roughly the same footprint in which the Pixel 4 could only manage a 5.7-inch screen.<\/p>\n As for how calling works without an earpiece, the phone now produces sound during calls by vibrating the screen itself. This leads to a slightly tinny sound in stereo, but on the plus side, the phone gets a fair bit louder than the Pixel 4.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also worth reiterating that the Pixel 5 is a small phone. It\u2019s nice to have a flagship phone \u2014 if not necessarily a spec monster \u2014 that can be comfortably used in one hand.<\/p>\n I was a bit wary coming into this review that the Pixel 5 would feel sluggish. After all, the Snapdragon 765G in the Pixel 5 actually benchmarks closer to the Pixel 3<\/em>.<\/p>\n Blessedly, this has not been the case. I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s just the extra 2GB of RAM of if Google just really doubled down on optimization Google has going for the Pixel 5, but somehow, it actually feels a little smoother than the Pixel 4 XL that\u2019s been my daily driver for the past year (I even factory reset my Pixel 4 as well).<\/p>\n I\u2019ve also been using the Pixel 5 side by side with the OnePlus 8T and its Snapdragon 865 every day. Frankly, I can\u2019t notice the difference unless I\u2019m looking for it, and that might just come down to the OnePlus\u2019 120Hz display.<\/p>\n The one exception is games; the Pixel 5 struggles a little more on graphically intense 3D titles due to the weaker GPU. But I assume serious mobile gamers aren\u2019t buying the Pixel 5 anyway.<\/p>\n Overall, I\u2019ve had no hiccups with the Pixel 5\u2019s performance \u2014 hopefully it stays that way.<\/p>\n Okay, so there is<\/em> one spec change that matters: the battery. The Pixel 5 is almost exactly the same size as the smaller Pixel 4, but the battery is now 69% bigger, going from 2,800 mAh to 4,080.<\/p>\n Paired with the less power-hungry processor, Google claims the Pixel 5 can get you through two days of use when combined with the extreme battery saver mode, and I don\u2019t doubt it. So far, I\u2019ve been finishing days with 30-50% battery left, despite heavy usage during my review process.<\/p>\n Sure, other phones have even larger batteries, but they\u2019re usually paired with larger screens and more power-hungry processors. So far, the Pixel 5 is on track to be one of the longer-lasting phones I\u2019ve reviewed.<\/p>\n While the cameras in other phones are packing gigantic sensors with ridiculous megapixel numbers and multiple lenses, the actual sensor technology in the Pixel 5 is barely any different than it was in the Pixel 2. Yet, to my eye as someone who used to be a full-time photographer, the Pixel 5 still produces some of the best images out there \u2014 at least for mobile consumption.<\/p>\n I think Google\u2019s processing is still second-to-none \u2014 good enough I\u2019d be happy to have similar processing on my mirrorless camera. The competition has improved tremendously over the last year or two, but they still tend towards oversharpening, oversaturating, and too much noise reduction (a little grain never hurt anyone).<\/p>\n Equally important, the camera app experience is one of the best. The phone is quick to capture images, switches rapidly between modes.<\/p>\n My favorite feature of the Pixel camera is, by far, the fact that there are separate exposure sliders for the shadows and highlights. This was introduced with the Pixel 4, but is improved now with HDR previews. This is a big deal for my photography style, as one of the first things I\u2019ll generally do for post-processing images is mess with the amount of shadows. Now I can do that right at the source.<\/p>\n I also appreciate Google manages to keep quality among its two rear and single front-facing camera remarkably consistent. Where on other phones the secondary cameras often look poor in low light or high contrast, Google\u2019s HDR+ tech makes sure they all look like they came from the same device. Features like Night Sight and Portrait Mode work with any camera or zoom level, and now you can use Night Sight and Portrait Mode work together too.<\/p>\n Speaking of Night Sight, arguably the best such feature in the business (although again, competitors are getting close), it is triggered automatically when the Pixel 5 detects low light \u2014 no need to switch modes.<\/p>\n The niftiest new feature is Portrait Light, which allows you to adjust the lighting in your images. Though adjustments are pretty barebones \u2014 intensity and position, basically \u2014 it works freakishly well. This GIF from Google might just look like marketing wizardly, but it literally works this well:<\/p>\n Better yet, it works on all your old portraits too. Human ones, anyway \u2014 the feature does not work with my dog or cats. Perhaps on the Pixel 6.<\/p>\n The Pixel is Google\u2019s vision for Android, which means it gets the latest features first.<\/p>\n One of my biggest complaints about the Pixel 5 was that there was little about it that wouldn\u2019t eventually become available on the Pixel 4 via a software update. But then I realized that\u2019s a good thing \u2014 Pixel phones get better over time. Google this past year in particular has focused on offering \u2018feature\u2019 drops that have substantially improved the Pixel 4 since launch; I only hope it continues the trend with the Pixel 5.<\/p>\n I also appreciate that Google\u2019s OS is free of bloat and gimmicks, and most of the additions \u2014 like robust robocall detection \u2014 are genuinely useful. For the most part, it\u2019s an experience that \u2018just works\u2019<\/p>\n At $699, it\u2019s cheaper than last year\u2019s Pixel 4 was at launch. That\u2019s rare, and that\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n Look, I get it. Google is a software-first company. The Pixel 5 is more a vehicle to show off Google\u2019s AI than its hardware chops. Still, I can\u2019t help but feel like Google isn\u2019t even trying to compete.<\/p>\n I can even understand the choice of processor, considering the diminishing returns we\u2019ve seen on tangible performance year on year. But why is it that in 2020, a flagship phone that is arguably best known for its camera is still using a small sensor and just two rear cameras? Having that third camera is not a gimmick; it has a real impact on what photographer can and can\u2019t capture. Super Res Zoom is good, but not that<\/em> good.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also the elephant in the room that, no matter how good Google\u2019s processing is, it could be a lot better if it bothered to use modern sensor technology.<\/p>\n There. I said it. It isn\u2019t fair to direct this at the Pixel 5 five alone, but I can\u2019t but feel it has a minimum impact on day-to-day use. I live in an area that\u2019s supposed to be full of 5G goodness, but so far it hasn\u2019t been worth the hype. Frankly, LTE never gave me any trouble when I had signal, even though I watch a lot of video on my phone. I\u2019m not really sure I feel the impact of 5G, except when the phone switches back and forth between LTE and 5G \u2014 in which case it\u2019s more a nuisance.<\/p>\n Again, your mileage may vary, but I doubt 5G is a good enough reason for most to upgrade. I wish Google sold a cheaper version without the technology, but them\u2019s the breaks.<\/p>\n Like my colleague Abhimanyu felt about the Oneplus 8T<\/a>, the Pixel 5 feels\u2026 safe. Google got rid of all the gimmicks and left what works. That makes for a solid phone, but it doesn\u2019t make for a particularly remarkable one.<\/p>\n Maybe that\u2019s for the best in a universally difficult year in which buying a new phone feels trite. But it does make me wonder where Google goes from here. I\u2019m not sure the company can build a successful hardware brand on the strength of its software alone, and though the $699 price is welcome, it\u2019s also not that<\/em> good of a deal, considering you can get very similar specs (with a few omissions) for $500 from the OnePlus Nord and Google\u2019s own 4a 5G, let alone a used Pixel 4.<\/p>\n In a way though, that\u2019s just a reflection of the market. It\u2019s hard to be excited about new phones these days, and the phones that are more exciting \u2014 say, the folding ones \u2014 tend to be prohibitively expensive or fragile.<\/p>\n Despite some initial reservations, my brief time with the Pixel 5 suggests it\u2019s a well-rounded phone I\u2019d be happy to recommend at its new price. The camera is still great, battery life is better than ever, and performance is still smooth. I welcome this new world where flagship phones don\u2019t have to have the most powerful specs, I just wouldn\u2019t mind it if the Pixel 6 were a little more exciting.<\/p>\n For more gear, gadget, and hardware news and reviews, follow Plugged on Twitter<\/a> and Flipboard<\/a>. <\/i><\/p>\n Published October 15, 2020 \u2014 00:26 UTC <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/10\/Pixel-5-5-of-5.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/figure>\n<\/p>\nPerformance is surprisingly good<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/10\/Pixel-5-2-of-5.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/figure>\n<\/p>\nBattery life is fantastic<\/h3>\n
The Pixel camera<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/10\/Pixel-5-1-of-5.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/figure>\n<\/p>\nPortrait Light<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/09\/A563C207-235C-4734-AED6-7C1595000BED.gif\")
<\/p>\nPixel software<\/h3>\n
The price<\/h3>\n
What I don\u2019t like<\/h2>\n
Google is barely trying in the camera hardware department<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/10\/Pixel-5-4-of-5.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/figure>\n<\/p>\nI don\u2019t really care about 5G<\/h3>\n
It\u2019s unremarkable (but maybe that\u2019s okay)<\/h3>\n