I have been happily using a Pixel 2 XL from the day it came out. It was easily the phone I had kept the longest since I bought the very first Android HTC G1 which was introduced in 2008. Several times over the two years that I used the Pixel 2, I considered purchasing several and just keeping on with it. My satisfaction was that strong.
When the Pixel 3 was announced, I knew I wasn’t going to be getting it. I am firmly in team “No Notch.” I think it is ugly, lazy and unnecessary. Having a bezel around a phone is a practical design decision. Trying to engineer that practical reality away supposedly makes for “prettier” phones but there hasn’t yet been an operational reason for it.
So when leaks began around the Pixel 4 having no notch, I became more excited than I would prefer to admit. The tech press quickly called it an ugly phone because it had unapologetic bezels (especially at the top). A month after its release, calling the phone ugly still seems to be a popular sport. Additionally, the size of storage and RAM were called into question (questionably in my opinion). Basically, the consensus is that the phone isn’t worth the money.
After a full month of use, I can unquestionably share my joy from the Pixel 4. Is it perfect? Of course not, but no phone is. However, it is simple, expected, unapologetic and solid. It does not try to be the best at everything. It tries to be great at the things that matter and solid at everything else. It’s a phone that feels like it knows what it wants to be and went after that vision completely and totally. I believe it wholly succeeded.
There are some things that could be improved. The battery seems to leave something to be desired but Google has shown the ability with past phones to improve operations over time and I have a feeling the same will happen again. Face unlock still needs an upgrade to be more secure and Google has committed to releasing that upgrade. A rear finger-print scanner would also be a huge enhancement but probably considered unnecessary by the company which I can understand.
If you are an iPhone user, this phone presents no new reasons to move to Android. If you prefer Samsung, this phone presents no new reasons to move to Pixel. However, if you are looking for a phone that is great and doesn’t try to do too much, the Pixel 4 may be for you.