Google’s very own phone, the Pixel, embodies the tech giant’s vision for the future. And Google is so powerfully entrenched in our lives it means is we’re talking about our future. Any wonder then that there should be so much interest in the new Pixel 3 smartphones, again launched in a duo of big and small versions. I’ve been living with the Pixel 3XL for the past few weeks and like everyone else, am floored by the camera. Before we get to that, let’s look at what else this smartest of smartphones brings...

With the very first Pixel, Google put its own touch on phone aesthetics. They divided the back of the device into two sections and that has now become a signature look. With the Pixel 3, the top section is glossy while the rest is a smooth and eminently caress-able surface that just feels lovely to the touch. Many reviewers have reported having spent time just fondling the phone. The whole back panel is actually glass though it doesn’t seem like it. It can get smudged and worse, scratched so should never be put into a bag or pocket with sharp objects for sure. Google’s three colours for both its variants of the Pixel 3 are Clearly White, Just Black and Not Pink, the last being a shade between off-white and light pink, sort of like a face cream. Sadly, I have managed to put a faint shiny smudge on it which shows no signs of going, despite a good wash — the Pixel 3 is IP68 water resistant. A case is obviously a must and should also be chosen with care so that it doesn’t put its own scratches on the delicate etched glass back.

Turn the phone on and the two things you’ll see are a beautiful screen and a hideous notch. Last year the Pixel 2XL had numerous issues with the screen, not the least of which was a colour shift marring its viewing angles. The very slight shift doesn’t get in the way at all now and is just about the same as with all other phones. The Pixel’s 6.3-inch OLED display comes to life when you use some of the beautiful wallpapers included. But you will have heard talk of the Pixel 3 XL’s big intrusive notch — and indeed it is just that. The notch extrudes so much into the active screen that you can’t help wondering whether it might not have been nest to leave a bezel on top in the first place. But it’s also true that you get used to that notch and forget all about it noticing it again under some conditions that show it up sharply. Certainly it isn’t a reason to avoid buying the phone which otherwise has so much going for it, not the least of which is that fascinating camera.

Camera prowess

Other companies are putting in multiple lenses to take good photos and there’s nothing wrong with that, but Google has gone and done it with a single camera. Who knows what they might have achieved with additional hardware and optics and their software tricks on top of that, but for now, they’re going with a single 12MP front camera with an f/1.8 aperture which takes some impressive shots — so good that you just want to shoot everything just to see how it will look on your phone’s screen. Images are detailed and sharp and full of great colour and dynamic range without overly saturating in the name of AI as so many phones are doing.

With photos taken in bright daylight, you will find you can zoom in and see a whole lot of detail and clarity such as peoples’ silhouettes inside an office high rise. Instead of using optical zoom, the Pixel uses a digital one but a very accomplished one so they call it Super Res zoom. What it’s actually doing is to take a series of photos to draw detail from. What’s more, it uses handshake to improve the image, again by filling in details. With the Pixel’s camera you can take rather quick photos because two presses on the power button will trigger it off and then a fast shutter speed takes over.

The Pixel 3’s Portrait mode in most conditions does a wonderful job, detecting edges quite well and beautifully blurring out the background. I took some impressive photos with this mode and they looked quite DSLR like on the phone’s screen. Low light and night photography are also really good, including shooting light sources, but a new Night Sight feature is supposed to make things better, only it hasn’t arrived yet and a software update to bring it in is awaited. Meanwhile photos taken indoors are well lit as with the previous Pixel but soft around the edges if the light is incandescent and drops below a certain level but this doesn’t happen often.

There are a few other features that are working are not waiting for updates: Top Shot takes a burst of photos and chooses the best one and recommends it; Photobooth waits for funny or interesting faces and takes a snap; Playground lets the user fool around with augmented reality characters in a photo.

There are actually two front cameras allowing for a wide angle (90 degrees) selfie. You can either shoot a photo of yourself with a nice scene in the background or should a group photo with several making the usual duck faces into the camera. Portrait mode is also available in this mode. Video shot with both modes is good but the Pixel is not the best phone for video for those who need to shoot seriously for broadcast. The audio quality on video footage isn’t loud and clear. The device also does get a little warm with even a little video shooting.

Software smarts

The Pixel 3 is every bit a Google phone, which is what it’s meant to be. It’s running on the very newest Android, 9 Pie, and has a few features not found on other Android phones. Despite just 4GB of RAM and the now ubiquitous Snapdragon 845 it feels very smooth to use — not just snappy and fast, but smooth. That’s why most people think of butter when they want to describe it. It doesn’t do so well on benchmark tests and some people report problems with gaming, but for navigating on the device, using Google services and taking photos, it’s a nice fluid experience. The Google Assistant is always at hand including with a quick squeeze to the sides of the phone. The storage should have started out at a higher level, given the price but Google thinks the cloud storage it gives for photos should be enough for anyone — and people tend to stream music more than store it on their phones.

Digging into the Pixel’s settings you’ll find the Digital Well Being feature that will help you control your phone use — if you want it to, which unfortunately I didn’t. You can control how long you use apps and notifications and even ‘Wind Down’ at the end of the day by letting the phone go greyscale and look like it’s half off.

The much talked of call screening feature isn’t active in India or even anywhere outside of the US right now. This feature uses Google’s Duplex technology to answer calls for you and even put out a transcription of the conversation up in notifications for you to see. You can decide whether you want to take the call in case it turns out not to the the spam that this feature is supposed to tackle. I have my doubts about whether the feature will come to India anytime soon because it would need to be in Hindi and other Indian languages and that is not something that’s ready yet.

I was less than happy with the Pixel 3’s 3,430mAh battery life. Through a day of messaging, f few searches, and a moderate amount of photo shooting, I was left with 30 percent battery by 7pm. I’d advise anyone who uses their phone a lot to invest in a power bank Nd a little adaptor because the far end of the Pixel 3’s cable is also a USB-C. Or use another cable, of course.

The Pixel 3 is a very interesting phone and demonstrates more than any other how software can be used almost in place of hardware for so many things. Its camera works with ‘computational photography’ which is remarkable but perhaps not to everyone’s taste. Many may prefer the more natural looking images from the other flagships such as the iPhone XS, the Galaxy Note 9 and Huawei’s P20. The Pixel also competes with itself a little because the older Pixel 2 isn’t far behind the Pixel 3 and one may want to consider that given the new phone is so very expensive.

Price : Rs 83,000 for 64GB model XL variant

Pros : Stunning camera, great display, smoother-than-butter performance, the full Google experience, active edges

Cons : Bafflingly expensive, intrusive notch, easily smudged and damaged glass, ungenerous physical storage, not a dual-SIM phone, not great battery life, call quality a bit muffled.

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