Let’s talk about the Pixel 5

So a while back, I gave up my iPhone 11 pro max in favor of a Google Pixel 5. There is always an adjustment period switching from one ecosystem to another. After a few months now, I can see I’ve readjusted to life on the Android side. Do I regret this decision? Read on to find out.

Oh right, THAT app…

As I mentioned, there’s always an adjustment period switching from iOS to android. Part of that process is discovering, or rediscovering what apps serve as the counterpart to another mobile operating system (OS). After so many years of switching, the plus side is that there is pretty good app parity these days. The down side is that it sometimes takes a lot searching to figure out what apps are best. Part of the blessing and curse of android is that there is a deluge of apps. Both really good, and really bad. Now, you can say the same of iOS, with the main difference being, that apple has a strangle hold on what apps are allowed to be in the app store. So the chances of running into an incredibly bad, or malicious app, are a lot lower.

Bigger is always better… right?

The iPhone 11 pro max I was using had a screen size of 6.5 inches. The Pixel 5, by contrast, is coming in at 6 inches. And I gotta say, I really enjoy the form factor of the Pixel. As a whole, phones just seem to be getting bigger and bigger each year. That trend does come with its advantages, of course. Bigger screens mean the potential to fit more features, bigger batteries, and allow the user to consume more media. Whether that means seeing more text on a website, or enjoying a TV show or film on a bigger screen. This comes with the trade off, of being just unwieldy for people with smaller hands. Heck, even those with bigger hands are needing to work out their thumbs to reach across some of these gargantuan screens. The Pixel 5 is relatively light compared to the iPhone, and is very easy to manipulate.

Here is a comparison of my Pixel 5 (green) next to my old Pixel 3. They are almost the same size, with a much improved screen to body ration on the 5.

Tale of the tape

The Pixel’s physical size is:

5.7 height x 2.8 width x 0.3 depth (inches)

It comes with 8 gigs of RAM and is powered by the snapdragon 765G chip.

The rear camera is a 12.2 megapixel shooter, capable of shooting in 1080p @ 30 FPS, 60 FPS, 120 FPS (slow mo), 720p @ 240 FPS (slow mo), 4K @ 30 FPS, 60 FPS.

By contrast, the front facing camera is 8 megapixels and is capable of shooting in 1080p @ 30 FPS.

It is USB type c, and also comes with Qi wireless charging built in. It has stereo speakers (more on that later), and comes in just black or sorta sage.

Oh… and that battery… it’s 4000mah. That is pretty huge for a phone this size that has an OLED display with a resolution of (1080 x 2340).

My Likes

There is a lot to like about the Pixel 5. It’s a great size. A very good looking display which also has a 90hz refresh rate. The hole punch design lets you take more in, and of course, pictures on a pixel are almost always great.

Let’s not forget about that battery. The Pixel 5 is a longevity champ. I can get through my day easily without having to worry about reaching for a charger. I’m pretty sure if I actually watched my usage, I could get through 2 days on this phone.

The feel of the coating Google uses for the back of this phone, feels like paper, and not in a bad way. It is very pleasant to the touch. The fingerprint reader on the back is just as reliable and fast as it has been on the Pixel 3 line.

My Dislikes

There isn’t a whole lot to dislike about the Pixel 5. But if I had to call on some items that could be improved upon, the first of these would probably be the video recording. Whether that can be improved on with software or hardware, doesn’t really matter to me. It is still no where near close to the level of quality you can get on an iPhone. Admittedly, Google did pull some software tricks with video recording this year, with new modes to help in more dynamic video recording situation, and while they are cool, I would rather just have quality parity or better with iOS.

Next up, Google did away with project soli, which was the sensor array on the Pixel 4. I’m not shedding any tears about it, but what does sadden me, is the omission of the pixel neural core, which helped offload some of the processing of pictures and video from the snapdragon chip. This becomes glaringly obvious when you take a picture with the Pixel 5. It takes a good 3 to 5 seconds for the image to render. When you combine that with the 765G chip, it does get a little annoying to have to wait around for the Pixel magic to happen in post processing of images.

This next one isn’t so much a dislike, as it is a concern. Google managed to get the price point a lot lower on this device, in part, because they opted for a slower chip (the 765G), compared to the flagship 800 series snapdragon chips. I am personally not seeing any issues with that (outside of the post processing in pictures), but my concern is with the overall life of this device with a slower chip. Only time will tell if this was the right call.

And finally, the price. The Pixel 5 goes for $699. The Pixel 4a5G (cmon with that name Google) by contrast, is $499 and you are getting very similar specs. The key differences being a smaller battery on the 4a5G, and no 90hz refresh rate. Are those two items worth an extra $200? Only you can answer that. In my case, it’s yes. I value battery life a lot, and I prefer the slightly smaller frame of the 5. 90hz is just icing on the cake. But I’m willing to bet there are a few folks out there, that would probably opt to save $200.

Conclusions

The Pixel 5 is a great phone. I wholeheartedly recommend it for the battery life alone. It is just a great package. If Google had priced this just $100 dollars cheaper, I think they would have knocked it out of the park. Unfortunately, that may not have been their call, since the pixel 5 has support for millimeter wave 5g, which is a Verizon flavor of 5g. It sounds like they may have been forced to bundle that with all Pixel 5 hardware, and thus the premium.

And Don’t get me started on the 5g. It’s not here yet, contrary to what all these phone manufacturers are spewing.

If you want to save $200 bucks, the 4a5G is a very compelling option, but you really can’t go wrong with a 5.