[Android General] zolah:
Before i begin i want to point out that I have never reviewed a device before and to be honest I'm not that great at typing but the nexus is going through a phase it has never been through before. The nexus line is at and end and the most recent nexus devices aren't even getting the full features of its predecessor as they normally would for years to come. With that said the pixel has made me feel as though it is worth sharing my thoughts with people who may be sat on the bench or wondering about the new pixel devices that are replacing our beloved nexus phones and whether or not they should make the pricey jump over. I also would like to know how you guys that have purchased a pixel are finding the new google devices.

I have been a massive fan of the nexus line since the birth back at the nexus one and have owned every nexus phone released, and have had most nexus tablets apart from the 2nd gen nexus 7, so i really love the pure android experience. Having used the nexus line for so long and spending a short amount of time now with the pixel XL i wanted to give my honest opinion and feelings about the new line coming from the nexus 6p...

There are sacrifices and gains to be made when upgrading from the 6p. First of all the front facing speakers are gone which is quite a big downer for me. Perhaps I've been spoilt with having front facing speakers on the 6p and nexus 9 that i use, but it feels like a step backwards here. The speaker on the pixel XL is OK dont get me wrong and can be quite loud and full sounding but its nothing like having front facing stereo speakers.

I want to talk about the software/google photos backup/assistant. My nexus was on 7.1.1 preview when i sold it so I had some time with that to compare.

The google photo backup feels like a marketing scam to me in a way. They advertise unlimited storage in full resolution forever with the pixel phones. Now you already get that to the most extent. It backs up pictures in an unaltered quality up to 16 mega pixels. The pixel phones have a 12.3mp camera same as the 6p and a lot of other devices so nothing changes there. The 6p and other devices also get full resolution video backup for 1080p so the only real gain is the 4k resolution videos.

The assistant again is being played up big time by google. Now lets be honest most people don't stand there talking to their phones or at least not people that i know. I tried both google now and assistant and to me assistant is the same as google now. They have just given it a new voice with some jokes and put it into a conversation card format. Google now worked pretty much the same and did a good job. This isn't something new that google have released that hasn't been seen before. It's simply a revision of google now that we have had for a while.

The software is beautiful on the pixel XL. I know it has better internals that will be helping a lot but the user interface is so smooth and fluid. Even 3rd party apps seem to behave better and don't have no where near as much micro stutters. Everything just feels fluid and very very snappy. This is where the pixel for me really excels over the 6p. The new launcher is also very nice. I was on the bench when i first saw it but once you use it, it makes perfect sense. The swipe up motion for the app drawer frees up a dock position for an additional app. The new search button top left frees up more screen real estate instead of having the full length bar spanning the width of the screen.

The display is very slightly smaller on the XL, however i don't really notice this at all to be perfectly honest. The display on the pixel XL is definitely better than the 6p. Its much much brighter and the white point is much better... At least for my taste. I prefer a cooler white than the more yellow hue of the nexus 6p. I held the two phones side by side in the store and i cant stress enough how much more improved the new pixel phones display is. This is a gorgeous display that honestly rivals my wife's S7 edge.

The pixel XL is noticeably thicker than the 6p when held out of a case. I'm not too sure how i feel about this one personally. The pixel XL is easier to hold and doesn't feel like it will slip from your hands when using one handed but then again it has the same battery as the 6p and is a similar size shell. It doesn't have anything extra that would warrant the thickness so again this feels like a step back to me in a way. I don't understand the need for the extra thickness given the internals. I know they may have thickened it slightly to remove the camera bump but the pixel phone still actually thickens up as at the top end of the phone compared to the bottom.

The chin is a talking point for a lot of people. I have come to accept this now for the simple reason of the bottom facing speaker. On the larger bezels you have more room to hold the phone without covering the speaker with your palm. I have gone for the black version of the phone which somehow hides this a bit better than the white and doesn't look as obvious.

The camera is simply great on the pixel. Even though it has exact same spec camera as the 6p the end product after the image has been processed is awesome. For simple point and shoot the camera is amazing and there is 0 lag with the HDR+ like there is on the nexus 6p. I often missed a chance to snap my kids doing something with the 6p because it took forever to actually take the picture after pushing the button. This issue is gone with the pixel and photos are snapped almost instantly.

The price is still definitely a big question mark for me. The phone feels great and overall is does make the nexus lines feel like beta's to what the pixel is and how it performs. However... No wireless charging... No water and dust proofing... No dual front facing speaker... There are other phones out there with these things that don't cost as much. The price being charged for this leaves a bad taste in my mouth, especially with it being the first pixel phone which a lot of average consumers wont understand the history behind and how it came to be. The phone isn't a house hold known name like the galaxy line or the iphones so people may be scared away by the price for this new unknown brand of phone.

Overall summary for me is that the pixel XL phone is definately an upgrade from the 6p, and using the phone feels night and day better but the price point is a huge question mark. The pixel phone somehow has a polish and unification to the whole google branding that i just cant put my finger on but i can honestly say this is by far the greatest android experience i have ever experienced. The smoothness of moving around the ui is unrivalled by any other device i have ever used including windows phones and iphones (I've never owned an iphone but my brother is an avid apple fan so we dont see eye to eye, however I do play with his iphone to compare speed etc).

So how are you guys finding the pixel XL phone? which device did you come from and how does it compare?