[Google Pixel 5 Guides, News, & Discussion] dragos281993:
I had a Oneplus 6 which I used since it got launched and I really liked it. Then I bought an iPhone 12 to see for myself what the big fuss was about with iOS blah blah and I ended up returning that garbage after almost 3 weeks. Yes, iOS is smoother, the animations are astronomically better and very well polished, etc, but the restrictions were too much for me. I also wanted a smaller phone. So, in the end, I bought a Pixel 5 in black which is great from however you look at it. It's well built, has quite a bit of weight to it considering the relatively small size, and that gives it a nice feel in the hand. The material on the back is plastic but not the cheap type that we've seen before in phones but a more dense type that sounds kinda muffled if you knock on it, if that makes any sense. Bottom line is that it doesn't feel cheap at all. And I've used it without a case since 7th of December until this morning when I received my Spigen Thin Fit case. The screen looks great and even though it's technically FHD, the 6"' size makes it so the pixels are so small you won't be able to see them. It's bright, the colours look great and it's FLAT and also the bezel is the same size on all sides which looks excellent with perfect symmetry, something only Apple has been doing for a few years now because they know what pretty is, whether people want to accept that or not. And it makes watching videos in landscape mode really nice because they're perfectly centred. And the 90Hz refresh rate is of course great. It's not 120Hz but the difference from 90 to 120 is significantly smaller to the eye than comparing 90 to 60. I went on Tuesday in an Orange shop to stop the mobile contract and I tried an S20 they still had on display And my eyes couldn't notice a difference in smoothness compared to my phone so they could've added a 90Hz option for people to choose in order to gain some battery life without losing any smoothness. Anyway, I gave my OP6 to dad when I switched to the iPhone then the Pixel 5, and I used it this morning when we met and sat at a coffee just to see how my eyes adjusted to the P5\s screen. And Jesus Christ! I couldn't believe it. That thing looks like a hot mess now. I don't know how I could ever go to a 60Hz screen again.

And then there's the battery. I wasn't expecting the battery life to be this good. You're gonna get an entire day without charging this phone with over 6h SOT. I got on average 7h SOT. The last few days (from my annual leave) I've stayed at home and I've been constantly getting almost 6h SOT with a charge every 2 days, with Youtube and Web browsing as my main activities and some Spotify streaming. So the battery life is absolutely exceptional. 4 charges ago I got 8h24m SOT with the same usage and the battery got to 11%. I ended charging it the next morning. It charges slower than other phones but it's decently fast considering the size of the battery which is not the biggest out there but still pretty big especially for a phone this size.

The cameras are great and this is a very subjective aspect of a phone but overall this thing is capable of amazing results in any scenario with older hardware when the competition has been using more recent parts. So that's not an issue cause this thing is up there with the best performing phones in this matter as well.

Then there's the software. There's not much you can say here because we all around here on xda know what stock Android means and how it behaves. The CPU is great in every way which means that without a side by side comparison with a high-end one and a stopwatch in your hand, you won't notice a difference in performance. So, basically, the real-world performance is great and you'll be satisfied without a doubt.

Now before ending this long comment, the sound quality. The bottom speaker sounds more than decent and it's definitely not as bad as some reviewers claimed to be. I suppose they came to a worst conclusion because of the one under the screen. Yeah, that one sounds terrible but only if you cover the bottom-firing one in order to hear what it actually sounds like,. Otherwise, you'll mostly hear the bottom one. But for me, sound quality has never been an issue because usually, every phone speaker has a lot more potential in both quality and power if you tweak it with the right tool. That's why my phone is rooted from day one. There's no way I'm listening to anything without Viper4Android. This thing is a must to me, especially for listening to music using headphones, earbuds, or in my car. The difference compared to the stock tuned sound is like day and night and the same applies for both listening through Bluetooth devices or the phone's own speakers, which now sound noticeably better.

And not to forget, the phone's size is great and it makes to so easy to use. And you'll get used to the new size relatively fast. Your eyes will adjust easily and I bet you won't be bothered at all shortly after starting to use the device. Probably if you switch between the 2 devices you'll notice the size difference but using only one, will get your eyes to adjust and not be bothered in any way.

I hope this is good information for you.