Apple and Google’s newest flagship phones have been in the market since October of last year, which means that people have had them long enough to make a fair judgement about them.
My upgrade cycle for my phone plan came around at the beginning of this year, so I decided to pick up Google’s newest device, the Pixel 2 XL.
I had seen multiple reviews and videos of almost all of the most popular new phones, so I knew what I was getting myself into when I bet on the newest phone.
While prices for smartphones are reaching an all time high, I feel that the quality and effort put into these phones does not reflect the price point.
One of the biggest downfalls of the newest smartphones is the obsession with the removal of the headphone jack. I understand that many speakers and headphones have Bluetooth in this day and age, but having an older car makes trying to listen to music just a hassle.
Most phones include an adapter to plug in older equipment, but the one provided to me stopped working for seemingly no reason, which means the hopes of listening to music in my older car were shattered.
Newer phones have also been trending towards having smaller bezels, which is the part of the phone that surrounds the screen.
At first I thought this idea was great, with visions of a seamless and beautiful experience on my mind.
But, instead of a great experience, the parts of my hand holding the phone almost always end up pressing random items on screen. To the full extent of my knowledge I have normal sized hands, so for now I just have to change the way I hold my device.
Apart from the downfalls of newer phones, there are some truly great and revolutionary ideas happening.
One of the best things about my new phone is the camera. The pictures look almost professional, even though all I am doing is thoughtlessly pointing and shooting.
Newer Android phones are including USB Type C which allows for insanely fast charging. As a forgetful person, this helps when I fall asleep forgetting to plug my phone in because it will only take twenty minutes to reach a reasonable charge in the morning.
OLED is another big feature in newer phones. Basically, in older phones, there was a backlight that lit up all the pixels which would then display any color. Now, when an image is black, no light is omitted at all. This means crisper colors and allows a clock to be shown at all times on screen. Personally, this is my favorite feature introduced to smartphones in the last five years.
The Pixel 2 XL does not include wireless charging like the new iPhones, but I personally do not mind. I plug in my phone wherever I am so carrying around a wireless charging pad would be even more of a hassle than just the charging cable.
Overall, I enjoy the Pixel 2 XL. If you can justify the cost and live without a headphone jack, I would definitely recommend it for your next smartphone.
Sean Kahle
Reporter
