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Blu VIVO X5, XL5 review

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Just as Google recently announced two phones with similar specifications, Blu did the same a few weeks back. The VIVO X5 and VIVO VXL5 are both entry-level devices which share much of the same hardware.

The two phones are separated by about $30 with the main differences being screen size, battery, and camera configuration. To be more specific, the XL5 gets a larger display, higher capacity battery, and a secondary camera on the back.

What are the VIVO X5 and VIVO XL5?

Sold as unlocked phones, the VIVO X5 and VIVO XL5 are compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile networks as well as their respective prepaid and MVNO brands.

The duo run Android 9 Pie with a smattering of extra apps and games, all of which can be uninstalled. It’s essentially the same stock experience we’ve come to expect from Blu over the years.

What are key hardware details in the phones?

Both are powered by an octa-core 1.6GHz processor with 3GB RAM and offer 64GB internal storage. Both have fingerprint readers on the rear and a main 13-megapixel rear camera. The two phones offer 3.5mm headphone jacks and charge via microUSB ports.

What’s different between the VIVO X5 and VIVO XL5?

Here’s a quick breakdown of what differs between the two phones.

Blu Vivo X5

  • 5.7-inch (18:9 aspect ratio) 720 x 1440 pixel
  • 2800mAh battery
  • 13-megapixel rear camera
  • 8-megapixel selfie camera

Blu Vivo XL5

  • 6.3-inch (19:9 aspect ratio) 720 x 1520 pixel
  • 4,000mAh battery
  • 13-megapixel rear camera and 13-megapixel depth sensor
  • 13-megapixel selfie camera

The two phones have a faux leather and stitching design on the rear and a bear a passing resemblance to each other. But, spend a moment looking the pair over and you’ll see they’re not identical.

The smaller VIVO X5 has its charging port and 3.5mm headphone jack in the top of the phone while the VIVO XL5 splits them apart. The bottom center houses the charging port and the headphone jack is at the top.

Likewise, the VIVO XL5 has a non-removable battery while the X5’s power source comes in the box and is manually inserted.

What’s the build quality like?

The VIVO X5 and XL5 feel like entry-level and cheaper phones from previous generations. They’re lighter, made of plastic, and don’t have any fancy design language. Given they cost about $100-$130, you’d be asking for a little much if you wanted glass, metal, or anything special.

From an aesthetic standpoint the phones are uninspiring and almost boring. The fake stitching and leather reminds us of what Samsung did with its Galaxy Note 3. Available in “Leather Black”, we found the rear casing picks up oil fairly quick.

How are the VIVO X5 and VIVO XL5 displays?

The overall picture for both phones was surprisingly decent. The viewing angle, brightness, color, and contrast is good, with a few options to toggle settings to taste. Color has three options, for instance, and brightness can be set to automatically adjust based on environment.

Seeing the screen is no problem indoors but outside, or in bright rooms, proves to be a challenge at times. A clear blue sky or overhead lamp might make it tricky to use the phones. We’ve seen a lot worse in other phones, but it’s troublesome enough that we felt it’s worth sharing.

What’s the software experience for the VIVO X5 and VIVO XL5?

We like that Blu doesn’t mess with Android and leaves it largely the same as what Google does for its phones. There is just a small bit of extra stuff added which make the phone experience more unique to the user but nothing here stands in the way.

Tucked away in the settings of the phone are a few extras such as Face ID, options to adjust the navigation bar, battery modes, and more. The larger VIVO XL5 also has a user-defined setting which removes the cutout notch that surrounds the front-facing camera.

The last few generations of Blu phones look like a near-untouched suite of apps the first time they boot up. Get them connected to a Wi-Fi network or data, though, and you’ll see that the final steps of “setup” include loading of extra apps and games. That happens here, too.

Both phones install Amazon, Coin Master, Solitaire, Opera, FM Radio, Notes, News, and Games Hub. Likewise, they also have icons to a few apps which take you to mobile versions of websites. It’s essentially like having Facebook, Tahoo, Bing, and a weather app.

All told, there’s about 13% of the 64GB storage space used up out of the box. If you want, you can uninstall any of the titles to pick up some room.

When it comes to software, our main concern is timely security updates or patches. Getting a major Android is secondary when you’re looking at phones at $150 or less. To that end, both the VIVO X5 and VIVO XL5 have been updated to the October patch so they’re as current as it gets.

How do the two phones perform?

Neither model is going to set any benchmark records. They’re fine for less-demanding users who don’t care for gaming or high-end audiovisual stuff. If we’re being honest, there’s a large user base who can do well with the VIVO X5 or VIVO XL5.

If email, messaging, and social media are where you spend much of your day, these two will suffice. Snap an occasional photo, play a casual game, or video chat with a friend and you won’t run into problems.

You’d definitely notice that the phones aren’t all that quick at hopping around between apps or that they pause to perform commands and tasks if you’ve been using a recent flagship. That’s not the target demographic.

The people who will want or need a phone like this are often replacing a device that’s a few years old. That, or they’re using these to outfit children or older parents. There’s nothing performance-wise that wouldn’t work for those types of user.

Fingerprint readers respond quickly as does the face unlocking. Yes, that’s present on both models and something that you might not get in other handsets at this price.

Battery life is on par with expectations, but we do have a problem with the microUSB charging. Not only is that slower tech, but it’s one we’re ready to leave behind for phones. Oh, and charging the VIVO X5 is wonky because it’s done at the very top.

The smaller phone gets a good day’s worth of usage out of it while the larger one goes about 50 percent longer. Mileage varies by user, of course, but we’re content with it.

How are the cameras on the VIVO X5 and VIVO XL5?

Okay. They’re just okay. We didn’t expect much from either phone, even the one with the third sensor and AI smarts. Why? Price, of course. With that said, we imagine the results are good enough for more of its target users.

The shutter speeds are slower than we would have liked for both phones. You almost have to anticipate your shot and press the button just a moment earlier.

Vivo XL5 (Standard, HDR)

Taking action shots, or even a cat sauntering about, could sometimes prove tricky. Too often we’d find results blurred. On the other hand, still images were fairly decent if not a bit washed out.

Color balance and accuracy was right about where you want it; a few minor edits in your favorite app ought to make your photos social media worthy. We noticed that the VIVO XL5’s AI did kick in a few times to slightly punch up the picture at the time of taking it.

Really, our main quibble is the app itself, which is a touch wonky. We found it a bit too easy to accidentally switch camera modes. In testing purposes this isn’t so bad, but in real world time is of the essence and having to make adjustments could be the difference in a lost opportunity.

Oh, and actually seeing the screen on a bright sunny day is pretty tough. Depending on what you’re shooting or where you’re looking, it might be hard to see your subject.

Google Photos: Blu VIVO X5 and XL5 Samples

If you’re buying a phone because of its camera, skip the VIVO X5 and VIVO XL5. Set your sights on something a few hundred bucks higher. If you don’t care about snapping high-res pics — and there are plenty of people who don’t — you won’t take issue with either.

Should I buy the VIVO X5 and VIVO XL5?

This largely depends on who you are as a user. If you’re replacing a device that’s 2-3 years old, you might be alright here, provided you weren’t using a Galaxy S8 or something in that upper echelon. If you had a flagship from 2017, this might be a side step at best.

There are plenty of devices out there with forgettable one-off names or models that stay with prepaid brands. If you can’t remember when you bought your last phone, or don’t even really know what it’s called, both of these will do well for you.

Parents looking to supply younger users with their first smartphone might like what Blu offers here. They’re cheap enough that you can pick up more than one without going broke and they have enough power to keep them happy.

We think the VIVO X5 and XL 5 make decent phones for the stereotypical prepaid crowd. As we see it, there’s no reason to go with the smaller one. The hardware is worth the difference in price. Outwardly they’re very similar, and you get your money’s worth in the bigger model.

Availability

You can purchase Blu VIVO X5 and Blu VIVO XL5 at Amazon for about $100 and $130, respectively. Both are unlocked with 2/4/5/12/17 LTE band support which means AT&T, T-Mobile, Cricket, Metro, and other GSM carriers.

NVIDIA offers up new Shield TV and Shield TV Pro

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NVIDIA on Monday began selling a pair of new devices in the Shield TV and Shield TV Pro. Both run the latest version of Android TV, based on 9 Pie, and feature a Tegra X1+ processor at the heart.

Key among the upgrades here are Dolby Vision HDR and AI software to upscale video from 1080p and 720p to 4K.

The Shield TV ($150) is intended for a general audience and comes in a unique cylindrical design. On it you’ll find an Ethernet port and microSD expansion card slot. In it, however, are 2GB RAM and 8GB storage.

The Shield TV Pro ($200) is geared towards a more gaming-centric or demanding user and provides more memory and storage at 3GB and 16GB, respectively. Additionally, it has a pair of USB 3.0 ports and can be utilized as a Plex Server. In terms of design, this mimics the look of the original Shield.

Both units come with a remote control which has given an adjustment. Features include buttons for power, volume, fast forward/rewind, voice search, home, and back. Also, a dedicated Netflix button gets you to the streaming service in one click; a customizable button lets you configure it to whatever you’d like.

Learn more about the two products, or purchase them, at the NVIDIA website.

Top wireless carriers finally come together for RCS messaging

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The biggest names in wireless service (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint) have finally gotten around to working together on a replacement for SMS. Long anticipated, the next generation RCS messaging standard should ship with phones in 2020.

The four carriers have formed a joint venture called the Cross-Carrier Messaging Initiative (CCMI) and pledge to launch a new text messaging client for Android phones in the coming year.

Known as Rich Communication Services (RCS), it’s yet to really take off with any particular phone maker or carrier. Google has been championing the cause for some time and has been its biggest advocate.

There have been a number of obstacles standing in the way of RCS, one of which is the lack of a universally agreed upon standard for interoperability. The so-called “Universal Profile” figures to be addressed now that the carriers have pledged to play nicely with each other.

Another sticky issue is that it doesn’t look to be encrypted from end-to-end. This opens the door to potential surveillance or governmental bodies requesting the data. Google, for its part has started rolling out RCS support for Android phones in France and the UK, keeping the data only long enough to send and receive.

Although the CCMI joint venture is comprised of US-based carriers, the plan is to create a seamless experience that works across service providers in the US and globally.

More information regarding the rollout will be announced at a later date.

Verizon 5G hits Dallas and Omaha

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Verizon on Friday announced that its 5G network has arrived for parts of Dallas, Texas and Omaha, Nebraska. With these two cities the total number of markets with Verizon 5G has hit 15 in the US.

As we’ve seen with other cities and 5G rollout, it’s not like a blanket that covers these entire towns. Specifically, the 5G coverage can be found in the following areas:

Dallas, TX

  • Concentrated in parts of Knox/Henderson, Downtown Dallas, Uptown, Medical Center Area, Deep Ellum
  • Around landmarks as Parkland Memorial Hospital, Children’s Medical Center, Jade Waters Pool, Dallas Comedy House, The Curtain Club, Dallas Theological Seminary and Turtle Creek Park.

Omaha, NE

  • Concentrated in parts of Downtown Omaha
  • Around landmarks such as Old Market, Omaha Children’s Museum, The Orpheum Theatre, The Durham Museum, Heartland of America Park, Central High School and Creighton University.

With 15 cities with 5G under its belt, Verizon is halfway to its goal of 30 markets by the end of 2019. Still on the horizon are Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Des Moines, Houston, Kansas City, Little Rock, Memphis, San Diego, Salt Lake City, and a few others to be named later.

Where to buy the Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL

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The Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL are finally official. No longer rumors and speculation, the two handsets are now up for sale.

You won’t have to look hard to find the Pixel 4 phones as they’ll be offered through numerous wireless carriers. And then there’s always the unlocked model you can get directly from Google and others.

Here, we help spell out what you can look forward to when it comes to when and where to buy the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL.

If you’re looking for special savings and promotions on the two new phones, we’ve got your back. Here’s how to potentially score a free Pixel 4.

Carriers

When it comes to color choices, each of the wireless service providers listed here essentially have the same options: Black, White, and Orange.

Verizon

AT&T

T-Mobile

Sprint

US Cellular

C Spire

Cellcom

Spectrum Mobile

Visible

  • Pixel 4 (64GB) –
  • Pixel 4 (128GB) –
  • Pixel 4 XL (64GB) –
  • Pixel 4 XL (128GB) –

Xfinity Mobile

Retailers

Google

It only makes sense that Google would offer its own device through the Google Store. There are three options to choose from for each model: unlocked, unlocked w/ Google Fi, and Verizon. Qualified customers may be able to spread payments out without paying interest.

Best Buy

The big box retailer offers the phones in unlocked manner as well as through Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint. Qualified buyers can split up payments over two years with slightly different rates for each carrier.

B&H Photo Video

Customers can purchase both phones unlocked with different colors and capacities. At last check there were a few configurations that weren’t available.

Motorola intros One Macro, Moto E6 Play, G8 Play, and G8 Plus

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Motorola on Thursday grew its phone roster by another four models, adding new members to a few of its series of devices. Starting from October 24, the Motorola One Macro, Moto E6 Play, G8 Play, and G8 Plus are available in select markets – none of which include the US.

Motorola One Macro

The Motorola One Macro joins the growing “One” family of phones and puts the emphasis on macro photos. It’s equipped with a Macro Vision camera which lets users snap pictures of items as close as 2 centimeters. According to Motorola, this is about five times closer than what you’d normally get from a phone.

There’s not just one camera on the back, though, as the One Macro also packs a 13-megapixel main lens and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. AI and other software features will optimize photos, automatically capture smiles, and more.

Other key hardware includes a 6.2-inch HD+ display, 4GB RAM, and 64GB storage. A 4,000mAh battery provides up to two days of battery life.

The Motorola One Macro retails with a starting MSRP of 199 € EUR and it can be found in Brazil, Mexico, India, Australia, and Europe. It’s expected to arrive in Latin America and select Asian markets in the future.

Moto E6 Play

As we’ve seen with other models in the E series, the Motorola E6 Play is an entry-level phone that carries a wallet-friendly price tag.

Notable specifications include a 5.5-inch HD+ display, 13-megapixel rear camera, and 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Internally, we find 32GB storage, a microSD expansion card slot (up to 256GB), and a 3,000mAh battery.

The Motorola Moto E6 Play has a starting MSRP of 109 € EUR with immediate availability in Mexico and Brazil. Over the next few months it will come to Latin America and select countries in Asia.

Moto G8 Play

The Motorola Moto G8 Play is a big-screen experience with middle-of-the-pack specifications. Key details include a MediaTek Helio P70 processor with 2GB RAM and 32GB internal storage.

Additionally, it features a 13-megapixel main camera, 8-megapixel ultra-wide (117 degree) camera, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. A 4,000mAh battery is tucked inside and should be enough to last two days for most users.

The Moto G8 Play is available in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Peru with other Latin American countries getting it in due time.

Moto G8 Plus

Slightly more robust, the Moto G8 Plus is led by a 6.3-inch Full HD+ display and a 48-megapixel main sensor with Night Vision, a depth sensor, and a 117 degree ultra-wide angle action cam. A 25-megapixel shooter is located around front.

Other noteworthy specs include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor, 4GB RAM, and 64GB internal storage. Rounding things out are a microSD expansion card slot and 4,000mAh battery.

The Moto G8 Plus is available today in Brazil, Mexico, and India with Europe, Australia, and Latin America on deck. It has a starting MSRP of 269 € EUR.

US Release?

Although Motorola hasn’t made any indication that these phones will come to the US, we suspect we’ll ultimately get a couple of them. If not under these particular models, perhaps a re-branded take for prepaid or MVNO carriers.

T-Mobile announces OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren for later this year

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T-Mobile on Wednesday confirmed that it will be the exclusive wireless service provider to carry the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren. Stopping short of pricing and exact timing, it says that the phone will be here “this year”.

The OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren is one of two handsets to launch this year with 5G support at the 600MHz spectrum. It’s this technology that T-Mobile is using to build out its network.

READ: T-Mobile 5G: Where is it available and which phones offer support?

According to T-Mobile, it plans to cover 200 million people with 5G on 600MHz before the end of 2019. This is an accelerated pace and should make the so-called Uncarrier the first to deliver a nationwide 5G service.

T-Mobile has been building towards this network for two years and reportedly has thousands of 5G-ready towers and cell sites ready to go.

OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren offers up a compelling suite of hardware, led by the 6.67-inch Fluid Display which has a 90Hz refresh rate QHD+ resolution. The rear houses three cameras — a 48-megapixel main camera, 3X optical zoom, and an 117 degree ultra-wide-angle lens.

The phone’s case is comprised of a composite fabric material that’s said to be durable and soft and provide an “unparalleled” grip. Tucked inside is a 4085mAh battery which supports Warp Charge 30T; one hour is enough to fully charge the battery

Pricing and exact availability is expected in the coming weeks.

Blu G9 Pro review

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When it comes to mid-range phones, there’s no shortage of selection. Nearly every handset maker has something to offer which falls in the price range of about $250-$400, even the likes of Samsung. Unlocked phones are no exception to this, either.

Blu is a phone manufacturer who tends to play largely in this sandbox. Its recent G9 Pro is exactly that sort of device — a middle of the road experience with a budget-friendly price tag.

Our team has had a Blu G9 Pro on hand for a few weeks now and are ready to put our thoughts into a formal review.

SEE: Blu G9 review

Design

The Blu G9 Pro ticks nearly all of the major boxes for a quality smartphone experience in 2019. Not all of them, of course, but enough to satisfy the masses.

Powered by Android 9 Pie, the G9 Pro features a generous 6.3-inch display with a minimal water drop cutout notch. The rear houses a triple camera setup, led by a 16-megapixel Sony sensor, a 5-megapixel depth camera, and a 20-megapixel shooter for night shots.

The phone has a thin, curvy profile that fits nicely in hand. There’s nothing overly special about the design, but we do appreciate that Blu didn’t cut corners. Or, is it that we do like the way it cuts corners?

The G9 Pro has a deep purple and blue color that fits right in with other “premium” looking phones of the day. There’s an interesting gradient effect that breaks across the back which really catches light nicely.

As for buttons and the visible hardware, it’s par for the course. The volume and power are located to the right edge of the screen with the microSD/SIM card slot on the opposite side.

The bottom edge houses the 3.5mm headphone jack, speaker, and USB Type-C charging port. An ultra-thin speaker grille is placed just above the camera and display.

The three cameras are set to the top left of the back of the phone with a fingerprint scanner nestled about 3/4 of the way up the center.

Network Compatibility

Blu sells its phones as unlocked devices which means they are compatible with GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile. Additionally, they’re compatible with the likes of Cricket, Metro, and the other players which use the respective networks. Of course, the phone will also work outside of the US with a whole host of carriers.

3G 850/900/1700/1900/2100

LTE 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/28

From time to time Blu will build its phones with support for Verizon or Sprint. While it does technically leave the door open for Verizon compatibility, it is not touted by the phone maker or the carrier.

Additionally, and notably, the G9 Pro does not have support for LTE bands 14/29/30/66/71. Without them users won’t get the full coverage, data speeds, or quality they might expect from their GSM carrier. With that said, the 2/4/5/12 bands should be sufficient for many AT&T and T-Mobile subscribers.

Software

As is the case with pretty much anything that comes out of the Blu camp, the G9 Pro is a nearly stock Android experience. There’s no special “skin” or custom UI but there are a few apps that get installed at the factory.

We’ve seen a number of instances lately where Blu phones start out void of extra apps or games upon first booting up. But, once you connect to a Wi-Fi network or cell tower, it goes ahead and loads a few others. Such is the case with the G9 Pro as our review unit installed a number of titles.

Included with the phone are Coin Master, Pandora, Solitaire, Games Hub, News, Yahoo Mail, and VivaLive TV. All can be uninstalled or disabled, but might be worth a look for new smartphone users. In terms of space, the review unit had more than 88% of the 128GB free, even with those apps installed.

The G9 Pro has Android 9 Pie installed with the most recent security patch being September 5, 2019. This arrived in mid-October and seemed to jump directly from July’s We’re hoping to see something here every other month or so.

Largely an untouched Android UI, there’s a nice mix of color in the settings menus and grouping is relatively the same as what you get from Google. There are a handful of additional options available, though, which give the user an extra bit of customization.

Navigation and gestures, for instance, is a good place to start so you can be sure the phone feels like it’s doing the right thing and that buttons are in a reasonable order.

Camera

Counting cameras doesn’t really matter in 2019. Whether there’s one or four lenses means very little to most people. The AI stuff, depth sensors, night modes, time of flight, and other tech is great, to be sure, but it’s not what the masses care about just yet.

Largely, we care about the end result. And that end result is often simply shared on social media. Ask yourself to name the last time you snapped a photo and printed it out.

We’re getting more demanding, though. Shooting at night, taking portraits, and closeups are coming along and people are slowly conditioning themselves to want more. To that end, the G9 Pro is all the camera that most people need.

There is a 20-megapixel sensor here that’s used strictly for night mode. How does that fare in practice? At first, things look decent, but expand it to full screen and get closer and you’ll see that it’s definitely not perfect. It’s good enough, but not great. We actually liked the standard camera or the HDR one instead of the dedicated night mode.

If we had issues with the camera experience, it’s largely around the app itself. Things weren’t intuitive or presented in a manner that makes sense the first few times. Getting to HDR, bokeh effects, or beauty mode is wonky. Moreover, there’s no auto-HDR and the Pro Mode didn’t let us control shutter speed. This would have been great for night shots that are taken with a steady hand.

The 96-megapixel mode is pretty much a gimmick, to us. Not only does it take too much time to write the image and save it to your phone, but it takes up too much space. Try as we might, it was impossible for us to discern any extra detail in the photos.

We suggest spending some time with the app, familiarizing yourself before going out in the world and learning on the fly.

We’re collecting images captured on the G9 Pro in a Google Photos album and will update it over the coming days/weeks. These will be left unedited.

Performance

This is a solid mid-range phone on all accounts. We found it to work perfectly well for the general day-to-day stuff like social media, email, messaging, podcasts, and the like. Installing a game like Mario Kart Tour didn’t present any problems and we didn’t get the sense that we were on the verge of slowdown.

On the other hand, we did detect an occasional lag when hopping between apps. This was more noticeable when multiple apps and games were running in the back. Though, to be fair, we were looking for these sort of things.

Handing the phone off to less demanding users, and those who don’t have such a critical eye, the G9 Pro handled well.

Touching quickly on a few other aspects, the fingerprint scanner works quickly to unlock the phone as does the face unlock. Neither were difficult to set up and both felt snappy enough.

The audio is loud and clear but we’d never really want to listen to music on the speaker. For games, YouTube,  and other videos have enough punch for those moments on the couch or waiting room.

Battery life, at 4,000mAh, is higher than we’d expect for the price and gets us well beyond a day’s worth of usage. Things charge up quickly over USB Type-C at 18W and the wireless charging is a welcome feature. Blu walks both sides of the line when it comes to the wireless standard and we’re glad to see it come down on this side.

Conclusion

We like the physical appearance of the phone quite a bit. It’s one of the more attractive designs to come from Blu with a comfortable feel. Its nicely rounded, sleek and very modern. The purple and blue is interesting and eye-catching stuff and we hate to hide it under a protective case.

We’re fortunate that price no longer dictates appearance or size. Gone are the days of spending $700 on phones just to get a large display. At 6.3-inches it’s generous enough to make games, video, and text just a bit more engaging. And, thanks to the aspect ratio and the minimal waterdrop cutout notch, it doesn’t make for a cumbersome in-hand experience.

Now, to be clear, you may want to check with your carrier to ensure you’ve got coverage with the network bands in areas that matter. While the G9 Pro does have a respectable amount of support, it leaves a few newer bands off the table.

The camera experience could definitely be more cohesive but it’s not enough for us to complain all that loud. Most of the target user base is likely going to open up the app and take whatever automatic settings provide.

Blu has done an excellent job of mixing performance with aesthetics and seems to be getting better at phones. We like the slowed, more deliberate approach to its devices, especially if it keeps heading in this direction. We’ll take sub-$200 phones like this any day of the week.

Availability

As of the time we published this review, you can find the Blu G9 Pro for $200 at Amazon. It’s currently listed with a $50 discount, but we don’t know how long that will last.

Hey Google, this ain’t it, chief

Matt Adams
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Dated meme aside, I’m disappointed.

After months and months of leaks, this week saw the introduction of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. After the onslaught tweets and articles revealing every single piece of information about the devices, I should feel numb to the launch. It’s worse than that. I’m annoyed and frustrated.

Let’s just touch on the Pixel 4 for a moment before we chat about the Google Pixel 4 XL. The Pixel 4 XL is obviously the device Google wants everyone to buy; why else would it gimp the Pixel 4 so much?

Let’s start with the pitiful 2,800mAh battery packed into the Pixel 4. It might make it to the end of your shift at work – maybe if you’re lucky and don’t use it that much.

The battery life on the Pixel 3 was already… not great. Google has gone and reduced the battery size from 2,915mAh to 2,800mAh. And on top of that, its 90hz refresh rate will reduce battery life.

For the sake of comparison, here’s an arbitrary list of phones and their respective battery sizes:

  • Google Pixel 4: 2,800mAh
  • Google Pixel 3: 2,915mAh
  • Samsung Galaxy S10: 3,400mAh
  • Samsung Galaxy S10e: 3,100mAh
  • LG G8: 3,500mAh
  • OnePlus 7 Pro: 4,000mAh
  • OnePlus 7t: 3,800mAh
  • Nexus 5: 2,300mAh
  • Google Pixel 3a: 3,000mAh

Besides the Nexus 5 (2013), the Pixel 4 has literally the smallest battery on the list. Like I said, this list is completely arbitrary but I think it proves my point that the Pixel 4 is pitiful. The Galaxy S10 and S10e have similar prices, yet far bigger batteries. The OnePlus 7 Pro and 7t are cheaper and crush it. Even the maligned LG G8 is far larger.

The battery is smaller, and that sucks on its own, but the display is going to be even more hungry. With a smaller power pack, I’m not very optimistic, but, we’ll have to see in our full review.

Big numbers sell phones

Specs aren’t everything but they do matter. We have plenty of examples of phones with top-notch specs that fall short due to crappy software implementation. That being said, you do need to pack in flagship specs to command a flagship price.

The Pixel 4 starts at $799 and the larger 4 XL commands an extra $100. That puts it in par with the latest offerings from Samsung, and Apple while coming in north of devices from LG and OnePlus.

Despite that price tag, the Pixel 4 and 4 XL start with just 64GB of storage, and it can’t be expanded via microSD card. OnePlus devices start out at 128GB and Samsung matches that – and offers a microSD card slot. LG sits at 64GB but does offer a microSD card.Only the Apple iPhone has the same 64 GB of unexpandable storage.

So, we have a poor battery and a lack of storage. What about RAM? One of the biggest issues with the Pixel 3 and 3 XL was that it had 4GB, putting it closer to the middle of the pack than the upper end.

Luckily, Google upgraded this year’s devices to 6GB. I applaud that decision but it still trails flagships from Samsung and OnePlus, both that can be had for a cheaper price.

I am the most hopeful about the RAM department because despite the rocky start, the Pixel 3 and 3 XL were tuned through software updates and it showed. It did get better, but the RAM management was never the strongest aspect of the Pixel 3 and 3 XL.

We buy these devices to use for multiple years, not just the year or so after launch. I don’t know how to recommend a device that is going to be “behind the 8-ball” so soon after asking customers to pay upwards of $1,000.

There are a ton of other things that really bother me about the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. Going back to the storage issue, not only does it start out paltry but it’s slow too. A newer UFS 3.0 standard was semi-widely used this year and it’s sad to see the Pixels launching with the older, slower UFS 2.1.

Yes, there’s wireless charging but you have to use the Pixel Stand to get the faster 10W speeds. The camera saw an upgrade but the front-facing wide-angle lens is gone and there’s not one to be found on the rear.

I’ll never slight anyone for being excited about a new Pixel launch. Getting Google’s vision for Android in your hand is an exciting thing. But, I feel like the vision is flawed here. Relying on an excellent but flawed camera system is not enough. Mediocre battery life is not good enough. $800 and $900 price tag are not good enough.

The Pixel 4 and 4 XL are not good enough.

Motorola’s ‘Spooktacular Sale’ offers up massive discounts on phones

AndroidGuys
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Motorola is running a limited time sale on its website which features phones discounted by up to $290. Moreover, there’s even a couple of ways to get a free handset, too.

The “Spooktacular Sale” runs through the end of October or while the supplies last. There are some really good sales to be had over the next few days so act fast if you’re thinking about one of these.

Motorola Discount:

The selection is a nice mix of phones, each of which speaks to a different demographic. If you’re in the market for an unlocked device that works with your current carrier, you’d be wise to consider starting with the Motorola discounts listed above.

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