Google Pixel 3 XL Review: Worth Buying Over Other Flagship Phones?

Cameraperson: Sumit Badola | Video Editor: Puneet Bhatia

Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL are now available in India with prices starting at Rs 71,000 and Rs 83,000 respectively. Last year’s Pixel 2 series didn’t really set the market on fire, mostly because consumers are yet to warm up to the brand and its existence with a flagship phone.

Will the Pixel 3 series offer anything different and give you a better value-for-money deal this year? We try finding that out in this review.

In terms of design, the Pixel 3 is quite similar to its predecessor. Till date, we have never seen Google talk about the phone’s look and feel, even though buyers will be paying a premium to own one of them.

For what it’s worth, people won’t really get the ‘wow’ feeling when they look or even hold the Pixel 3 XL, and that could go either way for the brand. Having said that, Google has managed to replace the metallic finish with glass this year, which lets these phones support wireless charging.

With the Pixel 3 XL, Google has chosen an OLED panel with 2960x1440 pixels resolution, which makes it one of the top three phones in terms of screen quality right now (the other two being the Samsung Note 9 and iPhone XS Max).

The 6.3-inch screen size gets a near bezel-less viewing space, but Google’s decision to go for a wide and thick notch at the top of the screen has received mixed responses from the tech community. The overall colours reproduced are impressive, with focus on making the content look natural, rather than overpowering them with excessive contrast.

In terms of specifications, Pixel 3 XL packs the octa-core Snapdragon 845 processor, but with only 4GB RAM on offer and you can choose between the 64GB and 128GB storage variant with no expandable storage.

The Pixel 3 XL yet again shows us that a single camera sensor with the right AI technology in tow can do miracles and that’s what it does. It also gets a better OLED screen than what we saw on the Pixel 2 XL.

Design-wise, there’s ‘Google-ness’ about the phone that might appeal to many and the lure of stock Android can work in its favour as well. All said and done, Rs 83,000 is still a premium price tag for this phone.