Google Pixel 4 review

The Pixel 4 was Google's late-2019 attempt (alongside  the Google Pixel 4 XL) at making a phone that shows off the very best of Android and offers up a cocktail of flagship photography features, including machine learning and other AI wizardry.

Since its release , we've also seen the Pixel 4a and 4a 5G, two very different interpretations of 'affordable Pixel 4', as well as the Google Pixel 5, the company's follow-up to this phone.

The Google Pixel 4 was undeniably one of the very best camera phones you could buy on release, taking on that mantle from Google Pixel 3, but the upgrades are minimal elsewhere. Google hasn't tried to break the mold with the Pixel 4, instead playing things safe with an incremental update.

The Pixel 4 remains novel amid smartphones, as it's a compact device that offers a unique design you won't see in other flagships. This uniqueness comes from its appearance, the materials it uses, and the fact that it's smaller than a lot of other top-end devices, which can sometimes be a little on the large side for the average user.

Google has boosted the screen with a 90Hz refresh rate that offers a smoother experience when scrolling through social media or playing video games, and there's plenty of power on tap, with a recent chipset paired with 6GB of RAM.

One area where you'll likely find the Pixel 4 frustrating is its battery life, which at best is mediocre and at worst can be infuriatingly quick to drain. The Pixel 5 has improved its battery so much (with a 4,000mAh capacity) that it bears mentioning, even if the phone doesn't inherit all of the Pixel 4's top-tier features.

This radar technology is called Soli, and it's designed to identify where you are in order to predict when you'll reach for your phone, so that the screen is on, and ready and waiting for you. It's an interesting idea, but so far it's limited.

The good news is that the Pixel 4's starting price is lower than that of the Pixel 3 in some countries, which could help to compensate for any perceived lack of overall innovation on Google's part. And it's bound to get even more affordable with sales leading up to Black Friday on November 27 and into Cyber ​​Monday thereafter.

The Google Pixel 4 was announced in early October 2019, and it was then put on sale on October 24 that same year. You can easily buy this device in the US, UK, Australia and a variety of other markets around the world.

For the first time, a Pixel phone is on sale at all major carriers in the US as often Google's phones are just available on Verizon. The Pixel 4 is also available on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Xfinity, Spectrum and Google Fi. In the UK it's available through Vodafone, EE, O2 and Three, as well as a selection of other smaller providers.
It's also available in Australia, where it's available on Telstra, Vodafone, Optus and other carriers.

Certain markets can only access some models though – for example, in the UK the orange variant is only available in 64GB, while both 64GB and 128GB are available in the US.

This all means the Pixel 4 has the same launch price as the Pixel 3 had in the US, while in the UK and Australia the new handsets actually have a lower launch price than their predecessors. It's unclear why it's cheaper in those two markets and not the US, but it's a nice bonus if you're interested in this phone.

If you find this price too expensive, you may be interested in the Google Pixel 4a that is rumored to be launching in the first half of 2020 and should offer a similar experience for a much lower price.