Google Pixel 5 review

25 October 2020
This year, Google has taken a drastically different approach with the Pixel lineup. Rather than pack a new Pixel phone with a high-end chipset and QHD screen, Google has instead gone the route of focusing on the overall experience. The Google Pixel 5 is this year’s Pixel flagship and there are some major changes for 2020.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • Ni0
  • 30 Oct 2020

AnonD-945200, 28 Oct 2020well I'm fed up with custom uis and big phones. so pi... moreStock ROM skips practically all the useful features that are more likely to be present on other Android skins (irrespective of whether they are light or heavy skins).

People who brag about stock ROM being better usually lack experience of using different Android skins (especially skins from 2020).

I have used All type of phones as daily driver in the past decade.
About 30-40 phones over a period of time, mostly flagships.
In 2020, I'll rather use one ui, miui, zen ui based Androids over stock OS which lacks latest features and is basically playing catchup.

    • J
    • JN3RDA
    • XBA
    • 29 Oct 2020

    At least they still gave us chargers.

      Jeon5108, 29 Oct 2020Take a look at the iphone 12 mini and the Pixel 5. Like com... moreDid you really noted a mag safe as pro why to pick up an iPhone?
      Magnetic charger that does defeat any convenience standard Qi chargers offer, that does seriously overheat the device and restricts the charging to 80%?

        • R
        • Rippy
        • sfc
        • 29 Oct 2020

        Despite having a pixel 3 which runs like new, I took a look at the 5 yesterday in best buy. All I can say is Wow, it was such a clean bright, classy, feel good unit.

          • S
          • Shaurya Sharma
          • gN}
          • 29 Oct 2020

          My favorite feature of the Google Pixel device is its look. Other than that, I am not sure about the performance.

            • S
            • S70ERD
            • ptT
            • 29 Oct 2020

            Don't forget the suprise of 2020: the Xperia 5 ii. If have this phone for two weeks now and it ticks all the boxes. 120hz refresh rate, oled display, good camera, wide angle and zoom lens, dedicated pro camera settings like their pro camera line up, 3.5 mm jack, no punch or notch, fingerprint reader is integrated in onoff button like an airpad, 5g of course, 128gb and expandable to 1tb, Dolby Atmos, enhanced gaming experience and Snapdragon 865 / 8 RAM, and a sturdy build quality with no plastics (glass and aluminium). Not one phone on the market has this combo (that I know of). Maybe the S20 comes close but in Europe it has an exynos processor, and it lacks a 3.5 jack. The only thing it's lacking is a wireless charging option, but I personally don't care for that. All in all, the most complete phone on the market right now?

              • J
              • Jeon5108
              • iCK
              • 29 Oct 2020

              Take a look at the iphone 12 mini and the Pixel 5. Like come'on google. The iphone has a the fastest chip, better cameras, better screen, better water proofing and mag safe. I am starting to consider switching to the iphone. And remember this is coming from a user that has never used an iphone in his life.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • YQU
                • 29 Oct 2020

                With the Snapdragon 765G chipset, Google ended up increasing the price of the phone while also putting in a below average battery which wouldn't really go well with the whole over heating issue of the SD chipset.

                  • T
                  • Tatya Vinchoo
                  • 7kY
                  • 29 Oct 2020

                  This phn is dual sim or single sim ??

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • gD6
                    • 28 Oct 2020

                    Anonymous, 27 Oct 2020Why would you do something like that? Water damage is not ... moreHe literally said "accidently ".

                      • D
                      • AnonD-945200
                      • DkP
                      • 28 Oct 2020

                      GaushikTECH Nerd, 26 Oct 2020Midrange performance, Same old main sensor from the pixel 2... morewell I'm fed up with custom uis and big phones.
                      so pixels are just perfect for me
                      pixels has pretty much everything i need

                        • D
                        • AnonD-945200
                        • DkP
                        • 28 Oct 2020

                        GaushikTECH Nerd, 26 Oct 2020Midrange performance, Same old main sensor from the pixel 2... morewell I'm a stock android guy
                        and pixel has everything i need , its just perfect for me.
                        I'm fed up with those fancy custom uis

                          Anonymous, 27 Oct 2020I'm not on par with your "alternatives"! ... more"Samsung S20FE, which misses out the 5G and comes with a worse SOC at 600$"
                          What on earth are you even saying? Exynos 990, despite its spotty reputation, is still powerful enough to absolutely annihilate SD765G in every single way you could imagine. It's nearly 40% faster under multi-threaded workload and packs double the graphics performance. All right, 765G is more battery friendly, sure - but that's due to the simple fact that it's FAR less powerful having 2 less performance cores that are also clocked lower than those on Exynos 990. You just can't say a midrange SoC is more powerful than a high end SoC, end of story.

                          "pixel 5 still creates beter photos by software"
                          It depends on scenes though I do agree that Pixel 5 has an upper hand in general.

                          "iphone 12.. but is also 100-200$ more expensive"
                          Well that's an extra money you should be paying for the most performant phone SoC to date, one of the highest water resistance rating (6m for 30 mins) you can get on a phone, and possibly a more durable body, a higher quality display and better sounding speakers.

                          "you only get a plastic back"
                          I mean, you're only touching the thick plastic layer when you hold Pixel 5 as well, so..

                          "most phones will operate in 60hz anyways to save battery"
                          "No game right now runs on more than 60hz on android"
                          So not true, but it's up to you whether you want to hold onto that belief.

                            • R
                            • Rippy
                            • sfc
                            • 28 Oct 2020

                            Anonymous, 27 Oct 2020Superb battery? Bwahaha what a home, that battery life i... moreReviewers all all saying battery is very good 4080bmilliamps in a small phone with large screen. Oh such nehativity. . Well you can't please all people all the time. . It's a fantastic little handset and if the Pixel 3 flagship with smaller is anything to go by it's refreshingly uncomplicated, lasts all day and is an absolute delight to use. mine feels like new all the time. Powerful little thing it is.. perfect

                              Nick Tagataka, 28 Oct 2020Some Chinese high end phones still have a comparable textur... moreAlso the pixel 5 does takes a bit of time to click images (given its always on hdr mode paired with SD765) compared to phones with bigger sensor and SD865.
                              The phone will age poorly coz of the processor.

                                Anonymous, 27 Oct 2020I'm not on par with your "alternatives"! ... moreIt's called buyers remorse.
                                Keep justifying that the 765 at sub 800$ is a good deal.
                                Me personally would never touch a pixel phone ever (given their track record of "meh" type of devices)

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • pSP
                                  • 28 Oct 2020

                                  low specs low specs low why why why google flagship

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • pSP
                                    • 28 Oct 2020

                                    low specs low specs low why why why google flagship

                                      • D
                                      • Dick
                                      • pd1
                                      • 28 Oct 2020

                                      About the battery test... wasn't the web browser test done in 90hz then? I understand if the video test ends up in 60hz and the call time... well, I guess the display isn't even on then.

                                        Anonymous, 27 Oct 2020No, the Chinese flagships do not have a better color balanc... moreSome Chinese high end phones still have a comparable texture rendition to Pixel during the day and usually a lot better at night because of the large sensor size (unless you use Night Sight on Pixel). Google's mix of aggressive contrast enhancement and dehaze filter in the post processing has never been my cup of tea, and they certainly managed to make it a lot more artificial than back in Nexus 6P/OG Pixel era.. Good lord that they added the option to shoot in RAW. There is still a room for improvements in the way Oppo/Vivo/OnePlus handles the images, but Xiaomi is getting there and Huawei is definitely the best in terms of the detail rendering/noise reduction, though the digital crop they apply by default hurts the per-pixel sharpness quite a bit. As for colours, you can turn off the AI to make it look a lot more natural, as I already said before.

                                        iPhones have nice colours (if a bit too cold and greenish in many scenario) and their night mode is easily one of the best, but the amount of compression, sharpening and local contrast boost they apply during the day are hilariously excessive and on top of that photos still look like they have come out of a small sensor like those from Pixel. As far as I could tell I don't see a whole lot of difference between 12 Pro and 11 Pro, but I guess the situation would be slightly better on 12 Pro Max that comes with the brand new 1/1.7" sensor.