Google Pixel 2XL Review

Without further delays, let me jump into the review of the Google Pixel 2XL smartphone that has been released in October 2017.

First thing of all, I apologize for the late review. All sorts of things that could possibly happened has happened and that is why the review is only out in the new year. I lost my photos and here is why I took that long for a review, in addition to a text only review. 

So, let's talk about the hardware. The Google Pixel 2XL comes in an aluminum unibody with hybrid coating, Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5 and it is IP67 water and dust resistant. I see many of the flagship smartphones these days comes with waterproof rating so it would come in handy if you would accidentally dropped it into the pool (or if you are being thrown into the pool by your "friends") or the more likely scenario, spilled water or other liquids on your phone.

Google Pixel 2XL sports a USB-C port. For those who are thinking of the 3.5mm jack, it is gone. But for compatibility to your headphones, Google included a USB-C adapter so that it can still work with your favourite earphones. 

The Stereo front-firing speakers (one on top and one at the bottom) also comes in handy when you are watching videos or playing games. I love watching videos with the stereo speakers as the sound feels fuller than my current mobile.

As for the software, you get as close as the stock experience as you can get. Google's latest flagship smartphone comes with its latest OS at the point of launch, Android 8.0! The Google Pixel 2XL was launched with the Singaporean English version of the Google Assistant. 

I tried out some of the searches like "Where is the nearest Fairprice?" and it yields pretty accurate results. You can speak Singlish to it and it would speak back to you in Singlish a variety of fun and interesting responses. Some of these were from the TV shows back in 1990s - 2000s and it was fun and nostalgic speaking to it. Oh remember to give it a squeeze when you need it. 

It is a great smartphone with the apps being fired up very snappy with the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 835 and 4GB ram. Video playback is smooth and you can even pinch zoom out to fill up the full screen in YouTube.

The Google Pixel 2XL lasted me throughout the workday (with simple twitter viewing, web surfing, taking some photos) with still juice left for net surfing. Here are some photos that I took on a cloudy day and was downloaded from the Google Pixel 2XL before it was returned. So check them out!