The Google Pixel 5 is another offering from Google that focuses on what the Pixel range does best: Delivering excellent camera quality and a simple, easy to use Android interface. We will briefly touch on what we see to be the pros and cons of the Google Pixel 5 for those of you in a hurry, before breaking it down in more detail further in the article. Here is our Google Pixel 5 review:
A smooth, all-in-one body makes this a simple design. The sides and back are made of metal so there’s a much-reduced chance of breaking it. There is also an integrated fingerprint scanner on the rear of the phone which is natural and intuitive to use.
There are also a couple of shortcomings in comparison to the bigger flagship models that Google has made to make the Pixel 5 more affordable.
Pros:
- The camera is excellent as always
- The metal case makes it stand out and stand up to drops
- Android 11 and easy to use interface
- Affordable
Cons:
- Does not come with a telephoto camera
- Night photography is average
Design
Smartphone models made of glass are not new out there. This is not without reason: The glass enables better signal transmission, as well as making wireless charging possible. However, despite the all-metal frame, the Google Pixel 5 is still capable of wireless charging thanks to a small hole that has been drilled in the bottom before being covered over in resin.
The metal body of the Google Pixel 5 has a matte effect and feels smooth in your hands. As mentioned earlier, it will also mean it is more resilient to damage than the now ‘traditional’ glass phones on the market. The phone itself looks and feels small. It has a six-inch display screen and is only 8mm thick, which makes it one of the thinnest phone available at the moment.
The larger, protruding plastic buttons seen on the previous models are gone and have been replaced with small, surprisingly resistant buttons. This means that they can sometimes be a little more awkward to depress.
The camera on the rear is similar to the one seen previously on the Pixel 4, but Google has moved the flash from above to below on the block.
There is a sim tray but no way of expanding your memory – microSD slot to be seen here. Also, the speakers leave a fair bit to be desired and are worse than the ones we saw with the Pixel 4.
Display
The display screen is sharp, clear, and Full HD plus (2340×1080). The six-inch screen has a punch hole front-facing camera that means you get a better screen ratio than seen on the Pixel 4. As far as refresh rate goes, it is the same as seen on the Pixel 4, running at 90Hz. You can switch it down to 60Hz in the options if you prefer to make your battery last a little longer, and you will find that it does not affect performance much.
Camera
As the Google Pixel 5 has the same rear glass block as the Google Pixel 4, you might be thinking that the pair of rear cameras are the same, too. You would be wrong. The Pixel 4 had one 12.2MP rear camera and a 2x optical telephoto lens, while the Pixel 5 has a 12.2MP rear camera and a 16MP ultra-wide lens.
This means that the Pixel 5 does not have the same ability to zoom as the earlier model, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The 107-degree field of view is great for getting more of your surroundings into your photo, whether it’s a family photo or a portrait of a landscape.
The Pixel 5 performed well as far as color in lower light settings. It captured the correct hues without any strange discolorations. The images themselves could be a little grainy, more noise. Where it really performs well is in clear daylight, delivering excellent, sharp images most of the time. On occasion, if a subject was moving fast, or perhaps too close to the camera, it had a little trouble with focusing.
One of our favorite features was the photo editing software, which has been streamlined and made even easier to use than what we saw with the Pixel 4. A notable effect is the ability to adjust lighting from specific points in the photograph to give the impression of a better lit photo, or to highlight a certain part of your image.
Performance and Battery Life
So we are now reaching one of the areas that Google has had to compromise in order to keep the price of the Pixel 5 down. It runs on the Snapdragon 765G chipset, which although perfectly capable, is not a top-tier as Snapdragon 865, seen in many of the other latest Android phones. It comes complete with 8GB of RAM, which means you should not be looking at facing any slow, stuttering issues on either apps or when browsing the web, and 128GB of internal storage.
A note on Geekbench scores: The Google Pixel 5’s chipset scored 1617, whereas the Google Pixel 4a 5G scored 1614.
Google Pixel 5 Review – The Verdict
So now you’ve seen some good, some bad, and some that leave you thinking is it worth the price?
The Google Pixel 5 costs $699 (depending on where you shop), and we think this is a fair price for the product you are getting.
Also read: Google Pixel 5 vs iPhone 12 Mini
It is a great phone if you like shooting and editing photos, want a smooth and easy to use flagship phone, and if you love the Android interface.
It may not be for you if you want a top-end powerful phone or if you’d prefer to have a bigger screen.
What do you think about our Google Pixel 5 review? Let us know in the comments below.
