Google Pixel 3 XL review

Performance

The Pixel 3 XL runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset that has been underclocked slightly. Instead of running at 2.8GHz on the performance cores and 1.8GHz on the efficiency cores, the 845 inside the Pixel 3 XL runs at 2.5GHz and 1.6GHz, respectively. Google also made the decision to ship the Pixel 3 XL with only 4GB of memory and even the storage options top out at 128GB.

Specs don't necessarily tell the whole story. The performance on the Pixel 3 XL is really good due in no small part to the software optimizations done by Google. The UI is lag-free and silky smooth throughout.

However, some specs do have a very direct effect on performance. The 4GB RAM, in this case, is a major bottleneck. The phone has a hard time keeping applications open in the background. You can keep 4-5 apps open in the background before the phone runs out of memory and starts shutting them down.

Opening the Camera app in particular acts as a clear all button for all apps in memory. Switch on the camera and even the last used app often gets flushed from memory. You don't even necessarily need to take a picture; just open the Camera app and watch the apps kill themselves in the background.

We are also not sure why Google limited the storage to just 64GB and 128GB options. The competition is offering up to 512GB these days and some companies like Samsung even support microSD expansion that's not available on the Pixel phones. And free cloud backup is not a solution; Google may offer unlimited backups for photos and videos from the phone's camera but one could have other files on the device - such as lossless music - that can take up a ton of storage.

The Pixel 3 XL also has a tendency to run a little hot. Normally, it's not particularly warm but it can heat up fairly quickly while using certain applications. The heating gets particularly bad when using the AR effects that come pre-installed in the Camera app, and the phone gets so hot that it can no longer maintain its performance and the video starts dropping frames. This was an issue with the previous Pixel 2 as well and it's disappointing to see this hasn't been fixed yet, considering Google actively markets the AR features in the Pixel Camera app.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS
  11472
• Huawei Mate 20
  9793
• Razer Phone 2 (cooled)
  9110
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  9003
• HTC U12+
  9001
• OnePlus 6T
  8977
• Razer Phone 2
  8923
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  8883
• LG G7 ThinQ
  8865
• Samsung Galaxy S9
  8830
• LG V40 ThinQ
  8769
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  8607
• Xiaomi Mi 8
  8494
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  8349
• Google Pixel 3 (cooled)
  8337
• Google Pixel 3
  8146
• Google Pixel 3 XL
  8088
• Oppo Find X
  8018
• Huawei P20 (cooled)
  6739
• Huawei P20
  6722
• Google Pixel 2
  6437
• Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
  6055

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS
  4823
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  3771
• Samsung Galaxy S9
  3759
• Huawei Mate 20
  3284
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  2486
• HTC U12+
  2456
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  2438
• Xiaomi Mi 8
  2431
• OnePlus 6T
  2431
• LG V40 ThinQ
  2425
• Razer Phone 2
  2424
• Razer Phone 2 (cooled)
  2421
• LG G7 ThinQ
  2395
• Google Pixel 3 (cooled)
  2383
• Google Pixel 3
  2377
• Google Pixel 3 XL
  2363
• Oppo Find X
  2322
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  2199
• Google Pixel 2
  1912
• Huawei P20 (cooled)
  1900
• Huawei P20
  1897
• Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
  1807

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS
  346379
• OnePlus 6T
  293994
• Oppo Find X
  291218
• Razer Phone 2 (cooled)
  286076
• Razer Phone 2
  285051
• Google Pixel 3 (cooled)
  285044
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  284555
• Huawei Mate 20
  273913
• LG V40 ThinQ
  270634
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  265314
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  264044
• HTC U12+
  263696
• LG G7 ThinQ
  259393
• Google Pixel 3 XL
  258244
• Samsung Galaxy S9
  250156
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  246660
• Google Pixel 3
  233699
• Xiaomi Mi 8
  217298
• Huawei P20 (cooled)
  207016
• Huawei P20
  206906
• Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
  206711

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS
  60
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  35
• OnePlus 6T
  35
• Google Pixel 3
  35
• Google Pixel 3 (cooled)
  35
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  35
• LG G7 ThinQ
  35
• HTC U12+
  35
• Razer Phone 2 (cooled)
  35
• Oppo Find X
  35
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  35
• Razer Phone 2
  35
• LG V40 ThinQ
  35
• Xiaomi Mi 8
  33
• Google Pixel 3 XL
  28
• Huawei Mate 20
  28
• Samsung Galaxy S9
  28
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  28
• Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
  24
• Google Pixel 2
  24
• Huawei P20
  23
• Huawei P20 (cooled)
  23

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone XS
  47
• Google Pixel 3
  33
• Google Pixel 3 (cooled)
  33
• Xiaomi Mi 8
  33
• OnePlus 6T
  31
• Xiaomi Pocophone F1
  31
• Huawei Mate 20
  28
• Oppo Find X
  28
• Google Pixel 2
  26
• Huawei P20 (cooled)
  23
• Huawei P20
  23
• Razer Phone 2
  22
• Razer Phone 2 (cooled)
  22
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  20
• HTC U12+
  20
• Sony Xperia XZ3
  19
• LG G7 ThinQ
  18
• LG V40 ThinQ
  18
• Samsung Galaxy S9
  14
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  14
• Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
  13
• Google Pixel 3 XL
  12

Audio

The Pixel 3 XL has a set of stereo speakers that is at least partially responsible for the big notch and chin on the phone.

The speakers on the Pixel 3 XL sound good and get loud, but there are a couple of issues. First of all, the speakers are unbalanced, with the speaker inside the notch outputting noticeably less sound than the one inside the chin. When you hold the phone sideways it sounds like the left speaker is blocked or damaged as the difference in volume levels is quite severe.

Secondly, the speakers cause the entire body of the phone to vibrate. The issue is that the phone vibrates way too much and this makes it very tiring to hold the phone with the audio playing. Even if it's someone talking in a YouTube video, the vibrations from the phone get fatiguing very quickly and makes you want to put the phone down as soon as possible. And the phone vibrates at all volume levels, so turning down the sound is not an option.

The audio quality from the speakers is good but not the best we have heard. The vocals are very upfront, which makes them sound a bit harsh and the sound isn't as balanced as that from the 2018 iPhones. It does get very, very loud, though, and although it doesn't sound particularly good at maximum volume, you have the option, if you really want to annoy people around you.

As for headphone audio, the phone has no headphone jack but comes with a USB-C adapter. The sound from the adapter is good enough and we appreciate Google providing it at all but it's just one more thing to carry around with you or remember where you kept. You also don't want to lose it as finding a replacement may not be easy, or cheap.

The phone does come with a pair of wired USB-C earphones. The speaker design is similar to the EarPods but the cable can be made to move through the ear buds and adjust fit so they don't fall off. Unfortunately, the audio quality is almost laughably bad. The audio quality is far worse than what you get on the EarPods and way behind the bundled earphones offered by Samsung, LG and HTC. We honestly feel Google should have left them out entirely.