Pixel 4 Xl Vs 2 Xl

Upgrading was a huge deal in the early days of smartphones. Every year we'd meet massive gains in performance, display, camera, and more. I remember this feel well, such as when I upgraded from Nexus 4 over to a Nexus 5. While today's phones keep to obviously improve, information technology's a much more incremental process.

Recently I was forced to temporarily downgrade from my Google Pixel 4 XL to a Google Pixel 2 XL. Long story short, the telephone was sent to a colleague for data testing and so I took an older device out of our company's inventory to use in the short-term.

I was a bit leery at beginning well-nigh going astern two full generations. I'd been using a Pixel 3 XL as a daily driver until I switched to the Pixel iv XL just I'd since sold the device, so this was my merely option if I wanted to keep using Google Fi with full network switching support. What's surprising is just how little the switch to the two 40 affected my solar day-to-day habits.

The downgrade: What stayed the same

When it comes to the basics like watching movies on Netflix, checking e-mail, checking Slack, and doing basic web browsing ⁠— I really can't tell I'k using a different phone in terms of operation and capability. Granted, the display isn't the best. It'due south clarity, sharpness, and overall tuning is beneath boilerplate, even for a telephone released during the 2 Xl's generation.  That said, it isn't something that actually negatively affects my mean solar day-to-solar day apply.

The UI is fast and fluid, though the obvious benefits of a 90Hz brandish are missing. Because Google is fast with updates, I am too on Android 10 and have the exact aforementioned software experience as I did with the Pixel iv XL.

Another surface area that remained the same was battery life. I can't say that I'thousand charging any more or less often than I was with the Pixel four Forty. I don't get to apply my wireless charging pad that's by my bedside tabular array anymore, but that's a small sacrifice.

Overall, day-to-mean solar day use has been extremely pleasant for me. I really thought I'd notice that I'thousand using "one-time" hardware and this would be some burden I'd take to face up until the four XL was returned to me.

In that location were some situations where the Pixel ii XL did show its age a little

While some of you might use your phone more than your laptop (or maybe you don't even have a PC), I actually spend a lot more time on the computer. That'southward largely considering I piece of work online. It'south as well considering, when I take rare moments of free time, I am an avid computer gamer.

My point is that on a mean solar day-to-day basis, I don't really utilise a telephone for much more than the nuts I mentioned in a higher place. When information technology comes to more than complicated tasks though, surely the Pixel 2 XL shows its historic period, right?

Yes and no. The camera isn't as skilful but information technology'southward still pretty solid and produces excellent daytime photos. It is noticeably weaker when it comes to night photography, but in the week or then I've been using the Pixel 2 Forty I've only taken a single nighttime picture and that was to compare the difference. For more details on how the Pixel 2 Xl holds up side by side to the Pixel 4 XL, check out our Pixel 1-four camera comparison.

I did find that editing photos in Snapseed took a bit longer. Photos from my Pixel iv Forty would load up virtually instantly, but the Pixel 2 XL takes a few seconds to do the same. It's not a big deal, but I did notice it. The same applies to gaming. Every mobile game I have tried on the Pixel 2 XL runs well, though load screens take longer.

Then yes, the Pixel 2 XL does occasionally bear witness its age just even when information technology does, it's not something that drives me nuts. It's more of an extremely pocket-size inconvenience. There are as well some missing features like the Soli radar and avant-garde face unlocking but Soli isn't something I use that oftentimes and switching dorsum to a fingerprint scanner was more of a sidegrade.

So what does this say about smartphones, and nigh the Pixel series in general?

While I was a bit surprised at how well the Pixel 2 XL fills in for my Pixel 4 Twoscore, I shouldn't exist. The Pixel series has always been nearly getting the fastest software and Google tends to go along to a minimalist approach when it comes to adding extra bells and whistles.

If this was a downgrade from a Samsung Galaxy S10 to an S8? I'd probably have noticed more of a functionality divergence. Fifty-fifty so, I would have still institute a solid performing phone that wasn't necessarily worse, just less feature-filled.

This fiddling downgrade feel makes me realize I personally don't demand a newer phone. It too makes me curious enough that I might try downgrading to something iii to iv years erstwhile in the future, simply to see where the point is that I truly experience similar my experience has become unbearably worse.

I at present know that after being in this industry for over seven years, I've become spoiled. I almost always have a phone that's no more than a year sometime, and sometimes I switch more than in one case in the same twelvemonth. I causeless I was truly gaining something from these upgrades, and sure I was simply it wasn't necessarily anything I could live without. That said, I'll likely continue to become new phones just because it's important for me to be familiar with the latest as a journalist that covers Android devices.

Phone upgrades have become more than about new features and design that truly needing the latest.

So what's the large takeaway hither? Unless y'all are an extreme power user that is going to be pushing your phone to the limit, phones have get so proficient in the last few years that jumping to new hardware is more about getting extra bells and whistles than about getting a truly superior experience.

So how often should you upgrade your phone? The answer to that is very subjective. I know many colleagues that would say yearly or at least every two years. I know friends and family unit that are happily using a mid-range phone that'south now iii or more years former. I'd say it is going to depend on if you lot're just using it as a portal to the web or if yous're using it for more advanced things like gaming, photograph editing, every bit well as photography and videography.

And so I'll leave the question for my readers to respond. In the poll below tell me how often you lot upgrade. For those that upgrade less frequently than every two years, please hit up the comments and tell me why you upgrade and then rarely. Is it just most the price, or do you feel smartphones just don't age that fast anymore?

How often practice you upgrade your phone?

6313 votes

Source: https://www.androidauthority.com/pixel-2-xl-downgrade-1068661/

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