Google Pixel XL 128 GB (Qualcomm Snapdragon 821) Specifications, Tests and Review

The Google Pixel XL 128 GB (Qualcomm Snapdragon 821) has dimensions 154.72 mm × 75.74 mm × 8.58 mm. Its weight is 168 g.

The screen size reaches 5.5" inches. With a large display, phone offers a great experience for watching videos, playing games and reading. The best phones today are 6.5'' or more. They have the advantage of a large display area that allows you to see more content than with conventional display sizes. Owing to OLED technology, the display offers a true representation of colours, especially black. The resulting contrast is significantly higher and colours appear more vivid. OLED technology is now part of most smartphones, while LCD displays are becoming a thing of the past in mobile phones. OLED displays also have lower power consumption compared to LCD technology.

Display Resolution of Google Pixel XL 128 GB (Qualcomm Snapdragon 821) is 2560 x 1440 pixels. A higher display resolution is a prerequisite for a sharper image. The standard for mid-range phones today is a Full HD resolution of 1920 × 1080 px. Cheaper phones, which usually have a smaller diagonal, have an HD resolution of 1280 × 720 px. Smaller resolutions can only be found in older models. Best phones, on the other hand, have a 4K resolution of 3840 x 2160 px. Another important factor having impact on the final image is display´s pixel density. In case of this model, the value reaches 534 ppi. With pixel density, the higher the value, the sharper the image will be. On average today, the image fineness value is around 350-400 ppi. This will guarantee a sufficiently fine and sharp image for normal use. However, the best phones on the market today are equipped with pixel density of 450 ppi or higher.

Google Pixel XL 128 GB (Qualcomm Snapdragon 821) is supplied with Qualcomm Snapdragon 821. The number of processor cores is 8. It is a number of cores that plays an important role in evaluating the performance of phone as it is responsible for computing operations. Smartphones already commonly have a core count of around 4 to 8. Multi-core processors can perform better and reduce the processing time of a request to a minimum, which is reflected in the responsiveness of the phone, e.g. in the speed of opening applications.

The processor also includes the graphics accelerator Qualcomm ADRENO 530.

One of the most important parameters for user´s decision is often internal memory capacity. The larger it is, the more apps, photos, movies and other files your phone can store. This phone has 128 GB storage. It is currently the most common storage size among today´s smartphones. The capacity is perfectly adequate for the average user. It will allow you to store thousands of photos, high-resolution videos, dozens of apps and several games on your phone. But if you're one of those really demanding users and you use your phone to shoot 4K videos etc., then you should rather pay extra to have a larger storage of 256 GB or more. Nowadays, you can usually find one phone model on the market with several different memory sizes. This allows each user to choose what suits them best.

Size of the RAM memory tells us how powerful the phone is. Google Pixel XL 128 GB (Qualcomm Snapdragon 821) is equipped with 4 GB. Commonly today you will find phones with 6 to 8 GB of RAM. This means that the phone can easily handle normal operation and more demanding applications or games. Higher RAM of 12 GB can be found in best phones on market and are ideal especially for avid gamers. On the other hand, operating memory below 4 GB is more of an issue with lower-end phones and older models. However, even they will find their fans among less demanding users, who don´t want to spend much on buying new phone.

The rear camera of the Google Pixel XL 128 GB (Qualcomm Snapdragon 821) has only one lens. Single lens is more typical for older phones or lower-end phones with lower quality cameras. The rear cameras of modern phones nowadays are usually equipped with two, three and sometimes even five rear camera lenses. The resolution of main lens is 12.3 Megapixel. Nonetheless, resolution alone does not necessarily mean a good photo. Therefore, you should look at other parameters such as lens aperture or pixel size. Another important factor is the aperture, which in this case is F/2.0 and determines how much light passes through the sensor. Best phones have an aperture of up to F/1.5. But the most common lenses today are F/1.8 to F/2.2. In this case, the lower the number after the slash, the higher the photo quality.

Front camera
The front camera of phone Google Pixel XL 128 GB (Qualcomm Snapdragon 821) has one lens. This number of lenses is standard on most smartphones nowadays. The lens is equipped with 8 Megapixel. However, do not forget there are other factors than resolution having impact on the final quality of front camera photos. The main front lens also achieves F/2.4.

The battery size of Google Pixel XL 128 GB (Qualcomm Snapdragon 821) is 3450 mAh. Nevertheless, battery capacity is not the only factor that affects the phone's battery life. For example - the size of the display, the performance of the processor, the use of data functions and, of course, the intensity of use of phone in general all have a significant impact on battery life. Standard for most smartphones today is a battery capacity of around 4500 to 5000 mAH. Phones with this battery size usually guarantee a phone life of at least 1 day. Older or cheaper smartphone models can then reach battery capacities typically around 2500 mAH and below. With this capacity, you may find that if you use your phone heavily, you may need to recharge your phone during the day.

The standby time for this phone is 552 hours and tells us how long the phone lasts on a single charge when you're not actively using it. The phone Google Pixel XL 128 GB (Qualcomm Snapdragon 821) will last one charge with constant phone calls 1920 minutes.

Standard 4G connectivity is currently being replaced by 5G, but is still the preserve of the latest phones. Google Pixel XL 128 GB (Qualcomm Snapdragon 821) supports 4G. 3G connectivity is now only found in the oldest phones. The operating system in the case of this model is Android 7.1 Nougat.

Contactless payments are not a problem with this phone, thanks to NFC function. It can also be used, for example, to unlock doors or load menus in a restaurant using an NFC tag. Bluetooth 4.2 must not be missing from the basic package. It makes it easy to connect wireless headphones to your phone, connect your phone to your TV, tablet, speaker and more.