Google Pixel 5

Google Pixel 5 has got every reason to be called a weird phone. Consumers usually expect a newly launched phone to do better than its predecessor from the perspective of specs and features. The Pixel 5 does better, but not in the way most consumers would expect. It costs less than the Pixel 4 at the time of its launch, it has a much stronger battery unit, and it can connect to 5G networks.

Nonetheless, this phone is not better in every way. Surprisingly, Google has opted for giving this phone a lower-tier chipset to keep the price down. It has also ditched some of the Pixel 4’s features, such as a 3-dimensional Face Unlock system.

All in all, Google Pixel 5 is a smartphone that is quite pleasant to use, but quite weird for flagship standards. Now, let’s discuss this phone in a bit of detail.

Price and availability

With 128GB of internal storage, this phone costs $699. No other storage options are available with this phone, and the phone storage is also unexpansive, which means that it doesn’t have a MicroSD slot. The color options that you get with this phone are Just Black and Sorta Sage.

You can buy this phone unlocked from AT&T, Verizon, US Cellular, and Google Fi.

Design

This phone is simplistic yet attractive, just like the majority of modern smartphones available in the market. It has a punch-hole camera on the front. Tiny bezels make the phone display look a lot bigger and better. On the back are a fingerprint scanner and a square camera module that houses the best quality camera system.

The body of this phone is aluminum-based, which makes the phone look more premium. It also has an IP68 rating for water resistance.

The reason this phone has a more simplistic design is that it doesn’t have the Pixel 4’s Soli Radar and Face Unlock system. Many users may find such elimination more disappointing because those sensors did a very good job.

Display

The 6-inch OLED of this phone has a full-HD display, which is complemented well by a 90Hz screen refresh rate. You can switch to a 60Hz display if you want. Google says that the Pixel 5 can switch between 60Hz and 90Hz refresh rates, depending on the type of content being displayed on the screen. All these display features look quite promising.

Camera

Pixel 5 continues to do well from the perspective of camera performance. It has a 12.2 main camera lens and an ultra-wide 16MP shooter. There is no telephoto lens on this phone. Because the last year’s Pixel 4’s telephoto lens wasn’t received well due to limited optical zoom and the absence of an ultra-wide lens, most people consider the elimination of the telephoto lens in this phone in favor of the ultra-wide lens the right call.

From the perspective of camera quality, this phone is quite impressive. It can capture more details of the objects and surroundings. It also has an impressive Night Mode that takes high-quality shots in low light.

Performance

Processing performance may not be the strongest suit of the Pixel 5. While its performance is not bad at all, it doesn’t match the flagship standards. This phone has a 765G chipset, which is not a flagship. It is also not as fast as the last year’s Google Pixel 4.

While many people wonder why Google had to decide with this downgrade, it seems understandable that the company wanted to keep the prices down.

Google has used 8GB of RAM, which might help users to multitask. With a decent processor and a more significant RAM, this phone does quite well while running content at a 90Hz screen refresh rate.

Interestingly, Google has decided to use a 4000mAh battery unit on this phone. Previous models of Pixel phones didn’t have good battery units. This phone does well in this regard.