Google Pixel 2 review: not quite 'pixel perfect' but damn close

Performance

There’s a sense of fine-tuning to the performance that you get out of the hardware and software powering the Google Pixel 2 experience. It’s tricky to put your finger on - but there’s definitely something fluid and seamless about the way that the Pixel handles even the basic stuff that’s really magnetic. It doesn’t just run Android, it feels native to it. Even if some amount of that sense is probably imagined, it still makes enough of a difference that you can easily say that the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL deliver what feels the smoothest version of the Android smartphone experience out there.

Apps loaded fast, everything felt responsive and even swiping right into the Google Now tab of the home screen carried a compellingly-silky smoothness. Even technically-intensive experiences like using Google’s Daydream VR setup proved themselves trivial for the device. Unfortunately, we did find that the Pixel 2 suffered from heating build-up issues when downloading large files.

As you can see from the benchmarking below, Google native edge on the software side helps them edge out a lot of the competition. Furthermore, you can see that regardless of which sized phone you go for - you’re still going to get pretty consistent performance.

Another thing that the benchmarks highlight is that, while the Pixel edges out the competition when it comes to Android, there’s still quite a gulf between the Snapdragon processor powering it and Apple’s own A11 Bionic chip.

Credit: Fergus Halliday | IDG

The overall picture this paints shouldn’t be that the Pixel 2 is a hardware powerhouse that puts the rest of the Android crowd to shame. However, the synergy here between the software and hardware feels like it’s going to make it a compelling option for those unimpressed by the iPhone 8 and either unable or unwilling to shell out for the iPhone X.