SpecEagle review · Google

Pixel 3 XL review: The big-notch Pixel that proved one camera could beat three.

SpecEagle Editorial·Oct 2018·$899
Overall
68/100
Class rank
#96 of 138
Tier
Flagship
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

The Pixel that won on software, not hardware.

The Pixel 3 XL proved Google’s computational photography could beat multi-camera rivals with a single lens. The big notch and ended support make it a 2018 legacy device.

01Display

78/100

78/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2018.

TypeP-OLED, 60 Hz, HDR
Size6.3 inches
Resolution2,960 × 1,440 px (523 ppi)
ProtectionGorilla Glass 5

02Camera

84/100

At 84/100 this is one of the strongest camera showings among flagship phones of 2018 — 9 points above the cohort average.

Main12.2 MP, f/1.8, OIS
Selfie8 MP wide + 8 MP ultrawide
Video4K @ 30 fps
FeaturesNight Sight · Top Shot

03Performance

64/100

64/100 is one of the weaker performance results among flagship phones of 2018 — 12 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

ChipsetSnapdragon 845 (10 nm)
CPU8 cores
GPUAdreno 630
RAM4 GB
Storage64 GB / 128 GB

04Battery

66/100

66/100 trails the 72-point cohort average for flagship phones of 2018.

Capacity3,430 mAh
Wired18 W
Wireless10 W

05Build

80/100

80/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2018.

06Value

62/100

62/100 trails the 65-point cohort average for flagship phones of 2018.

What works
  • Class-leading single-camera photography with Night Sight.
  • Front-firing stereo speakers.
  • Dual selfie cameras (wide + ultrawide).
  • Clean, fast software.
What doesn't
  • Notoriously large display notch.
  • 60 Hz screen; no 5G.
  • Software ended at Android 12.
  • Discontinued.
Cross-shop it against
Galaxy Note 10+
$1099 · score 90/100

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 138-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .