As a longtime iPhone user, I was excited to come back to Android on a Google-designed phone to see the improvements that have been made over the last 5 years. After a week using the Pixel 4, I can safely say that this is the best Android experience you will find on any smartphone. Unfortunately, the excellent operating system is marred by a series of poor design decisions by Google. Too many corners have been cut, which leaves the Pixel falling behind its competitors. === DESIGN === - Google hasn't drastically changed anything for this iteration of the Pixel, and that's mostly fine. The "Just Black" color that I ordered is the only option with a glossy finish on the back, and it's a fingerprint magnet. I wish they would have made it a matte black like the sides of the phone. - The square camera hump on the back gives the illusion of a 3-camera setup, but there are actually just 2 cameras. I can't help but think this was done to keep up with the looks of the iPhone 11 Pro models. - The front is pretty standard-looking, but I'm not a fan of the huge forehead above the display which houses the front camera and facial recognition system. This huge bezel takes away valuable screen real estate and is unfortunately quite distracting when using the phone. - Overall: It's an ok-looking phone, but does nothing to stand out from its competition. I fear the huge top bezel forehead is going to be a turnoff for a lot of potential buyers. === DISPLAY === - Due to the large forehead, the 5.7" display is smaller than the displays of most other phones in this class. Having used Plus-sized iPhones for the past few years, this small display was jarring at first, but I've come to appreciate the smaller size and pocketability of the non-XL version. - The display is clear, sharp, and vivid, and it produces perfect black levels thanks to its OLED technology. However, it does not seem to get as bright as other OLED phones I've used. I often struggle to see images when using the phone outdoors. - Google touts the display as having a 90Hz refresh rate, but it rarely seems to run at this rate. From what I've read, the phone has to be at almost full brightness for this refresh rate to kick in, which for most people is going to be quite rare (especially when indoors). - I like the "always-on" feature of the display, which shows the time, date, and weather when you are near the phone. - Overall: It's a fine display, but again -- it does not stand out from the competition and actually seems a bit dimmer than its rivals. === SOFTWARE, FEATURES, & PERFORMANCE === - If you're an Android fan, you will obviously love the stock version of Android 10 on the Pixel 4. No bloatware, no third party software, no unnecessary logos -- just pure Android. - Google has moved from fingerprint authentication to facial recognition. It works astoundingly fast -- I would say almost TOO fast, to the point where I can't be sure that it's had a chance to accurately scan my face. Unfortunately, as it stands now, the phone will unlock even if your eyes are closed, which is a massive security issue. Google promised to fix this in a future software update, but the fact that they shipped the phone with a half-baked version of facial recognition is quite alarming. - The Pixel's new Motion Sense radar technology is actually more useful and accurate than I was expecting. As mentioned above, it can sense when you're near your phone to display the time on your lock screen. But it can also be used to skip through music tracks just by waving your hand above the phone. I find myself using the feature at my desk all day and when I'm at the gym. I'd say it works flawlessly about 85% of the time, while other times it just fails to recognize any movement. I don't see many other uses for the technology baked into the phone at the moment, but I'm hoping more apps will take advantage of it in the future. - The phone is blazing fast, but it's not quite as fast as the latest offerings from Apple. Google used a 1-year old chipset in this phone (the Snapdragon 855), so it is already behind many of its Android competitors using the faster 855+ chip. It has 6GB of RAM, but I wish Google would have given us at least 8GB to future-proof. - Overall: The software is excellent, and Motion Sense is pretty cool, but Google totally missed the security mark with its facial recognition system. For now, the phone is fast and responsive, I just hope it stays that way after future Android and app updates. === CAMERAS === - The Pixel lineup has been known for its stellar camera quality over the past few years, and that trend continues with one aspect of the Pixel 4: the primary camera. It takes jaw-dropping photos with stunning color accuracy and detail. Night Sight is a game-changer for me and works incredibly well, even if the resulting night photos have a bit of noise. - Google has added a telephoto lens to the Pixel 4. It works very well for being only a 2x lens. Thanks to Google's "Super Res Zoom" image processing, zooming in greater than 2x actually works incredibly well also. - If Google was only planning to add one camera, I wish they would have added an ultra-wide camera instead of a telephoto. Having used the ultra-wide on an iPhone 11, there's no doubt that it would be much more useful for me. - One thing that bugs me is the amount of time it takes to capture Night Sight and Portrait shots. The phone will tell you to "hold still," sometimes for as long as 5 to 10 seconds. - I really want to try the Astrophotography feature, but I live in a dense urban area with no stars in sight. However, Astrophotography pictures I've seen in other reviews looks pretty amazing. - Overall: Photo quality is stellar, at least on par if not better than the iPhone 11's main camera. But Google completely missed an opportunity to make the Pixel stand out by adding an ultra-wide lens. === BATTERY === - The battery is probably the weakest aspect of the Pixel 4. Google actually decreased the battery capacity from the Pixel 3 (2915 mAh) to the Pixel 4 (2800 mAh), despite the more power-hungry display on the Pixel 4. I simply don't understand the decision-making process here. At a time when virtually all other smartphone makers are striving to deliver increased battery life, it seems like this was just not a concern for Google. - In my week of use, the Pixel 4 has not lasted me a full day on a single charge. I average about 3.5 hours of screen-on time before the battery is almost fully drained. Luckily, most of my days are spent at a desk with a wireless charger, but traveling with this phone is going to be a real pain. - Overall: This unacceptable battery life alone is enough to make me very hesitant to recommend this non-XL Pixel 4 to any serious smartphone user. === OVERALL === My sense is that Google focused so much on perfecting the software and flashy features like Motion Sense that the company assumed they could skate by without any major changes to the hardware. If the phone were a couple of hundred dollars cheaper, I might be able to let that slide. But this is a premium phone at a premium price. The stale design, dim display, horrible battery, and lack of a game-changing camera are borderline unacceptable. Don't get me wrong -- this is not a BAD phone by any means. Just a couple of years ago, this would have been the best phone on the market. But it seems the tide has turned this year, and without any significant new features or changes, Google has failed to keep pressure on its competitors. That being said, I would still recommend this phone to anyone looking for the pure Android experience. But if you want any chance at respectable battery life, go for the XL model. 3.5 stars, with a generous round-up to 4 stars.