Great photos everytime with Google Pixel 5 5G
The word flagship is often misused or misunderstood. Each mobile phone company has their flagship or the best model in their lineup and currently for Google, that’s the Pixel 5 5G.
Unlike most other flagships from other companies, Google took a conscious decision not to put all of the top-end hardware into their top-of-the-line smartphone this time out. Instead, they’ve put the mid-range Snapdragon 765G chipset into the Pixel 5 5G, which means it’s cheaper than the Pixel 4 was on release day and nearly €130 cheaper now.
Style and contemporary design is a subjective thing, but I love the look and feel of Pixel 5. In a world blurred by so many smartphones that struggle to be different, I think the Pixel 5 stands out above the crowd with subtle design nuances.
It’s the little details like the chrome power button that matches the G logo on the back. The symmetrical screen bezels and the speaker ports perfectly balanced either side of the USB-C port on the bottom edge of the device. The only detail I’m not as satisfied with is the square camera module on the top left on the back which jars a little with the circular fingerprint reader just below it which is in the centre.
I think this would have been nicer if it had been a vertically stacked camera array. That being said, there’s a tiny camera bump which is good and in terms of overall form factor, the Pixel 5 fits perfectly in the hand.
The body is made from 100% recycled aluminium and has a textured finish. The front glass features Corning Gorilla Glass 6.
Colour choice is limited to either Sorta Sage or Just Black — gotta love Google's naming convention.
The Pixel 5 has an impressive 6-inch screen with a small punch hole cutout for the front selfie camera. With full HDR support, it has a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio with a smooth 90Hz display refresh rate. I don’t think 90Hz is essential but it does make everything feel smoother and faster. I had no problem viewing HDR content on Netflix, PrimeVideo and YouTube and it looks stunning.
Pixel 5, like other phones that use the same chipset, doesn’t feel slow or sluggish. However, I did notice the camera would take slightly longer than the Pixel 4 to process images when comparing them directly. Gaming performance is also fine as long as you’re not a hardcore gamer.
Performance is excellent from the 4,000 mAh battery. With a little tweaking, I was nearly able to stretch it to two days with light use. You also get a fast 18W charger in the box which takes 90 minutes for a full charge. There’s up to 12W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging which means you can charge other devices like your Pixel Buds, Qi-compatible watches and so on.
The new Extreme Battery Saver option is a practical feature that allows you to choose which critical apps will not be paused to save battery.
The Pixel 5 comes with stock Android 11 and is super slick and smooth in use. Exclusive to Pixel is automatic transcription in the improved Google Recorder app, which I love. You also get improved reply suggestions for messages in chat apps, and a faster Google Assistant.
Let’s face it, many will buy a Pixel just for the cameras. This time out, Google has chosen to go with a dual-camera setup. You get a 12.2MP main and a 16MP ultra-wide camera instead of the telephoto camera found in the Pixel 4. You do get a 2x zoom but this is based on Google's SuperRes zoom technology.
In short, the Pixel 5 is one of the best point-and-shoot smartphone cameras around. Yes, I could start getting picky about the lack of a real zoom or that there’s no pro mode, but if all you want is great-looking photos with the least amount of effort on your part, you just can’t go wrong here. You get photos with lots of fine details, natural colours and modes like Night Sight are class-leading. It can even do a decent job of taking photos of the milky way in Astro mode for heaven's sake. Night Sight is a dedicated mode, but if the Pixel thinks the light is too low it will automatically activate Night Sight for you.
The new portrait light editing system is lots of fun to play with and the results are impressive. It’s amazing how much the AI can mould the lighting around the face to make it look realistic.
Video can be captured up to 4K 60 fps with excellent stabilisation.
Gone is the wave gesture and face unlock. Instead, Google has gone back to the tried and tested rear fingerprint reader, which is great for the times we live in.
You get stereo speakers which are great too but they do lack bass and could be a little louder.
The Pixel 5 5G is an excellent phone for taking photos, videos and is compact with a fantastic screen. The battery life is so much better than the Pixel 4 and I love the design and extra Google exclusive features that make this a Pixel phone.
Available from the Google Store at €618.77
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