Software

The Pixel 2 Twoscore runs Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box, and many of the new features are part of this core Android experience. I won't be covering the new features of Android 8.0 in this review, considering presently plenty these features won't exist unique to the Pixel line, and there are enough of great Android viii.0 reviews on the internet. If you're interested in what Google has added to Oreo, I'd encourage yous to read a specific Android 8.0 review.

Instead I'll be focusing more often than not on the unique software components found on the Pixel two XL, and the full general software experience Google provides. Spoiler alarm: it's great.

Stock Android is still my favourite implementation of Android. It's fast and fluid, it isn't bogged down by unnecessary features or bloat, and the skin is consistent throughout the entire operating organisation and nigh of the apps in the Play Store. This is Google's vision for how Android should be, and as far as I'chiliad concerned, information technology's the best you lot can become.

Using a Pixel telephone comes with advantages that extend beyond just having a clean Android experience. Every Pixel phone gets new versions of Android first, whether through official OTA updates or through Google'south beta plan. When yous take a Pixel, y'all can guarantee y'all are getting the latest and greatest features ahead of other Android users, and this keeps the phone feeling fresh and modernistic even a year subsequently launch.

A slap-up case of this is the original Pixel. I was using my Pixel XL just a few weeks before the Pixel 2 launch, and I was already rocking a developer preview of Android 8.0 (which was remarkably stable) consummate with many of the features plant in the new Pixel ii XL. Information technology didn't feel bogged down after a year of use, and nearly importantly, it felt supported and relevant even though its successor was right around the corner. You tin can expect a similar feel with the Pixel 2 line, which Google will support with software updates for at to the lowest degree iii years.

You also get the bonus of monthly security patches, which Google does actually deliver to Pixel owners monthly. Near other OEMs delay these patches, take months to deploy them, or merely don't push them to users at all. This leaves the Pixel as the to the lowest degree vulnerable Android smartphone.

The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 40 do come with some new and exclusive features. There's a handy e'er on brandish, showing the fourth dimension and notifications at all times, which we've seen other OEMs implement before. However, unique to the Pixel 2 line is At present Playing, which automatically displays songs currently playing in the background on the always on display. This means you can oftentimes pull your telephone out of your pocket, and it will already be telling yous what song is playing in the café y'all're in. Information technology's a neat feature.

Both the Pixel ii XL and Pixel 2 come with squeezable edges, like to the HTC U11. Information technology works in basically the same way every bit the U11, in this case mapped to Google Banana. This is another neat feature I find myself using on occasion, and its adjustable sensitivity means you can prevent it from accidentally activating. You can also use the "ok Google" voice command from whatsoever screen, fifty-fifty when the display is off, to bring up Assistant.

Google Lens is bachelor in the Photos app on the Pixel. Essentially the successor to Google Goggles from the early on days of Android, Lens analyses photos you capture and attempts to provide extra data, such as the name of the product, artwork or landmark in the frame. Information technology works pretty well, though I'm sure with improved AI in the time to come, Lens will simply get more clever over time. Oh and information technology tin translate printed email addresses, phone numbers and URLs into actionable text, which is always useful functionality.

Other neat features worth a mention include HDR support for videos, and unlimited full-quality cloud photo storage through Google Bulldoze until 2022.