Any other year, it would be reasonable to mistake Google’s Pixel 5 for a Pixel 5a. Rather than sporting flagship-level specs with a price to match, the Pixel 5 has the midrange hardware and $699 price you typically expect from Google’s more affordable a-line. But there is no Pixel 5a—at least not yet—and in 2020, the smartphone market changed rapidly. The year started with $1,000+ flagships and quickly adapted to meet our pandemic-ravaged economy with less expensive models. That makes the Pixel 5 the right phone for now, if not quite as strong a value as our Editors’ Choice, the similarly priced Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G.
Design and Durability
In terms of design, the Pixel 5 looks similar to the $499 Pixel 4a 5G. And at 5.7 by 2.8 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and weighs 5.3 ounces, it’s almost the same size and weight as the $349 Pixel 4a. It’s currently available in black or sage, though Google showed a gray model at its launch event that we hope will be available in the future.
The front of the phone is dominated by a 6-inch OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. Resolution comes in at 2,340 by 1,080 pixels, for a respectably sharp 432 pixels per inch. Viewing angles are solid, and colors are vibrant and immersive. And unlike the Pixel 4a, we found the display to be bright enough to use in direct sunlight. That said, the Galaxy S20 FE offers a larger 6.5-inch screen with a 120Hz refresh rate for even smoother scrolling.
In your hand, there’s a noticeable difference between the Pixel 5 and its less expensive siblings. The aluminum back panel feels more premium than the plastic back on the Pixel 4a 5G, with a slightly textured finish that includes a debossed Google logo in metal. Also on the back is a square camera module in the top left corner, and a nearly invisible fingerprint sensor.
The top of the phone is bare, while the bottom is home to a pair of speaker grilles and a USB-C charging port. The left side holds the SIM card slot, while the metal volume rocker and power button sit on the right, both of which are easy to reach and feel more clicky than the buttons on the the Pixel 4a 5G. Google’s Active Edge feature that allows you to squeeze the frame of the phone to enable certain settings on previous Pixels is noticeably absent.
Although the Pixel 5 may look a little utilitarian, it’s definitely a win in terms of durability. Its IP68 rating and Gorilla Glass 6 display are welcome improvements over the Pixel 4a 5G, and mean you can rest easy if you accidentally drop your phone or use it in the rain. That said, we always recommend a sturdy case for additional protection.
Connectivity and Audio
The Pixel 5 is available unlocked and has an eSIM in addition to the traditional SIM slot. It works on every major US carrier and supports LTE bands 1/2/4/5/7/8/12/13/14/17/18/20/25/26/28/29/30/38/39/40/41/66/71. It also supports sub-6GHz bands n1/2/3/5/6/8/12/28/41/66/71/78 and mmWave bands n260/n261.
The phone’s closest competitor is the Galaxy S20 FE 5G when it comes to connectivity. But while the S20 FE offers 5G carrier aggregation on some networks, the Pixel 5 works with every carrier’s sub-6GHz and mmWave networks out of the box.
In addition to robust 5G support, the Pixel 5 joins the Apple iPhone 12 and Samsung Galaxy S21 series, along with the LG Wing, as one of the first phones authorized to use C-band spectrum in the US. This repurposed spectrum will improve both overall 5G coverage and capacity across the country in 2021 and beyond.
We tested the phone on Verizon’s network in Chicago and recorded average low-band speeds of 91.5Mbps down and 23.8Mbps up, and mmWave speeds of 1.6Gbps down and 130.3Mbps up.
The phone also supports dual-band Wi-Fi, but Wi-Fi 6 is noticeably absent. Bluetooth 5.0 is included for audio and wearable connectivity, and NFC is available for mobile payments and boarding passes.
Call quality is excellent. Maximum earpiece volume hits 84dB, which is fine for just about any environment. Noise cancellation also worked well on all calls.
While the phone sports stereo speakers, their positioning and balance create an uneven soundstage. The front-facing top speaker maxes out at 78dB, while the bottom-firing speakers have a maximum volume of 94dB. Bass is nonexistent, and mids are muddled at higher volumes. The speakers are fine for video calls, but you’ll want to connect to Bluetooth for streaming media.
Cameras
The Pixel 5 has a 12.2MP primary sensor with an f/1.7 aperture, along with a 16MP, f/2.2 ultrawide lens. The 12.2MP camera features autofocus with dual phase detection, as well as optical and electronic image stabilization (OIS/EIS). The ultrawide lens has a 107-degree field of view, but is missing OIS/EIS and autofocus. An 8MP selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture hides in the small hole at the top of the display.
Before we dive into lens testing, the biggest change we noticed from the Pixel 4 is Google’s color science. The company previously took a more natural approach to colors, while here photos have a warmer hue and colors are more saturated. They’re not as vibrant as, say, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, but they’re pretty close to the iPhone 11.
The primary 12.2MP sensor does a solid job in all lighting conditions. In good light, the Pixel 5 takes crisp shots with excellent detail and depth of field. In our comparison shots between the Pixel 5 and the regular Pixel 4, the Pixel 5 does a slightly better job of capturing fine detail and colors are more vibrant. This is all due to improvements in Google’s computational photography, since the primary sensor is the same on both phones.
The Pixel 5’s OIS/EIS systems allow for up to 7x zoom. At 2x, the Pixel takes solid shots with excellent detail. 5x zoom is strong as well, though there’s some loss of fine detail when reviewing images at full size. At 7x, detail loss becomes more noticeable and some noise begins to creep in.
Low light is where the Pixel 5 shines. The new automatic Night Sight feature is a welcome change that makes getting a usable photo as simple as pulling out your phone and tapping the shutter button. And while the differences between the Pixel 5 and its predecessor are less obvious in good light, it’s easy to see Google’s color updates in low-light images. The warm tone in our test shots makes them feel less harsh and more social media-friendly.
Google’s new wide-angle lens also does an excellent job in good light. All of our test shots have solid depth of field and background detail without a trace of distortion, a common flaw in many wide-angle lenses. It also does a solid job in low light, but is the weakest performer among the pack, with some minor noise and light flare.
The Pixel 5’s 8MP front-facing camera is excellent for selfies and video calls. While the Pixel 4a’s camera has problems with depth mapping in portrait mode, the Pixel 5 perfectly mapped odd wrinkles in a hat, which tends to be a weak spot for many cameras. It also excels in low light. As you can see in our comparison shots, the Pixel 5 takes much warmer selfies than its predecessor. And Night Sight Portraits along with the updated color science appear to remove the gray pallor that tended to show up on night images captured with previous models.
Hardware and Performance
The Pixel 5 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chipset and 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM. Storage comes in at 128GB, with about 110GB available out of the box. There’s no option for external storage, but Pixel owners get 100GB of free Google One cloud storage for three months.
Performance is solid. Apps open instantly, Google Assistant responds without hesitation, and image processing is much faster than on the Pixel 4a. Gaming performance is comparable with other phones with the 765G chipset. We spent over an hour playing Alto’s Odyssey and Mini Metro on the Pixel 5, and the games loaded quickly and played without any dropped frames or lag.
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On Geekbench 5, a suite of tests that measure raw performance, the Pixel 5 earned scores of 587 single-core (SC) and 1,604 multi-core. For comparison, the Galaxy S20 FE is powered by a top-of-the-line Snapdragon 865 processor, for significantly stronger scores of 862 SC and 3,069 MC. If you’re a hard-core gamer looking for sheer horsepower, the Galaxy S20 FE is a better option.
The Pixel 5 features a 4,080mAh battery. In our battery drain test, in which we stream HD video over Wi-Fi at full brightness, it lasted 11 hours and 41 minutes before shutting down. That’s a solid showing that should easily get your through the day, provided you’re not constantly switching between LTE and 5G networks. The Galaxy S20 FE’s 4,500mAh battery lasted for 13 hours and 31 minutes of video playback at 75 percent brightness, which should translate to similar battery life overall.
Google includes an 18W fast charging adapter in the box. Wireless charging and reverse charging are also supported.
Software
The Pixel 5 ships with Android 11, which is essentially a stock version of Google’s mobile OS with the exception of a few special features that are currently only available to Pixel owners.
For starters, Hold for Me lets Google Assistant wait on hold when you call a toll-free number. Once you’re waiting, simply tap Hold for Me and the Pixel will ring when the other party picks up. Right now the feature is in preview and doesn’t work if your phone is muted or there is any other media playing, but it otherwise worked as intended the few times we tried it.
The Pixel 5 also features a more iOS-like messaging experience. The Pixel 5 allows you to open group chats and send messages over Wi-Fi. It’s also supposed to offer message bubbles and updated notifications, though we couldn’t get these features to work on any of our recent Pixels.
In addition to offering Live Caption functionality for video, podcasts, and other audio, it also works on phone calls and calls made through popular apps like Facebook Messenger. Right now the feature only works in English. When in use, the caller on the other end hears an automated message stating Live Caption is enabled.
If you like to record interviews or meetings, the Pixel’s Recorder app is indispensable. It not only records and transcribes conversations, it actually does it well. It’s also the only transcription app we’ve used that records punctuation. Google made a modest, but very useful, update this year that enables text correction, so you can now quickly correct or delete individual words with a long press.
Finally, Google promises three years of OS and security updates for its Pixel phones, which is better than you’ll get from pretty much any other Android phone maker.
Conclusions
Google’s Pixel 5 is a new kind of flagship that puts software and imaging first. That’s not to say the rest of the hardware experience is an afterthought—and with wireless charging and an IP68 rating, we think it’s worth the additional $100–200 over the Pixel 4a 5G. Compared with the Galaxy S20 FE 45G, however, the choice isn’t as clear. The Pixel offers a superior software experience and better low-light imaging, but the Galaxy has a higher refresh rate and a much more powerful processor. It’s a close call, and while the Galaxy gets our nod as Editors’ Choice, the Pixel 5 is a fine alternative, as well as the type of flagship phone we hope to see more of in the future.
