Google Pixel 4 vs Pixel 3 XL
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 5.7-inch Google Pixel 4 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 855) that was released on October 15, 2019, against the Google Pixel 3 XL, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and came out 13 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 4
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Higher display refresh rate – 90 Hz
- The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
- 43% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (484K versus 338K)
- Has 50% more RAM: 6GB versus 4GB
- More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 12
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Better grip in hands – the body is 7.9 mm narrower
- The phone is 1-year and 1-month newer
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 3 XL
- Has a 0.6 inch larger screen size
- Fingerprint scanner
- Comes with 630 mAh larger battery capacity: 3430 vs 2800 mAh
- 18% higher pixel density (522 vs 444 PPI)
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Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation
Value for money
You can enter your local price of these phones (in USD or any other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | POLED | OLED |
| Size | 5.7 inches | 6.3 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2280 pixels | 1440 x 2960 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19:9 | 18.5:9 |
| PPI | 444 ppi | 522 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 90 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 450 nits | 400 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | No |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 79.8% | 83.39% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 95.5% | 100% |
| PWM | 367 Hz | 250 Hz |
| Response time | 2.4 ms | 15 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 147.1 mm (5.79 inches) | 158 mm (6.22 inches) |
| Width | 68.8 mm (2.71 inches) | 76.7 mm (3.02 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.2 mm (0.32 inches) | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 162 g (5.71 oz) | 184 g (6.49 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IPX8 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Orange | White, Black, Pink |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | Yes, rear |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 |
| Max clock | 2840 MHz | 2500 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (4 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55 (Kryo 485 Silver) - 3 cores at 2.42 GHz: Cortex-A76 (Kryo 485 Gold) - 1 core at 2.84 GHz: Cortex-A76 (Kryo 485 Gold) |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 385 Silver (Cortex-A55) - 4 cores at 2.8 GHz: Kryo 385 Gold (Cortex-A75) |
| L3 cache | 2 MB | 2 MB |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 10 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 640 | Adreno 630 |
| GPU clock | 585 MHz | 710 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~899 GFLOPS | ~727 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 129834 | 94959 |
| GPU | 182353 | 116641 |
| Memory | 67946 | 44770 |
| UX | 107998 | 82658 |
| Total score | 484616 | 338140 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 39 °C | 44.7 °C |
| Stability | 78% | 94% |
| Graphics test | 18 FPS | 9 FPS |
| Graphics score | 3044 | 1663 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 7227 | 6962 |
| Video editing | 7055 | 6541 |
| Photo editing | 23818 | 18235 |
| Data manipulation | 8992 | 6706 |
| Writing score | 12094 | 9747 |
Memory
| RAM size | 6 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | 1866 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 64, 128 GB | 64, 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.0 | UFS 2.1 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 9.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) |
| ROM | - | Stock Android |
| OS size | 9.55 GB | 13 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 2800 mAh | 3430 mAh |
| Charge power | 18 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (11 W) | Yes, Qi (10 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 30 min) | Yes, Quick Charge 4 (50% in 35 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:20 hr | 2:00 hr |
| Web browsing | 06:04 hr | - |
| Watching video | 08:41 hr | - |
| Gaming | 03:09 hr | - |
| Standby | 62 hr | - |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12.2 megapixels | 12.2 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2x | Digital |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 119° | - |
| Lenses | 2 (12.2 MP + 16 MP) | 1 (12.2 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 12.2 MP - Aperture: f/1.7 - Focal length: 28 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX363 (BSI CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 12.2 MP - Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 28 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX363 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens | - 16 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 45 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.09", Sony IMX481 (BSI CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Google Pixel 4 from DxOMark | - |
| Megapixels | 8 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3264 x 2448 | 3264 x 2448 |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 22 mm | 28 mm |
| Pixel size | 1.22 microns | 1.4 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.2" |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 18 | 16 |
| 5G support | No | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | No |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | October 2019 | October 2018 |
| Release date | November 2019 | November 2018 |
| SAR (head) | 1.19 W/kg | 1.39 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.39 W/kg | 1.4 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
- Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Google Pixel 4 is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 70