Google Pixel 3 XL

The Pixel 3 XL is pricey for a phone with no expandable memory, but its standout camera and premium hardware make it one of the best phones of the year.

The Pixel 3 phone, more than any other Google-designed phone before it, is an example of what sophisticated software can do when the hardware it runs on is incrementally improved. It’s not perfect, but that’s the thing about a phone that’s driven by its software: it will change and get better over time, even as the glass-slab-and-guts part of it stays the same.

The Pixel 3 XL is a big, powerful pure Android phone that puts all things Google front and center, though we prefer wrapping our hands around its smaller sibling.

It probably shouldn’t surprise you to discover that the Google Pixel 3 XL is a great phone. It’s a wonderful thing to use, has a fabulous camera and looks utterly gorgeous. It’s the quickest, slickest phone I’ve ever used and is without a serious flaw. Considering how poor the Pixel 2 XL’s display was last year, that was never a given. Ultimately, the Pixel 3 XL is the phone the Pixel 2 XL should have been.

The Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL start at $799 and $899, respectively, for the 64GB models. That’s not cheap when you consider phones like the One Plus 6 are available for hundreds less, but in the overall landscape (and certainly compared to Apple's iPhone XS), the new Pixels aren’t the most expensive flagships either. Ultimately, Google seems to have balanced things nicely with the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. If you’re in the market for a new smartphone, do yourself a favor and check them out.

Make no mistake, if you’re an Android user then there needs to be a very good reason not to have the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL at the top of your upgrade list in 2018. Indeed the biggest decision is figuring out whether the Pixel 3 XL’s notch is as much of a deal-breaker as some say it is. That comes down to personal opinion, as does whether you prefer the more hand-friendly scale of the Pixel 3 or its expansive bigger sibling.