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It’s worth noting that this time Google had to drop a bunch of long-standing Pixel features and components. I hope you didn’t like pressing your phone to activate the Google Assistant, because you can’t here. And there is no giant front either because there is no Soli radar. We don’t know if Google left it out for design or cost reasons, or because few people really enjoyed it. Either way, I don’t miss him very much.
The dramatic reduction in size of the Pixel’s forehead also means that there is no secure face unlock here, which is fine by me because a) we’re still living in a weird pandemic world; and b) the Pixel Imprint fingerprint sensor on the rear is one of the fastest and most accurate I’ve used. Oh, and like last year’s Pixel 4s, the 5 has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. That makes it the most durable new Pixel of 2020, which came in handy when I was watching YouTube videos and decided to throw the Pixel 5 into a fountain.
(Author’s note: This is in no way a reflection of how I feel about BTS. I come to you in good faith, K-Pop fans.)
Chris Velazco / Engadget
Clearly, there is a lot to like about this more durable design. Having said that, Google made some decisions here that are much more difficult to appreciate. There is no headphone jack here, which is really annoying because both versions of the Pixel 4a have it. It would have been nice to have the option to buy a Pixel 5 with more than 128GB of storage, but as we saw with the Pixel 4a, limiting the number of settings helps Google keep costs down. And then there’s the Pixel 5 audio situation, which just isn’t very good.
The bottom speaker of the phone does most of the heavy lifting, which is not that unusual; the same goes for most smartphones. However, unlike most phones, the Pixel 5’s top speaker is now built into the display. There is a controller under the screen that really makes the panel vibrate and transmit sound. It’s a good solution? Hell yes. But that also means your movies, music, and podcasts can sound tiny and unbalanced. For me, at least, it’s most noticeable when you’re watching a video or taking a video call while doing other things; you know, situations where generally the speakers are running at full power while holding the phone in one hand. It’s also not much better when you listen while holding the phone horizontally, as you only get audio from one side.
I’m not sure this is a deal breaker for most people, but it doesn’t sound very good, and people who bought phones like the Pixel 3 for their dual front-facing speakers will be disappointed. Fortunately, I haven’t run into any annoying Bluetooth connection issues like other people have encountered with previous Pixels, so you shouldn’t have any trouble pairing your trusty wireless headphones. I’ve been doing it for a few days straight with no problems.
