Google Pixel 4 & 4 XL in 2024 - worth it?

The Google Pixel 4 & 4 XL came out over 4 years ago - these were some odd phones, with radar motion sense and thick bezels- but one of the best cameras on the market and a clean, speedy 90hz experience. Now on Android 13, how does the Pixel 4 & 4XL hold up?

The Pixel 4A came out a year after the Pixel 4, and had lower specs and lower quality build- but with the same camera. It being around the same priced nowadays, I'd definitely be inclined to purchase the Google Pixel 4XL- it holds up really well, the 90hz helps it feel current, and while it won't receive Android 14 it still feels like a premium experience in 2023.

0:00 - Pixel 4 & 4XL 4 years later
3:04 - Design & Hardware
4:50 - Pixel Video & Photography
6:40 - The Pixel Experience

Music:

[Tech]

The Pixel 4 & 4 XL were great smartphones with weird gimmicks that made them pretty bad value in 2019. But nowadays, for maybe $150 on eBay? Yea, that's pretty good, and they hold up better than you'd expect in 2023.
Also, no Pixel 3 XL notch. (unfortunately)

[blasien]

The 4 was great. The radar made for superior face ID, but other uses of the radar never developed.

[_chan.burn._]

The 4 XL was my first Pixel after using only iPhones and Samsungs prior to that. Still have a lot of nostalgia for that phone, and truthfully, adding a fingerprint scanner alongside the Face Unlock and an ultrawide lense out back would have made the phone great even today.

I've since moved on to a 6 Pro, which is a better all-around phone than the 4 XL in my opinion, but there's just something about the design and function of the latter that still has me thinking back on it to this day.

[_TheStealth]

Sold my Pixel 4 XL two years ago for a Pixel 6 and regretted it, got a 6a and hated it, got a Pixel 7 and 7a hated them also. Brought a brand new Pixel 4 XL a few days ago and Im loving every minute of it.

[neilieb]

I am watching this from my Pixel 4a 5g. Best 115 dollars I ever spent. Get my updates start of each month, and man this phone has just been very very stellar. I don't need an update, however since I been using this Pixel, I definitely am not gonna leave this eco system anytime soon.

[phritza]

I bought the Pixel 4 back in Dec 2019 when it was on sale for under 600 and I still use it today. It was my upgrade from the Pixel 1. It's a solid phone. The build is great but I've had a case on it since day 1 so that doesn't matter to me.

The camera is solid and takes great photos in almost any condition. This was the first Pixel to introduce astrophotography and so it still takes some amazing photos in low light. The telephoto may only be 2x but you forgot to mention the super res zoom which takes sharp photos up to 8x. But the video camera was poor in comparison to the photos.

I have the 64GB and storage was never an issue because this phone still has unlimited backup to Google Photos, something which the Pixel 6 and 7 do not have. Performance is still good, never stutters or lags except sometimes in the camera. Battery life was bad when I got it and it's worse now. I have to carry around a battery bank when I leave the house. I don't tend to use my phone a lot outside, but when I do it dies fast.

The face unlock works perfectly but I do miss the rear fingerprint scanner. I have never used the hands free gestures and turned them off to save battery life.

Overall it's a solid phone apart from the battery and I am not tempted to upgrade to the Pixel 7, especially with the loss of the unlimited photo back up and no charger in the box.

For someone who's interested in a Pixel 4, I think it's best to spend a little more to get the Pixel 5 instead. To me, that was the perfect Pixel. It's battery was 46% larger which solved the Pixel 4's biggest problem. It also trades the telephoto for an ultrawide which makes the camera a bit more practical. I think the Pixel 5 is the perfect Pixel to keep for the long term and still keeps the unlimited photo back up. One thing to note is that I think the Pixel 4 having a telephoto instead of an ultrawide was definitely made a bigger deal than it ever was by every single YouTube reviewer. Everyone was more focused on that and the gimmicks like Soli instead of how it performs for the average person which is why a lot of you are surprised when it holds up so well.

Coming from a Pixel 1, I found two things that it did slightly better than the Pixel 4. The Pixel 1 has more stable video than the 4 which is crazy because the 1 only used EIS while the 4 used OIS + EIS. Moreover, the P4 display looked washed out, even on the adaptive setting. The Pixel 1's adaptive setting was noticeably more saturated. This came as a surprise to me because I watched countless videos on it before buying it but literally nobody mentioned it. Again, it goes back to focusing on the wrong things. But overtime I got used to the Pixel 4 colours.

[lameckzulu]

Rocking a black pixe 4xl right now as my daily driver

[NizarNoor]

I loved my Pixel 4 XL. I dislike large phones but Pixel 4 XL was an exception.

[benpadilla]

Still rocking my 4 XL today. A lot of the issues that were present on release were fixed with updates. I recently switched out the battery and it feels like new again. I'm planning on keeping this phone for at least another year. I just wish it got Android 14 but that's pretty minor.

[theogKavani]

I love my Pixel 4XL. It’s amazing just how smooth it still is. I’ve never really run into anything that slows it down much. The camera I feel like is the best part of the phone (besides the display and face unlock). It really feels like a camera from just a year or two ago

[ichimonjiguy]

I love Pixel 4 XL. The face unlock. The speakers. I've always kept my battery between 80% and 25%. No over charging. No over draining. As a result, the battery health is still 100% after all these years. No kidding.

[kgen]

I'm still using my Pixel 4, started watching you a long time, was waiting for this video! I really like your content!

[deathsyth]

I just bought a Pixel 4 off Craigslist for $60 as an emergency backup phone if something were to happen to my main phone. Not bad of a backup for a former flagship phone.

[exhibitD]

Still have a 4. Recently cracked the screen and will be getting another Pixel 4. I like the images are not over sharpened like recent models. I also prefer the colour. I tested a pixel 7 and the Pixel 4 took much nicer day time photos.

[Tobsn]

My girlfriend loved her Pixel 4 in orange. The only problem was, that it had 64gb which was at one point not enough anymore. She is using a S22 now, which she doesnt like as much as the pixel, due to fact, that die Pixel 4 was smaller and therfor better for small hands and it looked cooler! :)

[forrestmorrisjr]

The Pixel XL 4 is a great phone, sadly killing off updates actually didn't do a great phone justice. Just picked up the 8 Pro and haven't decided if it's worth the upgrade for 900 bucks.
But one short my XL4 is my favorite phone to date.

[xscream]

I bought a used Pixel 4 and changed the ROM to PixelExperience, which gets regular updates and supports banking apps. The battery life sucks but its small size is quite convenient. I use it mainly as a streaming music player that happens to have a very good camera. I almost never use the phone and occasionally use the messaging app. My main smartphone is the Pixel 7, which I quite like although its battery life isn't great.

[fiecylick]

The pixel 4 is still my favorite phone although I upgraded to a 6 5G later down the line but I still prefer the 4 due to the design and material used on the back. Felt more premium and good durable quality compared to back glass panels.

[rihardsbalass]

I actually used radar a lot, especially in my car. Skipping songs - this is not the song i am looking for. Pretty nice, as in an older car I didn't have any controls on my steering wheel.
I do miss my pixel 4 xl...

[semectual]

This review of the Pixel 4 and 4XL, very Accurate! I still have the smaller White Pixel 4, when I used it as a daily driver, the battery wasn't up to par compared to the competitor Samsung S10e which I also have as well, I retired both of them at the end of 2021 and early 2022. Currently, because these phones don't get anymore factory Android updates, I use both of them as a YouTube Music Player, I think the Pixel 4 manages YouTube Music a whole lot better than the Samsug S10e. In regard to the Pixel 4, they have one of the Best Face Unlock even in low light situations the Samsung S10e needed some light behind it in order for the Face Unlock to work! I love the squeeze feature for Google Assistant, a very unique feature, too bad that Google got rid of it on newer phones. Also, the Pixel 4 and the Samsung S10e, were one of the last phones that were small form factor phones, easy to hold and to be slipped in a pocket. By far, this was my first Google Pixel purchase and don't regret it.