Google Pixel 4

The Pixel 4 has an extra camera and a new design, but Google’s Android crown is beginning to slip

- Nathan Spendelow

My immediate reaction to the Google Pixel 4 was disappointment. While it offers a series of firsts for the Pixel range – two rear cameras rather than one, a Snapdragon 855 processor, a 90Hz screen, even radar-sensing gesture controls – there was still no immediate sense that it had jumped ahead of its rivals.

That’s despite a new design. Google has ditched the two-tone look of its previous three generations of Pixels, instead opting for a simple single-tone colour scheme available in “Just Black”, “Clearly White” and “Oh So Orange”. Each is surrounded by a curved, textured black trim, with a coloured power button and volume rocker on the right edge. There’s no notch, either; instead, the 8MP selfie camera and earpiece speaker are located inside a chunky forehead bezel.

The Pixel 4 is sandwiched between protective layers of Gorilla Glass 5, rated to the IP68 standard. The new rear camera module is distinctly iPhone-like, with the two cameras, infrared sensor and dual-LED flash arranged in a diamond pattern.

The dual front-facing speakers also reappear, and there’s still no 3.5mm headphone jack. This isn’t normally much of a problem, but miserly Google has decided not to include an adapter in the box this year. There’s also no fingerprint sensor, but you can still unlock the Pixel 4 with your face, or with a PIN or pattern lock.