Gadgetory

the pixel 3xl google's own flagship Android phone is arguably one of the best smartphones on the planet but is it durable does the new back glass scratch easier than fingernails on a chalkboard or is the notch distractingly large will it hold up to the test of time so many questions and only one way to find out let's get started out of the box the phone actually looks pretty impressive the dual textured glass feels unique it goes from the glossy smooth glass at the top to a more matte velvet vibe on the body which I'm a fan of much better than last year's thick coating of paint on the pixel to flipping it over reveals that knotch it's much larger than I anticipated which is something I've heard a lot from other reviewers and I agree completely normally notches don't bother me but this one is from a different realm the top speaker grille is smaller this year both stereo grille slots at the top and the bottom have been downsized usually the slot is more aesthetic and has nothing to do with speaker size but will dig deeper into that during the teardown to find out for sure other than that things look pretty similar to the pixel 2 XL from last year let's start with the scratch test using a set of Mohs mineral picks we can assess the hardness level of different materials Google has advertised Gorilla Glass 5 on the pixel 3 XL which has been pretty standard across most flagships for a while now smooth hard scratch resistant tempered glass scratches at level 6 with deeper grooves at a level 7 my razor which is about a 5.5 on Mohs scale won't be doing any damage up here we got the texas-sized notch covering some hardware the speaker grille is made from a metal mesh a definite improvement over the white cloth on the original pixel one super cool thing that pixel 3 has this year is dual front cameras a normal camera for selfies and a wide-angle camera that can take groupies you know that fit multiple people which is super useful if you have friends or go outside but since we're all here watching nerd videos on YouTube I got a feeling the grupe camera isn't gonna get used a whole lot the larger speaker grille on the bottom is still made from metal and won't be falling out on its own let's take a look at the unique dual tone glass on the back now the company oneplus has used frosted glass before but the one plus was frosted on the underside of the glass google has frosted the outer layer which unfortunately looks like the frosting scratches much easier than regular glossy glass and the scratches don't rub off for example if there's a coin in your pocket or purse your phone instantly turns into an aesthetic nightmare trying something softer like a toothpick it does leave some marks on the back glass but these do mostly wipe away almost completely leaving no residue behind plastic doesn't leave any marks but keys do when people normally think of a pixel they imagine one singular dot on a display screen but each individual pixel on your screen actually has three different lights inside red green and blue that light up alone or in groups to formulate all the different color combinations your eye can see kind of like little teams of friends taking groupies together the sides of this phone sound different it's not the normal metal on metal sound we get with anodized aluminum but it's also not the crappy plastic II paint stuff like we had on last year's pixel - this is more of a glossy powder coating like the one I applied to my metal off-road wheelchair it feels much more durable you can see it shave off in smooth chunks instead of disintegrating into a plasticy powder it feels good Google does say again that this paint is chip resistant but might absorb colors from the jeans or leather but in my opinion with the glossy non-porous surface I really doubt that this year at least with the black one I'm a fan so far the power button is made from plastic again the volume button is the same painted metal as the rest of the phone the bottom of the pixel three while void of a headphone jack and expandable memory slot has more of the same glossy paint now I'm a feature guy Google does include wireless charging this year which is cool but the lack of Jack an SD slot still make me think twice about upgrading switching to a phone that has less features isn't super appealing after contemplating the back glass a bit more I thought it could just be that the cloudy glass was acting like a level 6 abrasive like the glass is literally sanding off bits of the metal I'm scratching it with kind of makes sense when we see what the cloudy surface does to my level 3 most pick but the level 4 leaves much more consistent scratches that don't wipe away even with moisture they don't disappear either way whether the cloudy glass is an abrasive or just weak the marks from keys and coins are very permanent so keep that in mind one way to keep your phone pristine is with the skin like this matrix Marble combo from D brand it fully covers the soft glass and the corners of the phone keeping scratches and chips at bay the textured matrix kind of feels like cloth and might just be my new favorite right after bullet proof banana of course I'll leave a link for you in the video description if you want to customize your own phone and thanks addy brand for sponsoring this durability test the 12 megapixel rear camera is protected by glass along with the dual flash both are covered with the smooth non frosted glass so they aren't going to accumulate permanent abrasions the fingerprint scanner is back here on the rear of the phone and is scratch with the damage inflicted it did have some issues registering my fingerprint but once everything was set it did end up recognizing my finger every time and unlocking which is good the fingerprint scanner passes the scratch test even if only barely now it's time for the burn test let's see how the pixels on this pixel 3 hold up to a little bit of heat Google is using a 1440p OLED display this year it's 6.3 inches but I feel like that football-field-sized notch needs to be deducted at some point not just don't even normally bother me but this guy's got a complete face and is just sitting there like judging me either way this guy's belly lasted 30 seconds before the pixel started turning white but then completely recovered after the heat was removed which is great news for me because these screens are expensive the cool thing about D brand scans is that they're easy to remove and don't leave any residue as they come off so switching to a new scanner color is pretty simple let's start that bin test the pixel lineup has always had solid structure and it looks like this new glass which design is sticking with that same solid theme with barely any flex when been from the front and more importantly no glass separation on the back meaning that the new ip68 rating is still intact when Vint from the back we get the same minor flex but no cracked glass or permanent damage the phone retains its shape with no kinks in the middle if the XL can survive a pin test the regular size pixel three should also be just fine google has done a good job this time around yeah the back glass can be scratched but overall that pixel three XL passes my durability test and gets a thumbs up for me they definitely did a better job this year check out D brand if you want to protect your phone without the bulk of a case link is in the description would you buy this phone let me know in the comments thanks dumb for watching and I'll see you around