The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are a pair of Android smartphones designed, developed, and marketed by Google as part of the Google Pixel product line. They collectively serve as the successors to the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.[8][9] They were officially announced on October 9, 2018 at the Made by Google event and released in the United States on October 18.[10] On October 15, 2019, they were succeeded by the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL.
Following diminished sales of the Pixel 3 lineup,[11][12][13] on May 7, 2019 Google announced midrange variants at I/O 2019, the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL.[14]
The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL come in three colors: 'Just Black' (all black), 'Clearly White' (white with a mint green power button), and 'Not Pink' (pink, with an orange power button).[15] The Pixel 3's bezels are significantly smaller than its predecessor's. The Pixel 3 XL is the first Pixel device to use a display notch, also able to be "blacked out" in developer options. They both run on Android Pie natively and both have access to Android 12.[16]
The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL come with a Snapdragon 845, Pixel Visual Core (PVC) and 4 GB of RAM; and 64 or 128 GB of internal storage. Both phones feature glass backs and wireless charging, which are firsts for the Pixel range. Google Pixel Stand can wirelessly charge at 10 W, but wireless charging is capped to 5 W when 3rd-party wireless chargers are used.[17] They also feature front-facing stereo speakers and no headphone jack, like the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Both phones also use a USB-C connection for charging and connecting other accessories.[7] Both phones also contain Active Edge, where squeezing the sides of the phone activates Google Assistant, which debuted with the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.[18]
The phones have a water protection rating of IP68 under IEC standard 60529,[7] an improvement from its predecessors water protection rating of IP67. The phones can be submerged in up to 1.5 m of water for up to 30 minutes.[19]
The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL have a 12.2 megapixel rear camera, similar to their predecessors, the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, but Google Camera has been updated with new photography features,[20][18] as well as a second wide-angle selfie camera. Some of these features include:
The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL use a separate chip called the Pixel Visual Core (PVC) to achieve their artificial intelligence camera capabilities.[18] Videos are newly recorded with stereo audio.[26]
Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL ship with Android 9.0 Pie at launch. Both phones got three years of software updates and security updates guaranteed by Google.[27] Android updates ended for the Pixel 3 on October 5 2021 while the Pixel 3a went on for another year until May 5, 2022.[28] The Google Developers site has flashable factory and OTA (over-the-air) update images up to Android 12.[29]
The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL has been updated bringing several features from the Pixel 4 including: Live captions, Google Recorder, New Google Assistant, Astrophotography mode and Top Shot for short videos.[22]
The Pixel 3 lacks the voice-unlock feature available on previous Pixel devices.[30]
Several reviewers, including Dieter Bohn from The Verge, Mark Spoonauer from Tom's Hardware, and Julian Chokkattu from Digital Trends, stated that the Pixel 3's camera was "the best camera you could get on a smartphone."[32][33] Digital Trends concluded the Pixel 3 XL had the best output, qualitatively, after comparing its camera output with other leading smartphones, including the Apple iPhone XS Max, Samsung Galaxy Note 9, and the Google Pixel 2 XL.[34] American technology reviewer Marques Brownlee in his Smartphone Awards video in December, 2018 said that the Pixel 3 & 3 XL have the best cameras of all smartphones.[35]
Andrei Frumusanu from AnandTech, stated "Google’s Pixels significantly climb up the ladder in terms of low-light photography ranking, even putting themselves at a comfortable distance ahead of the previous low-light champions, Huawei’s 40 MP sensor phones as well as their own night mode."[36]
The Pixel 3 XL was heavily criticized for its notch implementation.[16][37][38]
Matt Swider from TechRadar gave both the Pixel 3 & 3 XL 4.5 out of 5 stars, praising the camera and the improved quality of the OLED screen (compared to the Pixel 2 XL's screen, which had many quality control issues), but he criticized the poor battery life of the Pixel 3 and the notch on the Pixel 3 XL, as well as the low amount of RAM, no expandable storage options, and higher pricing compared to the Pixel 2 & 2 XL.[39][40] Andrew Martonik from Android Central also gave the phones 4.5 out of 5 stars, having similar complaints as Swider.[41]
Problems that have been reported by some users include:
When the Pixel 3 was released in 2018, its warranty automatically opted-in USA and Canadian based users to a Google Arbitration Agreement. Any disputes would be handled individually in small claims court, or via arbitration through the American Arbitration Association, or through government agencies, and not as class actions. The only exception was that intellectual property issues would be handled in court. It was possible to opt-out of this arbitration agreement within 30 days of activating the device for the first time.[66] By 2020 Google's hardware warranty no longer covered arbitration, court, or class actions.[67]