The ambitious Chinese firm-made OnePlus 3 has proved to be one of the thrilling Android smartphone releases in 2016. With impeccable specs and highly considerable tag price, no wonder OnePlus 3 is a good catch, and Google is trying to square up this device with Pixel XL.
V3 rated OnePlus 3 with five stars while Pixel XL received 4 stars. Both are running on an Android system, but Pixel XL comes with a fresher version, Android Nougat 7.1, while OnePlus 3 has an Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, Oxygen OS. The latter might be receiving the latest Android operating system sometime in the first quarter of 2017, as reported by Tech Times.
Both smartphones are also running on a Snapdragon hardware. Pixel XL has Snapdragon 821, quad-core 2x 2.15GHz and 2x 1.6GHz, 4GB RAM. Meanwhile, OnePlus 3 comes with Snapdragon 820 quad-core 2x 2.15GHz Kryo and 2x 1.6GHz Kryo, 6GB RAM. OnePlus 3 gets an edge despite Snapdragon 820 and 821 are the same in terms of clock speeds, and Pixel XL's slight chipset bump can be blamed for a point lost.
As for the camera, Pixel XL has a 12.3MP rear-facing, f/2.0 and an 8MP front camera with an HDR+ mode default. OnePlus 3 had a higher megapixel, 16MP rear-facing, f/2.0, OIS, EIS, 8MP front camera which only had HD mode as default.
It's important to note, though, that OnePlus 3's camera catches realistic shadows in images and even the complex details in it. Pixel XL is quicker to camera response as it tops the DxOMark leaderboards.
Battery-wise, Pixel XL has a slight edge, sporting a 3,450mAh while its formidable competitor, OnePlus 3 had only 3,000mAh. The Google device is also commendable for its quick charging device--15 minutes for seven hours of charging--while OnePlus 3 is dismal for an easily-drained battery. A fully charged OnePlus 3 can sometimes last up to an hour.
OnePlus 3's storage is over-the-top, coming with a 64GB default storage although the device does not have an expandable memory, unlike Pixel XL. One can store up to 128GB worth of data with Pixel XL, plus its perks of having an unlimited storage in Google cloud.
Now, on to the price tag. OnePlus 3 is slashed half the Google Pixel XL's price. OnePlus 3 can be purchased for around $406 (64GB) while Pixel XL can be around $890 (32GB) to $1,020 (128GB).
In between OnePlus 3 and Pixel XL, which one do you think emerged as a victor? Let us know what you think by commenting below!
