Firstly, I feel the need to say that having not had the Pixel 2 XL review unit for some months now which +Steve Litchfield sent over arriving today, along with my second Moto X4, I had forgotten how amazingly annoying that blue screen is! Yeah, yeah, I know. People here will say they don't notice it. It's only at angles and I look at my phone straight on. I can adjust to compensate etc. Let's not do it all again! But I had a renewed gob-smacking (best thing for 'im, you cry!) when I saw it fresh again. It's just so blue at the slightest of angles. Anyway, each to their own.
So I've been putting these three up against each other for sound, the (now minimum) £629 2 XL, the (now minimum) £559 2 and the (now) £199 Moto X4. I'm no audiophile, so what I hear is what I report and here are my observations...
1. Stereo is a bit pointless really, when devices are this small. OK - so if you put your head close enough, you get some separation, but there's nothing fancy going on here like there is with the Razer Phone 5.1 adaptation or Moto Mod's My JBL SoundBoost 2 Mod./App., so we're talking about quality of sound and volume alone.
2. I tested with the same YouTube tracks and the same Google Play Music downloaded tracks with no equalisation on any - straight out of the box.
3. The sound coming out of the Pixel 2 is, well, just a bit rubbish compared to the other two. It's got very little bass and not huge volume.
4. The Moto X4 may not be quite as loud as the Pixel 2 but the quality, depth, bass and richness make it a much better sound, from its one speaker. (As an aside, I've always said that the raw sound coming out of the Z2 Play and Z are very good quality, but just not loud enough.) Much more enjoyable.
5. The 2 XL of course has them both beaten, but not by as huge a margin as one might expect. Yes, the volume is good without being staggering, and yes, the quality is good but without being stunning. I know, I've been spoilt with other, better sounding phones/arrangements. Yes, I know, most people wouldn't test their phone against everyone else's.
The Pixel 2 XL would be the winner here, regardless of pointless stereo, but look back at the prices. This was a £800/£900 phone not long ago. At most, the Moto was £349 and can now be had brand new for £199. Yes, of course, this is only one small aspect of the capabilities of the three phones and the Moto would lag behind in many of the others, but my point generally is really, by not that far.
The most surprising thing here from my tests, however, is how rubbish the Pixel 2 sounds! I'm afraid that even against the Moto X4 it sounds tinny and not full at all, let alone the 2 XL. I really thought that from my previous observations, the two Pixel 2's here would blow the Moto out of the water. But no.
I reviewed the Moto X4 back at the tail-end of 2017 and my thoughts can be found at https://plus.google.com/u/0/+TedSalmon/posts/HLU72wdMASd - I stand by all I said there. It remains a cracking device for all the points I made that day and is even more of a bargain now.
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