But the star of the show, clearly, is Google Assistant, Google's voice interface that's more conversational, flexible, and knowledgeable than Siri or Bixby. You can activate the Assistant in a bunch of different ways. You can turn on an option to have it recognize your voice even when the phone's screen is off, for example. I ended up using the squeeze sensor a lot. Introduced originally on HTC's U11, the sensor lets you squeeze the phone slightly below its midriff to launch the Assistant (but no other app). It even works when the phone is in a case.

Both Pixels are able to maintain slightly faster shutter speeds in low light than the Galaxy S8 does, which gives you more of a fighting chance against blur, and they don't do the hideous overprocessing that the LG V30 does. That makes them the best smartphone cameras out there right now. As for getting the best price on your new phone — take a look at our buying guides. Hopefully, with the credit or cash you earn from letting go of your old Pixel, you can get the shiny new device you’ve been hoping for at a reasonable price. This isn't to say that the Pixel 2 is a bad phone. It's suffering from the same problem that the iPhone 8 is, which is being the lower-middle child in a crowded field of good choices. As it is, it's our fourth (or so) choice for a higher-end Android phone, which is more of a statement about the strength of the Android field than the weakness of the Pixel 2. If you're aching for a Pixel this year, go big.

Pixel 2

The Pixel 2 also acquires a feature from the HTC U11 called EdgeSense. Squeezing the phone’s sides launches the Google Assistant, which in our experience has come in handy, and is way better than adding a dedicated AI button – Samsung uses such a button for its Bixby assistant, and we can’t stop accidentally pressing it on the Galaxy S8 and Note 8. We tested the Pixel 2 against the Pixel 2 XL and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8/S8. They're all terrific in good light. In low light, we were surprised to see some differences between the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL models, given that they supposedly have the same camera. But we saw them: Every once in a while, the Pixel didn't judge colors in low light quite as well as its bigger counterpart. Maybe that was because of shifting light when we were taking our test photos, but it was enough to cement our decision in favor of the Pixel 2 XL.

Opening apps, flipping through Tiles, switching watch faces, and anything else I've wanted to on the Pixel Watch 2 has been about as fast as I could hope for. I felt the same way about the first-gen Pixel Watch, too, so I'm not sure how necessary the horsepower bump was. Still, more performance headroom today means the Pixel Watch 2 should age better than the first-gen will — and the newer silicon really helps with battery life (more on that later). The bezels won't bother you if you want a phone that’s a one-hand-friendly size, runs smart Google software, and has a fantastic camera that will make your friends – even your Samsung-owning friends – jealous. Google's camera is only sometimes bested by the Samsung camera and the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro... but not always. Video recording, we always found to be better on the Google Pixel 2. It may only bested by the the rumored Google Pixel 3, but don't expect that phone until October.

musicMagpie Search

The LG G7 ThinQ uses for a button for Google Assistant, which at least leads to our favorite AI. But this squeezing function is better (and not as easy to accidentally press). Our only complaint is that Google won’t allow you to customize this squeezable feature to open up the camera or another app of your choice.