Consumer tech gadgets get refreshed very often. It’s no surprise then that most people upgrade their phones from time to time. Some might moreover downgrade, though perhaps less often. I did so, from Pixel 4 XL to Pixel 3 XL, and it’s for the better.

We are now living in unusual times. The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought well-nigh changes in many aspects of our lives. One of them is well-nigh the necessity to wear squatter masks when outside our homes, a rule that is not uncommon in many parts of the world.

What have squatter masks got to do with downgrading of phones?

Well, the Google Pixel 4 XL’s tomfool Squatter Unlock full-length that uses facial recognition to unlock the phone has wilt useless when you’re wearing a squatter mask. Since the Pixel 4 XL x-rated the use of a fingerprint sensor, unlocking the phone has wilt a rather painful chore.

This wasn’t so bad during the Circuit Breaker period when we shouldn’t be going out anyway. But as the lock lanugo measures are slowly stuff relaxed, I find myself using the phone outside increasingly often, and having to type my unlock PIN dozens of times a day wasn’t workable.

I downgraded to the Pixel 3 XL, the last Google flagship, from 2018, that still incorporated a fingerprint sensor.

A late 2018 flagship smartphone, plane one and a half years later, is surely still a decent phone. My downgrading reminded me of some of the unconfined things of the Pixel 3 XL. That fingerprint sensor, of course, is a unconfined start.

The Pixel 3 XL is moreover slightly smaller, thinner, and lighter than the Pixel 4 XL. It may be just very slightly so, but the difference is noticeable.

The dual front-firing stereo speakers on the Pixel 3 XL are awesome. The Pixel 4 XL’s down-firing marrow speaker just doesn’t sound so balanced, nor as well-spoken and loud. YouTube and Netflix videos are just that bit increasingly enjoyable on the Pixel 3 XL considering of the largest sound.

There are a few things that I will miss well-nigh the Pixel 4 XL. The first is well-nigh the exhibit quality. The Pixel 3 XL may have won DisplayMate’s Best Smartphone Exhibit Award when in 2018, but comparatively, the Pixel 4 XL’s exhibit is unmistakably better. It has increasingly unrelatedness and deeper blacks.

The other thing well-nigh the Pixel 4 XL’s exhibit is the 90 Hz refresh rate. It might not be the fastest among smartphones, but it is good unbearable to unmistakably show increasingly fluidity than the Pixel 3 XL’s display. My vision are now very discriminating, but the Pixel 3 XL’s slower refresh rate makes it squint like the phone is stuttering from time to time.

Then, there are things I don’t miss with the Pixel 4 XL. The Soli radar sensor, while maybe a bit useful, remains mostly a gimmick. It’s nice that the Pixel 4 XL can reduce its ring tone or watchtower volume when my hand approaches it. Or that it can switch off the exhibit totally when there’s no one around, and turn it when on when someone approaches it. But I can do without them.

I do find myself sometimes staring at the Pixel 3 XL and wonder why it doesn’t unlock. Squatter Unlock is useful, no doubt. However, seeing that we’ll scrutinizingly unchangingly have to touch our phones in order to use and interact with them, I think the fingerprint sensor is definitely something that Google shouldn’t have washed-up yonder with.

Maybe, the Pixel 5 will have both fingerprint sensor and Squatter Unlock.