Pixel 3 Review

Last updated : 19/12/2022 (this page will no longer be updated)

Introduction

The Pixel 3 - my first foray at ROMs with relockable bootloader (Graphene, Calyx, & Divest).

Summary : A small surprise (mostly with its small size) whose only notable gimmick (ROMs with lockable bootloaders) are probably not worth dealing with when its tradeoffs (no headphone jack & microSD; OLED display) suck.

Physical features

The Pixel 3 is one tiny device, when compared to most of what I've held & used.

• On the top section, there's the secondary microphone.
• The single-SIM slot, USB-C charging port & primary microphone are located on the bottom corner.
• Left section is essentially blank.
• Right section is home to the volume & power buttons. As per the Pixel design tradition, the power button is above the volume buttons.
• Front side is reserved for the 5.5' 18:9 OLED, front cameras, & stereo speakers located on the top & bottom bezels. The top speaker also doubles as an earpiece for telephone calls.
• The back is 2-toned, with rear camera & flash module on the glossy section & the fingerprint scanner on the matte section, which takes up most of the back.
• For materials, the front & back are covered with Gorilla Glass 5, while aluminium is used for the frame. The power button uses plastic, while the volume rocker uses aluminium.
• In regards to the buttons, the power button clicks very finely, as well as the volume buttons, though the former has a tiny bit more wobble than the latter. The fingerprint scanner is pretty spotty however, only being able to scan my fingerprint 30% of the time (as far as I can remember). However, looking at the device again, the scanner was actually worn down, so I can't really say how would the scanner work if they were of mint quality.

Audio Quality

The Pixel 3 only comes with front-facing stereo speakers which sounded pretty decent, if somewhat boxy. However, as there's no headphone jack on the Pixel 3, good luck finding a dongle (the only dongles known to work with Pixel cellphones are the ones with an inbuilt DAC chip) for it if you either lost the one that came with it, or didn't get one (or find some USB-C headphone that works).

Display

The 5.5' 18.9 OLED display is fine enough (turned-off blacks are good). Since it's an OLED, burn in will eventually happen. As it's a 18:9 display, games with colored letterboxing (Fate/GO is a notorious example for this, back when it displays 16:9 content only) is a burn-in incident waiting to happen if you're playing it.

Bootloader unlocking

The bootloader unlocking process is foolproof & simple : plug device to PC, enable OEM unlocking & USB debugging in stock OS' developer options, boot to fastboot & fastboot oem unlock in fastboot. No connecting to internet (if you have the adb/fastboot tools ready).

Repairability

Disclaimer : I haven't opened up the Pixel 3 yet, so this section is based on the video linked below.

Repairability seems to be pretty similar to most normal glass-backed devices - beginning with the heating up & careful removal of the back glass.

iFixit's teardown | Wit Rigs' teardown | Hugh Jeffreys' Pixel 3 restoration video

Custom ROM & Kernel Availability (as of 19/12/2022)

When it comes to custom ROMs, there's PixelDust, Lineage, Calyx, Divest, & Graphene (with Calyx, Divest, & Graphene having fully relockable bootloader). However, with the debut of A13, Calyx finally supports the Pixel 3; Graphene drops support & DivestOS A12 doesn't boot on Pixel 3, making any prospects of a functional DivestOS on Pixel 3 questionable at best. Lineage & PixelDust remains untested as I no longer have access to the Pixel 3.

As for the custom kernels, there's Kirisakura, which was last updated in June 2022. However, I haven't tested them (and probably will never do at this point), so I can't say anything regarding its compatibility with locked bootloader.

For the recovery, official TWRP development seems restarted, with the last release being known to work with A11.

Other issues

Let's start out with the bad ones:

• No basic amenities like headphone jack & microSD, increasing the load on the sole USB-C port.

Then, the less bad ones

• There's only 1 SIM card slot
This should be a minor issue, but it's an issue nonetheless, since most of my devices have either dual SIM / SIM/microSD support (even though I don't generally use the SIM slot except for specific cases such as when I need it to be a "phone").

And, finally, the actually good ones:

• The Pixel 3 is actually small enough for 1-handed use.
• Support for input-only wireless charging.

Conclusion

The Pixel 3 is pretty much a forgettable phone if not for its sole gimmick in having full support for ROMs with relockable bootloader such as Calyx, Graphene, & Divest; though only CalyxOS is the one that can be considered relevant (Graphene drops support & Divest just doesn't boot). Personally, I'm not recommending it. Relockable bootloaders are great, but I'm not sure about having it if I have to sacrifice the headphone jack & microSD slot.

Index - cellphone

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