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This time around, we’re pitting the OnePlus 7T vs Google Pixel 4 XL. These two are brand new smartphones, as both have been announced within the last month. The OnePlus 7T is a considerably more affordable device, and yet many would say it’s not inferior to the Pixel 4 XL. Which makes this quite an interesting comparison.
We’ve already compared the OnePlus 7T Pro vs Google Pixel 4 XL, by the way. If you’d like to check that out, click here. The OnePlus 7T does have a lot of similarities to the OnePlus 7T Pro, but this is a different beast entirely.
We’ll compare the two phones across a number of categories, as per usual. We’ll kick things off with specs, and move to design, display, performance, battery, cameras, and audio afterwards. That’s pretty much it, let’s kick off the OnePlus 7T vs Pixel 4 XL comparison.
OnePlus 7T vs Google Pixel 4 XL: Specs
| OnePlus 7T | Google Pixel 4 XL | |
| Screen size | 6.55-inch fullHD+ Fluid AMOLED display (90Hz) | 6.3-inch QHD+ Smooth Display (flexible OLED, 90Hz) |
| Screen resolution | 2400 x 1080 | 3040 x 1440 |
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ | Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 |
| RAM | 8GB | 6GB |
| Storage | 128GB/256GB; Non-Expandable | 64GB/128GB; Non-Expandable |
| Rear cameras | 48MP (0.8um pixel size, f/1.6 aperture, PDAF, OIS, EIS, Laser AF) 12MP (f/2.2 aperture, 1.0um pixel size, PDAF, 2x optical zoom telephoto) 16MP (f/2.2 aperture, 17mm lens, ultrawide) |
12.2MP (1.4um pixel size, f/1.7 aperture, 77-degree angle lens, PDAF, OIS, EIS) 16MP (1.0um pixel size, f/2.4 aperture, 52-degree angle lens, OIS, EIS, PDAF) |
| Front cameras | 16MP (f/2/0 aperture, 25mm lens, 1.0um pixel size) | 8MP (1.22um pixel size, f/2.0 aperture, 90-degree angle lens, fixed focus) |
| Battery | 3,700mAh, Non-Removable, 30W Fast Battery Charging | 3,700mAh, Non-Removable, 18W Fast Battery Charging (USB-PD 2.0), Qi wireless charging |
| Dimensions | 160.9 x 74.4 x 8.1mm | 160.4 x 75.1 x 8.2mm |
| Weight | 190 grams | 193 grams |
| Connectivity | LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C | LTE, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C |
| Security | In-display fingerprint scanner (optical) | IR-based facial scanning, Titan M module |
| OS | Android 10 OxygenOS 10 |
Android 10 |
| Price | $599 | $899 (64GB) / $999 (128GB) |
| Buy | OnePlus | Google / Amazon |
OnePlus 7T vs Google Pixel 4 XL: Design
Both of these phones are made out of metal and glass, and yet they both look and feel completely different. The OnePlus 7T is more slippery than the Pixel 4 XL, quite a bit more, in fact. It is a lot curvier than Google’s flagship. The Pixel 4 XL has sharper edges, and it does feel bulkier, even though the difference between them is only 3 grams.
The OnePlus 7T has thinner bezels overall, but it comes with a tiny waterdrop notch. The Pixel 4 XL does not have a display notch or hole, but it has a rather tall ‘forehead’. All the other bezels are extremely thin on both phones. Both devices also include rounded display corners, as most modern phones do.
The back side is considerably curvier on the OnePlus 7T. The OnePlus 7T comes with a round camera module on the back, which contains three cameras. The Pixel 4 XL’s cameras are placed in the top-left corner, and you’ll notice two cameras in there. Both rear camera setups protrude quite a bit.
Company logos are placed on the back of each device. The OnePlus 7T includes the power / lock key and an alert slider on the left, while its volume up and down buttons are on the left. All the physical buttons are placed on the right-hand side of the Pixel 4 XL, the volume up, down, and power / lock key.
It’s all the matter of preference here. Both phones look okay, but that notch and that huge forehead kind of have an impact on overall design. The OnePlus 7T looks better in our opinion, but the Pixel 4 XL is less slippery. It all depends on what you’re looking for.
Winner: Tie
OnePlus 7T vs Google Pixel 4 XL: Display
Both of these devices include fairly large displays. The OnePlus 7T comes with a 6.55-inch panel, while the Pixel 4 XL includes a 6.3-inch display. The OnePlus 7T offers a 20:9 display aspect ratio, so its display is taller than the Pixel 4 XL’s (19:9).
The Pixel 4 XL’s display is sharper than the OnePlus 7T’s, but that is really not noticeable, at all. OnePlus did a great job with the OnePlus 7T’s display, as it reduced blue light emission by over 40 percent. That display crushes most displays out there in technical comparisons, in most categories, at the very least, even those that are sharper.
Both of these displays offer high refresh rates. Both can refresh up to 90Hz, though the OnePlus 7T’s does a better job at that. The Pixel 4 XL’s display refresh rate is quite limited at the moment, it tends to revert to 60Hz more often than not (at the time of writing this article). The OnePlus 7T’s display also supports HDR10+ content, while the Pixel 4 XL’s is limited to HDR 10. Both displays are flat as well, by the way.
We’ll call this one a tie. The Pixel 4 XL’s panel is sharper, but that is not really noticeable. The OnePlus 7T does a better job with display refresh rate at the moment, while it also supports HDR10+ content.
Winner: Tie
OnePlus 7T vs Google Pixel 4 XL: Performance
These two phones are amongst the fastest devices in the market at the moment. Both offer fairly clean software based on Android 10, and quite powerful hardware. The OnePlus 7T does come with more RAM, though, and a bit more powerful SoC (Snapdragon 855 Plus vs Snapdragon 855).
That’s not all, though. The OnePlus 7T also includes UFS 3.0 flash storage, while the Pixel 4 XL is limited to UFS 2.1. That is not something you’ll notice in day-to-day usage, but you may notice if you copy a lot of files. UFS 3.0 also makes the OnePlus 7T more future-proof than the Pixel 4 XL, at least as far as performance is concerned.
Still, in day-to-day tasks, these two phones are equally as fast. They both also offer those high refresh rate displays, which only help them look blazing fast. We won’t pick a winner here, they’re both truly great performers, though the OnePlus 7T has more to offer in terms of hardware.
Winner: Tie
OnePlus 7T vs Google Pixel 4 XL: Battery
So, neither of these two phones have particularly large batteries. Despite that, they’re both really good when it comes to battery life. During our review process with both phones, we were able to get over the 6-hour screen-on-time mark without a problem. That goes for basically every day of our review process. Your mileage may vary, though.
Such battery life will be sufficient for the vast majority of people, that’s for sure. The OnePlus 7T Pro does offer better battery life than the OnePlus 7T, though, in case you were wondering. In case you end up having to charge either of these two phones during your day, they both offer fast charging.
The OnePlus 7T’s fast charging is faster, though. The phone supports 30W Warp Charge fast wired charging. The Pixel 4 XL is limited ot 18W fast wired charging. The Pixel 4 XL does support fast wireless charging as well, though, while the OnePlus 7T does not have that feature at all.
They are pretty similar in terms of battery life as well, and even their charging balances out in the ned. So we’ll end this category in a tie as well.
Winner: Tie
OnePlus 7T vs Google Pixel 4 XL: Cameras
OnePlus came a long way when it comes to cameras. The OnePlus 7T does offer a really compelling camera experience, but it cannot match up to the Pixel 4 XL. The OnePlus 7T does have one advantage over the Pixel 4 XL, and that is the ultrawide camera on the back. The Pixel 4 XL comes with the main camera, and a telephoto one, but not an ultrawide one.
That ultrawide camera gives you some more shooting options, and it’s actually really good in terms of quality. It even does a good job in low light, which is something we did not expect. It’s not as good as the main camera, but it’s still good enough. Still, neither of those two cameras can match up to the Pixel 4 XL’s main sensor in low light.
The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL are probably the best camera phones for low light conditions at the moment. They manage to capture plenty of details, while allowing lots of light into a shot. They also do a good job balancing out images, even though such pictures always look a tad unrealistic. That’s not a bad thing, though, at least not for the vast majority of people. Images from the OnePlus 7T will end up darker, and will, in most cases, offer less detail, but they’re still really good.
We’ve noticed that the Pixel 4 XL picks up more detail in regular lighting conditions, while pictures from its camera end up being a bit more dramatic when extreme lighting conditions are in play. The Pixel 4 XL’s front-facing camera also does a better job than the OnePlus 7T’s, but the 7T’s selfie camera is not bad at al. All in all, the Pixel 4 XL is the winner here.
Winner: Google Pixel 4 XL
OnePlus 7T vs Google Pixel 4 XL: Audio
Neither of these two devices has a 3.5mm headphone jack. That is a shame, but they both do a great job of providing sound via Type-C ports. All you need is a dongle, or simply get a pair of good Bluetooth headphones. They both offer great sound via headphones, crisp and well-balanced. The OnePlus 7T is a bit more bassy, but that’s pretty much the only major change that we’ve noticed.
Both phones offer stereo speakers as well. The main speaker sits at the bottom, on both devices. The secondary is placed above the display. Stereo speakers on both phones are plenty loud, and offer rich sound. Distortion is minimal at high volume levels, but that’s pretty much the only complaint that we have. For smartphones speakers, they both do a great job. They’re not the best we’ve seen, but are definitely one of the best in the market at the moment.
Winner: Tie
The overall winner
| OnePlus 7T | Google Pixel 4 XL | |
| Design | ✓ | ✓ |
| Display | ✓ | ✓ |
| Performance | ✓ | ✓ |
| Battery | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cameras | ✓ | |
| Audio | ✓ | ✓ |
As you can see, these two phones are pretty even. They’re both great in pretty much every way, though the Pixel 4 XL has an advantage in the camera department. The OnePlus 7T is considerably more affordable, though. You can purchase that device for only $599 in the US, while the Pixel 4 XL starts at $899. Truth be said, we don’t think that price difference is worth it, at least not for the vast majority of you.
If you like the Pixel 4 XL’s camera performance a lot, and that is the main reason for you to get the phone, then get the Pixel 4 XL. If not, then the OnePlus 7T is probably a better choice, as you’ll save a lot of cash, and get an equally great phone. We’ll give the win to the Pixel 4 XL simply because of its camera, but the phones are almost even across the board.
Winner: Google Pixel 4 XL