The Pixel 4 is such a disappointment phone. I really don’t know what the product planners over at that part of Google are smoking. This is how I would have designed it:

• Put in a bigger battery. I really didn’t think Google needed anyone to tell them this. They do all this work in Android to make it more power-efficient and all that jazz, which is great. But a bigger battery is such an easy and obvious thing to do to improve battery life, which is very mediocre in the Pixel 4. Even if it made the Pixel a millimeter thicker, that would be a good tradeoff if we got great battery life. Apple, Samsung, and Motorola show that bigger batteries work to significantly increase battery life.

• Add an ultra-wide angle lens. Another one that I can’t believe Google choked on. There’s one line in the Pixel 4 announcement event when they talk about this: “While wide angle can be fun, we think telephoto is more important.” Omg, I wanted to throwing something out the window when I heard this, it reeks of both arrogance and stupidity. Why can’t the Pixel have both a telephoto lens AND an ultra-wide angle lens? I can’t think of any actual reason. I really cannot. At least nothing that stopped Samsung, Apple, Huawei, LG, OnePlus, etc.

• Remove the radar chip… Not just a solution looking for a problem, it actually creates problems in other fundamental aspects of the phone, mainly design and battery life.

• …and trim the forehead. Once the radar chip is gone it should be pretty easy to reduce the size of the top bezel.

• 8GB of RAM. Just do it. The extra 2GB does not add that much to the cost (you’re charging enough for the phone already) and Google could have saved themselves from all the bad press.

• Provide larger storage options or an microSD card slot. Similar to the RAM thing. They could easily offer a 256GB variant for $100 more and make a bigger profit. Or else just a simple microSD card slot.

The weird thing is that many Android manufacturers have done all of the above. Bigger battery, 8GB of RAM, and more storage options are so easy to offer. And if Google can engineer a whole radar chip, I’m sure a 3rd camera would not have been any bother. Again, it just boggles the mind. It’s like they don’t want the Pixel 4 to be a success.

Having owned every other Pixel phone (except the 3a, which I think is a very good phone) I really wanted to like the Pixel 4. Maybe the Pixel 5 will set things right?