Earlier this year, I decided to conduct a little experiment.

I'd been using Google's Pixel 2 XL since the fall of 2017, and was, for the most part, a fan. The camera held its own against Apple's iPhones, and even excelled in low-light photography, and I loved being able to squeeze the sides of the phone to summon Google Assistant, which seemed more useful to me than Apple's Siri. Google also just has a knack for clean, simple software, and its Pixels avoided the tackiness and bloat that often afflicts other Android phones.

Still, it had been a while since I spent any quality time with Samsung's Galaxy phones, which are far more popular as high-end iPhone alternatives. As documented in Issue #23, I bought a used Galaxy Note9 in mint condition from a site called Swappa for $600. The plan was to test it over several months to see whether I preferred it to the Google Pixel experience.

I wouldn't say it went well. Although I loved Samsung's hardware—the big and beautiful screen, the stylus for more accurate gesture typing, the slick blue exterior—the software was grating. Samsung constantly implores you to try its various bells and whistles, and getting the phone to a point where I was comfortable using it took a lot of work. Worst of all, the Note9's camera seemed incapable of capturing motion indoors without fiddling with the phone's "Pro" mode. Many of these issues persisted with Samsung's Galaxy Note 10+, which I later traded up to on a whim, and even with a much newer phone, going back to the Pixel 2 XL was a breath of fresh air.

All of which is an extremely roundabout way of saying that I wish the new Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL were better phones. Compared to the iPhone, there are a lot of things I prefer about Android, including its more efficient notification system and its superior integration with Google services, and Pixel phones are the best way to experience those advantages. Still, everything I've read and heard about the Pixel 4 since launch has knocked the wind out of what should have been one of this year's best phones.

The Pixel 4 does have some impressive features. It's the first phone from Google with a dual-lens camera, allowing for 2X optical zoom, and Google's AI trickery allows up to 8X zoom without a huge drop in sharpness. When you're taking pictures, the Pixel 4 can auto-focus on the people you photograph most, and it provides handy shadow and highlight sliders you can adjust before taking a shot. The phone also includes a much faster version of Google Assistant and a new voice recorder app that can transcribe speech-to-text in real time, even without an internet connection.

Unfortunately, the Pixel 4's gotchas and caveats have been piling up ever since Google announced the new phones. A new face unlock feature replaces the rear fingerprint reader on previous Pixels, but it struggles with makeup and can unlock the phone even if users' eyes are closed. (Google says it'll fix the latter issue with a software update.) The display has a 90 Hz refresh rate, but it only works when brightness is above 75%. (Workarounds exist, but can harm battery life.) Full-resolution Google Photos backups are no longer included, so you'll have to pay for Google Drive storage to avoid having your photos compressed. Even the Pixel 3's wide-angle selfie cam–—a genuinely useful everyday feature–—is gone in the Pixel 4.

Worst of all, reviewers have reported weak battery life, especially on the smaller Pixel 4. Even if you can deal with the Pixel 4's other flaws, a phone that struggles to last the day is pretty much a dealbreaker.

There is a silver lining here: Now that the Pixel 4 has arrived, prices are dropping older models. Google itself is now selling last year's Pixel 3 for $500, which is $300 less than the new version, and you can get an Amazon-renewed model for just $360 unlocked. I imagine we'll start seeing the budget Pixel 3A drop below $300 before long. Both phones will be getting the Pixel 4's nighttime photography improvements and faster Google Assistant in a software update, so you'll get some of the Pixel 4's biggest benefits without the extreme compromises.

What you won't get, however, is a top-of-the-line phone whose hardware can genuinely compete with Apple's latest iPhones. For that, you'll have to cast your lot with Samsung–—or wait another year.
 

For years, I've been a dual-monitor desktop PC user. By having two monitors side-by-side, I can easily work on a document while referencing web pages, comfortably move files between separate windows, and keep an eye on Slack or Twitter without losing precious space on my main monitor.

It's always a bit jarring, then, when I have to use a laptop and I'm back to working on a single measly screen. Fortunately, there are several ways to add a second screen to your laptop (or to a desktop) if you have a tablet on hand.

In Apple's latest MacOS Catalina update, this is now a built-in feature called Sidecar. Just click the AirPlay icon in your Mac’s menu bar, then select your iPad from the list of connection options. You can use the second screen wirelessly, or plug the iPad into your Mac to keep it charged.

If you're holding off on upgrading to Catalina, or you have some other combination of devices besides a Mac and an iPad, Duet Display is a nice alternative. Install the software on a Mac or Windows PC first, then download either the iPad or Android app to use as a second screen. The only downside is that you have to pay for the apps on the tablet side. (They're currently $10 apiece.)

For a free alternative, check out Spacedesk, which also works with Mac and Windows on the PC side, and either an iPad or Android tablet for your second screen. Compared to Duet, performance isn't as smooth or responsive, and I had to fiddle with Windows' display settings to get a comfortable resolution on the second screen, but the current beta software is free to use.
 

More Google gear: In addition to the new Pixels 4, Google has released some new smart home gear under its Nest brand. The Nest Mini is a straightforward upgrade to the Google Home Mini smart speaker, with bigger bass response and an extra microphone to better-understand voice commands. It also restores the ability to tap the top of the speaker to invoke Google Assistant or pause music playback. (The old Home Mini had an apparently unfixable hardware bug that allowed it to perpetually upload audio, so Google disabled the tap feature entirely.) The Nest Mini costs $49, but don't be surprised if it's often on sale for less, just like the Google Home Mini was.

Google also has a new router called the Nest Wifi. It consists of a base station (sold alone for $169), plus satellite access points that extend coverage throughout the house and double as Google Assistant speakers. The base router and one access point sell for $269, while a router and two access points cost $349. (For my nerdier readers: No, Google's not supporting the new Wi-Fi 6 standard, saying it would make the product much more expensive.)

More important than the router itself, I think, is the fact that Google is releasing it in the first place. The original Google Wi-Fi mesh router system came out in late 2016, right after the company had established a new hardware team, and it was never clear how committed the new leadership was to the router business. (A previous effort, called OnHub, had come out a year earlier and was quickly forgotten.) The new Nest Wifi builds upon what Google had built with its previous mesh router system, and suggests that the company is in the Wi-Fi business for the long haul.

Facebook's next look: Facebook has reportedly started rolling out the major website redesign (pictured below) that it announced back in April. Android Police reports that users have been receiving invites to try the redesign in beta, and that it includes a dark mode toggle that gives the site a black background. The redesign's main features are bigger text, a new navigation bar for getting around the site, and easier access to Groups, which Facebook is now pushing heavily. Facebook still hasn't officially announced the rollout, so it may not reach everyone for a while yet, but if you see a pop-up asking you to "Try Facebook Beta," you'll know what to expect.
 

Pandora's full song credits: I love this idea from Pandora to include full song credits for millions of streaming music tracks on its desktop and web apps. That means you'll be able to see the names of every band member, along with writers, producers, and additional performers. As Pandora puts it, the transition from physical to digital music means we often don't see those credits, which used to appear in an album's liner notes. It's unclear whether Pandora also plans to bring credits to its mobile and TV apps, but I hope the company finds a way to make room.

The limits of Google's auto-delete tools: Over at Fast Company, I wrote about how Google's new auto-delete tools are don't do much to improve privacy. While Google now allows you to automatically purge old data on your web activity, location history, and YouTube history (all through separate sections on this page), this applies to data that's more than three months old. At that point, advertisers have already extracted most of the value, and if you click on ad while searching on Google, that advertiser will begin tracking you on its own, regardless of what Google itself retains.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't bother at all with Google's auto-delete tools. Deleting old data is still a fine idea for a variety of reasons—BoingBoing had a good rebuttal to my story, expanding on that point—and a three-month window is better than nothing. But as Google makes big public pronouncements about how it's putting you in control of your data, keep in mind that it could be doing a lot more by offering shorter retention windows. As it stands, the company is trying to reap all the PR rewards without any of the sacrifice.
 

In keeping with this issue's Google theme, you can now get a free Google Home Mini speaker with a paid Spotify subscription, even if you're already a subscriber. This brings the price of a Google Home Mini to $10, down from a list price of $50 and a typical sale price of $25 to $30.

To get the deal, head to Spotify's Individual or Family plan pages, then click the "Get your Google Home Mini" link. (If you don't already have a Spotify subscription, you'll have to sign up first.)

Some caveats: Spotify offered a similar deal last year for family plan subscribers, and if you redeemed that offer, you won't qualify for this one. And if you have a student discount or are subscribed through an outside billing system, such as iTunes, no free speaker for you.

For folks who are more into Alexa than Google Assistant, you can also get an Echo Dot speaker for $1 with a month of Amazon's Music Unlimited service, bringing the total price to $9 for Prime members. This deal, however, is only available for new subscribers.

In both cases, make sure to cancel service (relevant links for Spotify and Amazon Music Unlimited) after redeeming the offer, unless you want to keep paying for streaming music, that is.
 

Did you know that in addition to being easier on the eyes, the dark mode setting on your phone can also save battery life? If your phone uses OLED display tech, black backgrounds will consume less power because they allow more pixels to stay unlit. Recent tests by Phonebuff found that running dark mode on an iPhone X can extend battery life by 30%.

iPhones with OLED displays include the iPhone X, iPhone XS, and iPhone 11 Pro. (The iPhone XR and 11 use LCD displays, whose battery life is unaffected by dark mode.) Android phones with OLEDs include all recent Galaxy S and Galaxy Note phones and the Pixels 2 through 4.

To enable dark mode on an iPhone, head to Settings > Display & Brightness, then select Dark. On Android phones, you'll find dark mode under Settings > Display. The option may be called "Night Mode" on Samsung phones, and you may have to select an "Advanced" drop-down menu option on some devices.