If you had asked me 2 weeks ago whether or not I was considering purchasing a Pixel 5, I would have said no. There was nothing wrong with my Pixel 4 XL, and nothing about the 5 has jumped out at me as being a 'must have' feature.

But I walked into a local tech retailer and they had a big display set up for them. I had a play around on the demo unit - and long story short I ended up buying one.

For context, my history with the Nexus/Pixel line: Nexus 4 > Nexus 5 > Nexus 6p > Pixel 2 XL > Pixel 4 XL > Pixel 5.

Here are my unbiased, unabashed thoughts after using the Pixel 5 for just under a week, which are largely going to be framed with comparison to the Pixel 4 XL.

BUILD QUALITY

I love the feel of the Pixel 4 XL. I'm also terrified of using it without a case because of the copious amounts of glass and scratch-prone aluminium that surrounds it. Even though I wanted to use it naked, I kept a case on it 90% of the time.

The size of the P5 feels great in the hand - its small, but not cripplingly so, and feels safe to use without a case. The texture of the 'bio-resin' finish is pretty unique, and to be honest I'm not 100% sure if I like it or not yet, but it's grippy, doesn't scratch, and from what I can tell, is easy to clean.

The flat glass on the front is a welcome addition, and everything about the handset seems to fit together well. There aren't any gaps, the buttons don't wobble - basically, no complaints.

DISPLAY

The P4XL's display is fantastic. Probably the best I've seen on any device so far. After a few days on the P5, I can say that the screen is good, but not as good as the P4XL's. While the displays are similar, the higher PPI on the P4XL screen makes it look that little bit sharper when compared side to side.

That said, the difference is only stark when compared side by side. For daily use it won't matter. The P5's display is not at all poor, it's just not as good as it could be.

The smooth display also works well. This feature was also on the P4XL and it worked well there too, so there's not much to say about this. It's there, it works, it's good.

All that having been said, the P5's display gets extra points because of the way that they've utilised the ENTIRE front of the phone, rather than having uneven bezels. Much of this is due to them doing away with Project Soli, but I could count on one hand the number of times I actually made use of that on the P4XL, so I'm not losing any sleep over it.

PERFORMANCE

This was the big question mark I had for the P5, given Google's choice to revert to the SD765G. I'm a medium to heavy user. I make a reasonable number of calls each day, I use FB/Reddit/Instagram/Snapchat, play the occasional game, and lean on my phone heavily for photos, and the editing of said photos.

In short, I can barely tell the difference between the P4XL and P5. The only area in which I've noticed a significant difference is the processing of photos, due to the P5 not having the Neural Core that was in the P4XL for dedicated image processing. We're not talking having to wait forever, but in my side by side tests, the P4XL would process in 1-2 seconds what the P5 takes sometimes 3-5 seconds to process.

Some apps take ever so slightly longer to load on the P5, and I've had to restart the phone once because something weird happened and everything froze up, but apart from that it's been smooth as butter.

It's worth noting that there have been a few moments where, under heavy use, the handset starts to get warm, where I never had any such issue on the P4XL.

BATTERY

So, full disclosure, battery life is never really a big deal to me. My home desk has a wireless charger, my work desk has a wireless charger, my car has a USB charger...basically I'm never far from power if needed. BUT...

Battery is where the P5 is beginning to shine. This thing just goes and goes and goes. I realise I'm still in the first week of use, so the performance will degrade slightly, but the P5 has a noticeably and significantly longer battery life than any other phone I've ever used.

I had it on my bedside table playing videos when I went to bed last night, and have been using it for work this morning. My SoT on this charge is currently sitting at 2hrs 45mins, and the battery is at 84%. It hasn't been on charge since around 8:30pm last night.

This is with everything set up pretty much as default. Smooth display on, auto brightness, all notifications on. Not much else to say, battery is great.

CAMERA

Here's the big one. To cut right to the chase, I think the P4XL's camera is better.

Obviously with the P5, you have the advantage of the wide angle lens, which you don't get and can't replicate on the P4XL, but then you miss out on the telephoto lens with the P5. For which one is better - it really depends on which lens you think you'll get more use out of.

The P5 camera is fine. For 95% of people it'll do the job and produce really great looking photos, especially in well-lit environments. However as soon as I took side by side photos with the P4XL, there was just a bit more clarity, sharpness and (in my opinion) better balance in the P4XL's photos.

Again though, this is largely going to be a case of whether or not you prefer a Telephoto or Wide-angle lens.

One last thing - if you're concerned about video, the P5 is the winner hands down. The P4XL's video is pretty average. The P5's 4k60 recording, and features like cinematic pan and the plethora of stabilisation options offer a much better video experience.

MISC

A few comments on things that didn't really fit into other categories.

• I much prefer the fingerprint sensor over face unlock. The sensor is in a spot that just makes so much sense, and it feels comfortable. It's also lightning quick every time, where sometimes the face unlock wouldn't recognise me.

• I'm not a huge fan of the vibrating-under-the-glass speaker setup. It works well enough, but I don't think it's as loud as the normal speaker on the P4XL.

• The size is really interesting. I was prepared to dislike the P5 immediately because I was used to a much bigger phone, but the reality is that due to the way they utilise the space on the screen (ie. no bezels), the screen itself isn't THAT much smaller, despite the phone itself having a much smaller footprint.

SO AM I KEEPING IT, OR GOING BACK TO THE P4XL?

Honestly, I don't know yet. The P5 has a lot going for it, despite the naysaying from much of the community and vocal critics.

It has drawbacks, sure, but for what you're paying, I'm not sure they're really going to be the end of the world - for transparency, I paid $990 AUD for the P5, and $650 AUD for the P4XL (I exploited a limited time offer one of our providers was offering on the P4 line in anticipating of the P5 release).

The more I use the P5, the more I am coming to like the form factor, the feel, and especially the display. Words cannot express how much zero bezels makes a difference.

I still have two and a half weeks before I need to make a final decision, but at this point if I had to choose, I'd probably sacrifice the few aspects of the P4XL that are superior in favour of the excellent design and overall feel of the P5.

Thanks for reading if you've made it this far - happy to answer any questions you might have!