I’ve always had a weird love/hate thing with the Pixel lineup. The software and that computational photography are consistently great, but for years it felt like Google was fighting an identity crisis—trying to be a “jack of all trades” and ending up kind of average in places where it needed to be excellent. In this video, I talk about why I think Google finally figured out what most people actually want, and why the Pixel 5 is the first time in a while that the whole package feels nailed. After about three weeks, day-to-day performance is honestly a non-issue for me. Even with the Snapdragon 765G, 8GB of RAM, and my 90Hz forced on from day one, it just breezes through normal use and gaming without real lag. I also love that Google went back to its roots: the rear-mounted fingerprint reader is back (still the best placement, period), the design is clean with a hole-punch display, and the textured coating over the aluminum makes it grippy while still giving you wireless and reverse wireless charging. Camera-wise, it’s classic Pixel: still photos are fantastic, Night Sight is now automatic, and it’s one of the best point-and-shoot options out there. Video is improved with 4K60 and better stabilization features like Cinematic Pan, but I’m still calling it—Samsung and Apple are ahead for video. The biggest win though? Battery. With the bigger 4080mAh cell and fewer power-hungry sensors, I was easily getting a full day with some left over, and that’s Google finally learning from past hardware mistakes.