Pixel 3 XL serves up Google’s latest goods on a larger screen

As the big brother of the Pixel 3, the Pixel 3 XL features a 6.3-inch display, a larger battery capacity and a higher price tag.

Measuring 6.2x3x.03 inches (158x76.7x7.9 millimeters) and weighing in at 6.5 oz. (184 grams), the Pixel 3 XL is definitely a big-screen phone, but it's lighter than the iPhone XS Max and Note 9.

You can see the size difference when the 5.5-inch Pixel 3 (left) is placed side-by-side with the 3 XL. The 3 XL's notch is also a distinguishing mark of the phone.

A closer look at the phone's notch.

Though lightweight, the Pixel 3 XL's expansive screen makes it a tough fit inside jean pockets.

The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 845 chipset and a 3,430mAh battery.

Compared to its Pixel 2 XL predecessor (left), the current Pixel has a larger screen and smaller bezels.

Another look at the Pixel 2 XL and 3 XL.

The Pixel 3 has an OLED screen with a 2,960x1,440-pixel resolution and a 522 ppi.

A side look at the phone.

The Pixel 3 XL features a 12.2-megapixel camera.

The phone takes impressive low-light photos, records steady video and pulls off solid portrait photos.

For Portrait photos, there are new options to tweak the blurriness and focus of these portraits after you fire the shutter.

On the front are two 8-megapixel cameras. With the second wide-angle camera, you can include more content in each frame.

The Pixel 3 XL runs Android 9.0 right out of the box and includes Google's search and voice assistant platform, Assistant.

With Android 9.0, the Pixel 3 XL implements gesture navigation. For recent apps you'll need to flick up at the bottom of the screen and slide apps upward to quit.

If you hate the phone's notch, Google is working on an update to allow users to blacken the sides of the screen and "hide" the notch, similar to how you can do it on the LG G7 and Huawei P20.

New to the Pixel line (but not to older Google phones like the Nexus 5) is wireless charging.

Instead of plugging in a cord, the phone can juice up on any Qi-compatible charging mat. Google's selling its own Pixel Stand wireless charger too.

The Pixel 3 is rated IPX8, meaning it can survive in about 3 feet underwater (1 meter) for 30 minutes.    

In my dunk tests, the phone kept on ticking after I placed it in a 3-gallon bucket for 28 minutes, twice.

Though Google still left off the headphone jack, the company did include wired USB Type-C earbuds with the Pixel 3 XL for the first time ever.

Take a look at a few more shots of the Pixel 3 XL.

Lab results for continuous video playback on Airplane mode for the Pixel 3 XL yielded an average of 16 hours and 49 minutes. That's longer than the Pixel 3's 14-hour run time, and another reason beyond screen size to pay up for the XL.

The phone starts at $899, £869 and AU$1,349 for the 64GB model and costs $999, £969 and AU$1,499 for the 128GB variant.

The Pixel 3 XL isn't the only excellent big-screen phone available though. The Galaxy Note 9 (left) features an impressively longer battery life, an embedded S Pen stylus, a headphone jack and expandable memory. The iPhone XS Max (right) has FaceID for unlocking the screen and digital payments, and the 256GB model of the iPhone XS Max costs comparably "cheaper" than the Pixel 3 XL in terms of storage.

Though the Pixel 3 XL may not be as premium-looking as the iPhone XS Max or Galaxy Note 9, its top-notch camera and the extra software perks from Google make it one of the best phones available.

US residents can preorder the phones now with shipping starting on Oct. 17. People in the UK and Australia can preorder now with phones arriving Nov. 1. More markets will be added Nov. 1.