It is 7:30 in the morning. A gentle melody tingles my ears, marking the beginning of a brand new day. The tune goes silent as I reach for my phone. I pick it up, and a moment later – after no complaints from Face Unlock about my messy hair – my Pixel 4 XL is ready to serve me. I spend the next few minutes checking the weather, reading the news, and enjoying the auto-generated collage of pictures from my weekend trip out of town.

The Pixel 4 and 4 XL weren't among the internet's favorite phones of 2019. The bashing began as soon as Google announced them: small batteries, stingy storage options, ...