Google Pixel 5 (Refurbished) (Open Box)

Great phone. Really enjoying my first week with it. PROS: All the pros are fairly well documented online so I won't dwell too much on them. Loving the 90hz refresh, the comfortable size, the small bezels, the 5G, the pure Android experience, the fast wireless charging, the super quick fingerprint scanner, and the excellent battery life. NON-ISSUES (FOR ME): I had a few concerns going in which turned out to be non-issues for me: 1) Gap between screen and body: There were many reports online of an inconsistent gap between the screen and aluminum body of the phone, with an especially large gap near the corner with the camera. Maybe I got lucky, but did not have this issue. There's a VERY small gap on my phone, but it's consistent all the way around, appears to be by design, and doesn't bother me at all. 2) Speakers: I'm coming from a Pixel 2 which has stereo front firing speakers. While I do notice the lack of stereo sound on the Pixel 5, I found the overall volume and clarity of the Pixel 5 to be better actually. Does it compete with the best phones out there in terms of sound? Probably not. But for my purposes it is more than adequate. I also found the behind-screen speaker for phone calls to be fine. It's a little weird for the whole phone to vibrate when someone's talking, but I've already gotten used to it. 3) Old camera hardware: Coming from a Pixel 2 which takes good photos, the Pixel 5 is incrementally better. It's not going to compete with an iPhone 12 Pro in all departments, but it's still good even though the main camera hardware is a couple years old. Wide-angle is nice to have. 4) Midrange processor: I really haven't noticed this being an issue yet. Granted, I don't do a ton of photo processing or gaming on the phone. But for everyday tasks it's totally fine. Definitely faster and snappier than my Pixel 2, and the 90hz makes it all look buttery smooth. 5) Lack of squeeze-for-assistant: I'm already getting used to swiping up from the corner. Not really missing this feature as much as I thought I would. MINOR CONS: 1) The bio-resin on edges near the screen seems a little rough, and the cutout for the USB-C port could have been rounded a bit so the edge wasn't so "sharp". Neither seem like defects, but I used to use my pinky as a ledge to sit the phone on, and now that's a little uncomfortable. Just an adjustment I'll need to make. I don't use a case, so if you're planning on using one this issue will be moot for you. 2) Screen viewing angle seems slightly narrow. In normal use this is not an issue, but it it's not quite as good as an iPhone XS or 11. 3) No telephoto. I've never had one so I don't know what I'm missing. I think I have more use for wide-angle so it's an ok tradeoff for me, but it would have been nice to have telephoto too. If you have a Pixel 4 and use the telephoto a lot, this might not be the upgrade path for you. 4) This is more of an Android 11/app developer issue, but a lot of apps, including some Google apps like Chrome, don't do a good job of showing off the small uniform bezels on the Pixel 5. You still end up with black bars at the top and bottom in most cases behind the notification area at the top and the gesture line at the bottom. They should really be transparent, especially at the bottom. Maybe that'll improve with time, but it's hard to actually appreciate the nice bezels on the phone on anything but the home screen. All in all, this is a 5-star phone for me. Looks great, and it's well rounded. Recommended.