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At Google’s Event today, most of what was discussed was all over the internet before it happened. One of those pre-show leaks was the Pixel Phones.
And, as we reported a couple days ago, there are few surprises here.
We’ve seen renders, leaks, blurry photos and more leading up to today’s announcement. The leaks just a few days ago gave us the clearest looks yet at Google’s newest phones and those images and specs were a perfect match for today’s announcement.
Two Pixel Phones, both with the same sleek, polished, high-end hardware. So, for those who don’t want more screen, the devices are literally the exact same. This, if nothing else, is a bit of a fresh revolution in smartphones. Across the board, smaller usually means weaker. Not so with the Pixels.
There are a few other great features that Pixel brings to the table. For starters, the camera has already been ranked by DxOMark as the best camera on a smartphone. Ever. Better than the latest iPhone and Galaxy devices with a score of 89.
Next, the Pixels come with free Google Photos backup at FULL RESOLUTION. That means all your pics and videos (even 4K) are backed up for free. That is pretty awesome!
Also, Google’s new Assistant is baked right in. Similar to Google Now, the Assistant looks to be at the center of Google’s efforts now and in the future. These phones will have Assistant at your fingertips via voice command from any screen. As Assistant seems to be Google’s focus moving forward, this will likely develop into one of the phone’s best features.
Again, all these things are available on both sizes. Neither one is more fully-featured than the other.
Here’s a rundown on the other specs for both phones:
Size/Battery
5.0/5.5 FHD/QHD Display
143.8 x 69.5 x 7.3 ~ 8.5 mm or 154.7 x 75.7 x 7.3 ~ 8.5 mm
2770mAh/3450mAh Battery – Fast Charge 15 minutes for 7 hours use
Design
Metal unibody
Glass supervisor with Gorilla® Glass 4 coating
Memory
4GB LPDDR4 RAM
Display Characteristics
100% NTSC
100000:1, super contrast ratio
True black level
Full 24-bits depth or 16.77 million colors
Less than 40% brightness decrease at 30 degree viewing angle
Storage
32 or 128Gb
Processor
Snapdragon 821; MSM8996 pro AB Quad Core 2+2 Kryo 2.15GHz / 1.6GHz
Main Camera
12.3MP IMX378
1.55μm
PDAF + LDAF
f/2.0 Aperture
Front Camera
8MP IMX179
1.4µm
f/2.4 Aperture
Fixed focus
Video
1080p @ 30fps, 60fps, 120fps
720p @ 30fps, 60fps, 240fps
4K @ 30fps
Sensors
Proximity/ALS
Accelerometer / Gyrometer
Magnetometer
Pixel Imprint – Back-mounted fingerprint sensor for fast unlocking
Barometer
Hall sensor
Sensor Hub: CHRE V2 with GPS/Wi-Fi/BT
Advanced x-axis haptics for sharper / defined response
Charging
USB-C 18W adaptor with USB-PD
18W charging
Ports and Slots
USB Type-C
USB 3.0
3.5mm headset jack
Single SIM
Media
Single bottom-firing speaker
3 Mics
Noise Suppression
The price starts at $649 for the lowest storage, 5-inch model and goes up from there. Google is clearly not playing the affordable Nexus game any longer and, instead, going for the high-end, payment plan version.
It’s hard to know how this will all play out in the end. With plenty of marketing dollars at their disposal, Google could make a big dent here. They’ve even included a simple way to switch from iPhone as well, so the aim here is clear; Google wants to court high-end smartphone users.
Below is the latest spot for the Pixel phones and we’ll likely be seeing it and more as the weeks go on. What are your thoughts? Are you considering this new effort by Google or is the price simply too off-putting? We’d love to hear in the comments!
http://youtu.be/Rykmwn0SMWU
