Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL Are Now Official

Google has officially taken the wraps off of their worst kept secret to date: the Pixel and Pixel XL. The two new phones are the first phones that’s designed and built by Google. Yup, you heard that right – Google is now officially a hardware manufacturer, much like another American company, Apple.

Google Pixel

2.15GHz quad-core Snapdragon 821 processor
4GB of RAM
5-inch full HD AMOLED display, Gorilla Glass 4, 1920 x 1080 resolution
32GB/128GB of storage
12.3-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, 1.55um sensor size, OIS, flash
8-megapixel front camera
3G, LTE
WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, USB Type-C, fingerprint scanner
2770mAh battery with fast charging
Android 7.1

Google Pixel XL

2.15GHz quad-core Snapdragon 821 processor
4GB of RAM
5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED display, Gorilla Glass 4, 2,560 x 1,440 resolution
32GB/128GB of storage
12.3-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, 1.55um sensor size, OIS, flash
8-megapixel front camera
3G, LTE
WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, USB Type-C, fingerprint scanner
3450mAh battery with fast charging
Android 7.1

Google says that the two phones are the first phones that they’ve designed and built, which is a first for the company. While Google collabs with hardware manufacturers aren’t new via their Nexus program, they’ve generally allowed the OEM manufacturer to retain branding for their device. Pixel is different. While it’s acknowledged that the phones are manufactured by HTC, there’s zero HTC branding on the devices at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rykmwn0SMWU

The leaks for the two devices are spot on, so we’re not going to go too in-depth about that here. What we are going to talk about the why – why make their own phones?

From what we can gather, Google’s ultimate vision is empowering their AI efforts through several of their homegrown apps, most notably Google Assistant. Since Pixel is thoroughly Google inside and out, the company is able to project their software ambitions far beyond the usual pure Android experience on Nexus devices.

To differentiate the phones from the ones offered by their other OEM partners, Google is putting several of their AI-driven projects into the phones ahead of everyone else. Google’s extremely smart (and slightly creepy) Assistant can be summoned in most messaging apps to help you plan your day, and offers contextual information to speed up reservations, schedule meetings, dinners, etc.

To sweeten the deal, Google’s also now offering full, unlimited storage for their Pixel smartphones as far as photos are concerned. Speaking of cameras, both phones sport a 12.3-megapixel rear camera that Google says managed to get the highest DxOMark score ever, at 89. If you’re curious, the Iphone 7/7S has a score of 86.

Both phones charge over USB Type-C, and has fast charging installed. Google says that the new phones can charge 7 hours worth of battery in just 15-minutes, which is awesome for people who regularly forget to top up their phones before going to bed.

Prices for the Pixel phones start at $649, or Php 31.3K.