Pixel, the new Google phone to battle the iPhone - Hungry Geeks

The battle of the smartphones just got even more intense, Google the makers of Android OS just officially made their own Smartphone. Named as Pixel, the new phones promotes the best of Google and hardware for a more immersive and personal smartphone experience.

What sets the Pixel apart from other phones?

Design

Pixel has two sizes, 5″ and 5.5″ and both have the same specifications and no declared special features for the bigger brother. It uses a combination of glass and aluminium that is seemless and said to be premium to hold. While the side of the Pixel are rounded eges giving a compliment to the 2.5D glass on the front and back, making it more ergonomic to hold. Interestingly at the back, the upper portion is made of glass to give it a slight bump and protect the camera (Yes, Google mentioned this against the bulking camera of the iPhone).

Available in three gorgeous colors, Quite Black, Very Silver, and the limited edition Really Blue. We personally love the blue color as it really stands out from what we have seen from flagship phones lately.

Built in-personal assistant

Now, Google didn’t name their assistant “Siri” or “Cortana” as you only need to say “Hey Google”. This is a feature long existent, but Google made it smarter by integrating it with your phone. You can now ask google to make request with context of what is on the screen, so you don’t have to say everything. You can now ask more complicated questions like “How many awards she won?”, “Is it traffic there?”, “Can you check if there are still tickets?” and so much more.

Camera

Pixel emerged on top of the DXO Mark benchmark for quality of camera, it attained a score of 89 as compared to the iPhone 7 and Galaxy S7 at 87. The camera is a 12.3mp shooter with 1.55μm pixels (Bigger pixel size for better night shots) and f/2.0 aperture. Additionally it has HDR+ and 4K video, all can be stored UNLIMITED via google cloud for free. (Yes, no more full storage there).

You can check out the full review here of DXO to compare for yourself.

Specifications good for years

The Google Pixel is definitely a top notch contender for years to come, with specifications of Snapdragon 821 processor, 4GB RAM, best OS compatibility / updates we might just have a winner with the Pixel.

Google Pixel XL – 5.0″ version

Processor – 2.15GHz quad-core Snapdragon 821 processor
RAM – 4GB of RAM
Display – 5-inch FHD AMOLED display, Corning Gorilla Glass 4, 1920 x 1080 resolution
Storage – 32GB or 128GB of storage
Rear Camera – 12.3-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, 1.55um sensor size, OIS, Dual-LED flash
Front Camera – 8MP
Telecom Conenctivity – 3G, LTE with Voice over LTE
Interface – WiFi AC, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS with A-GPS, USB Type-C, 0.02 sec fingerprint scanner
2770mAh battery with fast charging (7 hours in 15 mins)
Android 7.1 Nougat

Google Pixel XL

Processor – 2.15GHz quad-core Snapdragon 821 processor
RAM – 4GB
Display – 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED display, Gorilla Glass 4, 2,560 x 1,440 resolution
32GB/128GB of storage
Rear Camera – 12.3-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, 1.55um sensor size, OIS, Dual LED flash
Front Camera – 8MP
Telecom Connectivity – 3G, LTE with Voice over LTE
Interface – WiFi AC, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS with A-GPS, USB Type-C, 0.02 sec fingerprint scanner
3450mAh battery with fast charging (7 hours in 15 mins)
Android 7.1 Nougat

VR For the skin

Finally a VR device that feels like wearing clothes, Google really invested on their hardware division to provide a more humanized experience. The Google VR is made of fabric rather than a plastic body, this gives you a more pleasant experience to use the VR and even compatible when wearing glasses.

Their VR is promised to be more interactive, lighter by 30% and Google Daydream ready. Google Daydream is set to launch this November 2016 with full compatibility to Netflix, Youtube, Google Photos, Google Play and other more content partners. And yes, you need the Pixel to experience it ?

Aside from what are mentioned above, Google ensures fast updates with the pixel on the background so you don’t have to wait for long processing time when updating the phone. It also comes pre-installed with Google Duo for fast video call, and an easy transfer system when you want to switch to Pixel coming from iOS.

Pricing

Here are the pricing of the Pixel in the US, just note that the conversion is made directly and we still have to know local taxes, pricing, margins before having a local SRP. And, we highly doubt this will be available in the Philippines soon. (We will explain soon.)

Pixel 32GB – $649 | Php31.3k
Pixel 128GB – $749 | Php36.1k
Pixel XL 32GB – $769 | Php37.1k
Pixel XL 128GB – $869 | Php41.9k

The pricing of the Pixel is definitely close to the iPhone but still cheaper when converted, we just hope that this phone will really get here in the Philippines OFFICIALLY to let customers experience the new Google phones.

You can check out the product video here