Here’s All You Need To Know About Google’s New Phone; Pixel

It’s been two weeks since we reported that Google would launch a phone on October 4 and yes they did and it was just the phone they unveiled. In this article though, we’ll talk about the Pixel phone.

First thing is the Pixel phone which was “made by Google”. Well technically the phone was made by HTC but designed by Google and this reminds me of Apple’s designed in California, assembled in China writing on the iPhone.

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Like Apple, the new Pixel comes in sizes hence the names Pixel and Pixel XL. The difference is just size and resolution. Let’s get to specifications of the new phones;

Display and Resolution: Pixel is a 5 inch 1080p display device while the XL is 5.5 inches with a Quad HD panel.

Processor: Latest Snapdragon 821 processor

Software:  Android 7.1 Nougat. Phones will get software and security updates as soon as they’re available, directly from Google. 

Camera: we should say that the camera is of high grade. Put better, the phone camera scored an 89 in DxOMark which the highest so far. Camera has a 12.3-megapixel resolution with a big 1.55-micron pixels and an f/2.0 aperture. They call it the best one ever and analysts seem to agree. The camera according to Google lets you take great photos even in low light or any other kind of light condition for that matter. Using the smartburst feature of the camera, you can catch actions by taking a quick sequence of pictures. This feature is now becoming a key one smartphone cameras with the difference being quality. The best shot is automatically selected for you using intelligence built into Pixel. This reminds us of Pix from Microsoft which was announced in July. Pix continuously takes up to 10 pictures and uses an intelligent algorithm to choose the best shots for you.

There also the Lens Blur feature which helps you to achieve shallow depth of field and bokeh effects, making your subject pop. You can capture dramatic landscapes or make faces glow with new exposure controls. There’s also video stabilization mechanisms built into it. Best camera ever? That’s what Google calls it.

Google Assistant: This is the first phone to get Google Assistant built in. Google assistant became popular when they announced their standalone messaging app, Allo . The assistant connects you to Google’s huge database of whatever you want using their search engine. Not just that, you can voice chat and ask the assistant to carry out just about any task for you. Just like double tapping the iPhone home button to initiate a conversation with Siri, you would to touch and hold the home button on the new Pixel phone to initiate a conversation with the Google Assistant. From searching out photos from the past to playing music on your phone, the Assistant is ready for you. It goes beyond basic stuff on the local machine, it can help you play any video on YouTube and also navigate to a location within a text message. So say someone asks you to meet them up somewhere, by saying something like “navigate there”, you will be directed to the meet up point. Let’s not forget reservations and other things it can do for you.  

Unlimited storage: Google will allow you to store images and videos for free in the cloud when you take full resolution images. This sounds like Google Photos which lets you backup and store unlimited, high-quality photos and videos, for free.

Battery and communications: You can use fast charging which gives you about 7 hours of power in 15 minutes of charging. There’s also a 24 hour phone support which means a tech support guy can see your screen thus helping you better. I don’t know if the phone comes with Allo pre-installed but it certainly comes with Duo’ the video calling app from Google. Expect to see other regular pre-installed apps like YouTube, Gmail and other Google stuff on it. On the battery front, the Pixel has a 2,770mAh battery while Pixel XL has a 3,450mAh battery.

Storage and memory: Both come with 4GB RAM, 32GB or 128GB of storage.

Connectivity: Bluetooth and USB-C

Chassis: Unlike the iPhone 7, Pixel comes with its 3.5mm headphone jack. The phone is made of aluminum.

Pricing: the 32 GB 5 inch Pixel costs $649/272,000 Naira and you can pre-order this from now. The 128GB version of the same Pixel cost $749/315,000 Naira. As for the Pixel XL, it costs $769/322,000 Naira for the 32GB and $869/364,000 Naira for the 128GB storage.

Phones come in black or silver colour with blue option available to Verizon customers in the US.