Taking on Apple’s iPhone: A Quick Look at Google’s Pixel (AAPL, GOOG)

At last, Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) very own smartphones are here and will arrive in stores just in time for the holiday season. There are actually two Google Pixels: the Pixel has the regular 5-inch screen while the Pixel XL is a larger 5.5-inch screen smartphone. Both are identical apart from the battery size, screen resolution, and price. Prices start at $649 USD while the XL variant starts at $769 USD. Here are the things you need to know before buying a Google Pixel.

Performance & Display

Both Pixels are evidently faster than the Samsung Galaxy S7. They have Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, 4 GB RAM, and deep black AMOLED screens. And with 1440×2560 pixels ~534 poi pixel density, these high quality screens will go with Google Daydream VR which will be released at some point next month.

Camera

While Samsung is the leading handset amongst the smartphone camera pile with iPhone 7 not far behind, the Pixels need to play smart. According to TechCrunch, Google Pixels have impressive cameras. But, users are advised to see for themselves how they compete with other counterparts. Back camera is 12.3 megapixels with f2.0 lens and two-way focus: face-detect and laser auto-focus. The camera has two-tone flash as well, but without optical image stabilization.

Android Nougat

Google Pixel is the first Smartphone to carry Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box. While it is a minor update to Android 7.0, the app shortcuts are great feature that is comparable to that of Apple’s 3D touch.

Battery Life

Sporting a non-removable Li-Ion 3,450 mAh battery, the Pixel XL has impressive battery life. While charging time is much slower than other Smartphone’s, talk time with 3G in the background lasts up to 32 hours, which is great for heavy phone users. The Pixel has 2,770 mAh, slightly smaller than the XL variety.

Artificial Intelligence

Pixels come with Google’s first built-in artificial intelligence Google Assistant. As with the voice-activated Google Now, this AI runs on natural language commands. It can understand certain degrees in communication like follow-up questions and humorous rhetoric, it is able to sort through schedules and tasks, and launch third-party applications. Google Assistant still runs in beta though, so misunderstandings with follow-up questions and commands might occur.

Design

Google Pixel was fully designed by Google, but it is manufactured by HTC. While the Pixels look much like Apple’s iPhone, the reality is that the latest smart phone models, nearly all of them are designed with a combination of metal and glass. Considering this is Google’s first try in the mobile area, it could find its own unique aesthetic in time.

In terms of basic smart phone performance, Google Pixel is not far from other competitors. The past few years, techies seemed to have always compared Samsung versus Apple and vice-versa. The question now though is: can the search giant surpass Samsung’s hardware and services? Can Apple enhance iCloud and Siri before Google created what people really wanted? While the comparison game is on, one thing is certain, Google might finally have succeeded in creating a phone that would finally make users hesitate before buying an Apple or Samsung smart phones.

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