Google Pixel preview: Arise my Pixel apprentice

The Nexus is no more as Pixel swings into the Android zeitgeist, under the banner of “Made By Google”.

It’s a change of message from the company behind Android. No longer is the Nexus a showcase device pitched at developers and built with a partner: it’s now the Pixel and it’s aimed at you, the consumer. That means fewer compromises, perhaps, but it also means the Pixel isn’t the bargain the Nexus once was. Priced at £599, the Pixel lands firmly in flagship territory.

As there were with the 2015 Nexus handsets, you have the choice of two Pixels. The first, previewed here, is the smaller and more affordable device, loosely a replacement for the Nexus 5X. 

To learn more about the Google Pixel XL, the larger device, be sure to head over to our preview right here.

• Google Pixel and Pixel XL: Release date, specs and everything you need to know
• Google Nexus vs Google Pixel: What’s the difference?

Google Pixel preview: Design and build

With the message being that this is a Google phone, the company has steered away from naming the physical device manufacturer, believed to be HTC. The point being made is that this isn’t about the machining (we don’t all talk about the iPhone being a Foxconn handset), but about the sense of this device in its entirety.

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The smaller of the pair, the Google Pixel measures 143.8 x 69.5 x 8.6mm and weighs 143g. The size is dominated by the 5-inch display in the front, surrounded by a bezel that perhaps looks a little underused, but we feel gives the phone a nice balance. There’s a great flat aluminium body, that’s blasted smooth and offered in three colours, black, blue and silver. The blue – Really blue – doesn’t appear to be coming the UK. Sad face.

Where we might expect to see a front fingerprint scanner or a pair of front speakers as was the case with some previous Nexus devices, it’s the lack of bezel adornment that’s perhaps noteworthy. It’s a clean design, but one that’s easy to liken to the iPhone at a passing glance when looking from the front. That was true of the HTC One A9, a device to which this phone presents more than just a passing resemblance.

That might explain the rear design, splitting the metal unibody with a glass top section. It gives a unique look to the Pixel devices, with the rear fingerprint scanner sitting in this sea of glass on the rear. It’s perhaps an odd choice, putting a glossy finish around the area that you’re going to be touching a lot to unlock the phone, but it seems to wipe clean easily enough.

On the black model, the mix of shades and textures of black looks a little odd. We have a feeling that the white is the better option, and we wish we’d had the chance to see the blue, which may well be better still.

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Google Pixel preview: Display

With a 5.0-inch full HD display, the Pixel doesn’t quite live up to its name with 440ppi. Choosing to keep to a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution should have some benefits for this more-pocketable of the two Pixel devices, like better battery life, but it’s likely to be the 5.5-inch Pixel XL that wows in the visual department.

Google has opted for an AMOLED display in this model and first impressions suggest that it brings everything that display tech offers. There’s plenty of saturation to colours and some lovely deep blacks, although we’ve not had the chance to really test it in a full range of conditions. 

What is apparent is how differently the Pixel is pitched. With that resolution on that size of display, it’s not quite the same proposition as the 2560 x 1440 Pixel XL, which is going to give you more space for gaming and higher resolution for Daydream VR, but Google is insistent that both devices will work equally well with Daydream View, the new VR headset.

• Google Pixel vs Pixel XL: What’s the difference?

Google Pixel preview: Hardware specs

The Pixel offers all the power of the Pixel XL, with the new quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset and 4GB of RAM. For the first time, these Google phones take a small step over the rest of the year’s flagship devices in offering something newer in terms of hardware, even if Qualcomm says it’s only a slight lift in performance.

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As is the norm for Google’s phones there’s no support for microSD, but with options for 32 or 128GB, there’s a model for those concerned about cost, or those concerned about storage. Still, we’re left wishing that like the rest of the Android world, Google would give us support for external storage.

The Google Pixel has a 2770mAh battery. That’s not huge with many flagship devices offering more: the 5.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S7 has a 3000mAh battery for example. The Nexus devices were never renowned for battery life, but with a more assertive consumer position for the new Google phone, we’d want a little more.

There’s USB Type-C on the bottom for rapid charging, however, with Google saying you’ll get 7 hours of use from 15 minutes on a charger.

Google Pixel preview: Camera

If there’s one area where Google’s phones have often let other partners have the advantage, it’s in the camera. While Sony, Samsung, LG and others have been pushing the envelope in cameras, it wasn’t until the Nexus 6P that people got excited about a Nexus camera.

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The Google Pixel has a 12-megapixel rear camera that offers 1.55µm pixel and an f/2.0 aperture. It also offers optical image stabilisation, with Google really pushing the camera’s capabilities at the launch. Boasting about getting a top DxO score for the handset, Google is really throwing the gauntlet down and pushing the Pixel as the best camera you’ll find in a smartphone.

Aiming to boost the performance the Pixel offers HDR+, a system that aims to fuse multiple exposures for great results in all conditions. Google is boasting that the Pixel is the fastest to capture photos. There’s also unlimited storage through Google Photos for original images, with 4K video backup too.

The front camera is an 8-megapixel sensor for all your selfies.

• Google Pixel vs Nexus 5X: What’s the difference?

Google Pixel review: A fresh Android experience

One of the big changes in the run up to launch of the Pixel was the release of Android 7.0. Normally the release of a new Android version is timed to coincide with the launch of new hardware, but in the case of Nougat, it was pushed in late-August.

• Android 7.0 Nougat review: Subtle but super-sweet OS update

That’s because Google wanted to get it out of the way and offer something new for the Pixel. Firstly there’s the new Pixel Launcher. This changes the face of Android from the Google Now Launcher, as Google moves towards Google Assistant and beyond the “Now” experience.

Google Assistant is one of the big elements of the new handsets, with Google pushing the new smart service that aims to fuse all the Googleverse together. Through the Pixel phones and over to Google Home, the new Assistant is designed around you and to support you. In the Pixel, Assistant is baked right in for a seamless experience.

First Impressions

There’s a lot to like about the Google Pixel. It’s a solidly built handset and although many will glance at the face and liken it to the iPhone, it’s a whole different thing.

We actually really like the size of the smaller handset. Where the Pixel XL has to compete against something like the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, the Pixel gets a freer range. Sure, it might butt up against much cheaper rivals like the Huawei P9, there’s no lack of quality. That quality of build should be backed up by performance too, with flagship grade hardware.

There’s still a lot to learn about how the Pixel performs in a daily role, but pitched as a direct competitor to the iPhone, this is something of a Google champion. The question is whether customers will embrace the Pixel message, or if they’ll eye the wide world of cheaper, but still very good Android phones and decide that this Pixel is just a little too expensive.