Tech giants outspend banks in US lobbying
It won’t shock you to hear that tech companies are trying to cozy up to politicians, but they may have more influence than you think. Bloomberg has determined that the five largest tech firms in the US (Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft) spent more than twice as much on lobbying in 2015 as the five largest banks — $49 million versus $19.7 million. Facebook and Google argue that the money is necessary to both explain their operations and defend an open internet, but there are mounting concerns that they may have too much sway.
For instance, New America Foundation’s Barry Lynn warns that these companies are terrified of “competition policy” that could restrict their businesses, such as a repeat of the federal anti-monopoly case against Microsoft. Google may not have dismissed the FTC’s antitrust probe due to lobbying, but there is a concern that companies could have officials look the other way. And it’s safe to say that they’re not fond of measure that would force them to repatriate cash stored overseas and pay taxes.
At the same time, it may be difficult for the feds to completely reject tech industry overtures. The government needs to cooperate closely with these companies for everything from fighting terrorist propaganda to modernizing data. The future administration will likely have to walk a fine line between listening to what tech has to say and preventing it from dictating policies that hurt both your market choices and the country’s bottom line.
Source: Bloomberg
Google Docs helps you figure out who’s responsible for tasks
It’s not always easy to determine who’s responsible for what in a given online project, but Google thinks it can sort out that mess. It’s introducing a slew of Google Docs updates (as part of a larger G Suite upgrade) that help you delegate tasks. On the desktop, typing phrases that assign tasks will automatically suggest action items — write “Andrea to schedule a weekly check-in” and you’ll foist that duty on your colleague. Both desktop and mobile users can also manually assign items by mentioning people in comments, so it should be easier to ask for an edit or status update. You’ll get a heads-up on any files with tasks assigned to you.
This refresh is also a big deal if you’re using Slack to chat with your coworkers. Thanks to a partnership, you can now hit the “+” button in Slack to share Google Docs files, or anything from Google Drive, within the app. You don’t have to interrupt your conversation just to bring up a spreadsheet. And if you’re fond of Docs’ voice typing, you should now have an easier time deleting words, adding links and changing text color without reaching for your mouse and keyboard. All told, Google is clearly bent on greasing the wheels at work… even when you’re not using one of its apps.
Source: Google G Suite
The Pixel’s wallpaper app is now available for all Android phones
If you’ve ever picked up a Chromebook, you’ve probably noticed that Google loads them up with dozens of gorgeous wallpapers. But for some reason, Google has only offered a paltry handful lately on its Android devices. That changed with the Pixel and Pixel XL, which came with a great Wallpapers app with the same variety and quality we’re used to seeing on Chromebooks, and now the app is available for all Android devices.
The Wallpapers app, which is now live in the Play Store, offers images in five different categories: Earth, landscapes, cityscapes, life and textures. Each category has more images than I wanted to count, and there’s an option that’ll cycle through a particular category with new options every day. Naturally, you can also access your device’s default wallpapers as well as your own photos in this app, as well.
If you want to see more from the photographer who took each shot, you can tap an “explore” button to see details on the artist and location — it’ll bring you to the shot on Google+ or the 500px photo-sharing community. And Google says it’ll keep adding more images over time. It’s not the kind of app that’s going to change how you use your phone, but it might just make it a little more pleasant to look at.
Via: Android Police
Source: Google Play Store
Gboard Update Brings 3D Touch Cursor Tracking and Support for iOS 10 Emojis
An update to Google’s iOS Gboard app today has introduced 3D Touch into the third-party keyboard, letting users move the cursor by hard pressing and sliding their finger around the keyboard to pinpoint the location they want to land. Gboard’s 3D Touch lacks the free-floating cursor of Apple’s stock keyboard, however, and simply moves left and right throughout a message, without the ability to track upwards and downwards.
The version 1.2.0 update has also added support for Apple’s new iOS 10 emojis, as well as the ability for users to search and share their contacts directly from within the keyboard. Anyone who wants to use the feature must first go to the Gboard app, tap “search settings” and activate “Contacts search,” and then they’ll be able to access their iPhone contact list directly within Gboard in Messages.
The app has gained new themes as well, including a collection of new “Landscape” images that users can download and add onto Gboard with the tap of a button. When it launched in May, Google touted Gboard’s advantageous ability to perform Google searches directly within the keyboard of Messages. Apple has made a big deal out of similar abilities in Messages with its new Messages App Store in iOS 10, where users can install smaller-scale apps to find movies, make dinner reservations, and place stickers.
Gboard can be downloaded from the iOS App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Tags: Google, Gboard
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Google Pixel XL initial review: first 48 hours
The latest and most official Google device is here. We’ve only had it for a few days total and while we are able to draw some conclusions in that time, we definitely wanted to continue putting the Pixel XL through its paces to be sure our thoughts indeed hold weight.
For now, we are bringing you what we think in this initial review of the Google Pixel XL!
Don’t miss:
- Best Android smartphones of October 2016
- Android 7.0 Nougat review: an Android version for Android fans
First, we open up the box. As the new de facto ambassador in the world of Android, it comes as little surprise that an adapter for USB and Lightning cables is included so that transferring data from other Androids or iOS devices is easy – simply connect the original cable to your previous phone and the other end, adapter ready, into the Pixel. The phone takes care of the rest. A USB-A to USB Type-C cable is included, but the plug adapter requires a cable that is fitted with USB Type-C on both ends, which is also in the box.
Google brings their own design sensibilities to the Android world, in a phone that was built from the ground up. The results are, unfortunately, pretty polarizing. Many of you have already sounded off on the design of the Pixel XL, either saying that it has a beautifully simple look or lamenting its almost generic aesthetic.
We are as split about the design as all of you.
We here at Android Authority are about as split as all of you. Personally, I had become rather accustomed to the somewhat barebones style of previous Google devices, considering that it mattered more what the capabilities were underneath the surface. There was a quiet but effective capability to the Nexus line, but each device brought single quirks to the style. The Nexus 6P had its camera ridge and the Nexus 5 had a large piece of glass adorning the camera, for example. For the Pixel line, Google gave their new phone one key differentiating feature – a top third encased in glass. I don’t particularly find it an eyesore, but I rather think of it as a boring alternative to the different quirks we used to get from phones that bore the Google name.
That said, the phone’s look and feel still do their job properly – they make the phone feel really solid and sleek despite a measure of blandness in particularly this Very Silver version. The Quite Black version might be a little easier on the eyes while the North American-only Really Blue edition is, indeed, very different, but doesn’t add much more than a different hue.
A smaller Google Pixel is available with a 5-inch screen but we have the Pixel XL which sports a 5.5-inch screen. Larger upper and lower portions make the phone feel a little taller than it probably needed to be, but if there is plenty going on underneath all that surface area, then it can be excused. Overall, the XL feels plenty hefty and takes the usual amount of hand gymnastics in order to be used in one hand. Despite the glass on the back of the device, most of the backing is made of a smooth metal that unfortunately makes it slide about in the hand a bit too easily.
The sides of the device remind us of the Moto Z Force, which had a pretty aggressive chamfer to add texture to the sides. This was definitely the right choice considering how much the phone can slide around because if the sides were just as smooth, dropping it would probably be much more likely.
We will try our best not to compare the Pixel to the Nexus too much, but we do admit that the sideways Nexus logo is a bit missed. Even with a barebones overall design, that logo was distinctive. This time around, it is simply a large G on the bottom third and the glass upper side, all of which basically make for a phone that does look different, but does it in a somewhat boring fashion.
Google opted for AMOLED touchscreens for the Pixel phones, but the smaller Pixel comes with 1080p resolution. The XL sports Quad HD, and it looks pretty dang incredible. A lot of YouTube videos have been viewed in our first few days with the device, and everything from animated content to daily vlogs look great at resolutions 720p and higher. We also had a good time with games, as colors are rendered with the proper amount of vibrancy. So far, the only gripe I had with this display is that it gets just a little too dim at the lowest brightness setting – then again, this is a common facet of AMOLED displays. On the other hand, the screen looks great even in broad daylight when pumped up to the highest setting.
There is a sense of polish and smoothness that is undeniable.
As one of the first phones to sport the Snapdragon 821, it should come as no surprise that the Google Pixel XL simply flies through its tasks without any issues. Especially considering the streamlined and pure version of Android that the Pixel sports, there is a sense of polish and smoothness that is undeniable. This is not to say that other Android devices lack in the speed department, there just seems to be a great deal of attention given to the transitions and movements among all of the Nougat 7.1 elements.
But even in situations when slowdown should have been experienced, the phone has performed wonderfully – for example, the first boot up and long setup process that included downloading and installing a ton of applications might have made the phone feel a bit warmer, but it didn’t give me the usual slowdown I experience with other phones.
We will be playing more games and performing more tasks for the coming days, but so far the Pixel XL is a good poster child for the Snapdragon 821 and, indeed, for point of using pure Android in the first place.
Hardware is a part of the Pixel phones that might put it at a disadvantage – after all, a Google device tends to not have all of the extra features plenty of Android devices sport.
Hardware is a part of the Pixel phones that might put it at a disadvantage.
That starts off with the lack of expandable storage, which I have already had to contend with in my weekend with the Pixel XL. My unit is a 32GB version, which means that 4K recording is not only stifled, but is a nuisance. Having a plethora of applications and, in particular, games installed takes up a lot of the 29.70GB made available to the user. With MOBIUS Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy 7, and Final Fantasy 9 installed, only about half of the available storage was left for me to do photos and videos with. And at the high quality 4K recording option, the camera constantly reminded me of the less than 15 minutes of recording time I had available to me. Granted, Google Photos on the Pixel allows for the full resolution uploading and saving of all photos and videos, but having to find Wi-Fi to upload and, for that matter, the need to let the app clean up the Camera folder is a step I am still not used to doing.
Sound is a welcome highlight for the Pixel, a phone that is supposed to take voice inputs at any time and play the soothing, if not robotic, voice of Google Assistant. To that end, the bottom mounted speaker (only one, the left one) is one of the best of its kind. It gets plenty loud and yet retains a good amount of body. It is by no means a good bass performer, but especially for evoking the voice of Google Assistant, it does the job incredibly well. For viewing videos or playing games, I did not feel the need to reach for a pair of headphones. Even so, the headphone experience on the Google Pixel is above average. There are no extra options and features in the phone for catering the sound like in the LG V10 or the HTC 10, but the default sound profile is still very enjoyable, with the headphone jack properly driving my pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphones.
Our battery life testing is still ongoing, but I can definitely relay my experience after the last few days. A 3,450 mAh battery unit keeps the Pixel XL going for what can be described as the expected portion of the day, which can be easily tracked with the battery section of the settings. Personally, I really enjoy the way Nougat 7.1 shows the graph and the amount of time that has elapsed since unplugging the phone, even in the quick settings dropdown. With all that said, a day of somewhat aggressive usage that included GPS navigation and plenty of built-in speaker blasting took the phone out in about 16 hours with 4 hours of screen on time.
Which brings me to an interesting change in my battery usage that has only come about due to the Pixel. As I mentioned, the speaker got a lot of play and was a part of the overall battery drain. This is because Google Assistant, the main software addition the Pixel introduces, is so effortlessly useful that I have been talking and listening to this phone more than any that came before it. This is also due to a great microphone that sports noise cancellation and voice recognition that remind me of previous Moto X devices.
See also: Google Assistant: The top features you should know25
Due to one key feature of Google Assistant – the Daily Briefing – I’ve not only gotten used to saying ‘good morning’ upon waking without even touching the phone, but I’ve listened to the Assistant’s built-in podcast player that only plays a curated list of news shows. The last two days saw over an hour of news brief listening in the morning – which actually registers on the battery usage tally.
Before we get deeper into Google Assistant, we have the other marquee feature of the Pixel XL – the camera, which is a 12.3MP main camera with f/2.0 aperture and a front facing unit shooting 8MP. While the cameras of the Pixel phones might look very similar to the Nexus 6P on paper, there are a few key enhancements that we’ve already noticed and thoroughly enjoy.
First of all, the app is the same Google Camera that you may already be used to from the Nexus and the Google Play Store, meaning that it is a simple to use, auto interface without manual controls. Modes include Panorama and Lens Blur, with Slow Motion available at 120fps at 1080p resolution.
HDR is now HDR+, a version of color and contrast enhancement that is technically always on. Though the option will show HDR+ Auto, most pictures show processing of HDR+ when they are accessed in the gallery immediately after shooting. Pictures are already well rendered, but having the HDR+ add that little extra bit will make for pretty consistently pleasing photos. That said, HDR+ does do a good job of adding some extra vibrancy to photos while bringing down the highlights in any picture that has a blown out area like the sun soaked sky. And the best part about the HDR+ is that it has basically no shutter lag – in only a few photos did I notice a small amount of processing after hitting the shutter.
Which brings us to the other main feature of the cameras – video stabilization. The camera of the Pixel XL does not come with optical image stabilization and instead relies on analysis of the gyroscope while recording and software based post-stabilization. One immediate positive feature of this electronic image stabilization is that it is available while recording 4K video, which is not a feature commonly found on current Android phones. However, it is very common for software stabilization to lead to weird warping of a video and the dreaded ‘jello effect’ that Google hopes their version of stabilization will remedy.
So far, video stabilization has been incredible
And so far, it has blown me away. I put it through a few simple tests that included one walking shot and a couple stationary handheld examples. In all cases, the difference is basically night and day – the stabilization does a great job of noticeably making footage smoother, making it seem like the phone was on a gimbal during my walking example. Even more impressive is the lack of the ‘jello effect’ when moving from side to side. For a user like me that likes to vlog, the stabilization makes this already good performing 4K shooter an even more impressive companion to have for pictures and video, even if available space is an issue in this 32GB device.
Overall, the camera has so far been very impressive and we will be doing more testing and comparisons with other Android devices to further consider its capabilities. For now, however, I have been very impressed with the camera and already consider it one of the better automatic shooters.
Which brings us to software, which is the latest version of pure Android in Nougat 7.1. Though the LG V20 was the first phone to come with Android Nougat, the ‘.1’ that the Pixel brings is quite significant and might make it one of the most sought after versions of Android. Unfortunately, it is unclear how much of this version of Android will actually make it to other, non-Google branded devices. And that might be a shame, because 7.1 is a delight to use, mostly due to Google Assistant.
Hold the home button and Google Now on Tap is nowhere to be found – unless you swipe up from the bottom again, that is – because it is replaced with the voice-centric Google Assistant. Talking to an Android device is now as seamless as it has ever been, as everything from questions to search queries to even time-killing can be done with Google speaking right back at you. As already mentioned, this means that certain features like a daily briefing can be enjoyed by just asking the phone to do it. Even better, setting up the voice recognition makes Google Assistant ready no matter where the phone is, as long as it is near enough to hear ‘OK Google.’
The microphone is delightfully sensitive and accurate, while Assistant is really responsive and quick. There is one hiccup, as Assistant doesn’t seem to be opening appropriate apps automatically based on the query anymore like it did during my First Look. Even the quick display of the top search result is still accurate, so a small tap on it is a small trade-off. Plenty of other features are available via Google Assistant and I found myself asking random questions just to see what it can do – I even played an odd game of Mad Libs where the Assistant asked me for all of the different words it needed to construct the ridiculous narrative.
Assistant is already quite robust, but I can only imagine how much more it will grow over the life of the Pixel XL – after all, it is the centerpiece of the new Google ecosystem that incorporates Google Home.
Assistant is already quite robust, but I can only imagine how much more it will grow over the life of the Pixel XL
Otherwise, all of the different elements of Android remain very familiar even with the Pixel Launcher as the interface. The app drawer is still around, thankfully, and is accessed by swiping up on the homescreen. Google Now is still available to the left of the homescreens, while the big ‘G’ at the top gives easy access to a search bar that felt a little obsolete once I got used to using my voice instead. There are a lot of built-in wallpapers that can be used singularly or cycled from a curated list that is updated every day. Personally, I am a fan of the Live Earth wallpaper that rotates with the homescreens and mimics the real life sun, moon, and cloud conditions.
The settings area is a little easier to navigate now in Nougat, and it now has an entirely separate area for on-demand help, though I haven’t used it yet. Multitasking users finally have a Google-made multi-window feature that is accessed by dragging a window in the recent apps screen to the area up top, but this is also something that I have not used extensively because moving in and out of the recent apps screen has been as smooth as ever.
As long as Assistant continues to evolve, the Pixel has a feature that, if it never comes to other Android devices, does a great job of differentiating itself. The usefulness of Assistant predicates on whether or not the user actually takes advantage of it, and so far I think that everyone really should. Try it out with Allo and if you really enjoy Assistant, imagine having that functionality baked into the rest of the experience.
We have definitely drawn a lot of conclusions about the Google Pixel XL so far, and we are going to see if that positivity continues in our testing. A full review of the phone will be done in the coming days, perhaps just after the release of all the pre-order devices on October 20. All versions of the phone are still sold out in the Google Store, which undercuts what many users thought would be the Pixel’s Achilles’ heel – the price. For $649 on the base 32GB Pixel, the Google phones certainly hold a premium price point even if, at first glance, it doesn’t seem to offer nearly as much as the rest of the Android army. This is a very valid argument considering the Google Pixel XL at 32GB is a whole $120 extra.
Read next:
- Google Pixel XL vs Galaxy Note 7
- Google Pixel and Pixel XL vs the competition
So, before scoring the phone on its own merits, we will leave this initial review at this thought: if the rest of Android did not exist and the Google Pixel stood on its own, it would be one of the best phones we’ve ever seen or used. Unfortunately for the Pixel, the rest of Android undoubtedly offers more and for far better prices across the board. But the Pixel damn near perfects the basics where plenty of Android phones inexplicably falter. And for the first outing of the Pixel, Google has so far done a damn good job.
Chrome’s experimental browser comes to Android
You no longer have to stick to your computer to try the cutting edge version of Google’s web browser. The company has started offering Chrome Canary for Android, giving you a taste of new mobile browsing features before the beta crowd gets its turn. As always, the Canary releases are something of a gamble. Google will automatically post updated versions every weekday without human testing, so there’s no guarantee that they’ll work properly or at all. Thankfully, you don’t have to ditch your regular version of Chrome. If you just want to experiment with Chrome on the side, it probably won’t hurt to give this a shot.
Source: Google Play, Chromium Blog
OneNote can now use Android’s split-screen mode
As Windows Phone is not so much an ongoing concern anymore, Microsoft’s software is decidedly cross-platform at this point. Today, the company’s collaboration and note-taking software OneNote is getting some Android-specific updates. For starters, the OneNote app now supports Android’s new split-screen mode that launched with Android 7 Nougat — you can view the app side-by-side with other Office apps, or really any other app you want. For a productivity app, that’s pretty helpful.
The OneNote app also now lets you open password-protected sections of files and documents that were locked on other apps. Microsoft said this was a top user-requested feature — which makes sense, given that any locked file would be essentially useless without it. Microsoft also added back the ability to record audio directly in the OneNote app, with the recordings automatically backed up to the cloud. That’s a pretty handy feature if you do a lot of recording, as Android doesn’t really have its own built-in voice recording features.
You can also embed any PDF or Office document that you’ve saved in OneNote directly into any documents you’re creating in the app. Lastly, Microsoft will soon be adding the ability to customize the “section tabs” in your OneNote documents on the Android app — a pretty basic feature that seems like it should have been in the app for a while now. That feature isn’t available yet, but the rest should be rolling out to the app today. You can go get it in Google Play now.
Source: Microsoft
Amazon wants to sell internet service in Europe
In Europe, Amazon is looking to bring users more just speedy deliveries and award-winning TV shows. According to a new report from The Information, the online retail giant and Hollywood production studio is considering a plan to become its own internet service provider and sell broadband internet access directly to users.
As one of The Information’s sources noted, building its own ISP would allow Amazon to bundle internet service with Prime streaming video (and the rest of the Prime perks, of course), effectively making it a cable operator in Europe. Alphabet may have hit some snags with the rollout of its own Google Fiber broadband service here in the states, but regulations in countries like the UK or Germany actually make it easier for upstart broadband providers to get into the game in those countries without having to build out their own network. Most broadband providers in the US restrict access to their network, but in the UK, for example, British Telecom is required to offer wholesale access to its network. If Amazon were to re-sell that access, it could do so at cost and improve its margins through the retail business or by selling access to additional cable channels like Starz and Showtime, as it does in the US.
While that all bodes well for a Amazon Broadband service in Europe, it’s unlikely that the company would try the same strategy in the US anytime soon. Stateside, the FCC does not require providers to sell access to their networks and the lobbyists that have been keeping our cable boxes in the dark ages would probably raise a stink if they were required to open up their networks.
Source: The Information
Google Pixel XL: Hands on, early impressions, and camera samples
Announced at a San Francisco event on October 4th, the Pixel and Pixel XL are the two new smartphones from Google for 2016. The pair of phones are the first to offer the Google Assistant software technology and look to head further down the path already started by the nexus line.
What makes this year’s effort different from those in the past? As it turns out, plenty. Not only is the Pixel line smarter and more capable than all other phones, but it also packs a world-class camera experience, too. Indeed, the Pixel offers up a rear camera that bests all previous smartphone shooters.
Digging into the hardware, the Pixel boasts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, among the first smartphones to do so. Clocking in at 2.15GHz (four cores) and 1.6GHz (four cores), the handset also benefits from having an Adreno 530 GPU. Toss in 4GB of memory and you’ve got the making of one of the most well-rounded phones of all time.
Storage comes in the form of 32GB and 128GB options but you won’t find a microSD expansion card slot. This might push some away as some of us have come to rely on external storage for housing our media. But, before you get out the pitchforks, know that the Pixel and Pixel XL give customers unlimited lifetime storage of photos and videos at full, original resolution. Yes, that also means the 1080p and 4K videos you’re starting to see emerge.
Available in three distinct colors, the Pixel line can be had in Very Silver, Quite Black, and Really Blue. Prices start at $650 for the Pixel and $770 for the Pixel XL with availability through a number of online retailers. At start, Verizon Wireless will be the exclusive service provider to offer the phone. Don’t let that scare you off, though, as the unlocked models will work with other carriers, too.
Pixel versus Pixel XL
What’s the difference between the Pixel and Pixel XL? In short, it’s a larger display; 5.5-inches at 2560 x 1440 pixels instead of 5.0-inches at 1920 x 1080 pixels, and a bigger battery. The Pixel packs a 2,770mAh power source while the Pixel XL gets a 3450mAh unit.
A Qualifying Statement
We’ve spent the last few days with the Pixel XL and are ready to offer up some initial impressions. While we wish this was a full-on review, there’s simply no way to get that much feel for a device after only four days, two of which span a weekend.
Design
The phone takes a very minimalistic approach which starts at the box itself. With very little printed on the outside of the box, it feels somewhat like how Apple might package the device. Gone are the days of flashy boxes with all sorts of specifications and photos; this one is as bare bones as it gets.
Sliding the box out of its shell and opening it up we are greeted with the phone on the left and power supply and cable on the right. Underneath we find the additional cable and an OTG USB adapter for transferring files from another device It’s worth noting that we did not receive any headphones with this device so we cannot attest to whether this is the norm. Our box did not have any Verizon branding on it but we did receive a Verizon sim card to use for testing purposes. There was no extra space for headphones; they are not listed as included in the box on Google’s website.
Looking the phone over it definitely has a quiet and simplistic design. It is altogether very basic and boring yet still a little bit refined and unique. The bottom black is more than pictures suggest and the top is a little shinier in person. Both materials, however, are soft and slippery to the touch.
I’ll be honest, I would prefer the Silver version over the Back or Blue. In my time with the demos at Google’s press event, I found it to be in line with my preferred style and generally more stylish. But, given that I will ultimately protect this black one with one of Google’s Live Cases at some point, that color becomes a non-issue.
At a distance of a few feet, the black Pixel XL looks like a very utilitarian an almost uninspired slab phone. Pick it up, though, and you can feel the design choices in the material. The glass feels strong and secure and not prone to pick up fingerprints. The back, smooth and premium, also comes across as well-intentioned and thought out. But, were it not for the shiny upper third, the phone might be construed as generally boring – in black at least. Again, the Silver and Blue models felt “new” where this color is just “meh”.
The power button is located to the right of the display with the volume rocker sitting almost halfway up on the same side. Up top we find the 3.5mm headphone jack while below the screen is the USB Type-C port and speakers. Well… one speaker; more on that below.
Display
Whereas the screen does have a slight bezel to both the left and right of the display there is a much more pronounced one above and below the screen. I am not certain as to why there is so much going on below the screen as there are no soft buttons or physical buttons to be found. To be sure, it does feel like a lot of wasted space. My gut tells me it has something to do with having a uniform or mirror approach where the top reflects the bottom.
Staying with the topic of the display, the ever-so-subtly curved edge around the screen is quite nice. And, when you factor in the Gorilla Glass 4 and protective, oleophobic coating that keeps it from getting smudges and fingerprints, we can surmise that this display will take a decent beating and still look sharp in the process.
As far as the picture quality goes, the 2560 x 1440 pixels image is sharp and vibrant. We’d expect nothing less in a flagship phone with a 5.5-inch screen, especially in late 2016. Given that, it’s easy on the eyes with a well-balanced color.
Around back we locate the fingerprint reader which is about one-third of the way down from the top. It is essentially in the same spot as the Nexus 6P and feels very natural when reaching for it. Above and to the left of the fingerprint reader is the rear camera and its flash and Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) and Laser Detection Autofocus (LDAF).
Branding
Then, of course, comes the branding of the device. Gone is the “Nexus” that emblazoned the flagship line of phones. Also gone is any mention of the word “Google”, too. In fact, the only thing you’ll find now is the stylized G which represents the brand itself. If you squint, the bottom displays a “phone by Google”, but it’s not outwardly obvious.
Android and UI
Powering on the device we are greeted with a very stripped down approach to Android. Nothing that is startling, mind you but it is quite refreshing to go back to a stock Android experience that is only what Google wants you to have. You won’t find any bloatware of carrier-branded software or services. This is as raw as it gets, and you’d be silly not to want for it.
To us, there’s nothing quite like the default vanilla Android builds. We’ve reviewed plenty of Android phones over the years and one common thread that skews scores more favorably is how the Android OS works. Google’s vision of Android is something we’ve always come to love. The stuff we’ve seen in this version of Nougat is no different. Hell, it’s better than ever.
The Android 7.1 build is very easy to learn navigate. Having tested every version of Android so far this one feels the most intuitive and user-friendly. The round icons are nice and uniform for the most part, however there are a few that stick out such as Allo and Keep. And, once you start to install other applications, that cute uniform user interface doesn’t look so uniform.
A few weeks from now, when we have a bunch our daily driver apps, the app tray won’t look as pretty. Call us silly, but this is where a custom launcher and icon pack can make all the difference in the world.
Setup
Going through the initial setup is a breeze, and Google does an excellent job of walking customers through the process. If you are migrating from one platform to another, Google will hold your hand as you make the jump from iOS to Android. Not only is the software there to support you, but there are cables in the box to assist as well.
If you already have an Android device, this setup makes it easy to get your phone back up to where you want in no time at all. And, if you are brand new to smartphones altogether, the Pixel and Android 7.1 are smart, intuitive, and comprehensible. The best part? You’re getting into an ecosystem (Google) of which you are likely already familiar and not one put forth by a wireless provider with an agenda.
Carried over from previous versions of Android, the launcher brings up all of your relevant news and information with a simple swipe to the left panel. As somebody who is quite fond of Nova Launcher and custom launchers, I am actually not in a hurry to get rid of the default Google setup. There is something very appealing about the way Google designed the interface.
With that said, I like the way in which users can swipe up from the bottom row of the phone to access the app drawer. No longer are you required to tap a specific icon; this is refreshing and comes across as “why didn’t they do this all along?”. The general color scheme, icons, and other Material Design cues work better than ever and come across as cohesive.
Google Assistant
We’ll be honest, it takes a little bit of time to understand what Google Assistant can really do for you. It is much smarter than a simple Google search or using Google Now. While you might be familiar with asking very specific and explicitly defined questions in the past, the Assistant is much smarter and more forgiving.
We like that we can use this from anywhere on the device and get help on just about anything. We even relied on it to help us find certain settings in the software on our phone. If there’s one are we’ve slowly eased yourself into with Google Assistant, it’s being able to talk more normally.
Look up Red Lobster, for instance, and then you can follow with, “how late is it open?” instead of, “how late is Red Lobster open?” Moreover, follow that with, “navigate me there” and you’re handed off to Google Maps.
Other Software Touches
Playing around with the settings, we found the “moves” and gestures to be rather helpful. Users can toggle one of three settings to make the overall experience quicker or more intuitive. One will let you double tap the power button to quick to launch into the camera while the other one lets you flip your wrist to go from rear-facing to front facing camera. It is not unlike what Motorola does to launch into its camera application.
The one we like the most, however, is this swipe for notifications. Users can swipe their finger down the rear fingerprint scanner to slide the notification shade down. Slide up, and they go away. It is very simple to unlock your phone and check for all notifications with just one finger.
Battery
In terms of battery, we think this one is a real winner. The standby time and talk time have been spectacular in these first four days, and we’ve only had to charge the phone twice. This includes using the charge that came out of the box which was roughly ⅔ full.
Plug the Pixel XL into the wall four a half hour and you’ll find you are back up and running with damn near a full day’s worth of juice again. Google claims 15 minutes of charging equates to seven hours of mixed use battery life.
Sound
While it might appear that the bottom of the phone houses stereo speakers, it’s really a case of one speaker and a placeholder cutout to match it. Indeed, the one on the right side is a dummy that doesn’t put out any sound. With that said, the lone speaker does provide a rather loud experience that’s clear and full. Watching a video in portrait will put the sound out in your right hand and, depending on how you hold it, could be muted by your palm.
Camera
Let’s talk about that camera, eh? We’re not experts in the area of photography, but we were seriously blown away by what the Pixel XL delivers. It’s super fast and color accuracy is as good as anything we’ve ever seen in a phone. And Google wasn’t lying when it said that HDR was enabled by default.
Was the camera perfect? No, we still had blurred images, for instance, when trying to capture a moving dog in lower lighting conditions. Moreover, there were traces of noise in night shots, too. But, when zoomed out and stacked up against other phones, the Pixel has already become a favorite still shooter around here. You can take a look at the embedded images below to get a feel for how the camera performs on the Pixel XL.
Performance
We’ve only loaded a few of the daily driver applications on this device so we can’t speak to the long-term viability, but we are quite optimistic. Things move about very quickly in all aspects of this device. The screen responds to our touch quickly, the apps load instantly, and Google Assistant never wastes time and getting you the right answers. The same goes for the camera shutter and fingerprint scanner.
Early Conclusion
All things considered, we’re very pleased with the Pixel XL thus far. There’s nothing here that alarms us, but it’s still not a perfect device. We’ll always champion for external storage and a waterproof coating is one of those features which should be standard by now. But, a few quibbles aside, it’s one slick piece of kit.
When you look at how much phone you can get for $400 today, it begs the question of whether the Pixel or Pixel XL are worth the extra money. To us, that comes down to a personal use case. Do you want or expect to take a lot of photos or video? If so, the Google line is one to keep an eye on.
With unlimited cloud-based storage, you’d easily spend money on another service for that kind of hosting. Ask a photographer or media creator how much they’d like to have 4K video service that houses things for them.
How important is it to you to have the Google Assistant? What about the latest release of stock Android? The 7.1 Nougat definitely has its advantages in both departments.
First time smartphone buyers might not necessarily head for the best of the best when it comes to devices. But, should they want to dive in head first, the Google Pixel and Pixel XL are worthy contenders. This goes double if you need a helping hand; the built-in 24×7 support is something you won’t get elsewhere.
We’ll spend another few weeks with the phone and circle back to provide you with our full review.
Pixel and Pixel XL review: What happens when Google designs phones?
Google’s fascination with hardware stretches back years. Remember the early days of Android and the G1? The rise of the Nexus line? Those ill-fated Android@Home light bulbs and those beautiful Chromebooks? It took Google a while, but that fascination turned into a sort of experimental hobby, and now into something far more serious. Software is Google’s art, and the company has been working for a long time to craft the right canvases.
That’s where the new Pixel and Pixel XL come in.
Google has more control over the development — and destiny — of these two smartphones than it ever had with any Nexus phone. It’s not surprising, then, that the company has turned to close friends to help chart this new course. Former Motorola Mobility CEO Rick Osterloh is back at Google heading up hardware after the search giant sold his company to Lenovo. HTC, which most recently worked with Google on the Nexus 9 tablet, is handling the Pixel phones’ production and assembly. There’s a palpable sense that Google wanted to round up its A-Team for this project.
It shows. These Pixel phones are a culmination on Google’s part of years worth of experimenting with hardware, and they’re unsurprisingly great.
Hardware
In case the names didn’t tip you off, the Pixel ($649+) and Pixel XL ($769+) are identical — one’s just bigger than the other. Both phones are hewn from the same blend of aerospace-grade aluminum and Gorilla Glass, and they’re put together with the sort of attention to detail HTC is famous for. The Pixel and the XL feel lighter than they look, which is the sort of thing that could throw old-school HTC fans for a loop; the trademark density of the company’s metal designs is noticeably absent.
Don’t worry, though: Both versions of the Pixel feel reassuringly sturdy, and comfortable too — their curved backs nestled nicely into my hands. After years of getting used to bigger and bigger smartphones, I personally prefer the Pixel XL’s balance of comfort and usability. The XL is a little shorter and narrower than the iPhone 7 Plus too, which means more people should be able to comfortably use it.
Both phones also have excellent 12.3-inch rear cameras (much more on that later), paired with a way-above-average 8-megapixel camera for selfies. Our review units came with 32GB of non-expandable storage, of which 24GB was available from the get-go; needless to say, you should definitely consider the $100 upgrade to the 128GB model. It’s worth it.
Moving on, you’ll find a USB Type-C port on the bottom edge of either phone, flanked by a microphone and a surprisingly clear speaker. A microSIM slot rests on the phones’ left edges, while the headphone jack lives up top. Ready for the sad part? While other flagship phone makers have figured out how to make their devices more life-proof despite those holes, the Pixels will only partially resist dust and water. The exact rating is IP53, but the big takeaway is that these pricey new phones can’t deal with dirt or submersion as well as the new iPhones or Samsung’s most recent Galaxy devices.
Meanwhile, the differences between the two Pixels are exactly what you’d expect. The Pixel XL has a 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED display, a step up from the 5-inch 1080p panel on the regular Pixel. At 3,450 mAh, the Pixel XL’s battery is among the largest we’ve seen in a flagship Android phone this year, and it’s a clear leap over the 2,770mAh battery used in the smaller model. That’s really it. Unlike, say, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, which have significantly different camera setups, there’s no exciting difference between the Pixel and the Pixel XL.
With all that said, I wish the Pixels looked a little more distinctive. The iPhone comparisons are inevitable and not out of line, but even beyond that, there’s a distinct lack of character on display here. As I’ve said, though, Google’s true art is software, and one could argue this low-key design was meant to let that software really own the spotlight. That, or Google just doesn’t have a great grasp on what beautiful hardware looks like yet.
That would explain why the Pixels’ faces are mostly empty except for the front-facing cameras, earpieces and infrared proximity sensors that sit above the screen. You’ll find that same amount of space below the display too, except it’s totally empty — there’s just a big helping of bezel that serves no purpose. The whole thing feels kind of austere, but things start to change when you turn the phones over. There you’ll find a pane of very slightly curved (aka “2.5D”) sheet of Gorilla Glass covering the top third of the phones’ backs, with one of Google’s excellent Nexus Imprint fingerprint sensors sitting near the bottom of the glass.
That glass panel is an… interesting design choice, to say the least. The reflective glass makes it easy to tell which side is up when you pick the phone without looking, and it also acts as a window to let RF signals move more easily through the phone. (Think of it as the evolution of the Nexus 6P’s trademark black bar.) The glass feels nice and has so far resisted scratches, but the look just isn’t for me. A shame, considering it’s the one truly distinctive thing about the Pixels’ design language. At least the Nexus Imprint sensor does a great job picking up my fingerprints; the Pixels very rarely bugged me for another attempt.
Oh, and while we’re still on the subject of looks, the finish that Google calls Quite Black isn’t actually black at all. It’s more of a gunmetal gray, and while that probably isn’t a dealbreaker, it would’ve been nice to get a Pixel that was properly black like the gorgeous Note 7. (The Pixels are also available in Very Silver and Really Blue, which are meh and kinda nice, respectively.)
Are you picking up on a theme here? For the most part, the components Google and HTC have stuck in the Pixels are first-rate — my inner 90’s child would even say they’re primo. They’re just sort of let down by their sense of style, or lack thereof. (It doesn’t help either that they can’t deal with water very well), Those are things Google could fix for next year’s Pixels (assuming they make any), but the promise of future improvement doesn’t do anything for the phones we have here.
Display and sound
If you were worried that Google would skimp on the screens, relax — both Pixels have great displays. There aren’t any gimmicks here . No curved edges or tiny secondary panels; just crisp, bright AMOLED screens with the sort of punchy, vivid colors these kinds of displays are known for. In fact, I could see colors perhaps being a little too punchy for some people. While the iPhone 7 Plus and its wide color display rendered a mountain scene at twilight with periwinkle skies, the Pixel and Pixel XL made those same skies look bright aqua. Google and HTC’s approach is more viscerally pleasing, but whether or not it’s better is mostly a matter of taste. Both screens also offer great viewing angles, though you’ll notice a little color distortion if you’re looking from too oblique an angle.
I’ve been talking about the Pixel and Pixel XL’s screens in the same breath, but it’s worth noting once more that they aren’t strictly identical. Beyond the extra detail made possible by its higher resolution display, the Pixel XL’s screen seems a little brighter and its color temperature comes off a touch cooler. That makes all of the stark white found throughout Android and your apps seem crisper, which I actually really like. Don’t get me wrong: the smaller Pixel’s screen is really quite good, but the XL’s blend of Quad HD detail and more pleasant colors make it the one to own if you’ve got the cash.
I was pleasantly surprised by the speakers tucked into the Pixel and Pixel XL, though maybe I shouldn’t have been. These phones were built by HTC, after all. Alas, though, you won’t find any crazy stereo speaker setups here — just a single, loud driver wedged into the bottom of each Pixel. These days my diet consists of electro-crooners like CHVRCHES and Lemaitre, and their respective vocals came through crisply and clearly. Even songs that focus heavily on drums — like Caravan from the Whiplash soundtrack — fare well, though you’ll probably pick up on some muddiness when there are lots of highs and lows banging around at the same time. These speakers certainly won’t replace an external set, but they’re more than enough to listen to podcasts or sing along with new tracks without feeling like you’re missing something.
Software
The Pixels are the very first phones to ship with Android 7.1 Nougat, and obviously, the first to offer Google’s new Pixel Launcher experience. There’s a lot to unpack, so let’s talk about the core first: Android 7.1. Google was quick to call this new build an “incremental update” that builds on the progress made with the still-new Nougat update. (You can sift through our full Android 7.0 review here.) Incremental is right. Beyond the usual batch of bug fixes and system optimizations, there are only a handful of new features to play with.
Funnily enough, the most notable addition is also the one you’re most likely to discover by accident. Long-pressing certain app icons now brings up a list of actions you can jump straight into, much like how Quick Actions work with 3D Touch as of iOS 9. The thing is, Apple’s approach is more elegant. In iOS, you have to physically press the screen to access those shortcuts, a step that makes accidental actions unlikely. Here, though, you can’t tell which apps have shortcuts until you long-press them; if there aren’t any shortcuts, Android thinks you want to move that app icon to your homescreen.
Since the Android 7.1 developer preview won’t go live until later this month, the only apps that have these shortcuts enabled are ones made by Google — long-pressing the Gmail icon offers a “compose” option, while doing that to the Calendar icon lets you quickly create a new appointment. All told, 17 of the preloaded Google apps have shortcuts for you to play with, and they’re useful if you remember they’re there. Thankfully, you can grab those shortcuts and drag them to your homescreen for even quicker access.
Android 7.1 also brings the ability to send images straight from keyboard apps, so it’s easier than ever to harass your friends with GIFs. Developers can build support for GIFs, stickers and other image formats into their keyboards, but Google’s approach is already pretty damn useful. When pecking out a message in a compatible app — like the stock Messenger — tapping the emoji icon also reveals a GIF window you can use to search for the perfect animation. And yes, there’s some naughty-ish stuff to be found. Google has blocked most of the really vulgar images but you can definitely get more crude than you can on iOS. Throw in support for round app icons (like the ones on the Pixels), along with Daydream support (which I wasn’t able to test yet), and we’ve already covered the biggest changes to Nougat.
Now, about you Verizon customers. You can buy Pixels straight from a carrier store, but you’ll have to deal with a little software meddling in the process. I tossed a Verizon SIM into one of my review units during the setup process, and wouldn’t you know it — the phone started downloading three Verizon apps from the Play Store. Verizon’s Messages+ and the Go90 streaming service got the uninstall treatment immediately, but the My Verizon account management app can be pretty helpful. I’m still curious to see how Verizon does with its promise to keep big software updates rolling out to Pixels in a timely fashion, but at least it took a light touch with bloatware this time.
The Pixel advantage
Google wants you to feel special for buying into its vision of mobile computing — that’s why it’s sweetening the deal with features you won’t get on any other Android phone. Some of them are mostly cosmetic, like the redesigned setup flow and a calendar icon that shows you what the date is. Others, like the revamped Pixel Launcher interface, take a little more getting used to. All your Google Now cards still live to the left of the main homescreen, but the conspicuous app launcher button is gone.
You can tap a tiny arrow above the favorite apps tray to open the launcher if you really miss the old-school button; otherwise, the easiest way to go is to just swipe up from the bottom of the screen. That new swipe gesture feels natural because it thematically mirrors how you pull down the notifications shade, and as far as I’m concerned, there’s no going back. That persistent search bar is gone as well, which has thrown off just about everyone I’ve shown these phones to. The wallpaper picker has changed too, and Google has seen fit to trick out the Pixel and Pixel XL with some of the sweetest options I’ve seen on an Android device. Seriously: Thank you.
The rest of the Pixels’ exclusive features are pretty damn valuable. These phones come with unlimited full-resolution backups of photos and videos to Google Photos; everyone else can only store downsampled versions of photos for free. Since all that media can be backed up to the cloud automatically, you probably don’t need it on the phones themselves. That’s where the Pixels’ exclusive Smart Storage feature comes in — when you’ve blown through your 32GB or 128GB of storage, Android automatically clears up space by deleting photos and videos that have already been backed up. Feeling desperate for more space? You can manually force a clean-up, though your photos, videos and apps have to have gone untouched for a while before the system will let you trash them en masse.
Pop into the settings menu and you’ll also see a new tab for support — in case something goes awry, you can reach out to a Google rep to help you walk through things. During my testing, I managed to contact a technician in just a few minutes. They can be surprisingly helpful, too; you can even share your screen with them so they can see what’s going on. I just hope this level of service doesn’t drop off when more people start using these phones.
Google also made it surprisingly easy to migrate data from your old phone to your new Pixel, even if that old phone was made by Apple. I tried hooking up an iPhone 7 Plus to the Pixel XL during the initial setup process, and after about seven or eight minutes of chewing, my contacts and SMS threads appeared in their respective Android apps. Google didn’t have to do this, but building a near-seamless way to help someone give up his or her old phone is seriously savvy.
And then, of course, there’s the Google Assistant. If you’ve installed Allo, Google’s new cross-platform messaging app, you’re probably already acquainted. If not, it’s dead-simple to start chatting with it. Just hold down the home button or run through the voice training process and say “OK Google.” Familiar, no? From there, just start gabbing away. The Assistant can launch apps, find restaurants and points of interest nearby, translate things you say into different languages, and even just get answers to random questions. (As it turns out, Vladimir Putin is 64 years old.) I’ve been consistently surprised at how accurate its voice recognition has been too, since I tend to get a little mumbly from time to time.
Also impressive is how the Assistant can “remember” the context of a line of questioning, so you can speak to it the way you would to a person. Let’s go back to that weird Putin example: after asking how old he is, I asked the Assistant “Is he married?” The Assistant didn’t skip a beat and confirmed that he was until 2014. Machine learning has grown sophisticated enough for these interactions to become common — Siri started tracking context with the launch of iOS 9 — but it’s still terribly neat to see in action.
All told, Google’s Assistant is a surprisingly thoughtful system as long as you play within the range of prescribed actions. When it can’t figure out a more appropriate way to respond, the Assistant just defaults to reading web search results. More often than not, though, those little tidbits read aloud were at least enough to point me in the right direction. Unfortunately, many of the third-party integrations Google showed off at its Pixel launch event don’t work yet, so you won’t be hailing Ubers or reserving a table at The Smith using just your voice.
Camera
Google didn’t pull any punches at its Pixel unveiling — VP Brian Rakowski proudly proclaimed that the cameras in these smartphones are the best anyone has ever made. And the kicker? A review from the independent mobile camera testers at DxOMark giving the Pixel and Pixel XL the top spot in its photographic rankings.
While not perfect, Google’s pair of Pixels can indeed capture fantastic photos — detailed and crisp, with mostly correct colors. It shouldn’t surprise you to hear that the Pixel and Pixel XL excel in bright conditions, but their cameras are actually remarkable in dim situations too. That’s partly due to the optics Google ran with here. The 12.3-megapixel cameras have a f/2.0 aperture — that’s not quite as wide an opening for light as on the iPhone 7, but still pretty good. The pixels on those sensors are pretty large too at 1.55μm — a trait this Sony sensor shares with last year’s Nexus 6P.
That’s just part of the story, though: Google’s HDR+ mode is back and works much better than it has in the past. Remember, many HDR camera modes capture one long exposure and then process that image to crank up the clarity and dynamic range. The Pixels’ HDR+ modes, meanwhile, capture briefer exposures and basically stitch them together, reducing the likelihood of hand-induced blur. Thanks to the extra horsepower afforded by the Pixel’s beefy chipset and a Hexagon coprocessor, that process is much faster now, resulting in more appealing shots in both dim and bright conditions without delay. It doesn’t always work when you’re shooting rapid-fire, but in general this is the first HDR mode I’ve wanted to leave on all the time.
Like I said, though, the Pixels’ cameras aren’t perfect. I occasionally noticed the hybrid laser-and-phase detection autofocus system got skittish while trying to lock onto a subject. Neither camera has optical image stabilization either, though the included electronic image stabilization does a good job keeping blur from becoming an issue. This is especially apparent when you’re shooting video, as long as you’re not expecting miracles. There’s still some jitter to be found from time to time, alas.
The beauty of everything I just mentioned is that it generally happens behind the scenes. Google’s Pixel camera app is more than happy to let you shoot in Auto (and get some impressive photos in the process), but persnickety photographers will appreciate the ability to lock exposure and focus and overlay grids over the live image to more easily frame up shots. If that’s not you, well, you’ll probably still enjoy Google’s Smartburst feature, which lets you hold down the shutter button to capture a slew of shots in one go. From there, the phone stitches those frames together into a GIF(!) and lets you choose the best individual stills to keep.
Performance and battery life
Here’s an interesting tidbit to chew on: Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 821’s clock speed tops out at 2.4GHz, but the version used in both Pixel models is capped at 2.15GHz. In case you haven’t been keeping track, that’s as fast as the trusty Snapdragon 820s we’ve seen in just about every other flagship smartphone this year. Despite that, the Pixel and the Pixel XL feel snappier and more responsive than most of the other flagship phones I’ve tested this year. What gives? As far as Google was concerned, the real trick here was balancing sheer horsepower with battery life, so using a slightly slower version of the chipset seemed like the way to go. Google wasn’t willing to sacrifice the sensation of speed, though, so it optimized how things were rendered on-screen, reduced touch latency and improved app launch times.
That said, you’d be wrong to think the Pixels were lacking in sheer processing power. My days include lots of frenzied multitasking — think: Slack, Outlook, YouTube, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram and more — along with games like Mortal Kombat X and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. Nothing, and I mean nothing during this testing period managed to make the Pixel or Pixel XL break a sweat. Sure, they got a little warm from time to time, but their performance left me with no complaints.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
HTC 10
AndEBench Pro
14,941
16,164
13,030
16,673
Vellamo 3.0
5,343
5,800
4,152
4,876
3DMark IS Unlimited
28,645
29,360
26,666
26,747
GFXBench 3.0 1080p Manhattan Offscreen (fps)
46
48
47
48
CF-Bench
30,997
39,918
46,290
49,891
Neither did the Pixels’ batteries, as a matter of fact. Consider Engadget’s standard rundown test, wherein we loop high-definition videos with the phone connected to WiFi and the screen brightness fixed at 50 percent. The more capacious XL was the obvious stand-out here — it lasted 14 hours and 12 minutes, beating out the Galaxy Note 7 by just seven minutes. The smaller Pixel, meanwhile, managed 12 hours and 26 minutes before finally needing a trip to a power outlet.
Thankfully, both phones proved to be serious contenders in day-to-day use as well. After a full day of work, the XL would typically hover around 46 percent, and then, when my schedule quieted down, it just sipped on its remaining power. All told, I could reliably squeeze a day and a half of use out of it on a single charge, or closer to two workdays, even, when I played things safe.
The smaller Pixel fared well too, sticking around for a full day and clinging to life the next morning. You shouldn’t feel too bad about forgetting to charge your Pixel before crashing, though: Google says the included fast charger will give you seven hours of usage after just 15 minutes plugged in. Your mileage may vary, but in general, I found leaving the Pixel and XL plugged in for 15 minutes added a 15 and 20 percent charge, respectively.
The competition
Now that the Galaxy Note 7 has been permanently discontinued, Samsung’s heirs apparent to the Best Smartphone crown are the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. Before using the Pixels, I liked to think of these phones as the best all-around mobile cameras, and even now the race is closer than Google would like to admit. Beyond photography, they’re impeccably built, gorgeously designed and powerful enough for just about anyone’s daily routine. Still, having to deal with TouchWiz — even in its improved form — probably wouldn’t sit well with the kind of people who would be drawn to the Pixel line in the first place.
The HTC 10 also runs a tweaked version of Android in the vein of TouchWiz, but you’d wind up with a device that shares some traits with the Pixels. Incredible build quality? Check. Speedy performance and almost no touch latency? Yep. A stunning camera? Well… about that. The 10’s 12-ultrapixel camera sensor has pixels just as large as what you’ll find on the Pixel and Pixel XL, but Google’s phones have a distinct edge.
Finally, for people not strictly married to Android, there’s the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Apple basically recycled their design from last year, but looks are deceiving — they’re actually the company’s most technically impressive phones to date. Apple’s improved camera game puts the 7 and 7 Plus right up there with the Pixels and the Galaxy S7s when it comes to photography, but anyone itching for a truly “new” iPhone might want to wait a year anyway.
Wrap-up
As the story goes, Google only really got to contribute to Nexus phones once they were 90 percent done. That’s crazy, isn’t it? I loved the Nexus line from day one, but it always felt clear that Google was just experimenting with things while its hardware partners took on most of the risk. Now, Google is sticking its own neck out there, and the market — no, the people — won’t stand for mediocrity.
Thankfully, the Pixels are much, much better than that. They certainly have their share of shortcomings, like a drab design, wimpy water resistance and some hefty price tags. The thing is, Google had to start somewhere, and the foundation it built with these two phones is a surprisingly strong one. These aren’t just great first attempts at smartphones; these are great smartphones, period, and every other Android device maker out there should be a little worried.
AIVAnet 