UK pricing for Google’s Pixel phones, Daydream VR headset and more

A wealth of leaks might’ve taken some of the sting out of Google’s big event today, but there was quite a lot to take in nonetheless. Google spent a lot of time talking up its AI Assistant — the same one that debuted in its Allo messaging app — but who are we kidding? New hardware was the highlight tonight, and there’s a lot of it, from a pair of Pixel smartphones to a new VR headset, 4K Chromecast and more. And now it’s time to lay out how much all that new gear is gonna cost you.

Pixel

Nexus is dead, long live Pixel. Google unveiled a pair of handsets under its new Pixel brand today, the smaller of the two featuring a 5-inch screen. Simply called “Pixel,” the device is relatively well specced out, with a powerful Snapdragon 821 chip and 4GB of RAM, though it only boasts a 1080p display. Google didn’t spend much time talking about what’s inside it, however, focusing more on what you can do with it thanks to the baked-in Assistant and “best smartphone camera ever.”

The Pixel can be pre-ordered today with two storage options to choose from, as well as two colours — silver and black (no blue model, yet) — with the official launch date set for October 20th. The pricing table below outlines what Google wants for the device, and it ain’t going cheap. If spreading some of that cost over the term of a contract makes more sense to you, it’s also available to pre-order today from exclusive carrier partner EE.

Pixel XL

Like the Pixel but bigger, the XL model increases the screen size to 5.5 inches and the resolution to QHD (2,560 x 1,440), with a bigger battery packed into its larger frame for good measure. Also available in the same two colours and storage configs as the smaller device, the Pixel XL is also up for pre-order from Google and EE today ahead of its October 20th launch. Pricing is pretty steep, however, and just to put it into perspective, the flagship 5.5-inch, 64GB OnePlus 3 is £329.

Daydream View

Cardboard was previously the closest Google’s come to crafting a virtual reality headset, but the company has stepped things up today with the Daydream View. While it’s still smartphone-powered — Google’s Pixel handsets being the first to support the Daydream platform — the headset is clad in fabric for comfort and includes a motion-sensitive wand controller. Thankfully, it’s still relatively inexpensive at £69, and will be available early November.

Chromecast Ultra

Roku and Amazon have had streaming pucks and dongles that output at 4K for some time now, leaving Google a little behind the curve. The search giant has finally caught up today, though, with the announcement of the Chromecast Ultra. It does everything you’d expect a Chromecast to do, but adds Ultra HD, HDR and Dolby Vision support. It’s over double the price of previous generations at £69, mind, with no word on availability apart from a vague “soon.” In addition to Google’s online store, we’re told it’ll also be stocked by Currys PC World and Argos too.

Google Home & Google Wifi

Google finally filled us on its Amazon Echo competitor today, known only as “Home.” Nothing about the announcement was particularly surprising. Calling upon the built-it Assistant, you can ask Home all kinds of things and it’ll source information from across the web, and you can also instruct it control your other devices at home. It’s Google’s AI Assistant, confined to a WiFi speaker. Oh, and you can use it to play music too.

Google also announced a follow-up to its OnHub router today, called “Google Wifi.” Instead of a single piece of hardware, it uses multiple devices to create a mesh network to eliminate black spots. The kit also intelligently manages your devices, channels and bandwidth to get the best out of your broadband, and includes some handy parental control features to boot. Unfortunately, there’s no firm word on pricing or availability for either the Home speaker or the new router gear. We were simply told the company hopes to bring them to the UK next year, and we think you can probably expect the prices to be similar to the $129 US values, but in pounds.

Click here to catch all the latest news from today’s Google event.

Google’s play for the living room starts with Home

Today marked Google’s biggest hardware launch yet. Not only did it announce two Pixel phones and a Daydream VR headset — it also unveiled a slew of products for the living room. We already heard about Google Home, its voice-powered assistant-and-Bluetooth speaker combo at the company’s I/O developer conference this year. New today, though, was a mesh networking router and an updated Chromecast. We took a closer look at all three immediately after the event and came away with a dream of a Google-powered home.

First up is Google Home, which was obviously intended to compete with the Amazon Echo. Instead of saying “Alexa” to trigger a voice command, you’d say “OK Google,” just like you would with any other Google-powered device. Obviously, you can use it to search the internet for various factoids, like “how tall is a giraffe?” or “what’s the weather in Mexico?” You can also harness the power of Google’s AI-powered assistant to text your friends and ask for directions to a restaurant. What’s more, it works with a variety of Internet of Things products like the Nest Thermostat, Samsung SmartThings, the Philips Hue lights and anything powered by IFTTT.

During a brief hands-on, I found that Google Home did a good job at recognizing my voice, even in a crowded room. It did hiccup occasionally if there was too much noise interference, but that was fairly rare. Google Home works with several different music sources like Pandora, Spotify, YouTube Music, TuneIn and iHeartRadio. So I could say, “Play Hello from Adele on Spotify” and it’ll do just that. It also reacts to commands like “pause” and “volume down.” What I found particularly impressive is that even in a loud room it managed to figure out what I was saying without me having to raise my voice. A Google spokesperson said that’s because Home is smart enough to differentiate voice patterns from background noise.

Speaking of audio quality, I have to say Google Home is impressive for such a small speaker. It’s not exactly surround sound, but it’s definitely a lot louder and fuller than your typical laptop. Of course, we’d have to test it for a more extended period, and in real-world settings, before we really weigh in. That said, if you do want good audio quality, there’s some good news here: Google Home works with any pair of Chromecast-enabled speakers. You can either get compatible speakers from the likes of Sony or LG, or you can just plug in a Chromecast Audio to any pair of speakers you want. Once you map those speakers appropriately, you can say things like “Play Shakira in the kitchen” or “Play my Spotify playlist in the living room.” You can also just have multiple Google Home speakers if you want. All of a sudden you can have a multi-room audio system like Sonos, but with voice commands.

Another neat trick is that Google Home works with Chromecast and your TV. Right now you can only use it to play YouTube clips but Netflix will be supported eventually as well. So you can soon just say “Play Stranger Things” to start your binge-watching session.

If you don’t feel like using voice commands, Google Home also has a capacitive touch surface on the top. Tap it to play or pause, and you can draw a circle with your finger to turn the volume up or down. There’s a mute button on the back as well, just in case you don’t want it to always be listening. Google Home comes with different colored bases, and you have the choice of either fabric mesh or metal.

I also had a look at Google WiFi, which is essentially the company’s answer to mesh networking routers like the Eero. If you live in a small apartment — say, around 500 square feet — then one WiFi Hub should suffice. But if your place is larger than that you might want to consider getting multiple units. Like the Eero, Google recommends putting the WiFi hub every 30 feet or so, or at least within line of sight. It supports AC1200 wireless speeds, dual-band 2.4GHz and GHz networks plus it’s compatible with the 802.11s mesh networking standard. Each WiFi hub also has two Ethernet ports just in case you want a wired connection instead.

I asked a Google spokesperson what really sets the WiFi Hub apart from the Eero and he says there are three components. First, is that it has a Network Assist companion app that makes set up super easy and simple. Next, there’s a network analyzing tool for each hub, so that you always know the most optimum place to position your hub for the best possible signal. Finally, it’s smart enough to let you maintain a connection as you move through different hubs, so you can keep your Hangouts call going as you move from room to room.

Lastly, I had a quick look at the Chromecast Ultra. True to its name, it’s the first and only Chromecast right now to support 4K content. It has a pretty similar look to the last Chromecast with its circular puck design, though it doesn’t come in different colors this time. Google showed me a demo of some 4K content playing through it and it looked really nice to my eyes, though obviously it would need extended testing to know for sure.

With Google Home, Google WiFi and the Chromecast Ultra combined, Google has made what appears to be a compelling bid for the home. Together, these products go after not just the Amazon Echo, but also Sonos, Roku and mesh networking routers like the Eero. Get all three, and you arguably have one of the most advanced home theater and connected home setups that money can buy right now.

Click here to catch all the latest news from Google’s fall event.