Pixel: 5 in (130 mm) FHD AMOLED, 1920 x 1080 (441ppi) Pixel XL: 5.5 in (140 mm) QHD AMOLED, 2560 x 1440 (534ppi) All models: 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 4 100% NTSC Color Space 100000:1 contrast ratio 24-bit depth/16.77 million colours
Rear camera
12.3 MP Sony Exmor IMX378 1.55 µm pixel size f/2.0 aperture Phase-detection Autofocus + Laser Autofocus HDR+ Processing HD 720p (up to 240fps) FHD 1080p video (Up to 120 FPS) 4K 2160p video (Up to 30 FPS) Electronic Image Stabilization (Sampling gyroscope at 200 Hz)
8 MP Sony Exmor IMX179 1.4 µm pixel size f/2.4 aperture HD 720p video (Up to 30 FPS)
Connectivity
North America: GSM: Quad-band GSM UMTS/WCDMA: B 1/2/4/5/8 CDMA2000: BC0/BC1/BC10 TDS-CDMA: N/A FDD LTE: B 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/20/25/26/28/29/30 TDD LTE: B 41 Rest of the World: GSM: Quad-band GSM UMTS/WCDMA: B 1/2/4/5/6/8/9/19 CDMA2000: BC0 TDS-CDMA: B 34/39 FDD LTE: B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/18/19/20/21/26/28/32/ TDD LTE: B 38/39/40/41
Pixel and Pixel XL are Androidsmartphones designed and marketed by Google. They were announced during a press event on October 4, 2016,[3] and serve as Google's launch devices for Android 7.1 Nougat.[4] The Pixel and Pixel XL are the first smartphones as part of the Google Pixel line.
Development
Google previously co-developed flagship Android devices through the Nexus program, which were designed to be "reference" devices for the Android platform for other OEMs to use as a guide for their own, but retained internal similarities to other devices made by their respective partners. Under new hardware head Rick Osterloh, formerly of Motorola Mobility, Google initiated development of an ecosystem of in-house products and platforms, including the Google Home ecosystem, Google Assistant, and Google Daydream. Osterloh stated that "a lot of the innovation that we want to do now ends up requiring controlling the end-to-end user experience".[This quote needs a citation]
As such, unlike the Nexus devices, the Pixel was designed by and is marketed as being a Google product; although the company used HTC as a contract manufacturer, Google has stated that the Pixel is not based on any existing HTC device.[5] Google offered Huawei the contract to manufacture the Google Pixel smartphone, but after Google refused to dual-brand the phone with credit to the manufacturer, Huawei declined the offer.[6]
Specifications
Hardware
Pixel uses an aluminum chassis, with a glass panel on the portion of the rear housing the camera and "imprint" fingerprint sensor. The phones have a USB Type-C connector supporting USB 3.0, for power and data exchange. The phone features a 3.5 mm headphone jack, which received media attention for being a contrast to competing smartphone AppleiPhone 7, which does not feature the port.[7] The Pixel and Pixel XL both use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 system-on-chip, with 4 GB of RAM.[8][9] They are offered with either 32 GB or 128 GB of UFS 2.0 internal storage.[3]
The two models are differentiated by screen and battery size; the standard Pixel's display measures 5 in (130 mm) 1080pAMOLED with a 2770 mAh battery,[10] while the Pixel XL's display measures 5.5 in (140 mm) 1440p AMOLED with a 3450 mAh battery.[11]
Pixel features a 12.3-megapixel rear-facing camera, which uses an f/2.0 aperture, and a Sony IMX378 sensor with 1.55 μm pixels.[12] The camera uses a digital image stabilization system tied to the phone's gyroscope and motion sensors at a sampling rate of 200 Hz.[2] To improve capture speed, 30 frames are continuously captured per second while the camera is active. When a photo is taken, up to 10 of these frames are composed to form a single image.[13]
Software
Pixel and Pixel XL ship with Android 7.1 "Nougat", an update to 7.0 that was initially exclusive to the Pixel. It was released for existing Nexus devices in December 2016, but certain features remain exclusive to Pixel.[4][14][15][16]
Pixel supports Google Assistant, and provides live technical support services integrated into the OS. Similarly to Nexus devices, it receives Android updates directly from Google.[3][17] Pixel also supports the Google Daydream virtual reality platform.[3] All Pixel smartphones include unlimited full-resolution Google Photos backup for the life of the device.[3][13] A November 2016 update added additional motion gestures, including double-tapping the screen to show alerts, and raising the device to wake the screen and raise-to-wake features.[18]
Release
In the United States, Pixel is exclusive to Verizon Wireless and Project Fi, but also available direct-to-consumer via Google's online store [19][5] or from Best Buy.[20] In the United Kingdom, they are available direct-to-consumer via Google's online store, and through EE, and Carphone Warehouse.[21] In India, they are available for preorder from October 13 from Flipkart, Reliance Digital, and Cromā.[22]
The Pixel and Pixel XL received generally positive reviews. Dieter Bohn of The Verge said the Pixel smartphones are "...easily the best Android phones you can buy" and gave the product a 9 out of 10, praising its long battery life and Google Assistant integration. However, Bohn did not like its pedestrian design and lack of waterproofing.[29] Matt Humrick of Anandtech praised the camera being flush with the body, but was critical of the price since Nexus fans assumed there would be a more affordable option.[30] Chris Velazco of Engadget praised the build quality, camera, and performance, but criticized the expensive price, and lack of proper water-resistance present in rivals, such as the iPhone 7 and the Samsung Galaxy S7.[31] Writing for Ars Technica, Ron Amadeo said of the phone, "[it has] unbeatable software and support with a great camera, wrapped in a familiar exterior."[32]
Known problems
The Pixel and Pixel XL have been the subject of numerous problems since their release. Notable problems include the rear camera producing excessive flare,[33] microphone malfunctions,[34]Bluetooth pairing problems,[35] connectivity problems with an LTE band,[36] security exploits,[37][38] "bubbles" forming under the phone's display,[39] speaker problems,[40] random software freezes that leave the phone unresponsive for a few minutes,[41][42] random shutdowns with 30% battery left,[43] and sync issues with macOS as the phone is shipped with outdated software from Google.[44]
Google has investigated and attempted to fix some of these problems, including releasing a Camera app update in December 2016 to fix excessive flare,[45] and fixing LTE band connectivity problems with the release of Android 7.1.1 in December 2016.[46] Regarding speaker problems, Google suggested to refund an affected customer rather than fix the problem.[47]
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