As you all know, Google is hosting an event on October 4 (that’s Tuesday) to show off its new hardware to take us through 2016. We are expecting things like Google Home, Google WiFi, a new Chromecast, and of course, two knew phones called Pixel and Pixel XL. Because we live in a world where people suck at following directions, almost all of the Pixel and Pixel XL details have been posted at a variety of carriers and retailers across the globe. In other words, so much for any surprises on Tuesday!
Carphone Warehouse, Telus, and Bell have all put forth their best leaking effort, but Carphone Warehouse’s has been the biggest. Not only did they list full specs, they also have revealed both white and black models of the phone and a variety of features. The only things we don’t know at this point are prices, but we are expecting the Pixel to start around the $650 mark.
Here is the info from Carphone Warehouse’s site:
What are the takeaways from all of that? A few things stand out. For one, CW is referring to this as the “first standalone phone” from Google, which matches up with the #madebygoogle hashtag they are advertising it with. Even though HTC may have built these phones, Google must be looking at that relationship as nothing more than a manufacturer and not a partner.
From there, CW talks about two sizes (Pixel and Pixel XL), having access to Google Assistant everywhere with the “OK, Google” command (not just in Allo), unlimited full resolution storing of photos through Google Photos, a “Smart Storage” feature to help you automatically clean up space on your phone, good low light photos from the camera, access to Google Duo and Allo (which is not unique to these phones), fast charging with USB Type-C (7 hours of battery in 15 minutes), and custom Live Cases like we saw for the Nexus 6P and 5X.
Here are the specs according to CW:
| Pixel | Pixel XL | |
|---|---|---|
| Software | Android 7.1 | Android 7.1 |
| Display | 5" FHD AMOLED (1920x1080, 441ppi) Gorilla Glass 4 | 5.5" QHD AMOLED (2560x1440, 534ppi) Gorilla Glass 4 |
| Processor | 2.15GHz Snapdragon 821 (quad-core, 64-bit) Adreno 530 GPU | 2.15GHz Snapdragon 821 (quad-core, 64-bit) Adreno 530 GPU |
| RAM | 4GB | 4GB |
| Camera | Rear: 12.3MP (f/2.0, 1.55um), Sony IMX378 Front: 8MP (f/2.4, 1.4um), Sony IMX179 | Rear: 12.3MP (f/2.0, 1.55um), Sony IMX378 Front: 8MP (f/2.4, 1.4um), Sony IMX179 |
| Battery | 2770mAh Fast charging | 3450mAh Fast charging |
| Storage | 32GB or 128GB UFS 2.0 No microSD support | 32GB or 128GB UFS 2.0 No microSD support |
| Other | Fingerprint scanner, NFC, 3.5mm headphone, USB Type-C (USB 3.1) | Fingerprint scanner, NFC, 3.5mm headphone, USB Type-C (USB 3.1) |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 4.2 WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2x2 MIMO, dual-band (2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz) | Bluetooth 4.2 WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2x2 MIMO, dual-band (2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz) |
| Water/Dust Resistance | IP53 | IP53 |
| Dimensions | 143.8 x 69.5 x 8.6 mm 143 grams | 154.7 x 75.7 x 8.6 mm 168 grams |
| SIM | Nano | Nano |
| Colors | Quite Black, Very Silver. Really Blue | Quite Black, Very Silver. Really Blue |
Here are two new press renders, courtesy of Telus:
(Pixel vs. Pixel XL)
Those two images aren’t revealing much new, but the Google Search pill in the top left corner is now showing a voice search icon, which certainly is new. Also, those images show “7:00” as the time, which has often been an indicator of the version of Android a phone will run, but Carphone Warehouse says specifically that the phones will run Android 7.1.
Here is the Bell site before it was pulled:
So, what do you think? We now know a lot about Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL phones. Are either of them going to be your next phone?
