Google has unveiled its brand-new Pixel smartphone, the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL at a special event in San Francisco.
This is the second generation of Google’s own-brand Pixel smartphone and once again both phones place a huge emphasis on photography and performing tasks handsfree by taking to Google Assistant.
Google Pixel 2 + Pixel 2 XL
The design of Pixel 2 is an evolution of the original. There’s still a soft aluminium body combined with the glass panel at the top of the smartphone. Both smartphones have stereo speakers, a fingerprint sensor and no, they don’t have a headphone jack.
The Pixel 2 comes in three colours which have been rather cutely named: Clearly White, Just Black and Kinda Blue.
The Pixel 2 XL comes in Just Black or Black and White.
Display
The Pixel 2 XL has a large 6-inch P-OLED curved display sat within an almost bezel-less smartphone design.
With a resolution of 2880x1440 this puts the Pixel 2 XL directly in line with the likes of Apple’s iPhone X, Samsung’s Galaxy S8, Note 8 and the LG V30.
With smartphones now adopting the same technologies as most high-end TVs it should come as no surprise that the Pixel XL supports wide-colour gamut which should mean great contrast and colour reproduction when watching Netflix or movies bought on Google Play.
Pixel 2, the smaller sibling has a 5-inch Full-HD display but still has a wide-colour gamut which should mean that images and video still look impressive.
Both phones have an Always-On Display that boasts notifications and a rather nifty trick that’ll show you the song that’s playing in the background without you having to open an app like Shazam.
Camera
It’s fair to say that the original Google Pixel had one of the best cameras ever seen on a smartphone. It looks as though Google is hoping to continue that tradition with the Pixel 2.
Getting the technical jargon out of the way, the Pixel 2 has a single 12MP sensor with optical image stabilisation.
Now to the interesting part. The Pixel 2 has an advanced form of HDR which means that when you press the shutter it will take many shots in a split second. It then uses AI built into the phone to analyse each one, combine them and give you the finished product.
As a result Google says it is the highest-rated smartphone camera available.
For shooting video, the camera features an advanced hybrid system that combines both hardware and software to remove shaky footage and smooth it out.
As with the original Pixel, Google’s offering free unlimited cloud storage for photos and videos.
Augmented Reality
First unveiled at Google I/O, Google Lens will be launching on the Pixel 2. Google Lens is essentially a visual assistant that uses the camera on your phone.
You simply point it at something on interest and Google Lens will give you information about it, whether that’s looking at a restaurant and getting reviews or pointing it at a bottle of wine and wondering where it comes from.
Samsung has experimented with something similar in the past with limited success so whether or not you’ll find yourself pointing the camera at every restaurant you can see will remain to be seen.
Just like Apple, Google is investing heavily in Augmented Reality. As such both Pixel 2 smartphones will come with AR features built directly into the camera.
AR stickers allow you to essentially drop custom-made animated emojis into the real world, and then send the footage to friends.
Storage + Features
The Pixel 2 comes with two storage sizes, 64GB and 128GB, both of which should be more than adequate for downloading music, Netflix shows or taking photos.
The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are both water-resistant, feature stereo speakers and come with a unique feature that allows you to physically squeeze the phone to bring up Google Assistant.
Google Pixel 2 & Pixel 2 XL UK Release Date And Price
Both the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL are available to buy now and are set to be available from 19 October. For a limited amount of time Google’s giving away a free Google Home Mini alongside the Pixel 2.
Pixel 2 64GB: £629
Pixel 2 128GB: £729
Pixel 2 XL 64GB: £799
Pixel 2 XL 128GB: £899