Finally, the Google has officially announced the company’s latest premium s smartphones in Pixel lineup, the second generation Pixel, and Pixel XL smartphones – namely Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Both the smartphones come with similar specs resembling the typical 2017 flagships but vary in screen size and some other smaller features.
Unlike we have expected, both of the smartphones do not share the same design and display ratios. The typical pixel 2 smartphone has an only a 5-inch OLED HD Display with thicker bezels on the sides. The 16:9 ratio display with bezels make the smartphone look more similar to most of the typical 2016-style smartphones. Regarding design, the latter variant Google pixel 2 XL spots a revamped design, as almost every manufacturer had attained by this year. The bezel-less design with curved glass on top packs an 18:9 ratio 6-inch OLED panel beneath.
In case you are still douted about the manufacturers by seeing the bezels on the front, the standard Pixel 2 has been manufactured by the HTC team which the Google had recently acquired to stick with their own. Well, the Google Pixel 2 XL is actually being made by the LG, that is probably why the device has some similarity in design towards the LG’s recent flagships.
Both the Pixel 2 and 2 XL smartphones share almost same hardware specs under the hood. The smartphones feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 SoC, paired with 4GB of RAM. Google offers a storage space options of 64GB and 128GB.
Concerning the camera department, both the smartphones have the same camera sensors and having the same output it seems. The rear camera of the both devices sports a 12.2MP sensor. According to the DxOMark Camer Benchmarking, Pixel 2 XL has managed to score 98 which the greatest in the smartphone industry.
Features
The Google Pixel second-generation smartphones run Android 8.0 Oreo Operating System onboard with new UI. The Search bar has been moved to the bottom of the screen, as we have already reported. The HTC’s Squeezable Active Edge technology has been integrated with the devices, which triggers some actions by squeezing the smartphone’s frame. The new AR stickers sound great, as we can add augmented Reality objects to the videos and images with originality while shooting using smartphone camera. As the Google Pixel 2 devices have OLED displays, the smartphones support the Always-On display. Additionally, an always-on music recognition feature too added with the smartphone to show the song details played in the background.
Thoughts
Google is getting more refined with the smartphone industry, but they seem to be choosing the wrong way to do things. As even most of the flagships have 6GB or above RAM, the Pixel smartphones sport only four gigs of RAM which is a bit low for a 2017-premium flagship smartphone. Google had added a stereo speakers on the front, but the removal of headphone jack would be lamented by Audiophiles. The price listing revealed points to a price tag of $649 and $849, for 2 and 2 XL respectively. In a word, it seems like Google has tried to jump high with the Pixel lineup into more ‘iPhone-ish’ perspective.