Google has just unveiled the Pixel 2 on stage, which continues the first line of the phone Made By Google. The design has been updated with a full aluminum design, while the top of the back has a glass design around the camera. Google placed the fingerprint sensor in an ergonomically correct place. A pop of color has been added to the power/sleep button as well.
The Pixel 2 comes in Kinda Blue, Just Black, and Clearly White, while the XL comes in Just Black or Black and White. The smaller Pixel has a 5-inch OLED display which offers 1,000 to 1 contrast ratio. The Pixel 2 XL has a 6-inch display with a full-screen immersive experience, and it is an OLED at 538 pixels per inch. Both of these devices are IP68 water and dust resistance, plus they have wireless charging.
Google has also updated the software experience before you even unlock the phone–It can identify songs without you even asking for them. The new home screen looks very sleek and the Google Assistant is built right in seamlessly. This is the new “At-A-Glance” feature and it should be able to tell you calendar event, plus it will be able to do traffic and flight status in the future. There is also a new dock with Google Search built-in, this stays with you no matter what screen your on.
With Active Edge, you can squeeze the phone to engage the Google Assistant. This is pretty sweet and the Pixel is running a pure version of Android 8.0 Oreo. Pixel users are the first to get these updates in the future as well. With Google Lens, it uses machine learning to understand a photo. Google is also highlighting Augmented Reality, especially with ARCore their development SDK. AR Stickers ie built right into the camera on the Pixel and these are exclusive to these devices. These are fun AR Stickers and they look really cool, they don’t just sit around, but rather they react to the environment around it.
The Pixel 2 has DXO rating of 98, the highest ever for a smartphone, and it has a 12-megapixel lens setup. It can also do Portrait Mode with one lense, as the main sensor can identify and handle depth within an image. Portrait Mode also works out of the box for selfies on the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. With video recording it can handle OIS and EIS at the same time, making use of software and hardware together. Google wants to make sure you don’t run out of storage and Google will be giving them free unlimited storage.
Google’s Pixel 2 starts at $649 and the Pixel 2 XL starts at $849, both with 64GB of storage and pre-orders start today. You can but it directly unlocked from the Google Store.
