Google Pixel and Pixel XL officially announced

As expected, Google officially announced two new smartphones — Pixel and Pixel XL. Both devices are built by HTC, but Google marketed this device with its “Phone by Google” branding.

Besides the screen size, both phones are pretty much the same. The Pixel has a 5-inch Full HD display while the Pixel XL has a 5.5-inch Quad HD display, both are AMOLED panels. Both models are powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor with 4GB RAM. Storage wise, both Pixel smartphones will come with free unlimited storage for full-resolution images and videos shot with the phones. It will be available in either 32GB or 128GB though.

The camera on Pixel is the best smartphone camera… EVER, according to DxOMark. #madebygoogle pic.twitter.com/J8Xf2ciaUo

— Google (@google) October 4, 2016

Both devices have a 12.3MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture and 1.55-micron pixels. DxOMark rated 89 for both Pixel devices in terms of camera performance, the highest rating ever. Google claims that its new camera has “the shortest capture time on any mobile camera ever.” Both devices are capable to record 4K videos as well, and its gyroscope-based video stabilization (no OIS) works pretty well, according to Google.

Battery wise, both Pixel smartphones come with fast charging that gets you up to 7 hours of power in 15 minutes of charging. Hardware wise, it has a USB Type-C, Pixel Imprint (fingerprint sensor), Bluetooth 4.2 and 3.5mm audio jack. Yes, it has an audio jack!

Both Pixel smartphones are running on Android 7.1 Nougat with Pixel Launcher on top. Pixel users will be getting the latest Android updates directly from Google as soon as they become available. Pixel is the first phone to have the new Google Assistant built in, it’s pretty much like Android version Siri. It is also the first Daydream-compatible phone and Google today also announced the Daydream View headset to accommodate the Pixel for VR use.

Both Pixel smartphones will be available in three color options — Quite Black, Very Silver and Really Blue.

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