Welcome to October 2016, and the ‘Nexus’ era is officially over. Google has just unveiled the Pixel, the first phone ‘Made by Google’ from the inside out. In the UK, it has arrived as a direct technical challenger to the iPhone, moving away from the ‘budget-friendly’ roots of the Nexus line to a premium, £599 price point. It features a unique industrial design, a ‘glass window’ on the upper back of an aluminium unibody, and a wedge-shaped profile that eliminates the ‘camera bump’ entirely. At 143g, it is a solid, purposeful device that exists to show the world what happens when Google controls both the hardware and the software.
The technical headline is the software-hardware integration. Powered by the Snapdragon 821 processor and 4GB of RAM, the Pixel runs ‘Android 7.1 Nougat’ with a level of smoothness and ‘touch latency’ that finally matches the iPhone. It is the debut for the ‘Google Assistant,’ a deeply integrated AI that replaces the old ‘Google Now’ and can handle complex, conversational queries. The screen is a 5.0-inch Full HD AMOLED (1920 x 1080) that is vibrant and sharp, providing the perfect canvas for the new ‘Pixel Launcher.’
On the imaging front, the Pixel has been crowned the highest-rated smartphone camera ever by DxOMark. The 12.3-megapixel sensor uses advanced computational photography, specifically ‘HDR+,’ to capture stunning dynamic range with zero shutter lag. Because Google manages the cloud, Pixel owners get free, unlimited original-quality photo and video storage for life, a massive technical perk. Connectivity is total: 4G LTE, Wi-Fi ac, NFC, and a USB-C port that supports ‘Quick Charging,’ giving you 7 hours of life in just 15 minutes. While it lacks the waterproofing of its rivals, the original Pixel is a landmark bit of tech; it is the smartest, cleanest, and most helpful Android phone ever built.