I feel for Google. They, like Apple and really any other phone manufacture in the world, struggles mightly to keep their new phones a secret until launch day. The problem is usually not the company themselves but partners or carriers who leak and today is another great example of it. Thanks to the folks at UK-based Carphone Warehouse, we now have the full specs of the Google Pixel and the Pixel XL which will launch tomorrow. Frankly the specs really don’t have any surprises if you consider previous leaks guesses on what the specs would be at launch day. Given the retailer had full page renders of all the Pixel goodness on their site, which has now been taken down, you can pretty much count on these being a lock. We’ll know for sure tomorrow.
As for the Google Pixel, it is a 5″ Full HD display with 441 ppi and protected by Gorilla Glass 4. It is powered by the quad-core Snapdragon 821 processor running at 2.15GHz and that is coupled with 4GB of RAM. The main camera is 12.3MP f/2.0 shooter with OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) while the front camera will be an 8MP unit. It will have all of the normal base features of a contemporary phone such as a fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C connector and NFC. Yes, it will have a 3.5mm headphone jack too. 🙂 Interestingly, the phone will have two storage options: 32GB or 128GB and it will be powered by Android Nougat 7.1.
As for the larger Google Pixel XL, a lot of the same specifications carry over between it and the Pixel. The XL will have a 5.5″ Quad HD display with 534 ppi so it is a bit better and obviously the
Google Pixel
chassis itself will be slightly larger. However, from an internals perspective, they are pretty much the same: Same processor, same RAM, same Storage, same Cameras and same base features. The battery is slightly larger (3450 versus 2770 mAh) but overall, these phones are going to have a lot of the same things going on. Frankly I like that. You as a consumer decide which size device fits your needs best but you aren’t compromising other features or performance.
I mentioned it briefly but both of these phones will come standard with Android Nougat 7.1. That will be the first maintenance release for Nougat and it will have a lot of changes. Google Now as we know it will be replaced with Google Assistant throughout the phone and rumors suggest you will be able to tap-and-hold the Home button and bring it up to get help with anything. You will also be able to use “OK Google” to bring up the assistant. The question, along with the Pixel Launcher that has been leaked, will be if those same features come trickle to the Nexus 5x and Nexus 6P. It is likely as those devices will be getting the 7.1 upgrade as well and most of the Assistant pieces are there along with Google Allo and Duo. The launcher however may be a different question.
Tomorrow we find out if all of these rumors are true. Be sure to tune into the live feed on YouTube to check it out and you can read my predictions on what we are going to see here. But at this point, there isn’t a lot of mystery. 🙂
