Launched two weeks ago, Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones arrive with an impressive pedigree. The geekerati have always loved the Nexus devices. They delivered a clean Android experience backed up with direct support from Google for its own operating system on its own hardware. Yet those handsets were always designed with the developer mindset. That’s not the case with the Pixel smartphone family.
with the Pixel, Google stepped up to bat, called its shot and knocked it out of the park. And the timing couldn’t be more fortunate with Samsung in the midst of an explosive crisis.
After six years of partnering up with device makers to create its Nexus phones, for the first time Google has stepped out on its own. The Pixel and Pixel XL are the latest additions to its line of in-house products. And while HTC may have put the phones together, it was Google that designed, engineered and branded them.
The gamble paid off. Starting at$649 in the US, £599 in the UK and AU$1, 079 in Australia, the Pixel is fast, with an elevated, smooth design. Heavy investments in its camera resulted in a nimble shooter too. Though its special portrait mode is poor, it otherwise takes amazing shots that rival those of the Apple iPhone 7 Plus.