Pixel (smartphone)

History

Google previously co-developed flagship Android devices with original equipment manufacturers through the Nexus program, which were designed to be "reference" devices for the Android platform, but the devices retained similarities to other devices made by their respective partners. Rick Osterloh, former president of Motorola, joined Google as its senior vice president of hardware in April 2016, and Google initiated development of an ecosystem of in-house products and platforms, including the Google Home smart speaker, Google Assistant intelligent personal assistant, and Google Daydream, Google's new virtual reality platform built for Android Nougat. The Pixels were announced on October 4, 2016, and serve as Google's launch devices for Android 7.1 Nougat. Osterloh stated in an interview with The Verge that "a lot of the innovation that we want to do now ends up requiring controlling the end-to-end user experience". The Verge wrote that the Nexus program had "fulfilled its mission", with a Google spokesperson stating that there are "no plans" to make another Nexus device. The Pixel was designed by and is marketed as being a Google product; although the company used HTC as a contract manufacturer, Google has stated that the Pixels are not based on any existing HTC device. It offered Huawei the contract to manufacture the devices, but after Google refused to dual-brand the phone with credit to the manufacturer, Huawei declined the offer.

Osterloh stated in an interview with Android Pit in March 2017 that a sequel to the Pixel is coming later in 2017, and that "Pixel stays premium".

Hardware

Pixel uses an aluminum chassis, with a glass panel on the portion of the rear housing the camera and "imprint" fingerprint sensor. The phones have a USB Type-C connector supporting USB 3.0, for power and data exchange. The phone features a 3.5 mm headphone jack, which received media attention for being a contrast to competing smartphone Apple iPhone 7, which does not feature the port. The Pixel and Pixel XL both use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 system-on-chip, with 4 GB of RAM. They are offered with either 32 GB or 128 GB of UFS 2.0 internal storage.

The two models are differentiated by screen and battery size; the standard Pixel's display measures 5 in (130 mm) 1080p AMOLED with a 2770 mAh battery, while the Pixel XL's display measures 5.5 in (140 mm) 1440p AMOLED with a 3450 mAh battery.

Pixel features a 12.3-megapixel rear-facing camera, which uses an f/2.0 aperture, and a Sony IMX378 sensor with 1.55 μm pixels. The camera uses a digital image stabilization system tied to the phone's gyroscope and motion sensors at a sampling rate of 200 Hz. To improve capture speed, 30 frames are continuously captured per second while the camera is active. When a photo is taken, up to 10 of these frames are composed to form a single image.

Software

Pixel and Pixel XL ship with Android 7.1 "Nougat", an update to 7.0 that was initially exclusive to the Pixel. It was released for existing Nexus devices in December 2016, but certain features remain exclusive to Pixel.

Pixel supports Google Assistant, and provides live technical support services integrated into the OS. Similarly to Nexus devices, it receives Android updates directly from Google. Pixel also supports the Google Daydream virtual reality platform. All Pixel smartphones include unlimited full-resolution Google Photos backup for the life of the device. A November 2016 update added additional motion gestures, including double-tapping the screen to show alerts, and raising the device to wake the screen and raise-to-wake features.

Release

In the United States, Pixel is exclusive to Verizon Wireless and Project Fi, but also available direct-to-consumer via Google's online store or from Best Buy. In the United Kingdom, they are available direct-to-consumer via Google's online store, and through EE, and Carphone Warehouse. In India, they became available for preorder from October 13 from Flipkart, Reliance Digital, and Cromā, with general store availability on October 25.

Reception

The Pixel and Pixel XL received generally positive reviews. Dieter Bohn of The Verge said the Pixel smartphones are "...easily the best Android phones you can buy" and gave the product a 9 out of 10, praising its long battery life and Google Assistant integration. However, Bohn did not like its pedestrian design and lack of waterproofing. Matt Humrick of Anandtech praised the camera being flush with the body, but was critical of the price since Nexus fans assumed there would be a more affordable option. Chris Velazco of Engadget praised the build quality, camera, and performance, but criticized the expensive price, and lack of proper water-resistance present in rivals, such as the iPhone 7 and the Samsung Galaxy S7. Writing for Ars Technica, Ron Amadeo said of the phone, "[it has] unbeatable software and support with a great camera, wrapped in a familiar exterior." Zach Epstein of BGR wrote in February 2017 that "There’s also no question that the phones feature a design that is sleek and impressive, yet all too familiar. Yes, that’s a nice way of saying that Google blatantly ripped off the iconic design that Apple has used on its iPhones for the past three generations."

Known problems

The Pixel and Pixel XL have been the subject of numerous problems since their release. Notable problems include the rear camera producing excessive flare (partially fixed in an update to Google's Camera app), microphone malfunctions, Bluetooth pairing and stability problems (with Google acknowledging the issue and working on a fix), connectivity problems with an LTE band (partially fixed with the release of Android 7.1.1 in December 2016), security exploits, "bubbles" forming under the phone's display, audio distortion and harsh clipping at maximum volume through the phone's speaker (partially fixed in a February 2017 system update), random software freezes that leave the phone unresponsive for a few minutes, unexpected shutdowns with 25-30% battery left (with Google working on a fix), synchronization issues with Apple MacBook computers, reportedly due to an outdated synchronization program Google hasn't updated since 2012, and failing microphones, as a result of a "hairline crack in the solder connection on the audio codec", with Google announcing a replacement program.