- When Google dropped its first Pixel smartphone last year,
I was not impressed.
I dogged it for its lack of waterproofing,
its derivative design, and for having a custom launcher
when I expected pure stock Android.
But then an important thing happened.
I used the Pixel and in short order,
its instantaneous responsiveness ruined me
for every other Android phone out there.
Well today in San Francisco,
Google announced a couple successors
to those original Pixels.
These correct some of their predecessors' shortcomings,
and they introduce a couple more.
So why should you care about them?
Because they're probably about
to make even a bigger splash than their forerunners did.
I'm Michael Fisher, and I went hands-on
with the Pixel 2, Pixel 2XL, and the new Pixelbook.
This is a Mr. Mobile first look.
(upbeat music)
On paper, there are few surprises here.
These are sequels to top-tier smartphones,
so they've got the requisite high-end specs
from the Snapdragon 835 on down the line.
Google took a swipe at Apple by claiming
that both of these have basically the same feature set
unlike the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.
But take that with a grain of salt.
The larger Pixel 2XL has a 30% bigger battery
and a display that is an inch larger on the diagonal.
The XL's display is also better.
It's Quad HD instead of Full HD.
It covers more of the DCI-P3 color gamut,
and here's the polarizing bit,
its aspect ratio is the stretched 18:9
instead of the smaller phone's 16:9.
Personally, I love a narrower phone.
And I also prefer the rounded corners
and reduced bezels on the big guy.
But what I think really won me over was
that panned-up paint job which is only available on the 2XL.
Sadly, this is as special as the color gets.
If you want a paint job more striking than this,
you're stuck with the app they named Kinda Blue.
Which yeah, pales in comparison to last year's Really Blue.
But to Google's credit, almost everything else is common
across the two sizes of device.
The camera is probably the most important point.
Last year's Pixel had one
of the very best phone cameras on the market,
and this year's improves on it
with Optic Image Stabilization
which Google says will work together
with electronic stabilization to smooth out video.
I'm a little thrown by the decision
to reduce Pixel's size on the sensor,
but the aperture is bigger this year and to be honest,
Google is relying so much on computational photography,
it's impossible to tell how well this will perform
until I take it out in the real world.
No, I don't care about DxOMark scores.
I'm especially eager to see
how well the Pixel 2's portrait mode works.
Not because I take a lot of portraits,
but because it doesn't require a second camera
to do that crazy background de-focusing thing.
This is claimed to work on the selfie shooter as well.
Both of these phones are easy to hold onto
with a hybrid coating on the aluminum bodies
that almost makes them feel plastic-y isn't quite right
because they don't seem cheap,
but they do feel slightly more hollow than last year's.
Which is interesting
because the Pixel 2 is the same mass as the first one,
and the 2XL is actually a little heavier than the XL.
But in any event, these are now certified water
and dust resistant to IP67 standards which is great.
And they've also brought back dual, front-firing speakers.
Yes! Let's make this a standard across everything.
On the flip side, each phone is also missing
the 3.5 millimeter headphone jack.
I guess it's a good thing Google didn't make a big deal
last year about how big a hero it was
for keeping that around, right?
If this bugs you,
and you wind up squeezing your Pixel 2 in a rage,
you'll end up discovering another
new feature called Active Edge.
Apply pressure to the side of the phone,
and you summon Google Assistant.
If this seems familiar, it is.
It's the feature that you either loved, hated,
or forgot about on the HTC U11 released this summer.
But while this feature works
on both the Pixel 2 and the 2XL,
it's not as robust as it is on the U11.
You can't reassign it to other functions,
or use it as a shortcut within apps.
At least not that I can see.
If you don't care about squeezing your phone,
you'll be happy to know the fundamental are here.
Near stock Android Oreo with a fingerprint sensor
you can use as a track pad to drop the notification shade.
Nice.
And responsiveness is as excellent as you'd expect
from a device bearing the Pixel brand.
Also boasting that brand, the brand new Pixelbook.
An utterly ridiculous exercise of engineering excess
that I can't even help but appreciate.
This is not your average Chromebook.
Which is to say, it's not a low-cost laptop.
Indeed, it's quite expensive with a starting price of $999.
For that, you get a beautifully engineered chassis
with a glass window for better Wifi reception.
A big, bright, 12.3 inch LCD.
A comfy keyboard with nice key travel.
Up to 10 hours of rated battery life.
Four different positions to use it in,
'cause it's got one of those crazy, funky, fold-y hinges.
An optional $99 pen with its own set
of impressive characteristics.
And a special Google Now on Tap board
that lets your circle things
and make Chrome tell you about him.
A dedicated Google Assistant button and Chrome OS.
Yup, functionally speaking, this is just
like one of those low-cost machines you see in classrooms,
meant to be secure and simple.
So the price tag is pretty hard to swallow.
But it's great for enthusiasts,
and I don't get the sense
that Google builds these high-end models to sell in volume.
It seems more an aspirational exercise
and indulgence in luxury hardware
from a predominantly software-focused company.
So I'm eager to give this the full review treatment
when retail units start landing in early November.
Speaking of, let's finish up with availability.
The Pixel phones are available for pre-order today,
and at press time, the Google store was so loaded down
with orders that I had trouble pushing my own through.
With delivery estimates ranging from mid-October
for the Pixel 2 to mid-November for the 2XL.
Wanna talk clams?
The smaller phone starts at $649
while the XL will run ya an extra 200 to start.
Verizon is once again
the exclusive carrier partner in the U.S.,
but you can always but unlocked
as T-Mobile was all too happy to remind us this morning.
Those prices are roughly in line with last year,
and Google has certainly patched a few missing bits
with these sequels.
So on the whole, I think the phones stand a good chance
of outpacing the sales of their predecessors.
As for how well they perform once they go
from the store shelf to your pocket though,
well only the full review can tell.
Make sure you're subscribe to The Mr. Mobile
on YouTube so you don't miss that
and my Pixelbook review coming soon after.
And follow me on Facebook, the same name,
for more up-close looks at the new Pixels.
Until next time, thanks for watching!
And stay mobile, my friends.