Pixel Google Review
First smartphone designed by Google from scratch ticks many boxes, but not exactly stellar world beater some might expect
Google has finally launched a smartphone their own brand, Pixel, to challenge Apple's head and provide a premium of Android experience with the material suited to the software by people who do really ..
The new smartphone succeeds Nexus line of devices Google and the company claims that the Pixel is now 100% Google, unlike the Nexus devices where Google provides the software and had some input devices, but not control. The phone connects Pixel Pixel tablet C Android and Pixel Chromebooks as raw devices within Google.
But for Google, the Pixel is not just a smartphone, is a referendum on whether Google as a brand sells.
Design
With an all-metal body, all-glass screen, rock-solid construction, scanner holder fingerprint and headphones, Pixel ticks most of the boxes that are expected from top-end smartphone, except for the lack of waterproofing. It is slightly different looking too, with a glass pane covering the top third of the back and a wedge shape that is thicker at the top and a dimple hides camera. How attractive is like a plan divides opinion.
The Pixel feels great in the hand, with nicely rounded edges and flat sides make it easy to grip and hold on to. It, too, is not very thick, with wedge shape means that the piece you are holding is thin and has good weight distribution.
On the basis of the pixel is 7.3 mm thick and weighs 143g. Compared with the competition, ie 7.1 mm thickness of Apple, 138g iPhone 7 and a thickness of 7.9 mm of Samsung, 152z Galaxy S7, the Pixel is right in the middle. It is thinner than last year 7.9mm thick Nexus 5X yet 7g heavier.
The Pixel has 5in full HD AMOLED screen on the front, which makes it one of the smallest smartphones premium available with most others who have 5.1in or larger screens. The display is crisp and vibrant, with deep blacks and excellent viewing angles. It is relatively easy to read in direct sunlight too long, making it one of the best screens to be installed in a smartphone, though not as good as Samsung's best.
Specifications
Display: 5se 1080p AMOLED (441ppi)
Processor: quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
RAM: 4GB RAM memory
Storage: 32 or 128GB
Operating System: Android 7.1 Nougat
Camera: 12.3MP rear camera, 8MP front-facing camera
Connectivity: LTE, Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 4.2, USB-C and GPS
Dimensions: 143.8 x 69.5 x 7.3-8.6 mm
Weight: 143g
Imagination ready
The Pixel is one of the first mobile phones using the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, which is basically a tweaked version of the 820 found in OnePlus 3 and other smartphones.
Performance is not an issue. From the images Prisma graphically intensive games, Pixel chew through everything I threw at it, which you would expect for a smartphone £ 600. It is one of the most powerful Android smartphones available today. It is well optimized, lively, quick and, perhaps more impressive, it does not get that hot when under load.
Most smartphones temperature increases significantly when taking a lot of data, such as when creating a phone, but the Pixel did not. also ran games like Dan the man without heating to a minimum, where Nexus 5X last year was noticeably warm.
A pixel is also the first smartphone to be certified for use with Google Daydream new virtual reality platform. Whether that means nothing in reality, will depend on the last push how successful Google for VR downstream. It is not yet available, so how will perform is still unknown.
One day between charges
Using Pixel as my main device, lasted just over 24 hours without charging, managing three hours using the app and browse hundreds of emails and push notifications, a couple of photos, five hours music through Bluetooth headphones and the odd game of Dan Man during one hour and 20 minutes to my train commute to and from work. This means you get a day and a night out, but will have to charge overnight or she will probably be dead before you get to work the next day.
The Pixel has fast charging via USB-C power supply specifications, not QuickCharge Qualcomm's or any acceleration of the charging system. A full charge from completely flat took one hour 45 minutes, reaching 25% capacity in about 15 minutes, 40% at 25 minutes and 66% in about 50 minutes. It is the fastest charging smartphone available, but it is much faster than the Apple iPhone 7.
Android 7.1 Nougat
The Pixel comes with the latest Android 7.1 Nougat and is the first smartphone to do so. Most other smartphones continue to run Android 6 Mallow, let alone version 7 or 7.1.
Android 7.0 Nougat introduced some solid battery and time-saving features, which are all present in Pixel. version of Google's Nougat 7.1 introduces some more new and useful things, such as the ability to block visual alerts when not disturb is activated, such as flashing LED light notification - convenient for those who charge their smartphone overnight next to the head their.
The Pixel also has a new version of Google's launcher - formerly known as the Google Now launcher - sent to Nexus devices and is available for other smartphones and tablet Android in the Play Store. launcher pixel has a new look in the Google search bar and home screen widget weather conditions, none of which can be removed restrictive vertical space icon four series, and now hides the app drawer behind a swipe over five-icon- large compartment on the bottom of the screen.
The biggest functional change to the Home screen, however, is the new launcher shortcuts, reflecting the 3D touch gestures in Apple's iOS, but without the need for a pressure sensitive screen. Pressing and holding an app icon pops up a list of quick actions, from phone calls to specific people with recent text messages, options to go directly to selfie or videos in the camera application, and other similar functions.
The launcher shortcuts can also be dragged from the main application for quick buttons on the home screen, means a button to jump straight to the camera in front for a selfie can be placed anywhere on the home screen for one-touch access.
Most of Google's applications support the new feature and some third-party apps, including Evernote will soon be updated to quickly add the actions of their own. How utility you get from them will depend on the applications you use, but to be able to pin launcher operations as a separate icon on the Home screen might be helpful to some commonly used functions.
Google, they also included a collection of attractive live wallpapers that change in real time, while the display is on. A collection of shots in Google Earth pan on a view of the fields in Kent or the Pantheon in Rome and live wallpapers data displays the charge level of the battery, current weather, or the time. There is also the option to cycle through a collection of images even on a daily basis over issues such as urban landscapes, aerial shots, landscapes and other subjects.
Google assistant
The most-hyped feature of the new version of Google Google Assistant Android, formerly known as Google Now. The biggest difference is now we will talk with you and to be much more focused on conversational voice interaction. I ask a question, answer but continues to listen for a command, monitoring or further questions on the subject.
Activated either by a long press on the Google "home or by saying" OK button, Assistant can execute fast operations such as timers, messaging and music playback, fire searches and other standard virtual-assistant functions, but also the Google more staff assistant to date. Actively learn from your preferences, or from your searches, or with your explicit command.
For users or any other smartphone Android, Assistant is essentially a slightly better Google Now a much clearer name, but is also one of the most capable assistants available voice and makes the Apple Siri look a little behind the times. Google's voice recognition is top notch, and has access to much more data is more amazing when you can not answer a fact-based question how long can.
To get the most out of it you need to give your digital life on Google, and that definitely has some impact on privacy - know where you are, what you are looking for, you can read what is on the screen and collect all data - but this is not a new phenomenon and is simply an evolution of what Google has been doing for the last two years on android. Whether this matters to you depends on whether you trust Google. No need to use the Assistant, it can be disabled.
Fingerprint scanner Fingerprint
The last of the Google Nexus phones have brilliant fingerprint scanners back. The Pixel continues to use the same type of victory: it is fast, accurate and can now be used to reduce the notification shade with a swipe on the keyboard - have something else manufacturers including Huawei has done little. The scanner Pixel Footprint is arguably the best in the business, but if you use your phone in an office, you can not activate it without getting up.
Camera
In good light you get crisp, and considered photos with a great amount of fine detail. Google's HDR + mode is especially good, produces some of the best high dynamic range photos I've seen, and without blurring the image that can creep with other systems.
Low and poor performance of light is also excellent, despite the camera does not have optical image stabilization, while Google Camera app now has some much needed extra features, including the ability to change the automatic white balance with the push of a button and a golden ratio grid, which helps you to frame your photos. The camera struggled to correctly identify the office fluorescent lighting, however, leaving the pictures with a yellow tint. By choosing fluorescent lighting corrected.
The camera selfie 8-megapixel is also very good, it produces images with good depth and color. Most photographic selfie machines are either soft and lack detail or hard to grasp every wrinkle and resources in the face, but the Pixel treads that fine line with soft, flattering focus without losing too much detail.
Remarks
- The calendar app now shows the correct date in the home screen
- The charge meter is inaccurate: 96% say four minutes until done, but it took 17 minutes to reach 100%
- Wallpapers are usually things I set and forget, but I really liked the new live images of Google Earth
- The glass panel on the handle back aid from index
- It has only a bottom-firing speaker at the bottom, which is easily blocked by the hands when gambling
- Google Photos to Pixel comes with free, unlimited full-resolution photo and video backup, not only to 16MP and 1080p video
- The LED notification is not enabled by default, but is available in the notification settings
Price
The Pixel costs £ 599 with 32GB of storage or £ 699 with 128GB of storage in black or silver. It is also available in blue in the US.
For comparison, the apple iPhone 7 costs £ 599 with 32GB of storage, Samsung Galaxy S7 costs around £ 500, the Huawei P9 costs £ 449 and OnePlus 3 costs £ 329.
Conclusion
The Pixel is an interesting device. A phone designed by Google, the Android's creator. The software side is top notch: the smoother, younger and better optimized version of Android available at the moment and probably in the future, what with rapid updates coming straight from Google.
If Google's goal was to defeat to Apple, he did so for the life of the battery only. If you were to challenge the current king of Android, Galaxy line Samsung S7, then the effect is less clear.
Pros: great camera, good display life of a day's battery, Android 7.1 Nougat, Google Assistant, large fingerprint scanner
