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Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Bucket Tech: Google Pixel - First Impressions


I would have thought yesterdays presentation by Google would have kicked up more of a fuss on the interwebs as we saw the internet giant unveil a whole bunch of new toys to the world once of which was particularly intriguing, as the most of us in the tech world has been waiting for it for some time now. Google's first custom made mobile phone. Meet the Pixel, created by Google from scratch to offer the user seamless integration with their Google ecosystem. As most phones on the current market run on Android operating systems which is developed by Google, many have now become accustomed to their integrated network within your one account. How will the Pixel differ to those you may ask?


Well for one, the Pixel will be the first ever device to come with Google Assist built in. Like Apples Siri and Microsofts Cortana, Googles Assist is a lot like them, being your personal assistant and understanding voice commands but with the power of its massive information hub. You can schedule meetings, set reminders, check the weather for the weekend and even see what time a restaurant closes all by simply asking your phone. One really can't even compare it to the others simply because of Google's footprint on the internet, with it being the number used search engine, most things online make themselves Google friendly for this very reason. With Google their data base is always learning, improving and adding information whether its via their technicians or the user. Yes, Google gives the user the opportunity to increase it's information data base. Your device learns from you without you even noticing. It remembers where you parked your car, your route to work, which restaurant you ate at last night and even where you work. Some times Google will prompt you for information about the place you visited which only takes you a couple of seconds and it's by the user updating these for Google is how they are able to generate so much information. 


Anyway, enough about the creepy stalker software Google made, more about the phone. It's available in two sizes, the 5" (Pixel X) or the 5.5" (Pixel XL) and available in three unique colours, Quite Black, Very Silver or Really Blue, now this blue is nothing like any blue you've ever seen before, they literally made a new blue just for this phone. The phone is put together in a seamless glass-aluminium body with smooth surfaces and easy to grip curve edges.  The design is very similar to that of the iPhone, it certain instances they look identical, the obvious give aways would be the lack of a home button, the finger print reader on the back and the G. Yes, the Pixel has a fingerprint sensor on the back of the device, similar to the Huawei's which enables you to unlock your phone quickly. The screen is quite something, as Google say its "A vivid cinematic display, A brilliant AMOLED screen with true blacks and 16.77 million colours". Seems pretty impressive but as we come to know, with great bright screens comes shitty battery life but Google have come to the party with this and have included a battery that they claim can last the whole day, if that is incorporating hevy usage with multiple background apps running, I'm not to sure. The thing about the battery that I like the most is it's fast charging ability, Google say that in just 15 minutes you will be able to get 7 hours of battery life! That is well impressive. 


Both devices come in the metal unibody with Gorilla Glass 4 coating over the screen. Memory wise, they have 4GB LPDDR4 Ram, the display is 100% NTSC with 100000:1 super contrast ratio. Storage, you will have the option of either 32 or 128GB devices but with sync and access to your google drive, this really comes down to how much data you want to physically store on your device. Is has a the Snapdragon 821; MSM8996 pro AB Quad Core 2+2 Kryo 2.15GHz/16GHz processor. Google claims it has the highest rate smartphone camera. ever with the main camera being a 12.3 megapixel. It has the best-ever 89 DxOMark Mobile score and it allows you to take brilliant photos in low light , bright light or any light. Most smartphone cameras fail in one of those 3, so it's great to see someone has come in to remedy this. Videoing can be down in 1080p up to 120fps and can record in 4K at 30fps. The front facing camera is an 8 megapixel with fixed focus for those perfect selfies. 


Google also touches on the experience one gets with the Pixel, they have developed apps that work both on Andoird and iOS devices so you can share moments with uses of any device, one those is Google Duo, you can video call friends and family no matter what device they have. Or if you have an Apple device and you're thinking of converting, Google has make it easy for you to transfer information from your current device to the Pixel with a plug and transfer USB cable, you can choose what information you want to load and transfer onto your device. The phone can be customised with Live Cases available for purchase on their online store with either personal photography or a range of their range from either Google stock photography, Google Maps or wallpaper selection. 


The Pixel is also one of the first devices that is built for VR, and with that Google also launched their Daydream VR case for the Pixel. It is a headset controller by Google that lets you explore new worlds, give you the ability to have your own VR cinema, play games that put you in the center of all the action, It comes with a remote to give the use ease of control with having to fumble and search for buttons on the side of the device. The Daydream is light wait and super comfy which usually is the massive turn off from most of the current VR headsets on the market. 


So far the Pixel looks like a pretty decent device and probably the best Android on the market, simply because it's coming from the company that designs and makes the software. The brains behind the whole shebang! It will be interesting to see what the local prices will be like, the phone is already available for pre-order for the US market but with the costs of data locally it wouldn't be the most feasible option unless you really really want it as soon as its out. 





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