Google has announced the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones, the second-gen versions of the Nexus-replacement Pixel which launched last October. We looked at that first Pixel phone, which was the premier Android device at the time, and these new Pixel 2 devices hope to place Google at the top of the heap again (with stiff competition from Samsung, of course).
The Google Pixel 2 XL (image credit: Google)
The Pixel 2 arrives in a standard version with a 5-inch 1920×1080 AMOLED display, and an XL version with a new 6-inch pOLED display with 2880×1440 resolution. Both phones are powered by the 8-core Snapdragon 835 and feature 4GB of RAM and the option of either 64GB or 128GB of storage (no card slot on either phone).
While the design of the Pixel 2 is largely unchanged compared to last year, with large bezels above and below the display, the Pixel 2 XL comes closer to the ever-popular “all screen” look with its smaller top/bottom bezels.
The Google Pixel 2 (image credit: Google)
Both phones offer dual front-facing stereo speakers as well, unlike iPhones which have to combine an earpiece speaker and bottom-firing speaker for their stereo effect. The battery capacities are a little different than last year with both Pixel 2 phones, with a 2700 mAh battery (down from 2770 mAh) in the Pixel 2, and a 3520 mAh battery (up from 3450 mAh) in the Pixel 2 XL.
It’s all about camera
Once again, Google is proclaiming the Pixel 2 camera as the best in the industry, and again this is based on testing from DxOMark which has it ranked #1 overall among smartphones. with an incredible 98 out of a possible 100 in their scoring system.
Image credit: DxOMark
Both sizes of Pixel 2 offer a single 12.2 MP rear camera (sorry, no dual cameras here) with 1.4μm pixels, laser + dual pixel phase detection autofocus, OIS, and a f/1.8 aperture. Fans of simulated lens bokeh have no fear, as Google’s dual-pixel sensor design is said to allow for better portrait-style photos than the original Pixel. Video of up to 4k (but only at 30 FPS) is supported, and an 8 MP f/2.4 camera handles front-facing duties.
More on those new displays
Google has improved the display technology with the Pixel 2, as both versions now offer wide color gamut support (95% DCI-P3 coverage from the Pixel 2, and a full 100% DCI-P3 from the Pixel 2 XL). The displays are now ‘always on’, a handy feature that makes sense from a power standpoint when working with AMOLED panels (and hard to give up once you’ve grown accustomed to it as I did with the Galaxy S8+). Last but not least, covering these new displays is Corning Gorilla Glass 5, which is the most drop-resistant version to date (and is also found on the Galaxy S8/S8+ among other phones).
A comparison of LCD and OLED technologies (image credit: Android Authority)
The Pixel 2 XL’s “pOLED” display designation suggests a polymer OLED panel, which has the advantage of being much thinner than traditional glass OLED substrates. (Read more about AMOLED vs. P-OLED here.)
The Pixel 2 phones ship with the new Android 8.0 Oreo, with the promise of “minimum” 3 years of OS and security updates. Vanilla Google phone owners (previously Nexus) have enjoyed being the first to new OS updates, and that should still be the case with these new devices. And if you are coming over from another platform – say, Apple, for instance – a “quick switch” adapter is in every box to help transfer data quickly between phones.
The Quick Switch Adapter in action (image credit: Google)
Google is offering the (unlocked) phone for sale directly from their website, and have partnered with Verizon as the exclusive mobile carrier as they did with the original Pixel. The price? $649 gets you the 5-inch Pixel 2 with 64GB of storage, or double that to 128GB for $100 more. The Pixel 2 XL is available for $849 for the 64GB capacity, with the same $100 premium for a 128GB version. There are also four color options this year, with the whimsical naming fully intact from the previous generation: Just Black, Clearly White, Kinda Blue, and Black & White.
Oh, and one more thing: the 3.5 mm headphone jack is gone.
No headphone jack is
No headphone jack is unacceptable and it baffles me that companies keep deleting it for no better reason then apple did it. I’m sure apple did it so they can make money selling lightning headphones. I don’t see any rational for other companies to do so other then “fuck you apple did it so its trendy now”. These devices were already unpleasantly expensive yet I was still interested due to the cluster fuck is that android when it comes to updates from oems. The lack of basic IO makes this an automatic no buy for me.
The thin design is going too
The thin design is going too far for my hands and I have no interest in dealing with wireless earbuds.
I have to agree with the
I have to agree with the first two comments. Maybe not with the same language but with the same intensity of emotion. It is incomprehensible to me that there is no Android phone that’s guaranteed to get timely updates and includes a headphone jack. I see this is as a tremendous loss of opportunity to out customer service Apple!
I have a Samsung on5 with a
I have a Samsung on5 with a replacable battery that will last almost 2 weeks standby on a charge. So no phone over $150 will I own. 650-1000 dollars is the price of a good laptop for me purchased at microcenter and one of those last years models brand new and on clearence for a great savings.
So the Samsung on5 with the replacable battery and all that android stuff turned off as much as possible because I only want the phone for making and recieving phone calls. And I’m still waiting for any flip-phones to come on the market with g3/g4 radios because the GSM bands that the old flip-phones used mostly are gone/going away.
Love that their replacment
Love that their replacment 3.5mm jack is super expensive compared to apple. I just want my 3.5mm jack back.
Sadly, there are just as many
Sadly, there are just as many Google Goobers as there are iTards and Microphants….
Not into the whole naming
Not into the whole naming convention there, but i do agree with you. People will gobble it up just for the new and shiny.
Mostly I just find it really sad that even people who angrily take to the internet complaining over lack of 3.5mm jacks will be the same people lining up to throw money at the very same product they slander.