They’re real – the new Pixels are just as rumors foretold. However, the devil is in the details. The Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are essentially the same phone, save for their displays and batteries. There’s a lot to talk about, so buckle up. The screens Two tall OLED panels, the XL model has a 6.3” diagonal with 1,440 x 2,960px resolution (532ppi). Its 18.5:9 aspect ratio accommodates the largest bezel in the smartphone kingdom. The Pixel 3 is the same as as the Pixel 2, but it has more screen – the 5.5” 18:9 screen gives you about 10% more surface area. For real, though, there’s no notch here. It has 1,080 x 2,160px resolution, so there’s no change in sharpness from last year. Now for the shared strengths. The screens support HDR, Always On and color modes. The HDR support makes it a YouTube Signature Device. You can use the Boosted mode for punchier color (sRGB + 10%). The Always On screen always shows the name of the song that’s currently playing. You can find a list of past songs in the Now Playing History and play them in your favorite music service. The Pixel 3 screens (and backs) are guarded by Gorilla Glass 5. The battery The Pixel 3 XL has a 3,430mAh battery, slightly less than the 2017 model. The smaller Pixel has a 2,915mAh battery, which is an increase over the previous generation. The new feature (if you could call it that) is wireless charging. The Pixel Stand can charge at 10W, as fast as the wired charger of the Pixel 2 phones. The stand also allows your Pixel 3 phone to work as a Google Home, as a photo frame and even a sunrise alarm. Wired charging is faster thanks to the 18W charger that’s included in the box. Google promises you’ll get 7 hours of usage for 15 minutes of charging. The rear camera The rear camera hardware has not changed. There’s a single 12.2MP optically stabilized image sensor (with 1.4µm pixels) and an f/1.8 lens. The new features are on the software side. HDR+ is on board once again and is joined by Top Shot. This is an AI system that works on the phone and makes sure everyone in the photo is in focus, smiling and has their eyes open. It automatically picks the best of several shots (you can view all of them in Google Photos). There’s also a Photobooth mode that will automatically snap a photo when you smile or make a goofy face. Super Res Zoom is another AI application, it tries to make up for the lack of a telephoto lens by enhancing the detail of digital zoom. The main camera still can’t shoot 4K video at 60fps. It does, however, have Fused Video Stabilization, which promises smoother videos while walking or jogging. It works at 4K/30, but offers the best results at 1080p. Night Sight will be enabled with a software update coming soon. It uses AI to capture detailed low-light images without using the flash. The front camera The new Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL do have dual cameras – on the front. Both have 8MP sensors and different lenses, a wide-angle 97° one and a normal 75° one. The normal camera has a bright f/1.8 lens with autofocus (phase detection). The wide camera is fixed focus (f/2.2). While missing on the Fused Video Stabilization, the two selfie cameras do feature digital image stabilization. The audio Both Pixels have front-firing stereo speakers. And while the 3.5mm headphone jack is a thing of the past, Google has, for the first time, included a pair of headphones into the retail box. And not just any headphones. You’re getting the new Pixel USB-C earbuds, which have Google Assistant integration. They can handle voice commands, can read out new messages and compose a reply, even do real time translation. Google is also including a redesigned USB-C to 3.5mm adapter, which promises lower power usage and takes less time to go from being plugged in to starting the music. The platform The Pixel 3 and XL phones are powered by a Snapdragon 845 chipset. Note that the CPU has been downclocked to 2.5GHz for the big cores and 1.6GHz for the small ones to save on battery power. The difference with other Snapdragon 845 implementations is just 0.2GHz, though, so it's not too big a deal. We are slightly disappointed that the memory options have not budged from last year. You get only 4GB of RAM (but then there’s no heavy Android skin) and storage is 64GB or 128GB (with no card slot to expand it). Miscellaneous The new phones are waterproof with an IP68 rating, an improvement over the IP67 of last year’s Pixels. There’s a new color too – Not Pink – in addition to Just Black and Clearly White. Google Pixel 3 XL in Clearly White, Just Black and Not Pink Google Pixel 3 in Clearly White, Just Black and Not Pink There’s a fingerprint reader on the back, nothing’s changed there. Price & availability The two phones will be available in the US starting October 19 and Europe from November 2. The Pixel 3 is €850 for the 64GB model and €950 for the 128GB one. The Pixel 3 XL is €950 and €1,050 respectively. US prices start at $800 for the Pixel 3 and $900 for the Pixel 3 XL. In the UK it's £739/£839 for the Pixel 3 and £869/£969 for the 3 XL.<doc-sep>Google unveiled its latest smartphones, the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL, on Tuesday during an event in New York City. The Pixel 3 comes with a 5.5-inch OLED display, while the Pixel 3 XL has a 6.3-inch OLED display. Both are larger than last year's Pixel 2 models. Avery Hartmans/Business Insider The backs of the two phones are made from a single piece of glass in a two-tone design, with a matte and glossy finish. The company said the Pixel 3 phones would be available in black, white, and a light pink. Google also announced that the Pixel 3 phones would have a dual-lens camera system for selfies. The company said the second lens would be an ultra-wide-angle lens that would capture "184% more than the iPhone XS." The rear, outward-facing camera maintains a single-lens 12-megapixel camera system on the Pixel 3 phones, but Google apparently doesn't need more than one. The company revealed a new feature called Top Shot that takes multiple photos around the time you set up a shot, just in case the photo you took when you pressed the shutter button doesn't turn out well. Google Google also demonstrated its new Night Sight feature, designed to take better shots in the dark using machine learning, and the demo seemed pretty impressive. We'll have to test this feature when it's released in a month. Night Sight will also be available on older Pixel devices when the feature is released. Neither phone has a zoom lens, as many premium handsets do these days, but Google is counteracting that with a Super Res Zoom feature the company says uses artificial intelligence and several frames to sharpen up a zoomed shot. The Pixel 3 also comes with wireless charging, a feature Google omitted from older smartphones even as other phone makers began using the technology years ago. Google also announced a new wireless-charging device, the Pixel Stand. Google Google also introduced a new feature called Screen Call intended to pick up the phone for you and ask who's calling, powered by Google AI. The company says it'll show you a transcription of the conversation on the phone's screen so you can see who is calling without actually answering the call. It would essentially screen for telemarketing calls. The Pixel 3 will start at $800 for the 64 GB model, and the Pixel 3 XL will start at $900. The 128 GB models of each phone cost $100 more than the phone's starting price. Both phones are available for preorder Tuesday from Verizon, Google's Store, and Project Fi's Store. Pixel Stand will be $80 and is also available for preorder starting Tuesday. Now tell us what you think!<doc-sep>Months of leaks were finally confirmed at the Pixel 3 event today in New York City where Google just unveiled its newest flagship Android phone and a few new devices, including the Pixel Slate and Google Home Hub. Unlike a typical Google event, the company announced its new lineup at the top of the hour and made the products immediately available for preorder before the event even concluded. Here’s all the biggest news that was announced today. The Pixel 3 is exactly as leaked The Pixel 3 and 3 XL are pretty much what we expected: the 3 is a 5.5-inch device, and the 3 XL is a 6.3-inch device. Unlike other smartphones on the market, the Pixel 3 and 3 XL retain only a single camera in the rear; instead, they have dual front-facing cameras for wide angle selfies. Google is boasting a bunch of camera features, including high-resolution zoom, Night Sight low light mode, and a Photobooth mode that automatically snaps photos of people or pets (a feature we first saw on last year’s Google Clips camera). It’s branding all these new camera features under an Apple-esque “Pixel Visual Core” chip. Google didn’t get into a lot about Android Pie features on the Pixel, but in a “time well spent” manner, there is a new mode that allows you to place the phone front side down on a surface to automatically silence notifications. Also, just as leaked, there’s now a wireless charging Pixel Stand that props the phone up as a standing Google Assistant, which retails for $79. The Pixel 3 and 3 XL start at $799 and $899, respectively, at a 64GB configuration, and they come in a new “not pink” color. They’ll also be offered with six months of YouTube Music. Preorders start today, and they will ship on October 18th. Duplex arriving first to the Pixel Duplex begins rolling out in November Google’s controversial Duplex AI voice calling system that was unveiled at the company’s I/O developer conference and began testing over the summer now has an arrival date: November, on a city-by-city basis. The rollout comes exclusively to Pixel owners, allowing them to request Assistant to call and make reservations or appointments at hair salons. Google did not offer further details regarding which cities it will arrive to first, but start watching out for those AI calls beginning next month. The new Pixel 3 will also have a spam call-screening feature that can screen suspicious calls and transcribe the message to help you determine whether to block or respond to the call. This feature arrives to other Pixel users later this year. Chrome OS on a tablet via the Pixel Slate The Pixel Slate brings Chrome OS to a tablet on a device with a 12.3-inch display and 8MP front and rear cameras. It has dual speakers on the front of the device, no headphone jack, a built-in Titan Security chip, and a fingerprint reader at the top for fast unlock. It also comes with a Bluetooth Pixel Slate Keyboard with rounded keys and backlighting. Unfortunately, the keyboard does not come included with the tablet; it’s sold separately for $199. A separate stylus will also be available for $99. At launch, it’ll be offered in just the navy blue color starting at $599, with three months of YouTube TV. Google did not specify a ship date for the Pixel Slate, only adding that it would arrive “later this year.” In a video of the new Pixel lineup, the listing notes that the Pixel Slate appears to be awaiting approval by the FCC. Google Home Hub announced a day after Facebook Portal The Home Hub is a smart display that serves as a picture frame that integrates with Google Photos, a visual version of your Google Assistant, and a video feed for viewing YouTube. It integrates with smart home gadgets to control and schedule those devices based on your routines, and it will contain Voice Match to cater to different members of your family. YouTube integration is the main differentiator from the Echo Show here, as Amazon and Google appear to still be in a battle over the retail giant delisting Google’s products from its site. When not in use, the standard display shows relevant information to your day such as time, weather, calendar appointments, and commute times. You can also set a quiet hour so the device cannot send you notifications or be triggered during certain hours, like dinner time or at night. The Hub is up for preorder today for $149 with a ship date of October 22nd. It’ll arrive first to the US, UK, and Australia, and it’ll come with six free months of YouTube Premium. Other accessories not announced onstage Although Google did not get into a few other devices in detail onstage, according to the updated Google Play Store, a new Chromecast is available for purchase as well as new $30 USB-C earbuds. The earbuds will actually come included with the Pixel 3 and 3 XL, but they should also be useful for owners of older Pixel models who aren’t loving the Bluetooth Pixel Buds.<doc-sep>
Google's Pixel is gearing up for another bout with Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy. After a seemingly endless stream of leaks, including full-on video reviews on YouTube, Google's latest phones are now officially official. Called the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, the new phones are Google's latest showcase Android devices for 2018. As the rumors and leaks suggested, the two new phones feature modest redesigns from last year's Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, increasing the screen size in exchange for shrinking the black bars, or bezels, that surrounds the display. The Pixel 3 now has a 5.5-inch OLED display (up slightly from the 5-inch screen on the Pixel 2). The Pixel 3 XL embraces the edge-to-edge notched design popularized by the iPhone X, raising its screen to a 6.3-inch size that surpasses last year's Pixel 2 XL (6-inches) and places it right below the 6.4-inch display on the Galaxy Note 9 and 6.5-inch screen on Apple's iPhone XS Max. On the camera front, the two phones keep a single rear 12.2-megapixel camera while adding a second front-facing shooter. Google says the two front cameras, both at 8 megapixels, are for improved selfies and group selfies thanks to a wide-angle lens. Improvements to Google's artificial intelligence and a new Top Shot feature aims to recognize your best photo, capturing multiple photos before recommending the best one. More:Google takes on Amazon and Facebook with connected video device More:Google announces new Pixel Slate tablet with Chrome OS A Night Sight feature aims to remove the use of flash by using machine learning to boost low light without having the flash wash out the subject. The cameras also have a portrait mode for keeping the subject in focus while blurring the background. While most manufacturers have embraced the idea of at least two rear lenses, Google is again banking on its software to help its phones take the best pictures regardless of the situation. Last year's Pixel line featured one of the most well-regarded cameras of the year, giving weight to the company's claims and setting a high bar for this year's phones. Beyond the camera, one of the most interesting new Pixel features is Call Screen, which can automatically screen your calls. This can be used for stopping spam telemarketing calls as well as screening regular calls in real time. Users on the other end will be notified that the call is being transcribed. All the transcription is taking place locally on the device, with nothing being saved on Google servers. As with prior Pixels, both devices will run the latest version of Android, version 9 or "Pie." A Qualcomm 845 Snapdragon processor, the same chip that runs other Android flagship phones including the Galaxy S9, S9+ and Note 9, OnePlus 6 and LG's V40, will provide the processing power. Both phones are water resistant and now feature wireless charging. Google will have a wireless charger available for $79. The two devices are available for preorder in either black, white or a pinkish color Google is playfully calling "not pink." The Pixel 3 starts at $799 and the 3 XL starts at $899; both prices are for their respective 64GB variants (128GB versions are also available for an extra $100). Verizon will be the exclusive carrier for the phones in the U.S., though those on a different network can purchase the unlocked variant directly from Google for the same price. Follow Eli Blumenthal on Twitter @eliblumenthal