Back around early September, Apple unleashed its latest models for their long and storied line of iPhones. During their special presentation it was revealed the numbered iPhone model may have been replaced by successor units springing from last year’s “anniversary edition” iPhone X. The new iPhone XS, XS MAX and entry-price iPhone XR have since started becoming available on the smartphone market, to take on the earlier-released Samsung Galaxy S9 from back in March. But now a new smartphone player powered by iOS rival Android is about to play its hand. Google has leaked it enough; now the Pixel 3 and 3XL are officially revealed.
As USA Today tells it, the new Google Pixel 3 smartphone and its larger 3 XL variant were officially announced at the “Made by Google” press event held Tuesday, October 9 in New York. The two devices boasted 5.5-inch and 6.3-inch OLED displays respectively, increasing screen size by slimming down the traditional black bezels. Prices have been listed at $799 for the Pixel 3 and $899 for the XL version, with the option to up their default 64GB storage to 128GB by an additional $100.
Common specs for the new Pixels are a flat 4GB of RAM with now options to increase, Bluetooth 5.0, Snapdragon 845, the brand-new Titan M security chip, and front-facing stereo speakers. In terms of image capturing, Google has not entirely bought into the other manufacturers’ both-sides dual-cam trend, opting to keep a single rear cam, 12.2 megapixels while saving the dual-cam for the front. One of these lenses has a wider field of view, a great help for getting more people inside a “groufie” shot. The Titan M chip functions are, according to Google, “on-device protection for login credentials, disk encryption, app data, and the integrity of the operating system.”
The previous Google Pixel 2 smartphone has been praised for its superb camera, something the company plans to enhance further with several AI “power-ups”. For example, burst shots can now be sorted to select only the best possible image via the Top Shot feature, discarding blurry takes or snapshots where a person/s blinked. Another AI capability, Photobooth, causes the Pixel to automatically take selfie photos upon detecting its user smiling at the front screen. Google went so far as to compare their Pixel 3 images to last year’s iPhone X, a blatant challenge to Apple’s successor units XS/MAX and XR.
Preorders for the Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL are now open, ahead of its actual release this coming October 18. All buyers of the new phone will get free YouTube Music service for the first six months of use in a generous Google incentive.
Images from The Verge, BGR
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