Google Pixel 2
The Pixel 2 is the centerpiece of that idea. The sequel to last year’s hit phone isn’t a radical upgrade. If it were an Apple product, the company would put a somewhat resigned “S” after the model number as an affirmation that this is one of those in-between years. It’s an evolution of a good phone that helps the device keep pace with the market, but lacks the sort of wow factor that drives early adopters to trade in last year’s model.
But while Google managed to wow many reviewers with its self-branded entry into the market, the Pixel line was arguably never really just about hardware to begin with. It’s about developing hardware and software together.
It’s a synergy few outside of Apple have been able to accomplish, but as Microsoft has done with its surprisingly successful Surface line, the phones are showcases for the power of pure, uncut Android. It’s a line developed with the Android experience at its core — a marked change from many of the company’s hardware partners, where OS is more of an afterthought.
There’s little doubt that the company is doing some of the industry’s most compelling work in terms of consumer-facing AI and machine learning. Years of research and development on those fronts are beginning to bear fruit and have converged here in some very interesting ways. Taking a step back to examine Google’s long-term goals with software offerings like Assistant and Lens, it’s easy to envision a future where hardware becomes relatively incidental.
Even though it’s constructed from aluminium, the back has a stoney-like finish. It’s harsh and textured; strange at first but, ultimately, super-nice. It’s far grippier in the hand than shiny aluminium and isn’t as slippery when sat on a table the same way a glass back is. Neither does it appear to pick up fingerprints. It does give the impression that it might scratch off over time, but we’ll have to wait and see if that becomes an issue.
Like the previous Pixel, there’s a glass ‘shade’ just above the metal covering the camera sensor and flash. Aside from adding contrast to the metal, this is where all the cellular and Wi-Fi antennas live. Giving them plenty of space should help connectivity, but it also means there are no antenna bands elsewhere. Hopefully this glass panel will be less prone to scratching – which was a real issue with the first device.
The rear of the Google Pixel 2 is well designed, then, but the front appears a little old-fashioned. Unlike the Pixel 2 XL or Samsung Galaxy S8, the Pixel 2 has a huge chin and forehead either side of the 5-inch display. The bezel here is more substantial than seen on the iPhone 8, it’s even bigger than the Xperia XZ1. Overall, the Pixel 2 isn’t much smaller than the Samsung Galaxy S8, but the latter sports a much bigger 5.8-inch screen.
It seems odd that Google has taken this design route, especially since more and more device makers are opting for a bezel-less look. At least Google has used that extra space on both ends of the phone to add dual front-facing stereo speakers – but it’s still hard to forgive in 2017.
Like most flagship phones this year, the Pixel 2 is IP67-rated for water-resistance. Another, less desirable, trend Google has decided to follow is the removal of the headphone jack. I can only assume the decision was taken to enable waterproofing, but it’s a shame. And even though you get a USB-C to 3.5mm port dongle in the box and there are plenty of ‘Made for Google’ USB-C headphones coming soon, it’s annoying nevertheless.
What you get here is a full HD 1920 x 1080 display with standard 16:9 aspect ratio and pixels-per-inch total of 441. It feels small, which is in itself a sign of how quickly things have moved on in the world of smartphone screens. Yes, the standard iPhone 8 still has a 4.7in display, but elsewhere almost every flagship is bigger.
Whether that matters to you is ultimately a matter of taste. I’ve grown addicted to bigger, 5.5in-and-above handsets and the extra viewing space they provide. But the smaller screen here does definitely help keep the handset’s overall size down, and for many people that will be a good thing.
It also means that the 1080p resolution doesn’t feel too much of a problem. Plenty of phones - not least the 5.5in OnePlus 5 - get along just fine with full HD, and although the difference between it and a 2K handset is noticeable when you put them together, it’s not a deal-breaker in itself.
I placed the Pixel 2 next to the 5.5in, 2K Huawei P10 Plus and the 5.1in, 1080p Huawei P10for a YouTube-based comparison. Yes, the P10 Plus obviously pulled out more detail when given 2K source material, but I still had to concentrate to really spot the difference.
And elsewhere, the Pixel 2 definitely triumphed over the Huaweis. The Google phone has an OLED panel, whereas the other two - and plenty of alternative phones - use LCD. As a result, the Pixel 2’s display benefits from far better contrast; blacks really are completely black, rather than a slightly washed-out grey. The downside is that it doesn’t go as bright, and even with its default Vivid Colours on it remains a more muted display than some, but overall it’s a nice screen.
The other advantage it has over many other phones is the ability to play HDR content. Now Google has remained tight-lipped about exactly how it’s doing it; the original Pixel also played HDR videos on YouTube, but that came via software processing rather than the panel itself being HDR-capable. That may be the same deal here, but either way that extra contrast and brightness is noticeable with HDR content. It does appear to be YouTube-only for now, though: Netflix shows remained free of the telltale HDR logo.
Whatever you’re watching, it will definitely now sound better than average thanks to the Pixel 2’s stereo speakers. These are great: clear, reasonably punchy and even packing a little bit of bass. No, they won’t rival a decent Bluetooth speaker, but for soundtracking a Netflix binge when you haven’t got headphones handy, they’ll do fine.
Google Pixel 2 Camera
The camera was a big focus of the original Pixel and that continues here, with the 12.2MP, f/1.8 main shooter receiving the highest ever rating for a smartphone camera from DxOMark. Characteristically for Google, it's all about the software.
There is no "manual" mode here, beyond options to override automatic colour temperature and exposure levels if you want to, and that's fine as the camera software knows how to take the best picture basically every time. Google's HDR+ algorithm is constantly on (and you have to look through a lot of menus to turn it off), producing detailed, beautifully coloured shots in all lighting conditions. You can manually focus by tapping if you like, but the autofocus hasn't let me down yet.
Following Apple's lead, Google has also introduced "Motion Photos" and a portrait mode. By default, motion photos are captured when you're shooting something that moves a lot, and the result is a few seconds of video you can turn into a GIF for sharing. I found this most handy for children, pets and spontaneous shots of friends, where a still image sometimes doesn't do the energy of the scene justice. Of course you can also opt to just view these as regular photos and ignore the motion.
Portrait mode works a little differently on Pixel 2 than other phones, using some impressive software to blur backgrounds and produce a bokeh effect, rather than needing a second lens. The results can be amazing, through either the primary shooter or the 8MP selfie cam, with clear faces, soft blur on closer background objects and heavy blur further back. But it's not flawless. Whispy hair and things like earphone cables often get blurred out, while weird background artefacts can happen if you're not close enough to the subject. A standard image is always saved alongside the processed one though, so you can't ruin a shot.
On the video side, you can do 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps, up to 120fps if you want slow motion. Drop the resolution to 720p and you can get 240fps super slow mo. It all works without a hitch.
If you want a phone that gets about its business with minimal fuss; the Pixel 2 is the way to go. Thanks to having a pure version of Android 8.0 that's finely tuned, and a Snapdragon 835 processor, everything is effortless and fast. 4GB RAM may not seem like a lot in the modern age of 6GB or 8GB RAM equipped phones, we never struggled at all with performance.
Software-wise, not too much has changed from last year’s Pixel. It’s running stock Android Oreo – which has made an appearance on the original Pixel – but it doesn’t include any real, impactful changes.
Picture-in-picture is the major development here, a feature focussed on multitasking that lets you keep one app, for example Netflix, in a small floating window while checking your email (or anything else you fancy) full-screen. One of the cooler new features makes cut-and-paste much easier, through a feature called Smart Text Select. This automatically recognises items such as phone numbers, place names and addresses, making it easier to select what you need quickly with a single tap.
And, finally, we have Google Lens, which is all about analysing live images rather than static ones, interpreting everyday objects like buildings, flowers and signs and providing information on them as you point the camera at them. Just like with Samsung’s own Bixby, Lens should recognise what you’re pointing your camera at and offer to perform follow-up actions on that information. I say should, because as it stands Lens struggles a bit, identifying London’s famous BT Tower as simply a “control tower” and a bottle of red wine as “liqueur”.
Nowhere are HTC’s fingerprints clearer than Active Edge. Named Edge Sense when it launched with the U11 earlier this year, Google has adopted the side squeezing gimmick for its own flagship. In a conversation at the Pixel 2 launch event, the company told me it developed its own version of the offering from the ground up. It’s hard to say how much of that is true, and how much is simply the company’s reluctance to shout-out hardware partners — but either way, the tech works the same in principle.
It’s still a silly gimmick, adding sensors to the device’s frame in lieu of an additional, single service button (which Samsung took a lot of flack for with Bixby), but it does make more sense on a device where Assistant is central to the product’s functionality. It’s certainly understandable if you’ve opted to disable the “Okay Google” wake word feature for battery reasons, or over rising privacy concerns around always-listening devices (the Google Mini story is only the last to raise red flags).
A quick squeeze fires up Assistant from anywhere — that includes the lock screen, though you’ll have to actually unlock the phone to get your answer. The feature is quite responsive and customizable in settings. It worked just fine through the case the company shipped the Pixel 2 with, and offers a satisfying tactile buzz to let you know it’s picking up what you’re putting down.
The feature also is interesting from the standpoint of a company looking to move its assistant beyond just a voice interface. Amazon has stayed pretty firm in its commitment to Alexa as almost exclusively voice input, but both Google and Amazon have looked to broaden their offerings, using their proprietary systems to unite all manner of different features across the devices.
A squeeze of the side and a tap of the keyboard icon inside the Assistant window offers a way to interface with it without using your voice at all. That could ultimately prove helpful in, say, a loud environment, or if you don’t want to be “that guy” (or lady) on a crowded public bus asking, “Okay Google, what’s that smell?”
The Pixel 2 doesn’t really raise the squeeze beyond novelty, but Google never really positioned it as much more — where HTC sold it as downright revolutionary. As an added feature, it’s got some potentially interesting use cases, though, in most cases your voice will probably get the job down even better.
The Pixel 2's stereo speakers are pretty good for YouTube videos and the occasional dip into Instagram stories, but you won't want to play an album or watch a film on them. I found even podcasts sounded a bit tinny and trebly and preferred to use headphones.
This of course involves the included adapter, and music streamed from Spotify sounded good through AKG in-ear headphones. With no headphones in the box though, audio quality will depend how good your cans are.
Call quality on the Pixel 2 is very good, with all 2G calls sounding crisp and clear (the earpiece also goes excruciatingly loud, which is better than quiet). VoLTE and Wi-Fi calls are available depending on your service and operator, and all worked in my testing.
Its 1080p screen is a secret weapon to burning fewer unnecessary pixels, even when the screen remains bright. Google also has fairly smart Android Oreo battery saving options right in the notification shade. This can help extend the battery life beyond a day if you’re careful enough. Running a looped HD video at full brightness and at a full charge resulted in 86% remaining in the battery life tank. That’s about average for smartphones of this size. You’re not going to be disappointed, but you’re also not going to be impressed with how this one performs.
While the Pixel 2 charges quickly thanks to fast charging, we’re sad that Google hasn’t found a way to display the battery life percentage whenever you charge a turned off phone. Every other Android phone can do this. When charging a phone from 0%, it’s impossible to tell if it’s at 10% or 100% unless you boot up the phone mid-change. That’s a bit annoying.
At £629 for the 64GB model and £729 for the 128GB variant, Google’s second Pixel-branded smartphone doesn’t come cheap. However, since it’s a smaller 5in phone, there’s not quite as much direct competition as you might expect for the Pixel 2.
The camera, one lens down on some competitors, is better than all of them in most situations thanks to the superior software onboard. You only get that benefit when you buy Google hardware, and the company is finally realising the end to end product that Apple has been making for a decade.
If you want a smartphone to fawn over and make your friends jealous with, you won’t want the Pixel 2. But it’s faster than the Galaxy S8 and takes better photos. It delivers the best overall camera and software experience on any Android smartphone to date.
The Best Version of Android
Google wanted to announce more than just a boatload of products at its event the other week. The company hoped to foster a new conversation around consumer hardware, moving from a narrative about specs to one about artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The Pixel 2 is the centerpiece of that idea. The sequel to last year’s hit phone isn’t a radical upgrade. If it were an Apple product, the company would put a somewhat resigned “S” after the model number as an affirmation that this is one of those in-between years. It’s an evolution of a good phone that helps the device keep pace with the market, but lacks the sort of wow factor that drives early adopters to trade in last year’s model.
But while Google managed to wow many reviewers with its self-branded entry into the market, the Pixel line was arguably never really just about hardware to begin with. It’s about developing hardware and software together.
There’s little doubt that the company is doing some of the industry’s most compelling work in terms of consumer-facing AI and machine learning. Years of research and development on those fronts are beginning to bear fruit and have converged here in some very interesting ways. Taking a step back to examine Google’s long-term goals with software offerings like Assistant and Lens, it’s easy to envision a future where hardware becomes relatively incidental.
Google Pixel 2 Design
The smaller of the two Pixel devices is rumoured to have been made by HTC – to a Google design, of course – but there’s very little of the Taiwanese firm’s DNA in this phone. Actually, the Google Pixel 2 feels very different to any other Android phone I’ve used this year.
Even though it’s constructed from aluminium, the back has a stoney-like finish. It’s harsh and textured; strange at first but, ultimately, super-nice. It’s far grippier in the hand than shiny aluminium and isn’t as slippery when sat on a table the same way a glass back is. Neither does it appear to pick up fingerprints. It does give the impression that it might scratch off over time, but we’ll have to wait and see if that becomes an issue.
Like the previous Pixel, there’s a glass ‘shade’ just above the metal covering the camera sensor and flash. Aside from adding contrast to the metal, this is where all the cellular and Wi-Fi antennas live. Giving them plenty of space should help connectivity, but it also means there are no antenna bands elsewhere. Hopefully this glass panel will be less prone to scratching – which was a real issue with the first device.
It seems odd that Google has taken this design route, especially since more and more device makers are opting for a bezel-less look. At least Google has used that extra space on both ends of the phone to add dual front-facing stereo speakers – but it’s still hard to forgive in 2017.
Like most flagship phones this year, the Pixel 2 is IP67-rated for water-resistance. Another, less desirable, trend Google has decided to follow is the removal of the headphone jack. I can only assume the decision was taken to enable waterproofing, but it’s a shame. And even though you get a USB-C to 3.5mm port dongle in the box and there are plenty of ‘Made for Google’ USB-C headphones coming soon, it’s annoying nevertheless.
Google Pixel 2 Display
If you’ve not been blown away by the Pixel 2’s design, then its screen is unlikely to impress you much more on first glance. But you might well change your tune once you watch it.
What you get here is a full HD 1920 x 1080 display with standard 16:9 aspect ratio and pixels-per-inch total of 441. It feels small, which is in itself a sign of how quickly things have moved on in the world of smartphone screens. Yes, the standard iPhone 8 still has a 4.7in display, but elsewhere almost every flagship is bigger.
Whether that matters to you is ultimately a matter of taste. I’ve grown addicted to bigger, 5.5in-and-above handsets and the extra viewing space they provide. But the smaller screen here does definitely help keep the handset’s overall size down, and for many people that will be a good thing.
It also means that the 1080p resolution doesn’t feel too much of a problem. Plenty of phones - not least the 5.5in OnePlus 5 - get along just fine with full HD, and although the difference between it and a 2K handset is noticeable when you put them together, it’s not a deal-breaker in itself.
I placed the Pixel 2 next to the 5.5in, 2K Huawei P10 Plus and the 5.1in, 1080p Huawei P10for a YouTube-based comparison. Yes, the P10 Plus obviously pulled out more detail when given 2K source material, but I still had to concentrate to really spot the difference.
The other advantage it has over many other phones is the ability to play HDR content. Now Google has remained tight-lipped about exactly how it’s doing it; the original Pixel also played HDR videos on YouTube, but that came via software processing rather than the panel itself being HDR-capable. That may be the same deal here, but either way that extra contrast and brightness is noticeable with HDR content. It does appear to be YouTube-only for now, though: Netflix shows remained free of the telltale HDR logo.
Whatever you’re watching, it will definitely now sound better than average thanks to the Pixel 2’s stereo speakers. These are great: clear, reasonably punchy and even packing a little bit of bass. No, they won’t rival a decent Bluetooth speaker, but for soundtracking a Netflix binge when you haven’t got headphones handy, they’ll do fine.
The camera was a big focus of the original Pixel and that continues here, with the 12.2MP, f/1.8 main shooter receiving the highest ever rating for a smartphone camera from DxOMark. Characteristically for Google, it's all about the software.
There is no "manual" mode here, beyond options to override automatic colour temperature and exposure levels if you want to, and that's fine as the camera software knows how to take the best picture basically every time. Google's HDR+ algorithm is constantly on (and you have to look through a lot of menus to turn it off), producing detailed, beautifully coloured shots in all lighting conditions. You can manually focus by tapping if you like, but the autofocus hasn't let me down yet.
Following Apple's lead, Google has also introduced "Motion Photos" and a portrait mode. By default, motion photos are captured when you're shooting something that moves a lot, and the result is a few seconds of video you can turn into a GIF for sharing. I found this most handy for children, pets and spontaneous shots of friends, where a still image sometimes doesn't do the energy of the scene justice. Of course you can also opt to just view these as regular photos and ignore the motion.
On the video side, you can do 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps, up to 120fps if you want slow motion. Drop the resolution to 720p and you can get 240fps super slow mo. It all works without a hitch.
Google Pixel 2 Performance
Whether we were switching between apps, dragging up the app drawer, sliding down notifications or running two apps side-by-side, it was responsive and buttery smooth.
Similarly, loading games and downloading content was as fast as we've seen on any Android phone. In this regard, it's actually refreshing to have a relatively small phone perform as reliably and responsively as the big, bad flagships of the smartphone world.
The fingerprint sensor on the back is similarly responsive. Unlocking the phone takes the blink of an eye, and swiping on it to bring down the notification and quick settings shade is a very convenient and reliable method of controlling the interface. To the point where switching back to the old way of just dragging down from the top of the screen seems archaic and decidedly cumbersome.
Combining this effortless performance with the clean, uncomplicated and attractive Android 8 software is a winning pairing.
Similarly, loading games and downloading content was as fast as we've seen on any Android phone. In this regard, it's actually refreshing to have a relatively small phone perform as reliably and responsively as the big, bad flagships of the smartphone world.
The fingerprint sensor on the back is similarly responsive. Unlocking the phone takes the blink of an eye, and swiping on it to bring down the notification and quick settings shade is a very convenient and reliable method of controlling the interface. To the point where switching back to the old way of just dragging down from the top of the screen seems archaic and decidedly cumbersome.
Combining this effortless performance with the clean, uncomplicated and attractive Android 8 software is a winning pairing.
Google Pixel 2 OS
Picture-in-picture is the major development here, a feature focussed on multitasking that lets you keep one app, for example Netflix, in a small floating window while checking your email (or anything else you fancy) full-screen. One of the cooler new features makes cut-and-paste much easier, through a feature called Smart Text Select. This automatically recognises items such as phone numbers, place names and addresses, making it easier to select what you need quickly with a single tap.
And, finally, we have Google Lens, which is all about analysing live images rather than static ones, interpreting everyday objects like buildings, flowers and signs and providing information on them as you point the camera at them. Just like with Samsung’s own Bixby, Lens should recognise what you’re pointing your camera at and offer to perform follow-up actions on that information. I say should, because as it stands Lens struggles a bit, identifying London’s famous BT Tower as simply a “control tower” and a bottle of red wine as “liqueur”.
Google Pixel 2 Squeeze
No surprise, Google found another key hardware partner in the form of HTC. The Pixel 2 was well underway before the two companies sealed the deal, with Google buying up the phone maker’s assets, but HTC’s role in the success of the phone’s predecessor made the company a no-brainer for the sequel.Nowhere are HTC’s fingerprints clearer than Active Edge. Named Edge Sense when it launched with the U11 earlier this year, Google has adopted the side squeezing gimmick for its own flagship. In a conversation at the Pixel 2 launch event, the company told me it developed its own version of the offering from the ground up. It’s hard to say how much of that is true, and how much is simply the company’s reluctance to shout-out hardware partners — but either way, the tech works the same in principle.
It’s still a silly gimmick, adding sensors to the device’s frame in lieu of an additional, single service button (which Samsung took a lot of flack for with Bixby), but it does make more sense on a device where Assistant is central to the product’s functionality. It’s certainly understandable if you’ve opted to disable the “Okay Google” wake word feature for battery reasons, or over rising privacy concerns around always-listening devices (the Google Mini story is only the last to raise red flags).
The feature also is interesting from the standpoint of a company looking to move its assistant beyond just a voice interface. Amazon has stayed pretty firm in its commitment to Alexa as almost exclusively voice input, but both Google and Amazon have looked to broaden their offerings, using their proprietary systems to unite all manner of different features across the devices.
A squeeze of the side and a tap of the keyboard icon inside the Assistant window offers a way to interface with it without using your voice at all. That could ultimately prove helpful in, say, a loud environment, or if you don’t want to be “that guy” (or lady) on a crowded public bus asking, “Okay Google, what’s that smell?”
The Pixel 2 doesn’t really raise the squeeze beyond novelty, but Google never really positioned it as much more — where HTC sold it as downright revolutionary. As an added feature, it’s got some potentially interesting use cases, though, in most cases your voice will probably get the job down even better.
Google Pixel 2 Speaker
The Pixel 2's stereo speakers are pretty good for YouTube videos and the occasional dip into Instagram stories, but you won't want to play an album or watch a film on them. I found even podcasts sounded a bit tinny and trebly and preferred to use headphones.
This of course involves the included adapter, and music streamed from Spotify sounded good through AKG in-ear headphones. With no headphones in the box though, audio quality will depend how good your cans are.
Call quality on the Pixel 2 is very good, with all 2G calls sounding crisp and clear (the earpiece also goes excruciatingly loud, which is better than quiet). VoLTE and Wi-Fi calls are available depending on your service and operator, and all worked in my testing.
Google Pixel 2 Battery
The Google Pixel 2 battery lasts all day with moderate use, which you may not expect given its rather small 2,700mAh battery size. It saves power in a number of important ways.
Its 1080p screen is a secret weapon to burning fewer unnecessary pixels, even when the screen remains bright. Google also has fairly smart Android Oreo battery saving options right in the notification shade. This can help extend the battery life beyond a day if you’re careful enough. Running a looped HD video at full brightness and at a full charge resulted in 86% remaining in the battery life tank. That’s about average for smartphones of this size. You’re not going to be disappointed, but you’re also not going to be impressed with how this one performs.
While the Pixel 2 charges quickly thanks to fast charging, we’re sad that Google hasn’t found a way to display the battery life percentage whenever you charge a turned off phone. Every other Android phone can do this. When charging a phone from 0%, it’s impossible to tell if it’s at 10% or 100% unless you boot up the phone mid-change. That’s a bit annoying.
Google Pixel 2 Price
At £629 for the 64GB model and £729 for the 128GB variant, Google’s second Pixel-branded smartphone doesn’t come cheap. However, since it’s a smaller 5in phone, there’s not quite as much direct competition as you might expect for the Pixel 2.
You have the iPhone 8, which has a 4.7in screen and costs £699, the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact with a 4.6in display for £499 and that’s about it for the big manufacturers. It’s worth considering the Samsung Galaxy S8 in the same bracket, too; although the screen is larger at 5.8in, it’s only fractionally larger than the Google Pixel 2, and it’s cheaper as well, at.
Verdict
The Pixel 2 is a boring phone until you turn it on. The uninspiring hardware melts away to present you with a bleeding edge vision of the Android future, with machine learning fully integrated. It’s not quite there yet, but this is where we are heading.
The camera, one lens down on some competitors, is better than all of them in most situations thanks to the superior software onboard. You only get that benefit when you buy Google hardware, and the company is finally realising the end to end product that Apple has been making for a decade.
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