‘Made By Google’ 2019: Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL are finally official

And it’s finally official! After a bevy of online leaks and rumors, Google has unveiled its latest, much-awaited Android smartphones for the year. The company announced Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL at its Made By Google 2019 event held in the heart of New York City earlier this week.

The tech giant made a bunch of interesting announcements at the event alongside launching the latest handsets. The company announced Pixel Buds, Google Nest, Pixelbook Go, released more information on Google Stadia, and more. We are going to discuss all of these announcements in a different post. But first, let’s know more about the newly launched Android handsets. Are they worth the hype? Drill down to find out more.

Google Pixel 4

Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL

The Pixel lineup of smartphones has always been considered the best Android smartphones by masses. The company has been making several improvements in terms of performance, reliability, security, and most importantly imaging capabilities over the years. Often considered as the best camera Android smartphones, Pixels have always managed to attract an audience with their imaging capabilities. But this time, the Pixel 4 and 4 XL are not just about imaging. This time, Google has baked its smartphones with new and innovative aspects.

Build and design

The foremost aspect everyone is going to notice is the square camera bump on the rear of these handsets. They resemble the square camera bump on that of the latest iPhone 11 series.

The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL are launched in “just black,” “clearly white,” and a limited edition “oh so orange” colors. These handsets sport a matte-finished glass for white and orange editions while it comes with a glossy rear for the black variant. All these handsets come with a rounded metal frame running on the edges. Both the Pixel 4 and the Pixel 4 XL are rated IP68 for dust and water protection.

Display

One of the major differences between the Pixel 4 and the Pixel 4 XL is the screen size. Like with all the previous generation of Pixel handsets, the XL variant comes with a larger screen and higher resolution.

Accordingly, the Pixel 4 sports a 5.7-inch Full HD+ flexible OLED display at 444 PPI, while, the larger Pixel 4 XL has a 6.3-inch Quad HD+ flexible OLED display at 537 PPI. The displays on both these handsets come with a 90Hz refresh rate, which Google calls the “Smooth Display.” While the name is fancy, this feature is exactly as that of the latest flagships from Samsung and OnePlus.

Hardware

Speaking about the hardware on the latest Pixels, both these handsets are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 mobile processor paired with 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM. Both devices will be available in 64 or 128GB onboard storage variants that cannot be further expanded. (There’s no SD-card slot.)

Pixel 4 handsets are equipped with a plethora of sensors for carrying out various activities. These devices sport Active Edge, Proximity, Ambient light, textured haptics, barometer, motion sensing, and magnetometer sensors. Both these handsets also sport ARCore for augmented reality applications.

Camera

Both the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL pack a dual rear camera setup consisting of a 12.2-megapixels f/1.7 primary camera paired with a 16-megapixels f/2.4 telephoto camera. Both handsets support auto-focus with phase detection technology and come with optical and electronic image stabilization.

The handsets also come with an 8-megapixel front-facing camera with a 90 degrees field-of-view for accommodating wider shots. These devices are obviously capable enough to do all the fancy stuff like portrait images, 4K, slow-motion videos, and more, just like any other flagship device.

More Features

Gestures: Swipe right already!

Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL can be controlled with gestures. Yes, you read that right. The all-new Quick Gestures in these handsets uses radar to sense a user’s motion and perform actions accordingly. Users will be able to use these gestures to navigate the music, for example, a right swipe to play the next track and a left swipe to play the previous track. Quick Gestures can also be used to snooze alarms and phone calls with just a wave of the hand.

Google Pixel 4 gestures

Security

Google has been working hard to improve security in its handsets and in the Android OS. Accordingly, the Pixel 4 series comes with a built-in Titan M security chip that secures sensitive user information. The voice commands are also processed within the device, making your voice notes and commands not only efficient but also secure. The company also promises three years of security and OS updates on these devices.

Recorder app: Transcribe while recording

The all-new recorder app on the Pixel 4 can do more than just record audio — it can also transcribe simultaneously. The app can also categorize different types of audios based on various aspects such as language, frequency, mode of communication, and more. It also allows you to search a specific part of the recording.

Astrophotography

The Pixel 4’s camera can capture dark skies and can process the images to reduce the noise and process very detailed images even in very dark areas. However, the device needs to be placed in a constant position for a considerable duration to get the desired output.

Google Assistant: Efficient and elegant

Pixel 4 series of smartphones comes with deeply integrated all-new Google Assistant in them. It packs in several new features including a better and faster way to control the smartphone, sharing photos, multitasking, easy integrations, and more.

Price and availability

Both handsets are going to be partnered with various mobile carriers including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Xfinity Mobile, Spectrum Mobile, and Google Fi. As for pricing, the Pixel 4 starts at $799 while the larger Pixel 4XL starts at $899 for the 64GB base variant. The devices are currently up for preorders and the shipping is going to commence beginning October 24.

Google has always managed to deliver good performance and reliability with its handsets. However, imaging has been considered one of the essential and unique selling aspects of the Pixel handsets. This time, Google Pixel 4 series of handsets is impressive not because of the imaging or hardware it packs in but because of the features it has to offer. Thanks to features like Quick Gestures and powerful Google Assistant integration, it is evident that Google is trying to level-up the smartphone market to an even smarter level.

Images: Google

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