WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.720 Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably noticed that Google 00:00:03.840 --> 00:00:11.800 seems to be trying its hardest to be a company that does seemingly everything. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:16.080 I mean, they're working on a space elevator. But closer to home, they've 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:21.439 recently rolled out their first ever smartphones, the Pixel and the Pixel XL. 00:00:19.680 --> 00:00:26.160 Whoa, hold on a second. What about that Google Nexus sitting in my pocket right 00:00:23.279 --> 00:00:30.880 now? Well, although Nexus devices carried Google's branding, they weren't 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:35.120 designed by Google. Rather, Google intended for them to be a reference for 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:40.000 what the vanilla Android experience should be like. But phones themselves 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:45.360 weren't all that different from other devices available from the manufacturers 00:00:42.800 --> 00:00:50.160 contracted to produce a Nexus. Companies like LG or Motorola. But this time is 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:54.239 different, man. Google designed the Pixels in-house, intending for them to 00:00:52.320 --> 00:01:00.320 be the first smartphones they could truly call their own. Even if it is 00:00:57.360 --> 00:01:05.680 contract manufactured by HTC and looks suspiciously iPhone like from the front, 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:10.320 the hardware, while upper tier, mostly isn't anything we haven't seen before. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:12.560 1080p AMOLED screen or 1440p if you opt 00:01:10.320 --> 00:01:18.640 for the larger Pixel XL. Quad core Snapdragon 821, either 32 or 128 GB of 00:01:16.320 --> 00:01:25.600 internal UFS 2.0based O based storage, but no micro SD slot and USB type-C. It 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:29.880 does however come with some really next level stuff like a non-exloding battery 00:01:27.759 --> 00:01:33.920 and a headphone jack. All joking aside, there is at 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:39.360 least one hardware feature that does legitimately set the Pixel apart. Google 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:44.320 has hyped the Pixel's camera quite hard, even going so far as to call it the best 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:49.040 smartphone camera ever. And while Google might not be the most unbiased source of 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:53.520 such a statement, most independent reviewers have already had high praise 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:59.280 for the Pixel's wide dynamic range, solid lowlight performance, and accurate 00:01:55.840 --> 00:02:01.840 color. It also packs 4K video, 240 FPS 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:05.920 slow-mo, and image stabilization to round out its feature set. And there's 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:09.360 more. The fingerprint sensor is on the back of the phone, which is supposed to 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:12.959 make it easier to access when you're holding the phone in your hand. and it 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:17.520 also comes with full support for Google's upcoming Daydream VR headset. 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:21.840 Aesthetically, the pixels are a little polarizing. The upper third of the rear 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:26.239 is covered with Gorilla Glass, which Google claims helps with cell reception. 00:02:24.160 --> 00:02:31.280 And the phones are available not only in the more traditional black and white, 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:34.480 but also in a very intense shade of blue 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:36.720 that Google literally calls really blue. 00:02:34.480 --> 00:02:40.480 They got that right. But color choices aside, where Google has really tried to 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:46.319 set the Pixel apart from its competitors is its software. The Pixel does, as you 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:51.680 might expect, run Android 7, but there are some interesting touches that are, 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:54.160 as of now, Pixel exclusive, something 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:58.560 that we never saw with Nexus devices. The most prominent of these is the new 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:03.040 Google Assistant, a competitor to Siri and Cortana that is based more around 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:07.680 having conversations with the user instead of just spitting out search 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:12.640 results. Google even went as far as to hire writers from the Onion to give the 00:03:10.239 --> 00:03:16.800 assistant some personality. And while the Pixel doesn't come with an iPhone 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:21.440 like pressure sensitive screen, you can learn more about this up here, it does 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:26.239 feature app shortcuts, which are quick context menus that show up when you long 00:03:23.760 --> 00:03:31.280 press on an app icon. Then another big selling point is support for what Google 00:03:28.640 --> 00:03:36.159 calls seamless updates, where a separate partition of your phone's storage is 00:03:33.519 --> 00:03:40.799 updated in the background, and the Pixel just boots from that partition the next 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:45.280 time you turn it on, meaning no more absurdly long wait times just to use 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:49.120 your phone after a system update, which is pretty cool in my opinion. So, with a 00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:53.519 focus on solid usability rather than possibly extraneous bells and whistles, 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:58.000 it'll be interesting to see how Google's first real foray into smartphones 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:02.879 ultimately goes. But no matter what happens, it can't be worse than the 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:06.799 Windows phone. Poor Windows phone. 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