Google Pixel 3
Google Pixel 3
Release
date and price
The Google
Pixel 3 release date is Thursday, 9 October 18 in the US, and November 1 in the
UK and Australia. Availability of the phone is also slated for Canada, France,
Germany, Japan, India, Ireland, Italy, Singapore, Spain, and Taiwan.
Pre-orders
begin around the world today. The US Google Pixel 3 price starts at $799 for
the 64GB version, while the 128GB edition is $100 more at $899. Google's larger
Pixel 3 XL is also a $100 premium, in case you're considering the larger screen
size.
In the UK the
price is £739 (64GB) and £839 (128GB), while in Australia you're going to be
paying AU$1,199 for 64GB and AU$1,349 for 128GB. We'll have more Pixel 3 prices
as the shipping date nears.
You're paying
for the more expansive screen and machine-learning camera here, and the fact
that flagship smartphones cost more in general. It's certainly a jump in price.
In the US, for example, last year's smaller Pixel started at $649. And now it's
$799, so you'll be shelling out $150 more.
Design
The Pixel 3
retains Google's familiar two-tone design – the back has shiny glass at the
top, while lower 80% has a matte finish. There's a more seamless transition
between the two textures, but it look hasn't changed dramatically.
But the Pixel
3 series uses different materials this year. The entire back is made of
soft-touch glass using Corning Gorilla Glass 5. It's the same strengthened
glass that protecting the front screen, and it's all sandwiching an aluminum
frame with that has a hybrid coating – that's the only bit of metal you'll find
on the outside.
Sure, the all-glass design makes the Pixel 3 more susceptible to
damage, but it also enables a better LTE connection and wireless charging.
That's why we've seen a lack of aluminum-backed flagship phones in 2018. The
Pixel 3 is the latest causality.
Wireless charging is a new feature for the Pixel phones, and a
welcome change now that Google is launching the Pixel Stand wireless charger
alongside its new devices. We haven't had a wirelessly charging Google phone
since the plastic Nexus 6.
We're also seeing the phone has more rounded edges everywhere on
the Pixel 3. Its frame is less boxy than previous Google phones, a trend we've
seen from the iPhone and and others. Gone is the harsher silver bevel around
the frame and rear fingerprint sensor. It's like Google put the Pixel 2 through
a smoothing machine.
You'll still find dual front-facing speakers on the Google Pixel
3. No one else is really doing this anymore, so it's nice. You'll also get
Active Edge, which allows you to squeeze the sides of the phone to call up
Google Assistant. We much prefer this as opposed to a dedicated AI button, like
Samsung does with Bixby button (which we also confuse for the volume down
button).
No, there's no headphone jack on this smartphone (just like last
year) and you won't find a microSD card slot anywhere (we looked). The 64GB and
128GB storage configurations are what you're stuck with. There is a SIM card
tray slot, interestingly at the bottom of the device right next to the USB-C
port.
The Pixel 3 color Just Black is our favorite of the trio.
Clearly White looks cheaper and Not Pink isn't for everyone. It's the color you
want if you're looking to stand out, but we preferred last year's unique Mint
color. You will get a fresh Mint color on the white Google Pixel 3,
however.
Screen
and bezels
The 5.5-inch
OLED screen fits into modern times. It's big and expansive, and sits in a phone
that's smaller than we had expected given the screen size rumors. The entire
thing measures 145.6 x 68.2 x 7.9mm and weighs 148g. It's roughly the same size
as the Pixel 2, which had a smaller 5-inch display.
The Pixel 3
screen, at first blush, looks richer than last year's Pixel 2. The specs note
that it has only a few more pixels per inch, but keep in mind the screen much
taller. There's noticeably less bezel thanks to 18:9 aspect ratio rather than
the dated 16:9 look. Last year's oversized bezel, we felt, was the big
disappointment design-wise about the smaller 2017 Pixel phone.
Oh, it still
has bezel. There's no hiding the two front-facing cameras and speaker at the
top and chin at the bottom. But it's the best we've seen from a phone with dual
front-facing speakers and without a deep (some would say ugly) notch cut out.
Battery
life and specs
The Pixel 3
has a 2,915mAh battery, which is slightly smaller than we had hoped (the
Samsung Galaxy S9 has a 3,000mAh and we think that could stand to last longer),
but it's still an improvement over last year's 5-inch Pixel, which a 2,700mAh
unit. Google's Android 9 Pie software should give it more juice too.
You'll still
be able to get all-day battery life from this device with normal use, and you
will certainly benefit from fast 18W and new wireless charging.
The Google
Pixel 3 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and 4GB of RAM. It's unlikely
to be the fastest performer when other phone makers are touting 6GB of RAM and
Apple's A12 chipset beats the Snapdragon 845 handedly. However, Google owning
the hardware and software should prove beneficial for smooth performance.
Camera
The Pixel
Visual Core is a separate, dedicated chip that helps give the camera that wow
factor. Combined with the 12.2MP camera, we'll see machine-learning features
that pick the best photo to avoid blurriness and closed eyes called Top Shot.
The
rear-facing camera's f/1.8 aperture isn't record-breaking among fast apertures,
but modes like Night Sight are supposed to give the Google Pixel 3 the edge
when taking nighttime photos. At the launch event, Google demonstrated how it
can even beat the iPhone XS at low-light photos. It'll shoot with larger 1.4
micron pixels and has optical and electronic image stabilization. Video records
in 4K at a max of 30fps.
When it comes
to selfie photos, we really liked the idea of Group Selfie Camera, the second
camera on the front. The two 8MP cameras provide a normal 75 degree field of
view or a 97 degree field of view. The apertures do differ here: f/2.2 for the
wide-angle lens and f/1.8 for the normal selfie lens.
Early verdict
The Google
Pixel 3 is offering a lot, and in a tighter package than the Google Pixel 3 XL.
It has dual front-firing speakers, a promising 12.2MP camera backed by machine
learning, and a much better display than the one we got last year. This is the
one-hand-friendly version of the Pixel 3 XL that your grip might appreciate.
It costs less than an iPhone XS, and it runs pure Android Pie,
with promise of the latest operating system updates straight from Google. It
looks like a good value for what you're getting, even if it's a price increase
over last year's phone. But we'll have to check out the battery life and camera
more closely in the coming days.
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