After frequenting rumor rounds over the past few months, the second-generation ‘Made by Google’ smartphones are finally official. Successors to last year’s Pixel and Pixel XL, the new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL come with improved design, under the hood hardware upgrades, latest Android 8.0 Oreo OS and more. The first-gen Pixels were impressive, and as the flagship smartphone landscape has completely changed this year with glass design, edge-to-edge displays and dual-camera setups.
Last month, Apple released three smartphones – the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus with dull and boring looking design similar to iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone 7-series. The third device, the iPhone X, comes with a more futuristic design with edge-to-edge display, FaceID facial recognition and more. Even the likes of Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy Note 8, Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 and LG V30, to name a few, have impressed with their design and hardware offering. With the competition setting the bar so high, let’s take a look at how Google’s new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones fare.
Google Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL design
Talking about the Pixel 2, the front is dominated with the display, with thick bezels along the top and bottom. You have the front camera module and earpiece, above the display, whereas a slit for speaker grill sits below the display. The earpiece also doubles as a stereo speaker for enhanced multimedia experience.
The back continues to feature a two-tone design, just as the Pixel, with the top half housing the LED flash and the camera module. The bottom half is made from metal and also features a circular fingerprint scanner for biometric authentication. The power / sleep button and volume rocker is placed on the right, whereas the USB Type-C port is at the bottom.
The Pixel 2 XL, on the other hand, comes with a tall display with 18:9 aspect ratio, and thin bezels along the top and bottom. The earpiece and front camera module sit on the top, whereas a slit for speaker grill is at the bottom. Similar to the Pixel 2, the back has a dual tone finish with the fingerprint sensor placed in the lower half. However, the placement of camera module and LED flash has been changed. The buttons and ports placement remains the same. 

Google Pixel 2 specifications

Featuring a 5-inch full HD OLED display, the smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core SoC, paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB / 128GB on-board storage. The Pixel 2 camera has logged highest DxOMark score of 98, leaving the Galaxy Note 8 and iPhone 8 Plus behind. It sports a 12.2-megapixel camera of aperture f/1.8 with optical image stabilization (OIS), 4K video recording capabilities and Machine Learning-based Portrait mode to add DSLR-like bokeh effects to your photos without the dual-camera setup. The mode also works on the 8-megapixel front camera. With an all-day battery live, connectivity options include 4G LTE with VoLTE, Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi 802.11ac. The smartphone also comes with IP67 certification for water and dust resistance.

Google Pixel 2 XL specifications

The Pixel 2 XL, on the other hand, comes with a taller 6-inch P-OLED QHD+ display running at a resolution of 1,440 x 2,880pixels and pixel density of 538ppi. Just the Pixel 2, the Pixel 2 XL is also powered by Snapdragon 835 octa-core SoC, paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB / 128GB on-board storage. The camera specifications of the smartphone also remain the same. With slightly larger battery, the rest of specifications remain the same as the Pixel 2.
Both Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL also feature always-on display to show you notifications and the song that is playing on your smartphones. The smartphones also include squeeze feature (similar to HTC U11) to quickly access Google Assistant.

Google Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL prices

The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones have been launched in two variants each. The Pixel 2 64GB variant is priced at Rs 61,000, while the 128GB variant is priced at Rs 70,000. The Pixel 2 XL 64GB variant is priced at Rs 73,000, and the 128GB variant is priced at Rs 82,000. The smartphone will go on-sale in six countries, including India, with pre-orders starting October 26. The devices will go on sale starting November 15, and will be a Flipkart exclusive. You can choose from four color options including Just Black, Kinda Blue, Clearly White and Black & White.