Google on Tuesday launched its pair of smartphones, Pixel and Pixel XL, with a built-in Google Assistant at an event in San Francisco. The smartphones are exclusively made by Google. Although manufactured by HTC, the company called it the "first phone made by Google inside and out."
As far as the specifications are concerned, both the phones are more or less similar. Powered by the Android 7.1 Nougat operating system, Google Pixel has a 5-inch full-HD Amoled display while Google Pixel XL has a 5.5-inch Quad HD Amoled display. Both the screens come with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection. Apart from the screen and batter size, both the phones have the same internal working process. Both phones are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor. Both equipped with Pixel imprint fingerprint sensor, the smartphones have a 12.3-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front camera.
The phones will be available in three colours – Quite Black, Really Blue and Very Silver. However, the blue variant will not be available in India for the time being. As for servicing, Google will have a 24x7 customer care support system and 54 walk-in service centres in more than 30 cities in India.
While pre-orders have already begun in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and Australia, they start in India on October 13. The phone will be available online, and at Croma, Flipkart and Reliance Digital stores, as well as at smaller retailers. Prices in India will start at Rs 57,000. In US, Google Pixel costs $649 (Rs 43,000) for the 32GB model and $749 (Rs 50,000) for the 128GB one. Pixel XL is the more expensive phone, with prices starting at $769 (Rs 51,000) for 32GB and $869 (Rs 58,000) for the 128GB model.
Apart from the smartphones, Google also unveiled an array of devices including the Daydream VR headset, Chromecast Ultra, Google Wi-Fi. It also announced the price for Google Home.
The Google phones go up against best-selling brands including Samsung, Micromax, Lenovo-Motorola (reportedly the top three highest selling smartphone brands in the country), Intex, Lava and Karbonn. Samsung holds around 25% of the handset shipment share in India, followed by Micromax at 14% and Intex at 11%. India surpassed the United States to become the world's second largest smartphone market, and posted growth of 23% in the first quarter of 2016.
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