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Google Pixel Phone - What we can expect, and what we want to see

Pixel art

Google Pixel Phone - What we can expect, and what we want to see
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It's pretty much a nailed on certainty that Google will be announcing two new smartphones at a special event being held next week.

This matters because Google's own handsets set the template for the following year's crop of Android phones. They're also the closest thing to Apple's total control of hardware and software. Functionally, at least, these are the iPhones of the Android world.

The search giant always unveils new smartphone hardware around this time of the year, of course, but after six successive years of the Nexus line, Google is about set to try something different.

From Nexus to Pixel

Reports (such as this one from VentureBeat) suggest that Google is ditching the Nexus brand and shifting its own high-end Pixel brand across to mobile. This makes a certain amount of sense.

While Google's Android is the biggest mobile OS in the world, the company's Nexus line of phones has never been a massive seller. Something different is needed if Google is to take on Apple and Samsung at the top end of the market.

Google already has a few Pixel devices on the market in the shape of two Chromebook laptops and a tablet. All three are decidedly premium examples of their form factors, so expect the new Pixel phones to follow suit.


Google Pixel C

Classy design

All signs point to HTC as the hardware partner for the Google Pixel, as it's being dubbed.

This means one thing: these phones are likely to be very well built. HTC isn't the force it was in the early days of Android, but it still builds some of the most attractive phones in the business. It was doing the whole metal unibody thing way before anyone else.

Indeed, it seems that in the Google Pixel we might be getting a subtle variation on HTC's current flagship phone, the HTC 10.

Two screen options

Last year saw Google adopting Apple's dual-size approach with the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P, though they were built by completely different manufacturers. This year, we can expect the two phones to be a lot more similar.

Reports suggest that we'll be getting a Google Pixel and a Google Pixel XL from HTC. The chief difference will be that the Google Pixel will have a 5-inch 1080p display, whilst the Pixel XL will have a 5.5-inch QHD display.

These are pretty much the two established standards for mid and top-end Android phones right now, so neither will pose any problems for game developers.


Nexus 6P

Balance of power

One notable difference between last year's Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P was that they ran on different processors, with the Nexus 6P the more capable device.

That's a different approach to the one Apple takes in fitting both of its phones with the same processor each year. Among other things, this ensures that gaming performance is pretty much uniform across each generation (although the difference in screen resolution changes things a little, of course).

We're hoping for for a similar approach with Google's Pixel phones, and early reports suggest that may be the case. The smaller won't be a second class citizen this time around.

Power to the Pixel

One thing we're very interested to learn, given that we're a mobile gaming website, is precisely which processor the Google Pixel runs on.

Initial reports point to a quad-core 2.0GHz 64-bit processor, which some claim will be the Snapdragon 821. This would be the first phone to use the chip, and could well make the Pixel the most powerful Android phone to date.

The likes of the HTC 10 and LG G5 run on the Snapdragon 820, which is already a very capable CPU, while most versions of the Samsung Galaxy S7 family run on a custom Exynos CPU that's capable of roughly equivalent performance to the 820.

Whatever the CPU, the Pixel will seemingly be backed by 4GB of RAM. That's not the most memory out there (the OnePlus 3 has 6GB), but it's plenty for gaming. Or anything, really.

Not stock Android?

Perhaps the most interesting new feature of the Google Pixel, aside from the change in name and approach, could be its use of Android.

We've grown used to the Nexus phones offering an all-too-rare glimpse at 'stock' Android each year. This means that Google installs a pure, unaltered version of its mobile OS on its own phones. Third party manufacturers like Samsung and LG have the option to include this as well, but they invariably choose not to.

Curiously, initial reports suggest that the Google Pixel will have its own custom skin that's a little different to the Android 7.0 Nougat that we've seen running. That might be down to the fact that the new phone(s) will be running Android 7.1, but it seems more likely that the Pixel will have its own discrete UI.

Google Pixel - why should you care?

All signs suggest that Google is done with simply standing back and letting handset manufacturers have all the fun. The news that it intends to pull and Apple and grab both the hardware and software experience by the scruff of the neck is very encouraging.

Added to suggestions that the Google Pixel will be the most capable Android phone on the market, we could be looking at the best way to experience Android games yet.

Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.