There is perhaps no smartphone in history that had such massive leaks as Google’s Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. Both phones were captured on camera weeks ago, and a retailer in Hong Kong began selling the smartphone days before it was even announced. But the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are finally official after this week’s Google event.
The leaks have already been discussing every inch of the smartphone for weeks now. So we’re just going to skim through the hardware specifications and display quickly and move on to the stuff that’s new to us.
The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL displays a 5.5” Full HD+ and 6.3” QHD+ P-OLED screen, respectively. The big brother now borrows the infamous notch design. Notch haters may find themselves flocking to the Pixel 3 instead. Looking around you have a USB-C port, dual front-facing stereo speakers, and no headphone jack. Fingerprint reader location is once again on the back. On the internal hardware side of things, as expected, both phones are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 SoC. You’ll find a 2915 mAh battery inside the Pixel 3 and a 3430 mAh battery inside the Pixel 3 XL.
Both phones carry 4GB RAM inside which comes as a little disappointing. Even though 4GB is perfectly fine by today’s standards, it’s disappointing when you compare the Pixel 3 XL with Galaxy S9+, OnePlus 6, and Huawei P20 Pro, all of which feature 6GB RAM. Considering the price you’re paying for the larger Pixel, it’s one point in favor of the competiion when you draw a spec-to-spec comparison. Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL will come in 64GB and 128GB versions.
Pixel’s camera is widely regarded as one of the best smartphone camera around. It comes as no surprise that Google would want to reclaim the top spot. Google’s keynote featured heavy emphasis on the Pixel 3’s new camera and Machine Learning that helps to power the experience.
Both phones have a new 12.2 megapixel sensor on the back and 8 mega-pixel on the front. As always, Google is not restricting better camera experience for the bigger version, something which it touted with the Pixel 2. As we mentioned, the big feature on display with regards to the new camera is Google’s improved Pixel Visual Core.
Pixel 3’s new Top Shot features allows the camera to take multiple shots of a scene and recommends the best one via machine learning. The second feature is called Night Sight, where Google was quick to compare Pixel 3’s camera with the iPhone XS. In an outdoor low-light condition, the Pixel 3 generated a far better picture, showing more in the scene than the iPhone XS. How it stacks up against in tests is something we’ll have to see, but for now, Google is clearly priding itself in the new camera.
The notch at the front, although bigger than usual, houses two 8 mega-pixel cameras. The front camera captures 184 percent more of the scene compared to the iPhone XS. It’s helpful while taking group selfies.
The conclusion comes to how much you’re willing to pay for the new Pixel 3 because they’re now more expensive than ever. The Pixel 3 starts at $799 for the 64GB, and the 128GB costs $899. The bigger, Pixel 3 XL starts at $899 for the 64GB version with the 128GB hitting that $999 mark. Google now joins the competition in the contest to sell you a $1000 smartphone.
Both come in three colors: Just Black, Clearly White, and the new Not Pink.
With the new Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL now available for preorder, the release date is set for October 17.
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