TechTheDay

Google Pixel is a line of products that uses Android OS or Chrome OS made by Google. The first one was released in 2013 in the form of Google’s Chromebook Pixel. Soon after that they introduced the Pixel C, Google’s tablet computer, in 2015 and their own smartphones in October last year.

Google has already confirmed that there will be a successor this year. But it won’t be hitting the shelves until later this year, just like its predecessor. The first phones have gained some fans despite a few shortcomings and they’re definitely all excited for the next one.

What to expect

Well to be honest, nothing is certain for now. All of the current talk has no confirmation, except the one about its next generation smartphone coming in late this year. According to the Techradar article, one of the rumors involves having a curved display. According to their source Google has offered to invest in LG’s screen manufacturing business (investing $880 million) in exchange for flexible OLED displays.

Another rumor they have is the talk of waterproof design. Last year’s model wasn’t waterproof, unlike the GalaxyS7 and the iPhone7, so this can be seen as an improvement on Google’s part. The source of this was the senior editor of 9to5Google, Stephen Hall, via his Twitter account. He said that since he said it on Twitter because it hasn’t been actually confirmed.

Among other rumors were about better chipset and camera, a budget version of the Pixel phones (that has been debunked by Google since then), and that Pixel 2 devices MIGHT not use headphone jacks, just like Apple’s. Also, in the Techradar article, they also did a few educated assumptions like Google would be using Snapdragon 835 as the chipset for the new phones, unless there’s something even better coming out this year. Also the new phones will definitely be using the the latest version of Android, running on 6GB of RAM.

One of the rumors they seem to be certain about was that Google would be releasing three devices this year. According to them, the code in the Android Open Source Project seems to point to that direction. They also stated again that all three devices will likely be running with a Snapdragon 835 chipset. They also speculated that it might be an even larger version of the Pixel.

And the price?

There’s no certainty but it will likely follow the price of its predecessor. Right now, the current version is priced at $800 to around $650 in Amazon while it’s XL version is priced at a consistent $800. If we are talking prices this is a $100 less than the new Galaxy S8, priced at around $900 in Amazon. Apple’s iPhone 7 is currently priced at around $700 and $540 in Amazon.

Current specs

The current generation, released last October has some good specs and we can expect improvement from Google. The phone has a display resolution of 5 inches with 1,920 x 1,080 pixels and 441 ppi. The size of the phone overall is 5.66in x 2.74in x 0.34in. It weighs at around 143 grams (that’s at least 5oz).

It has two cameras: the front is an 8-megapixel camera while the back is at 12-megapixel. The processor is a 2.15GHz + 1.6GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821. It has a 32GB RAM and 128GB storage, which is sadly NOT EXPANDABLE (meaning you can’t add a microSD card to get a bigger storage) and 4GB RAM. The whole device runs with a 2,770mAh battery.

Also included are a fingerprint sensor at the back, and Google Assistant built-in and unlimited cloud storage. The device is Daydream VR ready.

Conclusion

It would really be nice if Google can do something about the Pixel not being waterproof and the inability to expand the Pixel’s storage. Some people who are not the “always online” type wouldn’t need unlimited storage cloud. Using wireless headphones exclusive as wireless headphones is expensive. It eats battery charge like mad and can easily be lost. Let’s wait and see if there will be other improvement and developments in the upcoming days.