After a long trail of leaks the Pixel 3 and 3 XL are finally out. These are by far arguably the most leaked phones in tech history. Even at last minute straight into the launch event, no surprise was revealed whatsoever. What a boring launch event, I must say. The entire tech community knew every detail about these phones more so judging by the fact that an entire Pixel 3 XL was unboxed in a high quality YouTube video about two months ago and many of these units were being sold on black market to random reviewers since then. Everything about the devices was out there and Google evidently deliberately let the leaks play hopefully (for them), in their favor.
The Pixel 3 and 3 XL offer no huge difference in design in comparison with the previous Pixel phones. However, the new phones are housed in a glass body sandwiched by illuminum rails on the side. Like previous Pixel phones, the sides are squeezable to launch Google Assistant and the phones have a colored power button.
On the front the regular Pixel has relatively large bezels on top and bottom with a 5.1 inch 2160 by 1080 OLED flexible display.
The Pixel 3 XL on the other hand probably has the most disliked design feature which is the large notch that has caused negative reviews all throw the leaks to the point that not a hint about the Pixel 3 XL design approach was mentioned during the launch. In fact, if you watched the event, you’d know all the presenters mentioned was ‘Pixel 3’ as a collective name for both of the two phones. With that said, the Pixel 3 XL features a larger 6.3 inch 2960 by 1440 flexible OLED display with a notch and a chin.
Both phones have front facing dual stereo speakers and two 8 mega-pixel front facing cameras, one with f/1.8 aperture, with a wide 28mm sensor and another f/2.2 ultrawide 19mm sensor. This might explain why the Pixel 3XL has a large notch.
On the back both phones feature a single 12 mega-pixel camera with f/1.8 aperture with Optical Image Stabilization. A fingerprint scanner is also located in the right spot in the upper middle part of the phone.
Talking a bit more about the cameras, these are probably the biggest selling point of the Pixel phones. Google has made the best cameras in a phone with the previous Pixel phones and these new phones should be no exception. With high emphasis on AI and machine learning, Google is able to provide the best experience with cameras on phones with these devices. The front facing cameras provide some of the richest selfies and now the second ultra-wide sensor is able to fit more content in a single shot.
There is tons of camera features that made key points during the launch event about the phone cameras as well for example, Top Shot: A feature that is able to take multiple shots at the tap of the shutter button and using AI it is able to suggest a better one, say if when the photo was taken when someone’s eyes were closed.
Night Sight is another feature that is able to improve the quality and vividness of images taken at night or during low-light conditions.
Super Res Zoom, another feature also provides the best high resolution image when the user chooses to zoom onto a subject. This is aimed to provide the best looking photo after zooming in.
Portrait Mode is also improved. The user able to adjust how blurry the background is after taking the photo and also change the background to monochrome to focus more on the subject.
Google Lens is also now built inside the camera view finder to enable the camera identify details written or displayed on the subject like emails, phone numbers, address and will pop-up a link within the camera to access that information. It is also able to identify an object and recommend a store right within the camera where you can purchase something exact or similar.
With AI, the phones are also able to accept phone calls on the user’s request, listen on to the caller and using the assistant’s voice respond accordingly and display a live transcription of the call on screen. The user can then decide to accept the call or mark it as spam to block future calls from that number. Definitely comes in handy to get rid of telemarketers.
About internal specifications, both the Pixel 3 and 3 XL are without a doubt high-end flagship phones with some of the best internals. Both devices are powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, backed by 4GB RAM and either 64GB or 128GB of built-in internal storage. Sadly, the phones don’t come with expandable storage.
The Pixel 3 comes with a 2915mAh battery while the Pixel 3 XL comes with a 3430mAh battery. They both support wireless charging.
Both phones are IP68 certified water and dust resistant. They both luck a headphone jack but users can use a provided Type-C to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter. They have active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic.
The phones come in three colors namely Clearly White, Just Black and Not Pink. The regular Pixel 3 starts at 799 US Dollars while the Pixel 3 XL starts at 899 US Dollars. Would you be willing to get one of these? You can let us know below. Also, if you missed the launch event, be sure to watch it below.
