I’m behind the curve here, as the phones were released at a “Made By Google” event last week.

Pixel was the name of choice with Google presenting a new high-end laptop (Pixelbook) and some eye-wateringly expensive in-ear headphones, the Pixel Buds, as well as the two new Android phones (Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL).

You can see the non-smartphone items on our Gadget Master blog.

See:
Gadget Watch: Google hardware takes centre stage, with Pixel books, phones and buds…

Pixel 2 flagships

Think of the new phones as the latest Nexus models but with the difference that they are made by Google instead of a third-party partner.

There are two sizes (5- and 6-inch, for the 2 and 2 XL respectively) and four colours (Just Black, Clearly White, Kinda Blue and Black & White). The Pixel 2 has an AMOLED 16:9 display (1920 x 1080) and the 6-inch Pixel 2 XL has a pOLED 18:9 display (2880 x 1440).

They run Android 8.0 Oreo.

In terms of spec, there is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (64-bit Octa-Core) CPU and a Qualcomm Adreno 540 GPU, USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 ports, a 2700 mAh battery for the Pixel 2 and a 3520 mAh battery for the Pixel XL. For memory, 4GB of LPDDR4x RAM, with internal storage options of 64GB and 128GB.

In terms of wireless comms, there is support for Bluetooth 5.0 + LE, NFC, eSIM and Wi-Fi 2.4G + 5GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2×2 MIMO

The sensors onboard are, in Google’s words:

• Active Edge
• Proximity / Ambient light sensor
• Accelerometer / Gyrometer
• Magnetometer
• Barometer
• Hall effect sensor
• Android Sensor Hub
• Advanced x-axis haptics for sharper/defined response
• Pixel Imprint: Back-mounted fingerprint sensor for fast unlocking

For location information, there is – says Google – support for GPS, GLONASS BeiDou and Galileo.

Finally, For the rear 12.2 mega-pixel camera, there is “dual-pixel” autofocus and f/1.8 aperture. For the front, there is a 8MP camera.

Price and availability

The Pixel 2 (5″ screen) will be £629 (64GB) and £729 (128GB) and the Pixel 2 XL (6″ screen) will be priced at £799 (64 GB) and £899 (128GB).

Pixel 2 is available for pre-order now and on sale and in store from 19 October, on Google Store, EE and Carphone Warehouse, says Google.

Pixel 2 XL is also available for pre-order now and on sale and in store from 15 November.

The original Pixel and Pixel XL phones were released in October 2016.