Pixel is designed and made by Google (HTC assembled it) so what is Google’s first smartphone hardware foray like under the skin?
According to iFixit’s teardown the Pixel/XL it is reminiscent of some Nexus heritage, but it can be truly classed as a Google design – not an HTC mashup. It says this phone reflects Google’s R&D and it can only improve in future runs.
iFixit says like its name it tries not to break the phone – its aim is to disassemble and reassemble a working phone. Unfortunately, it did break the AMOLED screen as it separated from the digitiser glass - super-thin components and no frame or bezel behind the display make it extra sketchy—but not impossible—to get into this device. It earns a 6 out of 10 repair rating.
All in all, the tech inside is in keeping with the tech, quality and componentry of a flagship class device – as has been said on many occasions it is hard to innovate within the constraints of a glass slab.
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iFixit’s teardown is always a good read – if you are techy – so here is a brief overview.
- It has more than a little fruity design inspiration e.g. it looks like an iPhone, but that is what the market wants.
- No home button or hard keys on the bottom bezel. The home/fingerprint scanner is on the back like the LG G4/G5, and the soft keys occupy the bottom few millimetres of the screen. It is a matter of preference but the Samsung S7 has hard keys on the bezel, and that gives a little more usable screen space.
- Samsung makes the AMOLED display
- Samsung makes the 4GB, LPDDR4 RAM and the 32GB UFS 2.0 storage
- Qualcomm makes the Snapdragon 821 and support chips – it is Qualcomm reference design
- Some modularity allows for small components to be replaced
- The 12.3MP camera has electronic image stabilisation – lacking the more traditional optical image stabilisation (no comment on how this affects image quality)
iTWire is currently reviewing the Pixel XL and is quietly impressed.
Initial impressions are that it is very “Applesque” in appearance. Users now fall into two camps – Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android most will remain in their camp of choice, so comparisons are based on tech specs alone.
- Great AMOLED 4K screen – what a flagship should have – ahead of iPhone 7 Plus
- Great camera in both daylight and low light – ahead of the iPhone 7 Plus
- Average battery offering – like the iPhone 7 Plus it needs a daily charge but uses Qualcomm Fast Charge, so it beats iPhone there. Both have excellent power management, but the iPhone 7 Plus is just ahead on longevity
- No IPX rating – iPhone 7 Plus has
- No microSD card – iPhone 7 Plus has
- 3.5mm headphone jack - iPhone 7 Plus does not
Down the track, I would be more interested in an objective comparison with the Samsung S7 Edge and the new LG V20.