3 is a magic number...
We take a look at a trio of new gadgets from Google – including the latest Pixel phone
THE rash of pre-Christmas announcements in the tech world show no signs of slowing, and this week it was Google’s turn to get in on the act. There were few surprises in what the company had to offer, the jewel in the crown being the third version of its Pixel phone.
But there was more to it than that – the Pixel Slate, a very nice-looking tablet, took its bow, as did the Google Home Hub, which is a screen that sits in your home, via which you can interact with the Google Assistant to get info and control your smart home.
Here are the details of what each new device has to offer.
PIXEL 3
THE Pixel is a great Android phone, in my view perhaps even the best.
Because other Android phonemakers (like Samsung or Sony) add their own software on top of the very capable Android base, Google’s phone seems like an oasis of simplicity. You get Android, and nothing but Android.
Given Google’s sharpening of design skills over the past few years that’s a real relief, because these days Android looks, feels, and works spectacularly well.
Hardware-wise the Pixel 3 is a nice upgrade on the phone that went before it, featuring a lovelylooking OLED screen, a nippy processor, and a large-capacity battery which Google says will give you up to seven hours on the go with just a 15-minute charge.
Fully charged, it’ll go all day (depending on what you do with it, of course).
Camera stats are pretty standard – 12MP on the back and 8MP on the front. Although the 3 does offer two lenses on the front – one of which is a wide-angled lens, so you can capture more people in a special selfie-mode.
It will, of course capture 4K video, and new HDR+ mode for stills is on by default – when capturing photos, the 3 will merge up to eight images to get the best possible exposure, sharpness, and colour across the whole photo.
Software-wise there are a few additions, and some of them look quite useful.
First up there’s the Top Shot, a feature that captures a second or so of footage, analyses your photo to see if eyes are closed, anything is blurred, or if everyone is smiling, and try to select the best single frame out of the moment captured.
There’s also a Photo
Booth setting, which, when switched on, will snap away when it detects a smile or a funny face, so you don’t even have to press the shutter.
There is a host of other improvements, all of which add up to quite a significant upgrade, although it’s solid rather than spectacular.
You can also get a new charging stand for the 3, which makes it a bit more useful as a bedside companion – it could even replace your clock radio...
Pixel 3 with a 5.5ins screen costs from £739, while the 3 XL with a 6.3ins display starts at £869. The Pixel Stand costs £69.
The Pixel 3 can be pre-ordered today, for delivery next month.
GOOGLE HOME HUB
LAST week Facebook revealed its Portal, a video chat screen and camera combo that it thinks we’ll all want in our homes.
Google, it seems to me, is much smarter with its Home Hub, which has no camera on it at all.
It does have a mic, though (it’d be pretty useless without it), so you can use your voice to get info displayed on the screen of the Home Hub, and prompt the Google Assistant to do all the things it can do.
You can watch video on it (obviously optimised for YouTube), get hands-free help in the kitchen, see slideshows of your Google Photos, and access lots of data from your Google account – like your calendar.
It’s a nice-looking piece of kit that will become a useful companion for
your Home speakers and Pixel phone…
The Google Home Hub costs £139. It can be pre-ordered now for delivery before the end of October.
PIXEL SLATE
INEVITABLY, Google has expanded its devices to include a tablet – and it’s calling it the Pixel Slate.
Surprisingly, it does not run Android, but a specially adapted version of Google’s Chrome OS, which you can find on its Pixelbook laptops.
It’s fast, though, and offers access to a whole host of great apps – including Google’s own G-Suite, of course – via the Google Play store.
The screen is top class with a resolution of 293PPI – a cut above even the iPad Pro, so it should be great for watching video.
There are couple of 8MP cameras on the front and back, too, and Google is boasting of a 12-hour battery-life.
There are also a couple of great accessories for the Slate – a stylus for drawing on screen, and a clip-on keyboard case, which should make typing a little less tiresome than when done via an on-screen keyboard.
The Pixel Slate, with 12.3in display, starts at £549 for a version with 32GB of storage and an Intel Celeron processor, and goes up to £1,559 for a version with 256GB of storage and an Inter Core i7 processor.
The Slate Keyboard will cost £189. No release date is set, but you can sign up to be notified on the Google Store.
The Pixelbook Pen costs £99, and is available now.