Google Pixel goes head to head with Apple

Tech Tools: Google could ignite high-end smartphone wars with promise to beat storage woes

Google’s new own-built smartphone, Pixel in “quite black” and “very silver”, which the tech giant says has been built with artificial intelligence at its centre. Photograph: Press Association
Google’s new own-built smartphone, Pixel in “quite black” and “very silver”, which the tech giant says has been built with artificial intelligence at its centre. Photograph: Press Association

Say hello to Google’s latest phone, the Pixel. The 5-inch screen smartphone shares the same name as the Chromebook and tablet the company has produced in recent years and, if it lives up to its promise, it could be a very nice addition to the Android line-up.

The Pixel isn't aimed at the budget end of the market; this is trying for the same market as the iPhone 7 and the Samsung Galaxy S7. It's a sleek device, with a metal and glass casing, and it comes with Google Assistant built in so you let your phone take charge of every aspect of your life as it learns more about you. The camera setup is fairly standard: 12.3 megapixel on the rear, 8 megapixel on the front. It also has the standard features we've come to expect, such as a fingerprint reader.

Google has one important card up its sleeve though: it will give you unlimited storage for all your photos and videos at original resolution – not optimised, like it currently offers – so it will mean an end to the “low storage space” woes of other handsets.