Made By Google: Pixel 3 & Pixel Slate Hands-On By MrMobile [Michael Fisher]

- We designed the world's best smartphone camera, and we've put it inside the world's most helpful smartphone. Any company making such a bombastic claim in 2018 is politely gonna be laughed out of the auditorium. Well, any company, maybe, but one. (lively music) For the third year running, Google is out to set a new standard for smartphone photography with the Pixel 3, a device that, in most other respects is predictably iterative. But before we get to that, I wanna touch on the other big mobile news from today's announcement, the Pixel Slate. This is not just the latest Chromebook from Google, it's the company's opportunity to wipe the slate clean, sorry, when it comes to its tablet strategy.

Instead of just another Android tablet, destined to be dusted by the iPad, the Pixel Slate is a Chrome OS convertible, with an interface that optimizes itself for touch when it's a tablet, and trackpad, when it's a notebook. The conversion is made possible by a keyboard accessory that has a lot of good stuff going for it. Unlimited angle adjustment, using magnets, a soft Alcantara finish, and a backlit keyboard that felt very comfortable, coming from my MacBook Pro 17. On the downside, there was a lot of play in the demo device I tried, when it was closed, and the keyboard carries a $200 premium over the Slate's $600 starting price. Now, to be sure, the six hundo gets you great stuff in the Slate.

In the hand, it's finely-honed balance is more notable that its somewhat generic aluminum casing. Google's engineers told me they put all the critical boards and brains of the Slate in the center, then ringed that center with the batteries, to give it a symmetrical weight profile. And you know, it really does make it more comfortable to hold. Those batteries, by the way, are rated for up to 12 hours of mixed usage, which is about the same as last year's Pixelbook. Also here, dual front-firing speakers, a densely packed 12.3 inch display, a power button moonlighting as a fingerprint sensor, and two cameras, the front one of which has a wide-angle lens, and larger pixels for low-light video calls. Chrome OS lets you run apps windowed or side-by-side, and there are several processor and RAM combinations available, but the more power you want, the more you'll have to shell out.

The Pixel Slate goes on sale later in the year. All right, let's get to the phones. There's almost nothing surprising, here, on the spec sheet, if you've been paying attention to the leaks, which have been numerous. So let me tell you what it's like to spend time with them. Google gave me the choice of the smaller or larger model, when it came to a demo device, and this year, I actually went for the petite Pixel.

I bet you can guess why. That ridiculous face, up top, on the big one. Look, I've gotten used to notches on my phone displays in 2018, but the one on the Pixel 3 XL is a massive bathtub, and for me, just too ugly to ignore. The smaller Pixel 3 has balanced bezels at top and bottom, each punctuated with a front-firing speaker that's 40% louder, and richer, than last year's. It also packs the same combination of standard and wide-angle selfie cameras that its larger sibling does, and I'll share some early samples in a second.

While the Pixel 3 looks a lot like last year's Pixel 2, its narrow form makes one-handed use a dream. And by etching the Gorilla Glass 5 around back, the new Pixel emulates the feel of last year's coated metal, while also allowing for wireless charging. Big round of applause, there, and another one for Android's new ability to display photos or Google Assistant information while the phone is topping itself up. The most interesting thing for me is the camera implementation. While other companies keep adding more cameras to their phones, Google's only done that up front, for the wide-angle.

Around back, the company sticks with the single camera, and lets computation do the legwork, a strategy that's made the Pixel name synonymous with stellar photos for two years running. In the new phone, the AI is used to make digital zoom a little less terrible. It should help combat blinking, and other portrait ruiners, and it promises to make night photography even better than it already is. I'm just sharing a handful of samples with you from my first day, here, since my full review won't be ready for a few days, yet. No conclusions, just early impressions, here.

At a starting price of 799, the cost isn't a surprise, either. The Pixel has never been a cheap phone, but with the last year's display bugs seemingly ironed out, and new features, like IP68 water resistance, joining up with what is hoped to be Google's best camera yet, I'm expecting the Pixel 3, if it delivers on its promises, to be a very strong contender for my second pocket in 2019. You can preorder the Pixel 3 today, and if you don't wanna stick it in a bulky case, budget a few extra bucks to protect your phone with today's sponsor, dbrand. You know their name 'cause a lot of YouTubers say it, they're also the best vinyl skins in the business, and they're made to keep your phone safe, while also sprucing it up, some. Get your dbrand skin for the Pixel 3 at the link in the description below.

And folks, tell me what you wanna learn about the Pixel 3 in my full review. Drop a comment below, follow me on Instagram, for more hot shots straight out of this camera, and be sure you're subscribed to the Mr. Mobile on YouTube, so you don't miss that full review when it lands. Until next time, thanks for watching, and stay mobile, my friends.

Source : MrMobile [Michael Fisher]