Meet the Pixel; a phone by Google. Photo by: Michael Speer

In October of 2016, Google held a tech conference about a few major hardware initiatives for the rest of the year. One of these keynote high points was the release of the first phone designed by Google, the Pixel. With the Pixel out in the wild, and one in my pocket, I’ve been able to put the phone through its paces.

Visually, it is a subtle mix of premium materials and a conventional design. The metal and glass construction feel like standard fare these days with all the metal-clad midrangers out there. You can see the underpinnings of HTC’s flagship phones in the overall design. There are a few interesting features that the Pixel does tout. However, instead of revolutionizing the way smartphones are used, they refine and polish the user experience in an increasingly stagnant smartphone market. If you’re looking for the tech specs, GSM Arena’s got those for you here. The stock Android experience is great. There is nothing else like it on the market. The user interface is slick, intuitive and incredibly responsive with the exclusive Pixel Launcher. There is no bloatware with the latest version of Android out of the box. One of the biggest benefits has been in overall battery and power management. I’ve been able to get a good two days of light to moderate use out of this phone.

Google Pixel’s camera is a force to be reckoned with. Photo by: Michael Speer

The Pixel also boasts an impressive 12 megapixel main camera and respectable 8 megapixel front camera. In my opinion Apple has always had superior cameras on their smartphones with great image processing. Samsung tends to lean a bit too much on color saturation with its photos, and most of other Android manufacturers seem either disinterested or unable to push the camera envelope, with notable exceptions being LG with the V20 and Huawei with the Leica Branded Mate 9 and P9. The Pixel has the highest DxOMark rated camera on the market at a score of 89. That gives this camera an overall quality rating higher than the Canon EOS -1D X Mark 2, a $6,000 professional grade DSLR. The quality of the photos taken with the Pixel is impressive. It has excellent detail with accurate colors, while also providing great low-light performance with minimal digital noise. The Pixel is also capable of recording 4k footage at a respectable 30 frames per second. In the eyes of this humble geek, I believe the Pixel can trade punches with Apple’s camera offerings with ease, despite only having digital image stabilization.

The design of the Pixel is a subtle mixture of glass and aluminum. If this look isn’t your jam, you can get a vinyl skin to change the look and texture of your device. Photo by: Michael Speer

The Google Assistant mirrors the user interface in its smooth performance as a useful artificial intelligence, and is one of the only A.I. on the market that feels natural to interact with. This is due in part to its ability to be contextually aware of your conversation. This allows you to have simple conversations with the Google Assistant, which means getting the information you need with less frustration. This is especially useful given that we’ve grown accustomed to barking orders at these programs hoping they will understand our intentions and make our lives more convenient.

To conclude, I believe the Pixel is a great first step into the smartphone market for Google. Instead of trying to be radically different from its competition, Google has gone for a safer approach, content to take the best from all of its competitors, while maintaining their personal vision on how the Android experience should be. If you’re an Android enthusiast looking for a stock experience, or a dissatisfied iPhone user looking to switch to Android, you cannot find a better phone right now!

Matt Fraser is a technician and assistant manager at Gophermods.