Google has today officially launched the new flagship Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G. There’s not much that will surprise you about the new phones, considering almost everything about them had been leaked beforehand. However, we now have official pricing, confirmations on the specifications, and availability information for the new Google phones.
Pixel 5
Starting off with the flagship (of sorts), the Pixel 5 is almost exactly what we expected it to be. It comes with a fresh new, design with a punch hole camera up front for selfies. There’s a 6-inch 2340×1080 pixel display with 90Hz refresh rate and finally, the Pixel has a full-screen design with no forehead or chin.
Under the hood, the Pixel 5 is running on the Snapdragon 765G processor, which means it isn’t really trying to compete against flagship offerings from other Android OEMs, or the iPhones of the world. However, it also means that Google is able to price it a lot better than Pixel phones in the past. Along with the processor, which by the way has the Qualcomm X52 modem for 5G connectivity, you get 8GB RAM, and IPX8 water resistance. There’s 128GB storage on board, and support for 18W fast charging to juice up the 4,080mAh battery.
The phone also features wireless charging and reverse wireless charging, and it supports both sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G networks.
Obviously, it wouldn’t be a Pixel launch without camera stuff, and the Pixel 5 finally has an ultra-wide angle lens this time around. What’s more, the company has added Night Sight to portrait mode, which means you can take good looking portrait shots even in low light.
In terms of camera hardware, the Pixel 5 comes with a 12.2MP primary rear camera with OIS and EIS alongside the new 16MP ultra-wide lens. On the front, you get an 8MP selfie shooter.
There’s also a new Portrait Light feature here which lets you add-in lighting to your subject in a portrait photo. If this sound similar to what iPhones have been doing for a while, it’s not. This feature lets you drop lighting from wherever you like, so you get to decide how the portrait looks. What’s more, Google says you can use it directly from the Google Photos app, and it will work with older portrait photos as well!
The new Pixel 5 is priced at $699 and will be available in the US from October 15. Preorders are open now, so you can book your Pixel 5 if you like.
Pixel 4a 5G
The company also launched the 5G version of the Pixel 4a today. Not only does the new phone offer 5G, it also changes a few hardware specs as compared to its older, and lower priced sibling.
The Pixel 4a 5G comes with a larger 6.2-inch 2340x1080p OLED display, and you get the Snapdragon 765G under the hood as compared to the Snapdragon 730G in the Pixel 4a.
Meanwhile, you get the same 6GB RAM + 128GB storage on the Pixel 4a 5G, but there’s a larger 3,885mAh battery on board. Notably, unlike the Pixel 5, the Pixel 4a 5G doesn’t support wireless charging, reverse wireless charging, or an IP rating for that matter.
The Pixel 4a 5G is priced at $499 and will go on sale in Japan from October 15.
