Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL Specifications and Prices Roundup

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October 5, 2017

Screen Capture from Google

Google launched the new Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL smartphones on 4 October as expected. We already knew quite a lot about how the new phones will look like, based on various rumors in the Internet. But now, Google has released more in-depth information, such as specifications, prices and features.

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There are two Pixel phone models. The first one is the Pixel 2 with a 5-inch display, while the other Pixel 2 XL with a larger 6-inch display. Both of them have similar internal specifications, except for little design differences and the screens.

Hardware Specifications

Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are both equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC, pairing with 4GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 64/128 GB of storage. They have battery capacities of 2700 mAh and 3520 mAh respectively, and support fast charging (15 minutes of charge for 7 hours of use). Only one USB-C port is available on the phones, no 3.5 mm headphone jack. But dual front-facing stereo speakers are onboard. Both phones are IP67 rated water and dust resistant.

Also, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL have a single 12.2-megapixel rear camera system and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera. The rear camera has a f/1.8 aperture and a pixel size of 1.4 μm. It has optical image stabilization (OIS) and electronic image stabilization (EIS) at the same time for better image quality in low light and videos. It can capture 1080p videos up to 120 fps, 720p videos up to 240 fps, and 4K videos at 30 fps.

The display is where the two models differentiate. For the smaller Pixel 2, it has a 5.0-inch 1920×1080 FHD AMOLED display at 16:9 ratio, with a pixel density of 441 ppi. It has a massive 100000:1 contrast ratio and can cover up to 95% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. It gets slightly slimmer side bezels than the original Pixel, but still have the large top and bottom bezels.

The Pixel 2 XL’s larger 6.0-inch 2880×1440 QHD+ pOLED display is at 18:9 aspect ratio, because of the taller phone body and slimmer bezels around all sides. It has a pixel density of 538 ppi. The contrast ratio is the same 100000:1, but it can cover the full 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

Features

Screen Capture from Google

The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL will be running on Android 8.0 Oreo, instead of the rumored 8.1. Google promises to provide at least 3 years of OS and security updates, which is up to year 2020 (Android P, 2018/Android Q, 2019/Android R, 2020).

Google uses their advantages in software development and machine learning technologies to improve the Pixel 2 phones’ cameras. You can take portrait/bokeh photos using either the front or the rear cameras. Normally, only phones with dual camera system are able to do that. The new camera uses what Google calls “dual-pixel sensor”, that each pixel can record data in left/right positions. This allows the camera to capture depth information, creating the bokeh effect. Better AR support, Google Lens (providing search results of the objects in photos), and more are offered by the Pixel 2/2 XL.

The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL phones also feature the squeezable edges like the HTC U11. It is used to call up the Google Assistant. It is not clear that if we can reconfigure the actions in settings.

More details about the Pixel 2/2 XL at Google.

Prices and Pre-order

The Pixel 2 is priced at $649 USD and $749 USD for 64GB and 128GB storage option respectively (£629/£729 in UK). It comes with three different colors, Just Black, Clearly White and Kinda Blue. The Pixel 2 XL costs $849 USD for the 64GB version and $949 USD for the 128GB version (£799/£899 in UK). It has two color options, Just Black and Black & White.

Both phones will be available in US, UK, Canada, Germany, Australia and India for pre-order, and later to Spain and Singapore. They can be pre-ordered now on respective Google Stores, and will start shipping out starting from 17 October. In specific countries (US, UK, Canada, Germany and Australia), you would get a free Google Home Mini with every Pixel 2 purchase for a limited time.

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Two Possible Reasons Why Apple Removes Touch ID on The iPhone X, I Think

By

Anson

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October 3, 2017

Apple iPhone X

Just when Apple announced their top-of-the-line flagship device, the iPhone X, the rumor of Apple removing the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the phone was finally confirmed. The new facial recognition method, Face ID, is replacing the use of Touch ID. No one can yet confirm how well Face ID will perform in real life. Touch ID has become one of the habits for iPhone/iPad users to unlock their devices and mobile payments, since its first debut on iPhone 5S in 2013. Why Apple would remove it on the latest smartphone?

Based on the information and rumors on the Internet, I come up with two possible reasons why Apple would do that.

Technical Difficulties

According to very early rumors, Apple was going to embed the Touch ID fingerprint sensor underneath the display to create a seamless appearance. Using a optical sensor instead of the old capacitive one allow the phone to detect fingerprint through the screen, after integrating tiny cutouts on the OLED panel.

Samsung also rumored to try embedding the sensor on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8, but that was not successful. The company faced inconsistent brightness issues for the display. The sensor cutout caused light bleeding in specific areas. Analysts believed that Apple was dealing with similar problems when trying to implement the Touch ID sensor. The lack of Touch ID is still better than a poorly lit/performed display. Therefore, there is no way Apple would use a problematic solution on the iPhone X.

Manufacturing Yield Rates

Before the actual Apple’s launch event, we had heard rumors about the iPhone X not getting into production at expected time period, due to production problems of the OLED display panel and the TrueDepth camera system. The yield rates of the components are extremely low, even after release. Normally, Apple would have to start producing new iPhones two or more months in advance (before launch date), in order to meet the large demand (~ 10 million units) around the globe.

If Apple adds Touch ID on the iPhone X at the very last moment (even put it on the power button), it is inevitable Apple would need to modify both the internals, the OLED panel and front glass. This will definitely worsen all the existing production issues. Component manufacturers will not have enough time to improve the already low yield rates. The release date will be further postponed, affecting the purchasing motivation of customers.

Qualcomm successfully demoed the embedded fingerprint sensor with Vivo in June 2017. Although the recognition speed is not as quick as current offerings, it is still a breakthrough to see a working embedded sensor in an actual phone. Samsung is rumored to debut its embedded sensor on the Galaxy Note 9.

Related: Apple’s A11 Bionic chip beats every Android phones.

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Apple’s iPhones Outperform Any Android Phones, Said by Geekbench’s Founder

By

Anson

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October 2, 2017

Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone X A11 Bionic chip

Screen Capture from Apple

In September, Apple released their latest generation flagship smartphones, the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X. Both of them feature the new A11 Bionic SoC. The CPU and GPU are all designed by Apple themselves, instead of licensing other manufacturers’ designs. Everyone starts running various benchmarks on their new iPhones, and finds out the results are astonishing. Geekbench/Primate Labs‘s founder, John Poole, is also impressed by iPhones’ big improvement in raw performance.

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In an interview from Tom’s Guide, John Poole questioned the lack of improvement for most Android flagship devices, in terms of CPU performance. The performance is stagnated.

At this time, most Android high-end phones are using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC, such as the Samsung Galaxy S8, LG V30, and OnePlus 5. They get an approximate single-core score of 1950 and multi-core score of 6700.

When comparing with Apple’s last year chip, the A10 Fusion on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, the 835 is 44.3% behind the A10 in single-core score, and 12.6% higher in multi-core score. However, the 835 has a 8-core CPU, while the A10 only has 4 cores. The margins become even larger after the launch of the A11 Bionic SoC. The A11 beats every competition, having 4200 and 10400 in single-core and multi-core score respectively. This is about 115% and 55.5% better than the 835 in single-core and multi-core performance.

The A10 Fusion already matches the performance of the Intel Core m3 processors on the 12-inch Macbook. More impressive is the A11 Bionic even beats the Intel Core i5 on the 13-inch Macbook Pro in Geekbench.

From John Poole:

At this point, you’ve got desktop-class performance in a handset… I wouldn’t have thought to use my first-generation iPhone to edit video. I would’ve thought you were crazy.

John Poole thought Android phones are nowhere near what Apple is currently offering with the A11 SoC. He clarified that the scores between the A11 and Core i5 are comparable, but different form factors, heat dissipation and sustainability of performance are also important areas to consider. The massive increase in computing power will benefit the development of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and machine learning.

Source from Tom’s Guide.

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USB 3.2 Is Officially Announced, Up to 2 GBps

By

Anson

-

September 30, 2017

USB 3.2 Standard

There are only small updates from the most widely used input/output port in the world, USB (Universal Serial Bus), since the announcement of USB Type-C connector in 2014. Recently (22 September), the specifications of the new USB 3.2 standard are finally released with incremental performance improvements.

USB 3.0 Promoter Group Chairman, Brad Saunders:

The USB 3.2 update delivers the next level of performance.

USB 3.2 standard will be focusing on adopting the USB Type-C connector. USB 3.2 are designed to use multi-lane operation that allows two lanes of 5 Gbps (Gigabit per second) and two lanes of 10 Gbps transfer, through a Type-C cables. The maximum transfer speed of USB 3.2 is doubled to over 2 GBps (Gigabyte per second) on Type-C cables, up from the 5 Gbps of USB 3.1 Gen 1 and 10 Gbps of USB 3.1 Gen 2.

According to USB-IF (USB Implementers Forum), you will need a new supported device or chipset at each end to utilize the advantages of USB 3.2. However, existing certified USB Type-C cables can still be used for the new 3.2 standard.

With an overall higher throughput from USB 3.2, there will be plenty of devices, such as external SSDs and laptops, to implement the new standard. It also help pushing the industry to continuously use USB Type-C as the most universal connector in the world, along with Intel’s Thunderbolt 3.

Source from USB.org.

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Amazon Released 6 New Devices at Once, All Are Alexa-Related

By

Anson

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September 29, 2017

Photo from Amazon

The developments of virtual assistants and smart home appliances sky-rocket in the past few years. Multiple international tech companies have stepped into this market, such as Apple Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. The capabilities of the assistants improve by a large margin, as well as the prices of the compatible gadgets. Today (27 September), Amazon launches six new Alexa-related devices, and at relatively low prices.

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All-new Echo

Photo from Amazon

Amazon has updated the first generation Echo with a new shorter design. It is equipped with a 2.5- inch woofer and a 0.6-inch tweeter speaker system, which is powered by Dolby. Just like before, the new Echo also has far-field 7-microphone array to listen for users’ commands across the room. You can choose up to 6 fabrics or finishes for the 2nd generation Echo, like walnut and oak.

Echo Plus

Photo from Amazon

The Echo Plus has a lot of similarity with its brother, Echo. Both of them can listen to commands with Alexa and have the far-field 7-microphone array. The Echo Plus is slightly taller, with a larger 0.8-inch tweeter. The most important upgrade of the Echo Plus is the ability to act as a smart home appliances’ hub. You can simply ask Alexa to discover new compatible devices in your network and complete the setup. Echo Plus comes with three color options, black, silver, and white.

Echo Spot

Photo from Amazon

The Echo Spot looks like a miniature version of the Echo Show. It is a compact nightstand/alarm like device. A circular 2.5-inch display and a 1.4-inch speaker are equipped, along with a 4-microphone array. You can use the Echo Spot for video calls with the included front-facing camera. You can choose colors between black and white for the Echo Spot.

All-New Fire TV

Photo from Amazon

Amazon also updated their Fire TV to better support higher resolution content. The new Fire TV can now support both 4K Ultra HD at 60 fps, High Dynamic Range (HDR-10) and Dolby Atmos Audio for better color, contrast and sound. The included Alexa remote can be used to search online content and control playbacks by voice.

Echo Connect

Photo from Amazon

To use the Echo Connect, you will need a compatible Echo device and a home phone. The Echo Connect let your Echo device to receive the home phone’s calls. You can use your voice to make and receive any calls.

Echo Buttons

Photo from Amazon

It is an Alexa gadget, that allows you to play games with the Echo devices. The button can light up and respond after someone press it.

The new Echo and Echo Plus will be released on 31 October or 8 November; The Echo Spot will be on 19 December; The Echo Connect will be on 13 December; The Fire TV will on 25 October. All of the above devices can be pre-ordered now on Amazon. No expected pre-order and release date for the Echo Buttons.

After this huge products launch, there are now eight different Echo devices and a few Alexa compatible devices. Amazon has invested a lot of work into developing their virtual assistant and smart home appliances.

Source from Amazon.

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5 AR Applications And Games You Should Try on iOS 11 Devices

By

Anson

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September 28, 2017

Apple first introduced its new application framework for augmented reality (AR) at WWDC 2017 in June, called ARKit. It allows developers to implement better AR experience for iPhone and iPad. Along with the official release of iOS 11, AR features are added to or supported by a lot more applications and games. You should definitely try some of them.

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What is Augmented Reality?

Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) are some of the fastest emerging technologies in the past few years. VR is a completely computer-generated environment, while AR and MR are the overlays of computer vision on top of the real world environment. Supported devices will display different information, such as GPS location and graphics, to the surroundings through applications.

We have found five ARKit compatible applications for you to try.

IKEA Place

Photo from Apple

This application is developed by the famous furniture manufacturer, IKEA. It allows you to visualize how a specific piece of furniture will look in your place. You can put down over 2,000 pieces of 3D-modelled furniture, rotate them, zoom into them and see whether they fit your style perfectly.

AR Runner

Photo from Apple

Instead of you controlling a virtual character to run around in a game, you are the one who need to run through various checkpoints and compete with other players. AR Runner shows you paths and locations in real world, tracks your movement using sensors and GPS information. It includes three different game modes and multiple sizes of environment to choose.

TapMeasure

Photo from Apple

This is a utility application that uses AR to map the surrounding environment. It can create a fairly accurate 3D model of your room/space in a matter of seconds. You only need to point the iPhone or iPad’s camera around the area, until it finishes mapping. No special equipment or accessory needed. A easy-to-use measuring tool and leveling tool are also available.

Stack AR

Photo from Apple

If you have tried the non-AR version of Stack, you will probably be very familiar with this game. It is a game that players stack up blocks as high as possible. With Stack AR, you can stack blocks on everywhere, such as on tables and floors.

AR Dragon

Photo from Apple

Have you ever hatch your own dragon? Similar to other virtual pet simulator game, you need to take care of a dragon. You will need to grow the dragon by feeding it food and playing with it. With AR support, the dragon can move around the real world freely. It looks like you are having a real pet dragon at home.

Please note that ARKit can only run on iOS 11 devices with Apple’s A9, A10 and A11 processors. This means iPhone SE, iPhone 6s or newer are supported. iPhone 6 or older, and iPod Touch are not supported. All iPad Pro models, iPad 2017 can run ARKit compatible applications, while iPad Mini cannot.

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We Are Implementing A New Testing Standard for Reviews

By

Anson

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September 27, 2017

In Unboxing Treatment, product review is one of the most important parts, which we aim to provide you constructive and valuable content. We always hope the reviews give you the honest user experience, that will help you choose between different products. Therefore, we are now introducing a new testing standard/system for better understanding and easier comparison.

Scores

All hardware product reviews will now have three scores – Unboxing Experience/Package Content, Performance and Value. Each of them will reflect the actual experience when using the products in real life.

Review Badges

Based on the scores, badges will be given to the products, indicating whether we recommend them. A Must-Have Badge is given to product, if the overall score is larger than or equal to 90%. A Recommendation Badge is given to product with score from 70% to 90%, while an Acceptable Badge is given if the score is higher than 50% but lower than 70%.

The details of the testing standard can be found here. Future product reviews will be using the new standard, while old reviews will be updated soon.

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How to Watch Google’s Event Live Stream on 4 October

By

Anson

-

September 25, 2017

Google has already announced their October event last week using a YouTube video. We can expect to see the new generation Pixel 2 smartphones and a rumored Pixelbook (a two-in-one chromebook). Like most of the events from Google, this event will also be live streamed.

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The live stream will start on 4 October at 9:00 AM (Pacific Time). It is incredibly simple to watch Google’s live stream. Google has already set up a YouTube page specifically for the event.

There is no specific hardware requirement like Apple’s event, because Google is using YouTube to stream the event. You will need a computer, a laptop, a tablet, a smartphone or a smart TV, that have stable Internet connection and a browser/application to visit YouTube. It will work with any brands or models of devices. Simply type in this link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YGoxbeSzLc) to your browser’s address bar, or search “October 4th – Google Event” in YouTube’s webpage/application.

As long as you have access to YouTube, you will be able to watch Google’s event live stream. At the YouTube page, you can set a reminder for the event, so that you will not miss it. Also, if you do not want to type the YouTube link and search for the live stream, you can still watch the embedded YouTube stream in this post. You can bookmark this page, and watch the live stream at here on 4 October.

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Hardware Specifications

Features

Prices and Pre-order

Technical Difficulties

Manufacturing Yield Rates

What is Augmented Reality?

Scores

Review Badges

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