 So, do you think Google is actually serious about this whole make hardware to compete directly with Apple thing? What about the fact that they just hired 2000 engineers from HTC to make phones? And what about the fact that they're releasing two phones today? And what about the fact that these phones have actually really bold design and they may already have incredibly good cameras and they feel more like Google phones than they do Android phones? You see, this is the Pixel 2 and this is the Pixel 2 XL and looking at these two phones, I'll tell you what, Google is very serious about making hardware. So, as I already said, there's two models. The Pixel 2 has a 5-inch screen. It's got these squared off corners and these giant bezels on the top and the bottom. While the Pixel 2 XL has a much larger 6-inch screen, the corners of the screen are rounded and, you know, it still has some bezels on the top and the bottom. Now, before we get too far into it, I want to talk about the aesthetics of these phones. Google decided to keep the glass shade and while you might not like it, it's definitely identifiable as a Pixel. And there are lots of little design touches here that are just kind of fun. I mean, look at these neon power buttons and the glass shade on this white one, it's black, so it's got this whole Stormtrooper vibe. But look, I'm just going to say it, these phones are not as flashy as the Galaxy S8 or even the iPhone X. For example, the screens aren't truly edge to edge. They've got those big bezels that I mentioned. But they're here for a reason. It's because they're front-facing stereo speakers inside there. Overall, I think it's fair to say that these phones are more utilitarian or pragmatic than other flagship smartphones. If I had to pick a single word to describe the design, I'd actually go with Scandinavian. Like a piece of Ikea furniture or a Playmobil toy or a Volvo or Lego. It's more whimsical than it is glitzy and it's designed to work. Both phones are available for pre-order right away and they're going to be shipping on October 19th. The smaller Pixel 2 comes in three colors, blue, black and white. It starts at $649 for 64 gigs of storage. The Pixel 2 XL comes in just black and white and it's $849. You can get 128 gig versions of either one for $100 more. Google is partnering with Verizon again, but you'll also be able to get them unlocked directly from Google. The company has told me that it's going to do its best to make enough of them. And it has finally upgraded its online store so that you can pre-order even if the thing is out of stock to hold your place in line. Let's talk cameras. Now, it's way, way too early for me to truly judge the quality of these cameras. But I have been using them for a little bit with pre-production software and I'm already impressed. The color accuracy, the detail and the texture all seem really good, even on the selfie camera. Oh, and I should point out that both cameras on both sides on both phones are identical. You get the same camera whichever phone you choose. On the back is a 12 megapixel sensor with just the barest of camera bumps. It's got an f1.8 lens and optical image stabilization. It also has these things that are called dual pixels and they're actually the key to what Google has done to improve this camera. Basically, dual pixels means that every pixel on the camera sensor is actually two pixels. That helps with focus, but it also means that there's just a lot more information for the camera processor to work with. And Google loves information. The cameras are fast and they take really good photos, but Google can use all of that information to do some crazy new stuff. So it can do portrait mode on both the front and the rear sensors using its algorithms to nicely cut around hair and blur in the background. But those dual pixels also let it do portrait mode with any object. Instead of two lenses that are half an inch apart like you get on an iPhone, it's using data from two pixels that are less than a micron apart. The pixels also have some other camera tricks. There's something that mimics Apple's live photos so you can record a tiny three second movie with every single shot you take. But Google analyzes the clip and tries to match the beginning and the end to make a better loop and also to cut out blurry movement. It's also going to build augmented reality stickers directly into the camera app, so if you really want that selfie with a Demi-Gorgon from Stranger Things, you can go to town. And so far the features here really do seem to work. Google has made all these camera improvements by adding a ton of machine learning to the system. And when you're recording a video, its algorithms do the standard electronic image stabilization, but they've turned on the optical image stabilizer because it's able to track its motion in real time too and combine all that information together in real time. It's a very smart camera. Now again, this is not a final verdict. We need to do the review. But last year's Pixel had the best camera you could get on a smartphone, and this year's Pixel, I don't know, I think it has a chance of keeping the crown. Let's talk about the rest of the specs on these things. They both have Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processors paired to 4 gigs of RAM. They use USB-C for charging and no, they don't have headphone jacks, but a dongle comes in the box. There are, however, front-facing speakers on both models that don't just get loud, but do so without distorting the sound all to hell. They have Bluetooth 5.0 and support a bunch of new Bluetooth codecs, and they also do auto pairing with certain headphones just like Apple's AirPods do. The phones are made out of aluminum and Gorilla Glass 5, and unfortunately that means they don't support wireless charging, but they do support fast charging. Google says they're IP67 resistant, which means that they're splash proof, but they're not really fully waterproof. Really, the only notable difference between these two phones are the screens. The Pixel 2 has a 1920x1080 screen, and the 2 XL is 2880x1440, which is an 18x9 tall aspect ratio. Google says that it's using the sRGB color space if you care about that, and it's also really proud of this 100,000 to 1 contrast ratio it has for super deep blacks. We can't say if they're going to actually be any better than what you'll get on a Samsung or an iPhone X, but they do look pretty good to me. And you know what, this is as good a place as any to mention that Google is also releasing a new version of its Daydream View VR headset that works with these phones. They have new lenses that are sharper and give a wider field of view, they've been redesigned to let in less ambient light, and there's a top strap too if you're going to be wearing them for a long time. There's even a new heat sink on the flap that draws heat away from the phone. That's all I'm going to say about them though, because I have a family member that works for a competitor, but expect a full review from Addy Robertson very soon. Google's also doing a lot of Google things on the Pixel 2, mainly in the software. It's added a new gimmick that lets you quickly launch the Google Assistant by squeezing the phone. It takes some getting used to. The trick is to squeeze it really fast like you're hitting a button, not grip it super hard like you're trying to crush it. I don't know, I think it's fine. The Pixel 2 is also getting first access to Google Lens. It's a button inside the Photos app and inside the Google Assistant that can identify real world objects with the camera and lets you search the web for them. So to start, Google is only promising that it's going to be able to identify a limited set of objects. Stuff like books and movie posters and landmarks. It definitely worked on a book when I tried it. But you can also point it at random stuff too if you want, and it might have a shot at working. I pointed it at my watch and it recognized that it was a watch, but it couldn't tell what kind of watch it was. And finally, as it does with every single release, Google is messing around with the home screen and adding some more custom features. This time, the button to search Google has been integrated at the bottom on the app dock. And then up top, there's a new at-a-glance widget that will show your next appointment. There are now better live wallpapers that are basically like little movie clips on your home screen. And last but not least, Google has updated the camera software. It integrates a little bit better with Google Photos now. Are these the world's most powerful phones? Nah. They don't have the world's most powerful processor and they definitely don't have the world's most amazing screen. Where Apple and Samsung can hit you in the face with hardware advances, Google has to play a more subtle game. Like I said before, where these other companies are flashy, Google is being pragmatic. But it is trying to take advantage of the strengths that Google does have. The assistant, the home screen, the camera, all the machine learning, all of it, is there so that Google's algorithms can figure stuff out for you automatically. And that's always been Google's promise. Let the AI make things better, not just the hardware. We'll find out if Google is right about all that on October 19th when they go on sale.