Google Announces Its Own Pixel Phones
Google finally enters the phone hardware business.
Google has announced the new Pixel family of smartphones powered by the Linux-based Android operating system. Previously Google partnered with hardware vendors like HTC, LG, and Samsung to sell the Nexus range of devices. With Pixel, Google will have total control over the design and hardware components of their smartphones. Google already sells Pixel Chromebooks and the Pixel Android tablet.
There are two models of Pixel phones: The Pixel showcases a 5-inch display and the Pixel XL features a 5.5-inch display.
Both Pixel phones have identical hardware, except for display size and battery capacity. The Pixel XL showcases a 5.5-inch AMOLED QHD (2560x1440) 534ppi display, whereas the Pixel features a 5.0-inch AMOLED Full HD (1920x1080) 441ppi display. The Pixel XL comes with a 3,450mAh battery, and the Pixel comes with a 2,770mAh battery.
Both Pixel phones are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821, 2.15GHz + 1.6GHz, 64-bit quad-core processor. The Pixel XL and Pixel come with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM. Both models are available in 32GB and 128GB capacities. The Pixels will be running Android 7.1 Nougat.
Google claims that the Pixel phones have the best smartphone camera. In a blog post Google said, “Pixel has a 12.3MP camera, featuring an f/2.0 aperture and big 1.55 micron pixels to capture lots and lots of light.”
One of the most interesting features of the Pixel phones is that they include the built-in Google Assistant that allows for natural conversations with Google to find answers, explore search results, and perform a large array of tasks.
The Pixel and Pixel XL are available now on pre-order.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.