Google's New Flagship Pixel Phone is Finally Here

Google just unveiled its new flagship smartphone, the Google Pixel 5, during its online Launch Night In event. Unlike the four previous Pixel phones that have been chasing the iPhone as a high-end device, the Pixel 5 marks a fundamental shift towards being a more mid-range smartphone with its $699 price. This is most evident in its use of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G processor, rather than the Snapdragon 865 found in other Android phone flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S20 and OnePlus 8. Although it's not the quickest on the market, the Snapdragon 765G should keep the Pixel 5 running at a peppy clip, and it has seen a memory boost with 8GB of RAM. The Qualcomm system on a chip also grants this handset 5G connectivity. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=google-launch-night-in-event&captions=true"] Alongside the more modest CPU, the Pixel 5 sports a 6-inch OLED display with a Full HD+ resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. That's not quite as impressive as the QHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate we've seen on the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra and other premium smartphones, but Google isn't targeting this market. On the camera's front, Google has mercifully dropped the telephoto camera from the Pixel 4 and replaced it with a 16MP Ultrawide camera. Meanwhile, the main camera is only 12.2MP, but you get a slightly more wide-open f1.7 aperture, which will allow might light in and should help with night time and low-light photography. What's more, Google has a few new software-based camera features including a new HDR Plus shooting mode that involves actual bracketed exposures – meaning the camera will take multiple shots at different exposure levels. Users will also be able to take portrait photos with Night Sight enabled at the same time. Lastly, a new AI-based Portrait Light feature will allow you to turn your old photos into portrait shots, complete with blurred backgrounds. For videos, users have access to new stabilization modes and cinematic pan to make their home movies a little more interesting. Google has also made a major improvement on the battery front, boosting the mainline Pixel phone's battery from 2,800mAh to 4,080mAh. With a new Extreme battery saver, Google claims the Pixel 5 will be able to extend its battery life up to 48 hours. Additionally, the Pixel 5 supports reverse wireless charging so you can place your Pixel Buds or another smartphone on the back of this device to recharge them. The Google Pixel 5 will be available for $699 and it will release on October 15th. Google's flagship phone will also come bundled with three months of Stadia Pro, YouTube Premium, 100GB of Google One storage. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com Kevin Lee is IGN's Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam

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