Google Announces Pixel 4, Pixelbook Go, Wireless Pixel Buds, and Nest Mini

[Tsing]

Google's new hardware lineup is here. During today's event, the company unveiled its latest Pixel phones, as well as the sequel to its wireless Pixel Buds. It also showed off a better-sounding Google Home (now Nest) Mini and cheaper Pixelbook.

With a camera that captures detail that others can't, a new way to use your phone without touching it, a new Google Assistant, and a fast and responsive display, Pixel 4 packs new technology into a new design. Best of all, Pixel includes the latest version of Android, which gets better with each update.

At barely two pounds and 13 mm thin, it’s easy to bring Pixelbook Go wherever life takes you. And with its starting price of $649, it still has all the features you love about Pixelbook. You’ll get quiet, backlit keys for easy typing in all lighting and powerful processors to handle any workload, with an even bigger battery and 13.3 inch touchscreen.

Pixel Buds have a unique hybrid design that keeps you aware of the world around you, while still delivering powerful sound. The eartips gently seal the ear to isolate the loud outside noises, and to give high quality audio. The spatial vent underneath reduces that plugged-ear feeling, and lets through just the right amount of environmental sound so you can stay aware of the things around you.

Nest Mini is smarter and faster than the original Mini. We embedded a dedicated machine learning chip with up to one TeraOPS of processing power, which lets us move some Google Assistant experiences from our data centers directly onto the device. In the U.S., Nest Mini can now learn your most common commands and process them locally for a much faster response time.

 

[Zarathustra]

I had stopped paying attention to new phones, as I was planning on using my first gen Pixel until it either died or stopped receiving security patches / no longer had a supported 3rd party ROM with patches.

Well, last Friday, it died, peacefully in its sleep.

This was unexpected, so I started doing research, as I'd need a replacement.

I was delighted to find that the Pixel 4 launch was only a few days away, so I decided to wait. If the Pixel 4 was too expensive, I figured I could just get a steeply discounted 3 or 3a.

The Pixel 4 launch, IMHO, was completely underwhelming. I decided not to buy one, not because of price, but because I disagree with the direction Google decided to go with it.

The formula for making a better phone was rather simple.

Take the Pixel 3. Shrink the bezels as much as possible, put the latest and greatest Snapdragon in it, give it more RAM, reintroduce the audio port and add a larger battery so the charge actually lasts all day.

Instead they are wasting everyone's time with stupid gimmicks, like radar gesturing, AI, face unlock and the Google Assistant. I couldn't care less about that gimmicky ****. I don't want it. I could have lived with it, disabling the gesture support, Google Assistant, Face unlock and all other cloud and AI bullshit, and installing the Nova launcher, if only they had kept the fingerprint scanner. I am unwilling to ever use face unlock. I am also unwilling to go back to entering my pin manually every time I unlock it, so this would actually make this phone WORSE than its predecessor.

I decided to order a Pixel 3 instead. I would have gone with something else, but I use Google Fi, so I'm pretty much limited to the Pixel's (and a small number of previous gen LG phones and terrible Motorola offerings) if I want full network support, so I am stuck getting a Pixel.

Pixel 3 it was.

If I werent constrained by picking a phone compatible with my network, I don't know what I would have chosen. Samsung maybe? But I hate touch-wiz, so only if I could install LineageOS on it.

I want my phone to be more like my PC ca 2005. Not my PC to be more like my phone.

 

[Eduardo_Domingot]

I really didnt want to dislike the Pixel 4 (I dont like being a fanboy for anything) but compared to the iphone 11 I think Apple won it this time.
I saw so many people hating on this device pre-launch and while the device isnt awful its price is too high for what it is and it made some weird choices on the camera. Square bump for dual lenses?

 

[Riccochet]

I hope they release a 4aXL with a headphone jack and finger print reader. I don't use gestures either.

The radar sensors aren't anything new. I had similar features on my Droid Turbo 6 years ago. And I liked the ability to turn the screen on and look at notifications with a wave of the hand over it.

 

[Zarathustra]

I hope they release a 4aXL with a headphone jack and finger print reader. I don't use gestures either.

I'd like that too. Too late for me now though.

My phone died, and I had to buy something, so I picked up a Pixel 3.

 

[Uvilla]

All i see is a lineup of spy devices... Funny how used to be difficult to break in new products, and even big companies would lose money.. but these new type of user paid spy devices seem to stick somehow...