Google Pixel XL vs Nexus 6P: What You Need to Know

Camera & Software

Next up we want to talk about the camera briefly, and then software. Cameras are extremely important in phones, and Google finally got that right in 2015 with the Nexus 6P. It had a huge sensor 12 Megapixel camera that rivaled Samsung and Apple. All prior Nexus devices had rather awful cameras inside.

The only thing missing from that 12 megapixel camera was optical image stabilization, as Google claimed the bigger pixel sensor size made up for movements while snapping photos. Then the Galaxy S7 was released and blew it away.

In 2016 the new Pixel and Pixel XL have an improved 12.3 Megapixel camera with a two-stage LED flash, laser auto-focus, HDR+, burst mode, software image stabilization and more. It's also pretty thin, and doesn't have the camera hump we saw on the Nexus 6P. Or like the current iPhone 7. Google's new Pixel phones should have a great camera experience. They went as far as calling it the best smartphone camera ever released. That's a bold claim for an f/2.0 aperture camera lens.

Another thing is what we're simply calling the Google Magic UI. Rather than run stock Android like past Nexus devices, the Pixel phones will be different. Running a new version of Android 7.1 Nougat, with round icons, new on-screen navigation keys, a redesigned Pixel Launcher, app tray and more. The Google Search bar is gone and now just a G button. It launches voice controls and the search bar.

The biggest thing is the Google Assistant is built-in to the Pixel phones. Using machine learning and AI to intelligently help owners with daily tasks. Like Siri or Google Now on steroids. The Pixel phones also support "Seamless updates". This means updates will automatically download in the background with no interaction from users, and install on the next reboot. Direct from Google, it will just work, just happen, and be the best hardware/software experience Google has put forward to date. 

We can expect other changes overall, and will highlight some once we receive the phones ourselves.