Overnight Google announced the latest phone in their successful Pixel line. The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL offers some pretty stunning performance, a better camera, but one of the biggest new features is the screen itself, with Google’s first 90Hz displays.
The Pixel 4’s display dynamically adjusts the refresh rate to what the app or content supports. If you’re scrolling through a list of photos, social media timelines, or playing a supported game, it’s going to look silky smooth on this display.
While it’s not the crazy 120Hz of the bleeding edge Razer Phone, Google has found a happy medium between optimizing for the best experience and battery performance.
With the Pixel 4 now supporting screen refreshes 90 times per second, that’s quickly become the standard for flagship devices. Google has now countered the OnePlus 7 Pro’s 90Hz display.
The Pixel Neural Core is the engine for on-device processing, always-on computing, and machine learning, meaning more tasks are done on the device for performance.
When it comes to security, your most sensitive content is protected by a combination of hardware and software. Like the TPM2.0 chip in our computers, the Pixel 4 also includes Google’s custom-built Titan M security chip.
Something you always get when you buy a Google device, over other Android manufacturers is the latest version of Android 10 and monthly security updates.
New built-in apps
While the phone may feature some gimmicks like hand gestures, the Pixel does have some great new built-in apps. These include a new Recorder app that brings the power of search and AI to audio recording.
When you open the Recorder app and start a recording, you can keep track of meetings, lectures and even simultaneously transcribes speech and tags sounds like music, applause, and more.
That transcription then means the audio is searchable, something not possible in your typical recordings. Importantly, all Recorder functionality happens on-device, so your audio never leaves your phone. Initially, this starts with English support, but Google says they are committed to roll out more languages soon.
The new Google Assistant is coming
If you’ve ever used Google Assistant, you’ll know how great it is, but Google is making it even better. Google Assistant will add faster ways to get more things done.
The new Google Assistant will launch in Australia on Pixel 4 in summer via a software update to your phone. By asking the Assistant, you’ll be able to multitask across other apps, search your phone, and more. Check out the video below to see a preview of the new features.
Pricing and availability
Available today for pre-order, the Google Pixel 4 is available for an RRP of A$1,049 and the Pixel 4 XL from A$1,279.
The Pixel 4 comes in three colours, including Clearly White, Just Black, and a limited edition, Oh So Orange – and will be available from October 24 at Telstra, Vodafone, Optus, JB Hi Fi, Harvey Norman, Officeworks and the Google Store.
