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During Google’s Launch Night livestream, they officially unveiled a highly anticipated smartphone: the Google Pixel 5. So, what’s the word? Is it everything people hyped it up to be, a phone you should be saving for to pick up when it launches later this year? Or, is this just an iterative update that’s overpriced and not worth the pricetag?
Well, let’s take a closer look at the Google Pixel 5. Will this phone be a steal for the price and features, or will it be just another lackluster flagship phone launch?
The Pixel 5 is a weird phone, according to the official press release. The specs under the hood are, in some ways, a direct upgrade to the Pixel 4. In other ways, however, they represent sidegrades and even strict downgrades.
This could muddle things for Google going into the competitive holiday release season: why should fans be excited about a phone with a higher price tag with a higher number on the box?
When the phone launches on October 15 (!) it will retail for $699, putting it squarely in the realm of similar flagship phones. It comes in two oddly-named colors: Just Black and Sorta Sage.
Just Black is, uh, just black. Sorta Sage is a greenish color. Count on Google to bring in strange but on-the-nose color names. It’s worth pointing out that the phone has a recycled aluminum construction, unlike most modern steel-and-glass phones.
Unlike the Pixel 4a, the Pixel 5 is IPX8 water-resistant, meaning it can be submerged in water up to an hour before things start getting wet internally. Moreover, it sports a 6-inch Full HD screen. The screen is always-on, and is an OLED-based panel, meaning it will show the time and other information even when locked.
The screen’s refresh rate is 90Hz, making it faster and smoother than its predecessors and many other phones in the same price range. Also like most modern phones, it has a USB-C port, but no 3.5 mm headphone jack.
The camera is largely unchanged from the Pixel 4. It doesn’t have a top-of-the-line chipset, like its predecessors. It has a bigger battery than the Pixel 4, which Google claims will last all day.
However, questions still linger. Will it be worth the $700 price tag? If we had to bet, we’d put our money on the Pixel 5 being the first generation of Google’s flagship that you can afford to skip.
