Google seems to have made the jump from Nexus phones to the new Google Pixel phones.
In fact, the company has already made some software changes with respect to this name, with the Nexus Launcher now known as Pixel Launcher.
The Nexus Launcher is meant for the new Android 7.0 Nougat and renaming it surely confirms the change in names with respect to the phones. Now, there are fresh details emerging with respect to the larger Google Pixel XL smartphone, which is the successor to the Nexus 6P. In what appears to be shocking news, it seems Google is ready to up its game by pricing the upcoming phone a little higher than last year’s Nexus 6P.
If Android Police’s David Ruddock is to be believed, the Google Pixel XL will be priced at $649. If this price tag is slammed on the 32GB variant of the phone, it will have surpassed last year’s $499 by a huge margin. The good side of the story is that Ruddock is still not aware whether this price tag is for the base model or the high-end model.
In another shocking turn of events, it also seems that the Google Pixel XL will only come with two storage options of 32GB and 128GB, dropping the 64GB variant that was available with last year’s 6P. Nonetheless, pricing the base model of the Pixel XL at $649 means that the phone will be sailing in the same boat as the likes of iPhone 7, Samsung Galaxy S7, HTC 10, as well as LG G5. However, if the price tag is meant for the high-end model, it will mean Google has made no change when compared to last year’s flagship, which had the same price tag for the 128GB model.
Even though the Google Pixel XL could possibly come with a higher price tag as well as drop the 64GB storage option, there is still some good news for potential buyers of the phone. Apparently, the newest Snapdragon 821 SoC will be running the show on the phone, making the phone the second to feature the chipset after ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe, but the latter is only available in Taiwan as at the time of this writing.
Google is expected to unveil the Pixel and Pixel XL phones at an event early next month. We’ll keep following the matter and bring you up to speed with the latest news.