News Google Pixel Review: Assessing the New Smartphone

Google’s Pixel, the first smartphone to carry the search giant’s brand name, arrives in stores on Thursday in a lucky stroke of timing. For Google, at least.

This holiday season, all Google’s new phone has to do to compete with those from Samsung, the world’s largest handset maker, is not burst into flames. That’s what recently happened to a bunch of Samsung Galaxy Note 7s, the higher-end smartphones that use Google’s Android software. The Note 7s have since been recalled and Samsung has shut down the product entirely.

The absence of a major competing Android device works out especially well for Google because the Pixel is, relatively speaking, mediocre.

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