I write about gadgets, which means everyone asks me what laptop or dishwasher or whatever to buy. I struggle with this, because the answer often starts with, "It depends." Unless you ask about a phone. In that case, I usually say get an iPhone.
Don't get me wrong. I love Android. But the phones can be... frustrating. Clever features too often seem overwrought or poorly designed, or they're buried beneath 15 Verizon apps on the homescreen. The iPhone is the Default Phone, the one you buy when you want a phone, not a project.
The Google Pixel changes that. It offers the look and competence of an iPhone, with a truly great camera and loads of innovative software and services. It changes my answer to the question I hear most often: What phone should you get?
You should get a Pixel.
Google's new phone arrives Thursday, starting at $650 for the Pixel and $770 for the Pixel XL. You can get it in blue, black, or silver, with 32 or 128 gigs of storage, from Google or from Verizon. You should buy it directly from Google, and soon. Most models already are backordered.
Not long after I got my Pixel XL, I flew to Colombia for a week's vacation. It was a very Google-y getaway: I had a Project Fi SIM card, I kept my itinerary in Google Trips, and, given what Verizon charges for international data on my iPhone 7, I relied entirely upon the Pixel because Project Fi gives standard rates in most countries.
The trip provided a perfect way of testing the limits of Google Assistant, Pixel's distinguishing feature. If the Pixel is Google's iPhone, Assistant is its souped-up Siri. Long-press the on-screen home button or say "OK Google" and ask it anything. How many dollars is 290,000 Colombian pesos? How hot is it in the Tatacoa desert? Where can I find coffee? Assistant was my guide, translator, and researcher. It knew where I needed to go, how to get there, and when to leave. It told me about Simón Bolívar, and knew enough about current events to explain the recent protests in the plaza that bears his name.
Assistant does share common stumbling blocks with Siri and Amazon's Alexa. It likes to answer easy questions by showing web results, and it speaks at unexpected, often jarring moments. "HERE ARE YOUR EVENTS!" is not a useful thing to yell when asked about my calendar. I wish I could type questions into the pop-up prompt instead of saying everything aloud like a tourist or opening an app like a nerd. In theory, Google's deep knowledge of you and your life sets Assistant apart, but that didn't always pan out. Assistant has all the information needed to handle me saying, "Wake me up 30 minutes before I need to leave for the airport," but it failed to do so. On a later attempt, it set the alarm for almost seven hours before my flight. There's traffic in Bogotá, but not that much traffic.
Still, Assistant is the best voice assistant yet—though not as far ahead as advertised. Its lead is the difference between being surprised when Siri works and being surprised when Assistant doesn't. Its speech-to-text recognition is almost perfect, even when I butchered Villa de Leyva. I don't open as many apps anymore. I tell Google to do stuff for me. The biggest challenge to enjoying Assistant has been my own inertia. Assistant makes everything faster and easier, if you remember to use it.
I spent one night in the Tatacoa desert, at a small hotel miles from the nearest town. Returning to civilization, our taxi driver Hermes took us on a tour of photo-friendly spots. He'd lead us down some tiny side road, point to a big rock or cool crevice, and with two hands gesture for me to hand him my phone so he could take a picture.
I also took hundreds of 12-megapixel photos and 4K videos, and more selfies than I'm proud of using the 8-megapixel front cam. (For the record, I didn't bring the selfie stick. I just used it.) In every case, the colors, dynamic range, and sharpness matched or exceeded every phone I've used. You don't get the cool zoom or soft-focus features of the iPhone 7 Plus, but you get killer photos nonetheless. Everything automatically goes into Google Photos, where the Pixel gets you unlimited free storage for full-resolution video and stills.
In fact, the real difference between the Pixel and the iPhone's camera is a matter of approach as much as of execution. The iPhone faithfully reproduces the exact light of the image, even when it's boring or flat or dark. The Pixel, like most Android phones, subtly enhances everything to make it a little brighter, a little more vibrant. You can watch the automatic HDR processing in real time, if you open a photo right after shooting.