Google Pixel now available for pre-order in India: Price, deals and specs

Google’s strategy shift is in full gear with its new devices – Pixel and Pixel XL. The company, as promised, didn’t delay the launch of its most recent devices for the Android-dominated Indian market. Google partners with HTC, Redington for sales and after sales support for the Pixel in India. Here’s everything you need to know.

Where to buy and what to expect

The new Pixel and Pixel XL are up for pre-order on Flipkart. The e-commerce site opened the gates for pre-order at midnight. Currently, there are three models for pre-order – 32GB and 128GB Pixel, and 128GB Pixel XL. All three in Quite Black variants.

That’s quite a limited choice considering ideally users get eight variants to choose from considering the storage, model and colour options. Flipkart is offering ‘no cost EMIs’ which means you pay in EMI without the need to pay additional amount. First 1000 customers will get EGV (electronics gift voucher) worth Rs 5,700.

The company has opened the exchange offer that will let you get a discount of up to Rs 27,000. This means the starting price of the device would be around Rs 30,000. On trying to exchange an iPhone 6 Plus, you get a discount of roughly Rs 21,000. Flipkart promises free delivery of the ordered unit till 25 October.  First 1000 customers will also get EGV worth Rs 5,700. Free delivery till 25 October.

All in all, the deals by Flipkart don’t really add much to make it an exciting offer.

Specifications

In terms of specs, the Pixel will offer a 5-inch full HD AMOLED display while the Pixel XL gets a 5.5-inch QHD AMOLED display. The former gets a 2,770mAH battery will the larger one gets a 3,450mAH battery both of which support fast charge that is capable of providing 7-hours of battery in 15 minutes of charge.

The handsets feature an aluminium and glass build and the 12.3MP camera has been given a rating of 89 on DXoMark which is the highest on any smartphone camera. The camera features an f/2.0 aperture with the sensor producing large 1.55μm pixels. The handsets will be automatically updated in the background as soon as a new updated is made available.

For people who want to switch from an Apple device, Google will offer a seamless transfer tool along with an adapter. You can move contacts, calendar, photos, videos, music, SMS messages, iMessages and more. The full set of specifications include a Snapdragon 821 quad-core processor with 2.15GHz clock speed, 4GB of RAM, 32GB and 128GB fixed storage options, a 12.3MP rear camera with phase detection and laser guided autofocus and an LED flash, an 8MP front camera with an f/2.4 aperture, USB Type-C and a fingerprint scanner. Connectivity options include 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.