5 Things About The New Google Pixel 4
Updated: Aug 19, 2021
Written by Cheryl Tan
The Pixel 4 is just about the most widely leaked phone in the history of mobile devices. But for all of you who haven’t been keeping up, here are five things about the new phone you should know.
1. New Camera
Instead of just having a single 12MP rear camera, Google has also included a 16MP telephoto lens. But of course, the software is the selling point for Google’s Pixel phones and the new Pixel 4 touts to be able to take “studio-like photos” even if users just point and shoot.
Users will also be able to adjust exposure for different parts in a photo to get an image that is perfectly exposed and not backlit. Astrophotography mode is also now available for the Pixel phones, where the phone takes multiple long-exposure photos and merges them together to capture all the stars in the sky.
2. 90Hz Display
With the Pixel 3 screen previously locked at 60Hz, Google has finally introduced a higher refresh rate of 90Hz on their Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL.
This is a big deal as Chrome is apparently no longer running at 90Hz on phones that can support it like the OnePlus 7. Many people have suspected that it’s because Google is reserving 90Hz browsing on Chrome for their own phones, and this pretty much confirms it.
3. Better Specs
The Pixel 4 and 4XL are now running on the Snapdragon 855 processor instead of the 845, and come with 6GB of RAM instead of 4GB. That should make for a faster phone and smoother experience, and i”m excited for this since the Pixel 3XL was already very snappy.
4. Motion Sense
Using the radar technology from Project Soli, the Pixel 4 and 4XL can be controlled with movements above the phone. So users will be able to swipe between songs, snooze and silence alarms and more.
But another use for it? It’s how it detects whether a person is nearby and determine whether the always-on display should be turned on, or off to conserve battery life.
5. Face Unlock
Thanks to Motion Sense mentioned above, the Face Unlock on the Pixel 4 and 4XL are incredibly fast. The phone can sense your hand reaching out to pick it up, and wakes up the front cameras and sensors to initiate the unlocking process once your face is in the frame.
This is the first Pixel phone not to utilise the fingerprint reader. The face recognition technology is secure enough to be used to verify digital payments.
The Google Pixel 4 starts from S$1,119 and the Pixel 4XL starts from S$1,319. Pre-orders are now open on Google’s website and phones will begin shipping on 22 October 2019.