The gadgets aren’t bad, either! There’s a little smart speaker, a big smart speaker, a smartphone, a smart laptop, a smart-looking VR headset, a smart set of earbuds, and even a smart camera that takes pictures even when you don’t ask it to. (That last one might be dumb.) The very Google-y thing tying it all together is machine learning and artificial intelligence, future-forward technologies that stand to transform how all gadgets work. Until we try out the new products ourselves, however, we’re left with promises and glossy press photos.
In some particular order, here’s everything Google announced today.
The new smartphone from Google runs pure Android Oreo and, supposedly, has the best smartphone camera ever made. The Pixel 2 design is slightly different from the original with smaller bezels, a streamlined body, and a glass panel on the back where the camera lives. The headphone jack is also gone.
The Google Pixel 2 starts at $650, and the Pixel 2 XL starts at $850. While you can pre-order either device today, Google hasn’t yet announced an official release date.
Many people think of Chromebooks as cheap, crappy, but just-good-enough laptops. The Pixelbook is not your typical Chromebook. Google’s new premium laptop runs Chrome OS and comes with an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, 16-gigabytes of RAM, as well as a 2,560 x 1,700 resolution display with multitouch capabilities. For a $100, you can also buy the Pixel Pen, a stylus that looks an awful lot like an Apple Pencil.
The laptop’s design sounds pretty slick as well. There’s an all-glass back and a 360-degree hinge that lets you smash keys from whatever angle you please. The whole package is just 10-millimeters thick. Perhaps least exciting is a new Google Assistant that, well, activates Google Assistant.
The Pixelbook starts at $1,000. Pre-orders start today, and the laptop will be in stores on October 23.
Google Home Mini
If Google Home is too much smart speaker for you, you might like the new Google Home Mini. This voice-activated gadget is just four inches across and offers the same access to Google Assistant as its big brother. Since there’s only one speaker on top, it’s hardly an elegant sound system but, hey, neither is the full-sized Google Assistant.
Google Home Max
If Google Home isn’t enough smart speaker for you, you might like the new Google Home Max. This boxy sound machine comes with dual 4.5-inch subwoofers and tweeters on top to delivery bass-heavy music, like something Diplo might make. (Diplo made an ad for Google about the new Home Max.) The Home Max also includes the same Google Assistant capabilities of its smaller siblings.
This Apple HomePod competitor and Sonos clone will set you back $400. It goes on sale in December.
Google Pixel Buds
Now that Google has killed the headphone jack on the Pixel smartphone, the company is selling some wireless earbuds for a hefty premium. The Pixel Buds appear to be slightly bulky smart headphones that nestle in your ear in a similar fashion as Apple’s AirPods—though with a wire connecting the two buds. The wow-golly feature of the Pixel Buds is real-time Google Translate which supposedly lets you encounter a foreign language and hear the translation in your ears.
The Pixel Buds cost $160, the same price as the AirPods. They come with a charging case and go on sale in November.
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