Although they had gone up for pre-orders about two weeks ago, the Really Blue variant of the popular Google Pixel and Pixel XL are finally available for purchase from Rogers. They are only available in the 32GB model of both sizes, while the Very Silver and Quite Black can be ordered with 128GB. Remember that the Google Pixel phones do not have expandable internal storage, so it is a shame that the 128GB models are not offered in the Really Blue color. When Google announced their first ever smartphone, they designated the Really Blue color as a ‘limited edition,’ but it turned out to be very popular with their customers. However, it has taken since October to get finally the Really Blue into Canada, and it is a Rogers’ exclusive.
Rogers gained quite a coup with the exclusive rights to the Really Blue model of the Pixel lineup. The Google Pixel in Really Blue will cost you $199 on Rogers’ two-year Premium+ Tab plan or $899 CAD for a no-term price. The Really Blue Pixel XL will run you $349 CAD on a two-year Premium+ Tab plan or $1,049 CAD on a no-term. The price difference between the two models has a lot to do with the display – on the Pixel model you will get a 5-inch Full HD AMOLED display with about 441 pixels-per-inch (PPI) while the Pixel XL model is sporting a 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED display with 534 PPI. The other real difference is in the battery size with the Pixel touting a 2770mAh battery and the Pixel XL with a 3450mAh battery. They both use the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 quad-core processor and the excellent Adreno 530 GPU for graphics. Each is packing 4GB of DDR4 RAM and the option of 32GB or 128GB of non-expandable storage. The excellent camera areas are identical with a 12.3MP primary camera and an 8MP front-facing camera for selfies and video chatting.
The Google Pixel devices received good marks from reviewers and users, but they are not without their faults, such as the audio issue. But for the most part, they are a solid device and the first to include Google Assistant built-in to a smartphone.