Hands-on with the Pixel and Pixel XL: Google’s iPhones seem fine

Google just unleashed a whopping five hardware products today, and I spent plenty of time trying them. The first and most important release is the Google Pixel, Google's new flagship smartphones.

At $649 for the Pixel and $769 for the Pixel XL, Google is charging a lot more for the Pixel than it has for the Nexus devices. It's attacking the premium end of the market, and these definitely seem like premium phones. In fact, they remind me a lot of one particular premium smartphone—the iPhone.

I say that both as a complaint and a compliment. Both phones are extremely well made, with the aluminum back, glass rear window, and glass front forming a shell that really feels like it's worth the price tag. The design is also extremely derivative, to the point that I almost picked up someone's iPhone on a display table thinking it was a Pixel.