The Pixel is Google's newest landmark device, marking the departure from their earlier, highly successful Nexus brand. How does the device stand up to today's standards? Here is one way to find out.

The earlier Nexus devices were made by its respective companies with just the Google branding included, the Pixel marks Google's first proper journey into the smartphone market this. The smartphone was designed and engineered by Google, with HTC being its manufacturing partner.

The devices come in two sizes: the standard Pixel, and a larger Pixel XL that has a 5.5-inch screen. The smaller variant, which will be reviewed here, comes with a 5-inch, 1920x1080-resolution AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4.

Onto its design, the Pixel and Pixel XL seems to have similar design qualities with the Apple iPhone 7 - from its curves and front bezels, antenna lines, to the speaker placement. There are a few differences, though, with its unique glass shade at the back.

The device comes in with the latest Android Nougat 7.1.1 software and is expected to bring the fastest updates just like the earlier Nexus series. The Pixel also exclusively features the Google Assistant, a virtual assistant similar to Apple's Siri.

A quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor is included inside the Pixel, and has 4 GB or RAM on its 32 and 128 GB configurations. It also features a 2,770mAh battery, USB 3.0 with a Type-C connector, a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, fast battery charging via the USB-C Power Delivery standard, and scratch and dust resistance.

One of the Pixel's breakthrough feature is its camera and its capabilities, as the device has reportedly one of the best cameras of any smartphone as of the moment. It features a 12.3-megapixel primary camera and it can produce photos of stunning quality. Although, its low-light performance and its lens blur effect is a bit inferior against its rivals.

The Google Pixel starts at $649 - a rather steep price point. In addition, the 128 GB model for the Pixel is at around $749 and the Pixel XL's 128 GB variant can go up to $869, but includes a few more additions like a larger screen and a bigger 3,450mAh battery capacity.

In conclusion, setting aside the high price tag, the Google Pixel and Pixel XL is one of the best smartphones anyone can buy today.