It took several months, but another smartphone has finally shipped with a superior camera to the one in the Google Pixel. The surprise? It's not the Samsung Galaxy S8.

Google released its Pixel and Pixel XL handsets in October 2016, escalating its battle with Apple and the iPhone. Six months later, it's time for another check-in.

Google's Pixel lineup is to that company what Surface is to Microsoft. And Google has a lot of work to do to make its next Pixel handsets a more viable alternative to iPhone.

Alphabet/Google announced its quarterly earnings this week. But any mention of the new Pixel handsets was conspicuously absent from the discussion.

It's been three weeks since I published my original review of the Google Pixel XL. Here's a quick follow-up.

The Google Pixel XL is a great Android phone, but it doesn't offer enough of a bump over iPhone or, worse, its Nexus predecessors to justify the upgrade.

My Google Pixel XL arrived today, allowing me to get started with the obvious comparisons: The iPhone 7 Plus with which it competes and the Nexus 6P that it replaces.

This week, Google announced that it will now design and build its own smartphones alongside a more cohesive family of hardware devices that take better advantage of the firm's online services. First up, the Google Pixel and Pixel XL handsets.

As expected, Google launched its new Pixel phones, Daydream VR, Chromecast Ultra, Google Wi-Fi, and Google Home products at a press conference today. But as noted previously, details about each had previously leaked.