Less than 24 hours after being unveiled, the Google Pixel XL 128 GB is officially out of stock. The phone, Google’s first attempt at managing the design process, had been widely criticized as too expensive.
Apparently, the price was acceptable to enough people who placed pre-orders which are expected to begin shipping on October 20, 2016.
The Pixel XL is assembled by HTC but reportedly designed by Google. It likely marks a push by Google to aggressively enter and maintain a presence in the flagship smartphone hardware business.
While the phone itself seems at best to be on parity with competitors such as the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy devices, the included Google Assistant software (essentially Google Now On Tap revamped and baked into the Pixel’s OS) may provide Google a big leg up on the competition.
I ordered the Pixel XL 128 GB as soon as they went up for pre-order and will have more to share when mine arrives around October 26.