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Google recently removed the blinds from its newest offering, the Pixel and the Pixel XL. These are flagship level phones showcasing mighty processing power and fast android OTA updates. What remains to be seen is how the newest Google flagships fair against the Sony Xperia XZ.

The Xperia Z6, which is now known as the Xperia XZ boasts flagship level counterparts including an impeccable screen, a majestic camera and hardware upgrades.

Screen

The XZ now houses a 5.2 inch LCD display with 1080*1920 pixels. The screen has a respectable 424 ppi and comes with all the bells and whistles of a Sony mobile display, including a Triluminos technology. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass.

The Pixel XL, on the other hand, comes with a big 5.5 inch AMOLED display having 1440*2560 pixels making the ppi come to a massive 534. Against the unspecified version of Gorilla glass protection on the XZ, Google answers with a Gorilla Glass 4 protection on its Pixel XL.

Software

The XZ runs on Android Marshmallow 6.0 out of the box with its trademark Xperia launcher. Pixel on the other hand comes with Android Nougat 7.0 out of the box, with its newly designed Pixel launcher. Both look pretty good and offer enough stock android feel.

Hardware

In the hardware department, the XZ takes a step back with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset versus the Pixel XL's Qualcomm Snapdragon 821.

The processing power difference are barely noticeable in day to day tasks though, and the XZ doesn't fall much behind the Pixel XL.

The Pixel XL runs on a quad core processor clocked at 2.15Ghz. It also has a great GPU of Adreno 530. The Xperia XZ is also powered by the same processors and the same GPU.

The Google Pixel XL ships with a massive 4GB of Ram against a still respectable 3GB of ram for the XZ. Massive ram quantities ensures speedy multitasking without frequent app reloading. Memory management of both the RAMs are good.

Camera

Sony has always been famous for great cameras, and this time the XZ is no slouch either. It packs a massive 23 megapixel camera with Sony's custom IMX300 sensor. It has an f/2.0 aperture dedicated to capturing photos in low light.

Sony also heavily advertises its 5-axis intelligent image stabilization because the XZ doesn't come with OIS. The camera performs really well in HDR modes and natural light, but it also suffers from grainy imagery in low lights.

The XZ comes with a 13 megapixel f/2.0 aperture front facing camera which is good in capturing detail.

The Google Pixel XL packs a 12 megapixel camera with phase detection and laser autofocus with dual LED flash. It has an electronic image stabilization system and that works pretty well for the most part.

Google has said that the Pixel XL has the best camera in any smartphone, and for the most part it delivers. The daylight photographs turn out perfectly well with great color and exposure balance.

Night time photography however, suffers with the EIS and needs a steady hand while capturing photographs.

Battery and Storage

The Xperia XZ comes with a 2900 mAh battery which easily lasts 12 hours on heavy usage and 24 hours on medium usage. It has got battery saving modes.

The Pixel XL comes with a 3450 mAh battery and it lasts more than 24 hours on moderate to heavy usage.

XZ comes with a flexible storage options, with 32GB or 64GB available from the get go, which can be further increased via a microSD card to 256GB. It also comes with dual sim but using a microSD card reduces a sim slot.

The Pixel XL does not come with a microSD card slot and comes in 32GB/128GB models.

The US version of the Xperia XZ doesn't come with the fingerprint sensor, and the Google Pixel XL ships with a standard fingerprint sensor.

Both the phones come with USB Type C ports with Quick Charge 3.0 available for the Xperia XZ.

Price

The XZ is priced at a decent $699 for the 32GB version whereas the Pixel XL is priced at $769 for the 32GB model and $869 for the 128GB model.

Both the phones are flagship level phones and offer similar specs.