Google's self-branded flagships, the Pixel and the Pixel XL, are the company's major inroad in ensuring a formidable spot in the highly competitive smartphone race, even making sure those who want to switch would be welcomed with an easy transition.
While both the Pixel and the Pixel XL come with a hefty price tag, they do sport some of the best specs found on a smartphone, with the "best smartphone camera" to boot, alongside being able to offer the best Android experience ever on a phone, since Google worked both on the hardware and the software, resulting in a healthy synergy of a software and hardware combo with intent and purpose.
The phones run on Google's latest OS, Android 7.0 Nougat, which boasts additional features not available on other smartphones, including a system-wide Google Assistant functionality and a custom Android UI.
Despite the shipping woes brought by overwhelming demand of the phones, those of you who have already gotten hold of the Pixel or the Pixel XL should read on if you want to know a few tips in order to get more out of your phone and even decrease battery consumption.
Turn Off Keyboard Vibration
Apart from slowing down key input, keyboard vibrations do take a swig out of your battery's juice each time, so it's wiser to just turn it off altogether since haptic feedback doesn't really feel like pressing a button, to nobody's surprise. Go to Settings, then tap Languages & Input, then tap Virtual keyboard, then tap Google keyboard, then tap Preferences and toggle the "vibrate on keypress" off. While you're there, you can go ahead and turn off keyboard sounds too.
Turn On Night Light Mode
It's been proven that the smartphone screens actually hamper our ability to go into a deep slumber, and the night light feature tries to remedy that by laying over a warmer hue during evenings to avoid eye strain. Tap Settings, then display and then turn on night light.
Turn On The Battery Percentage Indicator
If you're like most people who are extremely meticulous about keeping track of your phone's battery life, then you can head on over to the notifications panel to turn the battery indicator on. Hold the system icon for a few seconds and then release. A hidden System UI tuner will appear at the bottom of the settings menu. Open it, then tap Status bar and choose to show the battery percentage level.
Change How Big UI Elements Are
There's a new option to set the size of how big certain user interface elements should appear. You can select this one by going over to Settings and then hitting display. In it you'll find a slider that increases or decreases screen elements to your liking.
Split-Screen Multitasking
Tap and hold the "recents" button in order to access the multitasking screen. From there you can choose another app that would run on the second half of the display area.
Access One-Handed Mode
If you're lugging another piece of item on your free hand and you have no choice but to type with just one hand, you can press and hold the "return" button while the keyboard is open. A new icon will appear, depicting a single hand holding a screen. Tap this to go into one-handed mode.
These are just some of the tips among many others for you to get the most out of your new Pixel or Pixel XL phone.
You can purchase the the Google Pixel or the Google Pixel XL at Google's own online store.
