Detecting Google Pixel 2

Pixel 2/2 XL User-Agents

At 51Degrees we detected User-Agents for the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL over five months before the phones were publicly released, we first detected the development codename of the two devices, walleye and taimen, shortly followed by the formal moniker. As we only use official information thse profiles have recently been released to customer. Examples of these User-Agents are presented below.

Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 8.0.1; Pixel 2 Build/OPD1.170727.004) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/60.0.3112.78 Mobile Safari/537.36

Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 8.0.1; walleye Build/OPD1.170628.007) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/59.0.3071.125 Mobile Safari/537.36

Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 8.1.0; Pixel 2 XL Build/OPM1.170928.003) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/61.0.3163.98 Mobile Safari/537.36

Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 8.0.1; taimen Build/OPD1.170628.007) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/59.0.3071.125 Mobile Safari/537.36

Google Pixel 2

With the release of the iPhone 8 not far behind us, we cover one of the latest devices to be added to our device intelligence which is hoping to serve up some competition for Apple. The device in question is none other than Google's own Pixel 2.

Google unveiled the Pixel 2 smartphone earlier this month alongside a bevy of other technology including the Pixelbook tablet, Daydream View headset and variants of the smart speaker assistant, Google Home. Let's take a closer look at the latest smartphone.

The Pixel 2 comes with a 5 inch 1080 x 1920 AMOLED display and runs the 2.35GHz octa-core Snapdragon 835 chipset, paired with 4GB RAM and up to 128GB of internal storage, like the original Pixel and iPhone there is no MicroSD expansion capability. The most notable changes are a new feature laden 12.2MP camera and pressure sensitive sides as first seen on the HTC U11.

Google Pixel 2 XL

There's another piece of Google hardware we haven't yet mentioned, the Pixel 2's larger sibling, the Pixel 2 XL. Whilst the Pixel 2 retains the familiar look of its predecessor the XL version has had a style makeover.

Hardware wise there is very little between the two new smartphones, the Pixel 2 XL has a bigger screen at 6 inches but otherwise comes with the same specifications. The selling point will ultimately be the greater size and reduction of bezels that give a fuller screen display.

Both new Pixels run Android 8 and are playing in the high-end market with prices to match the flagships from Apple and Samsung, with the 128GB Pixel 2 XL coming in a bit shy of $1000. As the Pixel 2 obviously champions Android, Google's own operating system, we will be keeping a watch on how web traffic shapes up between Android 8 and iOS 11.