Google has just announced the company’s first-ever Google phone. The phone is a direct jab at the iPhone - and Google isn’t afraid to admit it. The new phone looks, acts, and feels like an iPhone too.

Only Google has added some features to the company’s new phone that are meant to appeal to an iPhone crowd that’s not entirely happy with the latest iPhone release.

The Google Pixel Phone

Technically, Google has launched two new smartphones: the Pixel and the Pixel XL. The two phones are the first to carry the Google name (Android-based) without showcasing another smartphone manufacturer. So what makes Google think that the Pixel phones will knock the iPhone off its pedestal?

For starters, Google promises that the two Pixel phones will have unlimited full resolution backups of photos and videos. This will happen with the help of Google’s cloud storage. The phones come in two different sizes with notable size and camera differences.

Inside the Pixel Phones

The Pixel XL comes with a 5.5inch screen and the Pixel comes with a 5inch screen. Both phones also come with Android 7.1 (Nougat), aluminum bodies, and Snapdragon 821 from Qualcomm (the latest Qualcomm processor). According to camera analysts DxOMark, the new Pixel phones come with the best-rated camera available - even beating out the iPhone competition.

Perhaps the biggest addition to the Pixel phones is Google Assistant. Assistant is the contextually aware assistant from Google that somewhat resembles Siri. The difference is (according to Google) that Google Assistant is actually responsive and will even suggest things as you use your phone. To use Assistant Google Pixel owners just have to use the hot word ‘Ok Google’ to activate it.

Why A Google Phone

Google has told press that the company really wants to show what Android can do. But more than that, there’s a gaping hole in the smartphone world right now. Apple failed to impress with the latest iPhone release and other companies manufacturing smartphones simply aren’t doing all that well. This leaves things wide open for a company that’s willing to make a unique phone with unique features.

As far as price goes, the Google Pixel phones will retail at $649 USD. That price is comparable to the amount of the new iPhone 7, so you won’t save if you choose Google over Apple. But you might just find that the new Google phones are everything you wanted the new iPhone to be but wasn’t.

Or you might discover that these new phones are simply the best smartphone choice, since there aren’t a lot of amazing smartphone innovations at the time being. Google might have tapped into the smartphone that everyone has been waiting for but no company has released yet.

You’ll have to wait until the end of the month to get your hands on these new phones, but the wait will be worth it, it seems. If for nothing else, at least we get to see what Google is proud enough to put their name on.