REVIEW: Google's new Pixel 2 is the phone you'll want for the long haul

With its new Pixel 2 smartphone, Google is playing things safe.

The second generation of the company's flagship phone, which starts at $649 and begins shipping Tuesday, takes most of its cues from its predecessor, the original Pixel. The two phones' designs are similar and their specs are mostly the same.

But that's a good thing.

When the original Pixel arrived a year ago, it solved the biggest headache of using Google's smartphone operating system by offering users an unadulterated version of Android. Instead of larding up the phone with messy, unnecessary features, as third-party smartphone makers often do, Google got back to basics. The phone combined Google's leading apps and features - Maps, Search, Photos, Assistant, etc. - with smart, simple hardware.

Pixel 2 does all that still. It's just a little bit better.

I spent about five days with the Pixel 2, the smaller of Google's two new Pixel phones (for more about the Pixel 2 XL, check out my colleague Tony's review). That wasn't enough time to really put the phone through its paces, and I'll have plenty more thoughts to share in the coming weeks. But I was able to get a good handle on the phone's performance, battery life, camera, and overall design.

Here are my impressions:

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