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I am going to preface this by saying I like utilizing Pixels; I change between a number of dozen telephones a yr, however after I’m achieved with all of the critiques and want a every day driver, I inevitably decide up a Pixel. The choice comes down to 2 issues: clear software program and constant cameras. Whereas most Android skins have first rate interfaces lately, there’s nonetheless plenty of overt styling, and I choose what Google does on this space with Materials You.
And whereas Google does not have the outright lead in cameras lately — the Discover X7 Extremely, Vivo X100 Extremely, and Xiaomi 14 Extremely take higher pictures and movies — the Pixel 8 Professional takes probably the most constant pictures, and it does a terrific job with portrait pictures and transferring objects.
Hardwired
In Hardwired, AC Senior Editor Harish Jonnalagadda delves into all issues {hardware}, together with telephones, audio merchandise, storage servers, and routers.
That mentioned, Google’s telephones aren’t with out points. I’ve had a litany of issues with Pixels over time; the panel on the Pixel 2 XL had washed-out colours, it did not take a lot to interrupt the Pixel 3 XL (I did it twice in two months), the oleophobic coat on my Pixel 4 XL wore out in underneath three months of use, and the quantity rocker on the Pixel 7 Professional indifferent randomly sooner or later. Final yr, the Pixel 8 Professional determined to cost sporadically, and the USB-C port was accountable — this was a difficulty on the Pixel 6 Professional as nicely.
Look, most telephones have some challenge or the opposite, however the proportion of hardware-related issues I’ve had with Pixels is considerably greater than every other model. With Google now guaranteeing seven years of updates, it must do higher on this space, and if the messaging round higher sturdiness is any indication, it seems to be just like the model is taking this significantly.
Whereas that is undoubtedly good, Google for some purpose simply can not seem to nail the fundamentals. A few of that is all the way down to the selection of {hardware}; Google used Samsung’s Exynos 2400 as the inspiration for the Tensor G4, and apart from newer cores, it’s almost indistinguishable to the Tensor G3.
Google made it clear that it does not need to chase efficiency numbers, and the model as an alternative chooses to concentrate on the TPU that powers all of the AI options on its gadgets. That is advantageous by me; I do not use the Pixel 8 Professional as a result of it’s the quickest, however as a result of it has a very good general expertise. However what’s annoying is that Google does not do any significant thermal administration — even on the Pixel 9 era — and that makes these gadgets liable to throttling and overheating.
Then there’s the arbitrary function gating; most international fashions of the Pixel 9, 9 Professional, and 9 Professional XL embrace a Wi-Fi 7 modem, however the telephones bought in India use an older Wi-Fi 6 modem. All different flagships bought within the nation have Wi-Fi 7 as customary, however Google determined to not hassle.
Even on the worldwide model, Google randomly determined to not embrace options like 8K video and Night time Sight video on the usual mannequin, limiting these to the Professional variants. In an analogous vein, the bottom fashions nonetheless include 128GB of storage, and that is ridiculous in 2024; even mid-range telephones now begin at 256GB, and at this level, Google is simply nickel-and-diming prospects on this regard.
Hilariously, the bottom fashions of the Pixel 9 and 9 Professional XL have an pointless 16GB of RAM and woefully insufficient 128GB of storage, and there is not one other model that gives this configuration. It is clear that Google is attempting to emulate Apple, and is utilizing an analogous pricing technique to upsell storage variants.
There’s additionally the query of pricing; the Pixel 9 Professional begins at $999 and the 9 Professional XL at $1,099, and that is for telephones with 128GB of storage; you may have to pay one other $100 to get 256GB fashions of those gadgets, and Google does not have wherever as beneficiant trade-in gives as Samsung.
Granted, these are minor irritants, however they matter on a flagship. There actually is not a lot to differentiate most flagships lately — at the very least on the {hardware} entrance — so each misstep is amplified. Google says its gadgets are the perfect at AI — and they’re — and so it is asking a premium. Once more, that is justified; in the end, it is all the way down to the model to dictate what its telephones price.
However Google wants to grasp that if it needs to cost its telephones according to Apple and Samsung, it must ship equal options; I am simply undecided it’s doing that.
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