Is Google Pixel truly the best smartphone?
Google Pixel and Pixel XL is now official and the smartphones are priced in line with the top flagship devices like Apple’s iPhone 7 lineup and Samsung’s Galaxy S7 edge. Indeed, Google Pixel range is not cheap but according to analysts it certainly is the best Android smartphone available right now. And trust Nigerians they are already braced up for October 20, when Google’s Pixel will make official entry into the market.
Accordint to Google’s Rick Osterloh, “The Pixel name has always represented the best in hardware and software, designed and built by Google, together.” Google already sells Pixel branded Chromebook, Pixel C tablet in the United States. With Pixel and Pixel XL, Google is showing the future path of Android smartphones and boldly competing with Apple’s iPhone 7 range making Samsung vulnerable in the process.
Since its official launch, several commentators have rushed to draw comparism between the Google smartphone and Apple, which is clearly the most dominant smartphone in the market. Countless Android challengers have assaulted the iPhone’s iron grip on the public, but the Apple (AAPL) device steadfastly remains the most popular phone with over 100 million in active use. So far, the closest competition has come from Samsung, whose Galaxy phones consistently earn high marks in tests.
As Google took great pains to communicate, the Pixel phone is “#MadeByGoogle”—and not another company. (When tech companies say “made,” they mean “designed” and not literally manufactured.) Not only does this mean that Google itself has control over the hardware design, but it also has complete control over the software. Pixel phones will run only the purest Android and will update straight from the mothership in Mountain View, just like the co-branded Nexus phones that came before it.
This total control over the digital ecosystem and device design finally gives Google the table stakes required to compete with Apple, a company that arguably succeeded due to valuing design as much as tech.
If any company is going to unseat Apple’s phone domination, it’s Google
This may be too little too late for a company trying to unseat Apple for a chunk of the market share, but it’s a step in the right direction.
In fact, if any company has the potential to unseat Apple’s phone domination, it’s Google, which has actually chalked victories against the Cupertino juggernaut. It’s unusual to beat Apple head-to-head in anything, and by my quick count, Google has done it many times: maps (Google Maps vs. Apple Maps), productivity (Google Docs vs. iWork), email (Gmail vs. Me/Mac/iCloud), storage (Google Drive vs. iCloud), and web browsing (Chrome vs. Safari). Of course, this merely means Google’s track record is better than most—not that it has done better than Apple.
Google still has a few things in its favor. Samsung’s exploding phones and Apple’s user-hostile decision of killing the headphone jack make a ripe landscape for an opening to attract alienated consumers. Furthermore, Google will have the ability to seamlessly link its entire suite of platforms into its device—giving it a leg up if CEO Sundar Pichai’s prediction about AI being the next big thing comes true. In the end, this may not be enough to vanquish Apple, but it’ll sure make first real foray into mobile devices interesting, if not auspicious.
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