Google's Planning a Cheaper Smartphone to Rival iPhone XR

[AMPO]

Based on what? Their bang up success of the Pixel line?

Google’s offering doesn’t compete with Apple because it runs Android, not iOS. Google is competing with other Android phones and barely making an impact there.

Actually the Pixels have been a great success for Google as they've been very well received and reviewed. Google just has a very limited production and distribution to so few countries and carriers.

Also disagree on the competition. The last thing Google is after is their Android partners customers, hence the limited distribution. They already have those customers under their Google services already. They clearly designed the Pixels to attract iPhone users interested in a switch and/or those Android users thinking about an iPhone because they're sick of slow updates.

If they wanted to compete with Samsung etc they'd get into a spec war. You don't need that to attract iPhone users. You just need what iPhone users expect from their devices like timely updates, excellent support, fast and smooth performance, a UI that's easy to use and is bloat free, along with excellent hardware. The Pixels are referred to as the Android iPhone for a reason because that's what the Pixels excel at. They're easily the best choice for a first time iPhone switcher as they offer the least amount of compromise and the most familiar experience to iPhone users, far more so than any other brand imo.
[doublepost=1550222586][/doublepost]

Yep, can attest. Bloke at work had the Pixel 2 XL. Smashed the screen.

2-3 week repair time (UK). And it cost around £250 (direct from Google, else their warranty would be void with a 3rd party repair), which is about as much as “eye-gouging Apple” charge.

Every flagship-Android user I know seems to gloat, unprompted, about not being stupid enough to pay £1000 for an iPhone X. Yet they’re paying just as much for their Google/Samsung flagship phone and it comes with an armload of privacy issues, considerably worse aftersales support, and its specs can’t even touch the A-series SoC.

I really have to wonder what they’re so smug about. Congratulations. You’ve avoided buying from one massive corporation by spending the same amount of money with an equally massive corporation instead. Talk about being off the grid.

Yikes! Over here Google has a deal with uBreakiFix and their hundreds of locations for guaranteed OEM supplied parts repairs with same day service available. The phone itself has live on board support and the excellent support extends to the the fastest updates for the longest duration available to an Android phone.

My experience is that the prices are always at least somewhat cheaper to much less expensive than the flagship iPhones as well but the hardware is still top notch and highly rated. The iPhone also has had many issues with bugs, 15 bug fixing point updates to iOS 11 alone, and privacy issues recently reported with apps recording personal information unencrypted and the highly publicized group chat spying fiasco. Not to mention that Apple takes in several billion dollars a year in their deal with Google to take part in exploiting iPhone users private search data... while claiming to be above this type of "making the user the product" type of profit stream no less.

Most of the people I know that prefer an Android flagship over the iPhone do so for not only the better pricing, choice etc. They also aren't fans of Apple's highly dishonest and unethical treatment of consumers and the small mountain of misinformation, fear mongering, hysteria and hype that helps support it.

 

[Abazigal]

Actually the Pixels have been a great success for Google as they've been very well received and reviewed. Google just has a very limited production and distribution to so few countries and carriers.

The feedback I am seeing is that apart from the camera, pretty much every aspect of it was problematic. You had people scrubbing it with a toothbrush to get rid of the abrasive marks on the back, some weird software issue where there would be notches all over the edges of the screen, and it not working properly with its own first-party wireless charger.

Consider the flak Apple received just for beautygate, which was in reality just more aggressive image processing. The only reason why the pixel got away with all these issues was that nobody really cared much about it. If it was graded on the same curve as the iPhone, the pixel would have failed many times over.

 

[AMPO]

The feedback I am seeing is that apart from the camera, pretty much every aspect of it was problematic. You had people scrubbing it with a toothbrush to get rid of the abrasive marks on the back, some weird software issue where there would be notches all over the edges of the screen, and it not working properly with its own first-party wireless charger.

Consider the flak Apple received just for beautygate, which was in reality just more aggressive image processing. The only reason why the pixel got away with all these issues was that nobody really cared much about it. If it was graded on the same curve as the iPhone, the pixel would have failed many times over.

The thing with Googles Pixels is that, like Apple, they release a new OS along with a new phone so issues at first aren't unusual. Google has a good track record with fixing issues fast, within a few point updates, while Apple never could get iOS 11 right, even after 15 updates, and iOS 12 is looking like more of the same so far with a constant stream of bug fixing point updates that only introduce more bugs. As for hardware issues, none have had more than iPhones over the years. Apple has a long history of them. Some like bendgate affect every phone while the Pixels hardware issue have been far more isolated and fewer.

 

[Bitácora]

The Iphone Xr is not cheap, the XS and XSMax are very expensive so it looks cheap. The price of the Xr is from a flagship other years.

 

[AMPO]

Yes there is. Google still tracks your every move. I would never go back to Android until they at least pretend to care about privacy. They make no qualms about data collecting.

Apple may have a few bugs, but they are committed to keeping your data secure and private. This doesn’t mean they won’t make mistakes...they have, but I prefer a company where I am not the product.

Understand?

Your comment that majority prefer Android over iOS is baseless and untrue.

Your comment is hysteria. Android phone users have a remarkable amount of control over what they choose to share via their Account page. You can revoke any permissions previously given, including those required to set up an Android phone and even control 3rd party app permissions for installed apps from there. The fact of the matter is that you don't have to have anything at all from Google running on an Android phone if you don't want. There are alternatives to every service/app that Google offers and on Android you have the freedom to select ALL your own default apps/app preferences.

Many millions of Chinese people are already forced to do this because most all Google services are blocked over there! That said, most people elsewhere will choose Googles excellent services because they are enhanced and personalized by your data and preferences. Not all data is considered private by all people obviousl, many people want the related services and convenience that come with sharing data.

 

[kis]

Copycat, copycat, oh, copy copycat.

Google is now in the upper tier of phones. They'll get to $700. But they won't have a custom chip that beats everyone. Where are their stores? If it breaks, how do you get it repaired?

Meanwhile, they'll never make the cheap ones the cheaper networks give away.

I literally have no clue what you're talking about. Copycat? Because they make a cheaper phone?
Yup, they don't have stores - they'll just replace your phone by sending you a new one and you return the old one. I hope you know that 99.9% of the world's population doesn't live anywhere near an Apple Store, but the same 99.9% live near a post office.
[doublepost=1550226691][/doublepost]

One of may reasons, iPhones have the smallest batteries and still last longer than the hardware and software dysfunction, i.e. Android phones.

They last longer, really? You're just repeating some 1999 crap you've read somewhere. iPhones have been average at best when it comes to battery life - and that's been true for years already.
[doublepost=1550226836][/doublepost]

Yes there is. Google still tracks your every move. I would never go back to Android until they at least pretend to care about privacy. They make no qualms about data collecting.

Apple may have a few bugs, but they are committed to keeping your data secure and private. This doesn’t mean they won’t make mistakes...they have, but I prefer a company where I am not the product.

Understand?

Your comment that majority prefer Android over iOS is baseless and untrue.

Oh sure, and Apple doesn't track your every move. I hope you got location services and "Find my iPhone" turned off. And if Apple doesn't track you on your iPhone, then Twitter, Facebook and pretty much every single social media app, everything that uses geofencing will track you and store your information wherever. At least Google provides very useful location services through the Assistant, while Siri is dumb as bread.

Also: I hope you don't live in the US. If you do: your mobile service provider tracks your every move and sell that information to anyone who wants it. You can now even buy location info as a private person.
[doublepost=1550227197][/doublepost]

Google has had a decent number of hardware issues with their Pixel phones (in addition to lots of software issues), so I don't know that your case is really being made here. And if you have to deal with their support, they are TERRIBLE. Bad enough to make my wife get an iPhone, and she hates everything Apple.

Oh yeah, they're truly terrible. I live in a country where Google doesn't even sell their phones officially. When I had issues with the google Assistant on my imported Pixel 3XL, Google's customer service was extremely persistent in fixing the issue. They called me back twice, ran me through every possible scenario they could think of and eventually got me a new phone free of charge. Last time I had an issue with Apple hardware (and trust me, I had plenty of that), they attempted a repair (allegedly), I got the product back unfixed. I took it back to the Apple Store where they tried again - after I hadn't heard from them for over a month, I ended up writing to Tim Cook personally, upon which customer services eventually agreed to get me a new device. The latter part was great, the former was a total nightmare. So don't tell me Apple has better customer service than Google.
[doublepost=1550227339][/doublepost]

Well, maybe in the USA where Apple services work. At work we get an iPhone 8 and I know several colleagues who don’t use it because they don’t like how iOS works. Believe it or not, it’s true. Also the services on Android, like assistant, cloud, maps are so much better compared to Apple offerings.
85% in the world is using Android and not all those people have cheap phones.

yeppers, Android dominates the market pretty much everywhere. Including the US, where Android holds a 61% market share, while Apple has 38%.
[doublepost=1550227497][/doublepost]

You do realize Apple dominates in full on smartphones in markets were there is a choice. People who know better do not prefer Android.

ok, name one market that Apple dominates. And yeah, the US, the EU etc are places where people have a choice. And Apple dominates none of that. In fact, they dominate not a SINGLE market worldwide.

 

[Ramchi]

Google putting all generic stuff both hardware and software but trying to play premium with only advantages like excellent camera and immediate software updates (others also do it but not major version updates, immediately). There is very little or no customisation in hardware or software differentiating itself from regular Android.

Their hardware otherwise mediocre even for flagships with 4GB RAM. ricing is just out of the line for Google Pixel mobiles where as few mentioned earlier, still privacy, data collection concerns. Compared to Samsung flagships XL is still behind on features yet asking for top prices!

 

[ahireasu]

Yes there is. Google still tracks your every move. I would never go back to Android until they at least pretend to care about privacy. They make no qualms about data collecting.

Apple may have a few bugs, but they are committed to keeping your data secure and private. This doesn’t mean they won’t make mistakes...they have, but I prefer a company where I am not the product.

Understand?

Your comment that majority prefer Android over iOS is baseless and untrue.

Yet 90%? of the market belongs to android phones, sooo not so baseless is it?

 

[9081094]

Most of Google's data comes from search and the effect of Apple's deal with Google is far more widespread.

When there is money to be made

In terms of the bigger picture, the issue with iPhone sales isn't that pricing is too high, but that a growing number of iPhone users are content with what they currently have. People are holding on to their iPhones for longer before upgrading. When you take into account factors such as residual and trade-in values and monthly payment pricing, a $100 to $200 difference in iPhone pricing probably wouldn't make a huge difference when it comes to demand.

A cheaper android phone didn’t threaten the iPhone 5 years ago, and it’s not going to threaten the iPhone now.

The technology cap wasn't that big 5 years ago and iOS still had an edge over Android. Same with Siri.

Most of the things what made the iPhone attractive aren't noticeable anymore or even better on the other side. People are holding longer to their phones? It's not that everyone is upgrading at the same time every four years or so... it's because Apple doesn't give you a good reason to upgrade. It's the same with Macs. People will start to look elsewhere because there has never been a better time to do so.

Apple won't win back China. They've lowered prices there but people aren't just not interested in phones that are still priced twice at high while delivering the same or less than alternatives.

You can only charge premium when you give the customer a premium experience.

 

[Abazigal]

You can only charge premium when you give the customer a premium experience.

I think we are simply going to have to agree to disagree on just what a premium experience entails. The way I see it, what Apple offers isn’t for everyone, but it nevertheless appeals to enough users who are in turn willing to pay that premium. Enough to still make Apple insanely profitable and successful, even if the competition collectively outsells Apple in terms of volume many times over.

You don’t get an installed base of 900 million iPhones by making a crap product. There are, right this second, millions of people spending money on things that I wouldn’t buy. Things that I could easily find an almost unlimited number of “better things to spend the money on”.

Perhaps I could take the time to tell them all that they should be buying something else that they don’t actually want, but I do. However, I think I’ll stuck to just understanding that they probably have different tastes, personal circumstances, disposable income etc to me and therefore it’s probably best for them to actually just buy the thing that they decided upon with those factors taken into account.

 

[gnipgnop]

It's not that everyone is upgrading at the same time every four years or so... it's because Apple doesn't give you a good reason to upgrade.

The entire smartphone industry is slowing down in terms of sales cycles. It's a mature market + big drops in China for any foreign brand.

 

[mimeArtist]

Buy cheap. But twice.

I handed my iPhone 6 down to my daughter after 4 years, and it's still going strong. There is value in the iPhone so don't just take into account the initial purchase price.

I used to jailbreak my iOS devices so I could turn off the icon text and have a few widgets, but the novelty wears off after a while.

Had a google pixel for a while and you can customise as much as you partly have to do that because it looks so awful in the first place.

Customising phones is more for the hobbyist, and no one cares but you, what your home screen looks like — eventually you just worry about the apps your phone has, and iOS is just so much better for that.

 

[timber]

//Your comment that majority prefer Android over iOS is baseless and untrue.
Probably going by the market share, wouldn't that be easy to say?

His comment is written from an European point of view. Things are more or less like this:
Apple Maps - Even more useless than it seems to be in the USA. Lots of sub features (transit, interiors, etc...) unavailable in entire countries/major cities.
Google Maps - Everything Apple should copy. They should even copy Waze as it is much better for driving and they own it.
iMessage - You can go for weeks without a blue message as iOS marketshare is much smaller. That tells you everything you need to know. The standard is WhatsApp.
Siri - Not even available in several Euro languages. It isn't bad, it is non-existent.
iCloud - useless free tier, others similar than Google's. You can use Google's in iOS and Android and whatever with much ease.
iWork - Google Docs wipes the floor with it.
Google Photos - Lets not even go there.
Hardware Service - Less stores. Some countries don't even have a single one.
Apple Music/Spotify - System agnostic, who cares.

That said I do find Google's Pixel prices ridiculous and while Apple currently offers diminishing returns on value, at least they still have an original and differentiated offer.
Pixel's despite some tweaks Google offers are the same as all the other great Android phones for iPhone price. For that might you might as well buy an iPhone and use whatever services you prefer.
Those people looking for real value around here get a midrange Android phone or wait a few months for a Samsung (or whatever brand you like more) flagship for something between 2/3 to 1/2 of the launch price. All this preferably with Android One for updates directly from Google. Only 2 full updates but Android doesn't update as iOS where any slightest feature is bundled in the OS and in the end the phone itself is much cheaper.

 

[44267547]

uBreakiFix and their hundreds of locations for guaranteed OEM supplied parts repairs with same day service available.

This is not true. Ubreakifix does not have access to Apples OEM parts. Apple does not distribute/sell OEM parts to third-party repair stores, and they explicitly even will tell you that in store when you need a repair. If anyone is under the illusion that third-party access stores use Apple OEM parts, then they have been mis- lead severely.

 

[Jimmy James]

With all of the data mining Google should be paying you to use their phones.

 

[EightyTwenty]

Wait... you can get an OLED flagship for $799 or this “cheap” LCD version for $749?

LOLOLOLOL

 

[44267547]

Wait... you can get an OLED flagship for $799 or this “cheap” LCD version for $749?

For the record, I doubt consumers really care about an LCD display versus OLED. They likely don’t even know the simple differences between the two, especially considering Apples LCD panels have traditionally been very good with color and calibration. I think your argument is rather baseless.

 

[Timemaster]

View attachment 821957

With all of the data mining Google should be paying you to use their phones.

Is that from a stock phone with no apps or one with apps.
This is important as iOS is a lot picker on when apps are allowed to send data or run in the back ground.
Android you can have 20 different apps request data to be uploaded and not sync them up. It is encourage to do the sync ups but not required.

 

[macdragonfl]

If Google does what it did in the past offer a top tier phone for cheaper it will do bad. Smart phone prices have gotten out of line. Original iPhone was 400. Adjusting for inflation they should still be under $450. Top of the line used to 400. We have kept out of line with inflation.
Hopefully this will help bring them back in line.

The original iPhone was not 400. It was subsidized, 400 was your share of the cost the rest was bundled in your plan.

 

[Baymowe335]

Yet 90%? of the market belongs to android phones, sooo not so baseless is it?

We’ve been over why. Apple doesn’t make $100 phones.

If you think people “choose” Android when they buy a $99 phone, you’re delusional.

 

[spacemnspiff]

They last longer, really? You're just repeating some 1999 crap you've read somewhere. iPhones have been average at best when it comes to battery life - and that's been true for years already.

You must be living under a rock in Antarctica. See below.

iPhone 8 vs Samsung S8, even with 65% larger battery in S8, battery life is not comparable to iPhone 8, let me repeat, that 65% larger battery didn't help S8. Mate 20 with 50% bigger battery than iPhone 8plus only lasts 1.5 hours longer. Try again or go back under the rock.

Now go find an Android phone with a similar battery size as iPhone 8 and similar processor capability, and compare the battery life, hate to break it to you, not going to outwit this one. Are you back in 1999 yet?

 

[Baymowe335]

The previous poster is actually spot-on, iOS has a tiny portion of the mobile OS market compared to Android:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_operating_system

Again, read the thread.

 

[spacemnspiff]

Plenty of data mining hapoening on your iPhone.
That is unless you don't use any of the following: Google maps, Gmail, YouTube, Chrome, Search...

I made the choice of not using any services other than YouTube, if I had choice, I wouldn't use YouTube.

 

[5105973]

So if no one else is making any money, how are they all still in business then and trading? And don’t say the failed line of selling your data.

Look at the way Samsung's marketing of One UI is going. They see the phone becoming basically the interface point to a connected ecosystem consisting of all the appliances and tech their other divisions make. That's why they're not giving up on Bixby despite its existence annoying just about everyone. I can see where they want to go with it but it's a very long term plan that will take years to achieve and they really need to step up the quality of their goods and services, meaning no more exploding washing machines and phone batteries, for starters.

I own Samsung phones and my washing machine is on its last legs. I should be able to ideal candidate to woo to this ecosystem. But I can't say I'm too keen to buy a Samsung washing machine. It would have to have stellar ratings and a good warranty and be a good deal .
[doublepost=1550244517][/doublepost]

The feedback I am seeing is that apart from the camera, pretty much every aspect of it was problematic. You had people scrubbing it with a toothbrush to get rid of the abrasive marks on the back, some weird software issue where there would be notches all over the edges of the screen, and it not working properly with its own first-party wireless charger.

Consider the flak Apple received just for beautygate, which was in reality just more aggressive image processing. The only reason why the pixel got away with all these issues was that nobody really cared much about it. If it was graded on the same curve as the iPhone, the pixel would have failed many times over.

What? Two Pixel 3XL's here on the charging stands. If they had those issues they apparently we're fixed by the time we got ours. There are still a couple of issues that pop up here and there but the same can definitely be said of iPhones.

 

[kuwxman]

Good! Would love to play around with a cheaper Pixel phone at a Nexus-like price.