Pixel Phone Reviews: A 'Truly Great Camera' and a 'Home Run' for Google

[sully54]

I think this is the first time Apple has real competition to the iPhone.

iPhone is successful because Apple is a services company. We all like to think of Apple as a software/hardware company but the real invisible force that keeps the company going are services. Until now, only hardware companies have tried to face off against the iPhone and, while they may have had good products on paper, they lacked the services to support the product.

This time it's different however. Google is also a services company—an arguably better one than Apple. And now they've built hardware. The biggest hurdle google faces is convincing andoird users who are used to buying cheap smartphones to pay a premium for the pixel.

Time will tell how this goes but google has a huge opportunity to take a large piece of the pie from Apple. Apple, on their part, can't be complacent or else they risk fading into irrelevance, just like blackberry.

 

[Red Oak]

The time has come for Apple to replace Google as the default option for Search in iOS. Ballpark, this distribution accounts for 20-25% of Google's total US business, which if by far its most profitable GEO. It would be a devastating impact to Google financials and data collection scheme

But, still keep it as an option for those who really want it (same as they currently do for Bing)

I have been using DuckDuckGo for the past year. It is great. I recommend trying it if you have not. I could see a future where Apple buys it, rebrands as Apple Search.

 

[Romy90210]

"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this,"

Steve Jobs.

Then Tim Cook Came alone and let the iPhone destroyed itself... We have to wait untill 2018 for Oled screen when the pixels already have it...

 

[newyorksole]

If I were to get an Android phone it would definitely be this one. Has a very clean sleek look and the operating system looks fluid.

Too bad the iOS / macOS ecosystem is perfect for me.

 

[melchior]

This is Google's first phone

How is this different the Nexus? Google doesn't own factories now, do they?

 

[Mr. Dee]

9 years late. I saw some live video demos on Facebook and Google Assistant is just as unreliable and dumb as Siri. Its obvious Mossberg was simply compensated better this time. Google is obviously spending some serious PR dollars hyping this up. Money talks, not to mention, many reviews are coming from review units Google sent out. Certainly, it pays to write something nice, because you want to be invited to future Google events where you get nice continental breakfast, face time with Google execs and reviewer units.

Apple does it, so does Microsoft and Facebook. CNET, The Verge, TechCrunch, Mashable, PCWorld, PCMag. They will be writing their love letters about Apple next fall. Its a never ending cycle. At the end of the day, the power is in the consumers hands. If you have a 5s, its a really good phone as evidenced by why Apple recycled it as the SE. I am really tempted to get the iPhone 7 Plus just because of the larger screen. Is it justified since my 6s seems to get the job done? No, but its what the industry has become now, a way to turn us into compulsive buyers and upgraders every year.

 

[69Mustang]

"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this,"

Steve Jobs.

"Didn't quite work the way I thought it would."

-Steve Jobs ghost.

It was petty and vindictive then, same still holds true today. Fortunately, Jobs did far greater things with the time he had.

 

[CapitalQ]

You know something is seriously wrong when they change the Android GUI each time a new version is released.

If you want to compare Android and iOS, iOS has undergone far more substantial UI changes from version-to-version than Android.

Android has more or less had the same UI now since version 5.0 (late 2014) - it's contemporary enough that they've only made minor tweaks and enhancements since then.

 

[1498032]

The time has come for Apple to replace Google as the default option for Search in iOS. Ballpark, this distribution accounts for 20-25% of Google's total US business, which if by far its most profitable GEO. It would be a devastating impact to Google financials and data collection scheme

But, still keep it as an option for those who really want it (same as they currently do for Bing)

I have been using DuckDuckGo for the past year. It is great. I recommend trying it if you have not. I could see a future where Apple buys it, rebrands as Apple Search.

If Apple made it even the slightest bit difficult for me to use Google as the default search engine I would strongly consider leaving the platform. Google is the best search engine by far, it's not even close, and search is such a basic and necessary function of modern computing. I'm not going to massively handicap my user experience just because Apple is in a spat with Google.

 

[mattopotamus]

It is still going to flop b.c of the way google is handling distribution. Bestbuy and Verizon are the only brick and mortar stores that sell it. They are not look for nexus sales numbers...this is their phone to compete with the iphone. I will actually be shocked if I see a single on in the wild.

 

[emm386]

Google is quicker in catching up than Apple is at innovating.
Both on the hardware as well as on the software side.

Not a surprise, if you look at who's in charge.
That said, I find this phone particularly visually unpleasing and way overpriced.

 

[Red Oak]

Messaging (both text and video calling) is a fragmented cluster F* on Android. How does one (seriously) handle this? Use of multiple messaging apps at the same time?

BTW, the rollout of Google Duo and Allo is a big fail. Already dead and falling on the charts. Google will never be a big player in messaging.

 

[A MacBook lover]

Google is quicker in catching up than Apple is at innovating.

Because one spends the time to find out what works, the other just looks at what the other did.

 

[CanadianGuy]

This is Google's first phone, and for a first effort it is remarkably good.

I can't wait to see their next first phone. Or better yet, their 10th first phone from now, that will be some awesome tech, unbelievable for a first attempt. Apple should just pack it in now, no way they can compete against a company that produces products this good on their first effort.

 

[2010mini]

An android phone with no Samsung bloatware? Yup, it's a Google iPhone.

 

[tbayrgs]

Seems like a good phone but I don't think iPhone users will find it appealing. I know I don't.

Well, this iPhone user (owned every single version since the original...until the 7) sure does and will be taking delivery of his XL next week.

 

[brianvictor7]

attitude ... yeah, hardly reality though ... they're data mining just like everyone else.

Why does Apple store 2 billion iMessage Pings per day for 30 days rolling? What are they doing with all that data?

So long as they don't share it without my permission, I am willing to let them admin in order to improve my user experience.

 

[Nr123*123]

The Samsung edge series is a cheap cop out compared to true edge to edge displays that are soon to come

Yet, it is widely acclaimed as one of the best displays and one of the best phones of the year (S7 Edge).

Is there oxygen in that bubble?

 

[Red Oak]

If Apple made it even the slightest bit difficult for me to use Google as the default search engine I would strongly consider leaving the platform. Google is the best search engine by far, it's not even close, and search is such a basic and necessary function of modern computing. I'm not going to massively handicap my user experience just because Apple is in a spat with Google.

I don't think selecting it from a list/drop down menu would be too difficult for you

 

[Dezmond]

Good start and let's hope to better competition so we get better features faster.

 

[amirite]

Why would someone want to buy a phone which tries so hard to be like another phone?

This phone says "Yeah Apple has great ideas so we copied them right down to the antenna bands".

Well if Apple has great ideas I'd rather buy Apple's 2017 phone and benefit from their ideas directly, rather than wait a year for Google's 2018 response.

 

[CanadianGuy]

The Samsung edge series is a cheap cop out compared to true edge to edge displays that are soon to come

I have an S7 Edge for testing (not as a carry phone), and the edge of the screen is awful in practise. My hands are constantly hitting things (especially the keyboard) just trying to hold it. And that's even after I added a case to try and give it something to hold on to.

 

[A MacBook lover]

Yet, it is widely acclaimed as one of the best displays and one of the best phones of the year

Which is true from a technical standpoint, not design.

 

[1498032]

Yet, it is widely acclaimed as one of the best displays and one of the best phones of the year (S7 Edge).

Is there oxygen in that bubble?

Oh come on, Samsung's phones have been "acclaimed" for years despite being universally mediocre. Even XDA-Developers, a huge Android community, frequently criticizes other Android reviewers for giving Samsung phones glowing reviews and describing them as "fast" and "powerful" when their own benchmarks clearly show that the performance of the Galaxy phones is massively handicapped by the bloated TouchWiz skin.

 

[MI MacGuy]

I love all the "9 years too late" responses. When this phone showed up doesn't matter, it's here now and will go toe to toe with Apple. More people than you think may have an iPhone but use Google services and will get pulled out Apple's ecosystem for this.

I frankly welcome this and the plethora of new devices that will challenge Apple's lineup. Other products like the Samsung Chromebook Pro that will come out at $500 with a Retina-comparable screen, aluminum construction, 12 hour battery life are really putting pressure on Apple to make bigger moves than just spec bumps and thinness.

This type of competition has been sorely lacking, both in mobile and computing for some time. It's like suddenly PC manufacturers decided their computers don't have to be beige boxes anymore and Google finally realized they needed to make hardware to showcase Android.

I hope Apple returns fire in a big way, both with their Macs next week and the iPhone next year.