Google's Pixel 8 Pro could give some iPhone 15 Pro Max owners buyer's remorse
Little Google has come of age.
There was once a time when Google was just the company that worked on Android and then shipped it off to anyone who wanted it, letting them create all kinds of franken-phones. But these days, things are different. Google's a company that should be taken seriously. And the Pixel 8 Pro proves it.
That might sound a big strange, I realize that. After all, Google (or Alphabet, perhaps) is an absolute behemoth of a company. It has its fingers in many pies, and Android has been the other side of the mobile phone coin for years. But it's never really been in the same league as Apple. Its phones were never really in the same league as iPhones. Not really.
I write that as someone who's had Google phones over the years. Who's had Samsung and HTC phones, and loved them. But ultimately they never had that same level of polish, of put-together-thinking that Apple and the iPhone have always had. But today? Today, things are changing. And the Pixel 8 Pro is the most iPhone-like Android phone ever.
It's just a good phone all around
Let's take a look at what Google announced this week. There's the Pixel 8 and Pixel Watch 2 neither of which I'm particularly interested in. As an iPhone 15 Pro Max owner, I'm only ever going to want to take a look at the Pixel 8 Pro. And when I do, things look very good indeed.
Sure, there are the specs. The Tensor G3 sounds great and all and I'm sure it'll make all the apps and games scream. There's a big 6.7-inch Super Actua display which is Google's name for... something. I think it's Google's version of 120Hz ProMotion but with a worse name. But whatever, it's there. And there are cameras, three of them. A main 50-megapixel camera joined by two more 48-megapixel lenses. One's the ultrawide, the other is the 5x optical zoom. Lovely stuff.
But the specs only tell half the story. They're good, but all phones have good specs these days. You can buy a Chinese-brand Android phone for iPhone 13 money that'll have good specs. The difference? Well, that comes from two places; the fit and finish, and the intangibles.
It's definitely a looker
The fit and finish is one area where Android phones in general, and Google's in particular, have historically fallen down. Yes, things have gotten better in the last couple of years but to get iPhone qualities of materials and build quality, you've had to go Samsung. That's all changing and in reality it probably started a couple of Pixels ago.
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I'm trying very hard indeed to avoid saying "industrial design" because it makes me cringe, not least because it makes me think of Jony Ive in a white box. But the point stands — the Pixel 8 Pro looks like a solid chunk of glass and metal. It looks like it won't creak when you pick it up. It looks... like a phone that belongs at the top table. And not many do.
Sure, Google seems to have caught Apple's love of removing color from everything and Pixel 8 Pro's Porcelain, Bay (!), and Obsidian colors are far from inspiring. But I have an iPhone that is literally the color of metal so I won't be throwing any stones in this glass house.
And above and beyond all that, I just think it looks nice. Remember when that was reason enough to like something?
It's the bits (and bytes) you can't touch
But above everything, Google's real coming of age is in the software. Not just Android, although it very much isn't the mess of cluttered icons and mixed-up design language that it once was. I'm talking about the bits that hold everything together. The software that talks to the custom silicon that talks to the Google services.
Google, like Apple, now designs its own chips for use in phones and tablets. And as we already know, that makes a big difference. The Tensor G3 has special security features built in that allow the Pixel 8 Pro to be more secure and private than ever. It has all of the AI and machine learning smarts that make Google's amazingly impressive photography and videography features tick. And then there's how everything works with Gmail, Google Calendar, the Google VPN, and all the rest.
In short, Google hasn't come up with a proper name to bundle it all together yet, but it has its own iCloud. And unlike iCloud, it seems to work reliably and predictably.
Google has always been at the top of its game when building things that run on servers we never see. Building things that run on phones, it turns out, is also something it's good at. Building the phones has historically been a problem, but no more. And most important of all, meshing the servers with the phones with the industrial design (shudder!) is no longer beyond the company that for so long as just been the outfit that gave us Android.
Now? Now it's game on. And the better Pixels are, the better the best iPhone becomes. For that reason alone, we should all be pleased the Pixel 8 Pro is here.
Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.
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Just_Me_D This statement from the article says it all:Reply
“Today, things are changing. And the Pixel 8 Pro is the most iPhone-like Android phone ever.”
The most iPhone-like? Why would I give up the real thing for one that’s not quite the real thing? -
13promax2023
Imo as long as google keeps using repurposed samsung exynos modems they won't be taken seriously by any iphone user. I was a pixel 7 owner and got tired of its modem performance. It’s fine if you have good cellphone service but the moment you get into an area with less than the best coverage your cellphone connectivity takes a big hit. Ended up trading my pixel in for a galaxy s23 ultra. I actually have the best of both worlds because I also own a 13 pro max, the best iphone apple has made so far in my opinion. It's really nice to be able to just switch out my sim card and enjoy the best of both operating systems. Which is probably the real reason why apple decided to remove the sim card from every iphone since the 13. Anyway, back to those crappy exynos modems, not even samsung uses them anymore yet google insist on sticking them in their phones while both apple and samsung have moved on to superior snapdragons. And it's a shame too because I really enjoyed the pixel 7. I loved the call screening, the camera, and using other pixel exclusive features. Nonetheless, until Google ditches those modems I won't be going back to the pixel line again.iMore.com said:The Pixel 8 Pro is here and it's an impressive bit of kit. Now it's time to start taking Google devices seriously.
Google's Pixel 8 Pro could give some iPhone 15 Pro Max owners buyer's remorse : Read more -
FFR Just_Me_D said:This statement from the article says it all:
“Today, things are changing. And the Pixel 8 Pro is the most iPhone-like Android phone ever.”
The most iPhone-like? Why would I give up the real thing for one that’s not quite the real thing?
That’s the question. And the answer is you wouldn’t .
Psychologically speaking the more android copies Apple the more they alienate what remains of their premium fanbase.
Sooner or later those premium android users will switch to an iPhone as well due to a lack of differentiation, as you put it:
”Why would I give up the real thing for one That’s not quite the real thing”
Samsung shill that never had an iPhone
A lot of Samsung employees already switched to a. iPhone:
Samsung and pixel superfan that used to hate iPhones
This guy never has an iPhone, he just switched.
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FFR 13promax2023 said:Imo as long as google keeps using repurposed samsung exynos modems they won't be taken seriously by any iphone user. I was a pixel 7 owner and got tired of its modem performance. It’s fine if you have good cellphone service but the moment you get into an area with less than the best coverage your cellphone connectivity takes a big hit. Ended up trading my pixel in for a galaxy s23 ultra. I actually have the best of both worlds because I also own a 13 pro max, the best iphone apple has made so far in my opinion. It's really nice to be able to just switch out my sim card and enjoy the best of both operating systems. Which is probably the real reason why apple decided to remove the sim card from every iphone since the 13. Anyway, back to those crappy exynos modems, not even samsung uses them anymore yet google insist on sticking them in their phones while both apple and samsung have moved on to superior snapdragons. And it's a shame too because I really enjoyed the pixel 7. I loved the call screening, the camera, and using other pixel exclusive features. Nonetheless, until Google ditches those modems I won't be going back to the pixel line again.
You get live voicemail in iOS 17, it’s better than googles call screening.
It’s not just the modems that are crappy but also the Samsung made exynos “tensor” soc, complete garbage. Probably why flagship pixel sales are quite bad. -
FFR iPhone 15 pro max is making the pixel photo look dull and lifeless. Apple just crushed the only thing going for pixelsReply