The Google Pixel is probably one of the most anticipated phones of the year, after all the stock UI and 2 years of guaranteed updates are what attracts the Nexus fan to buy the phone.
There is usually another reason to pick up a phone from Google, because it is more affordable than most flagship phones. But that may not be the case this time around, if a report by Android Police is true.
The Google Pixel could be priced at $649, and get this, the price tag is apparently for the 32GB storage variant of the Pixel phone. The Pixel XL with a larger screen will cost more.
Google is trying to step into the world of premium phones, with its first HTC manufactured Google-made phone, but is this the right price to start with? We don’t think so. But apparently will offer financing options (EMI or installment) to help people buy the phone and pay the rest over time. But this only applies to the U.S, the rest of the World will likely frown upon the price tag.
Here’ why we think a Pixel phone at $649 isn’t a good deal:
1. This happens to be the same price as that of the recently launched iPhone 7, which is water resistant, has a high performance A10 Fusion chipset, with dual cameras which could potentially rival that on the Samsung Galaxy S7. Speaking of which the Galaxy S7, retails for $649 (post some launch price cuts). In comparison, the Nexus 6P was available for $499 when it was launched, although the Nexus 6 was priced at $650.
2. iPhones normally get many years of updates, sometimes even up to 5 years. No Android phone can say the same, not even a Nexus. FYI, the Nexus 6 is still on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, a month after Google released Android 7.0 Nougat. Nexus devices get up to 3 years of security updates. For e.g: The Nexus 5 which was released in 2013, got updated to Android 6.0 Marshmallow in November 2015, and was not updated to Nougat this year. The iPhone 4S which was launched in 2011, was updated every year since and got its last major update to iOS 9 last year. The phone received its final update to iOS 9.3.5 in August 2016. That is almost 5 years.
With Samsung messing up with its Note 7 battery fiasco, and Apple risking it with a “courage”ous decision to skip a 3.5 mm audio jack for its iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, and Google’s hefty price tag for the Pixel phones, the real winner out there is undoubtedly the more affordable, and solid specced OnePlus 3 with a $400 price tag.
