5 years in the past, I took a leap and received my first Pixel cellphone, not figuring out if it was value its price ticket. After utilizing three Pixels in a row, I do know for a truth they’re value each penny.
5
Google Does Android Higher Than Anybody
I used to be not a fan of Android taking on the smartphone world. The Android telephones I noticed rising up had been all sluggish, sluggish, and riddled with bloatware. So when the time got here for me to select my first smartphone, I selected Home windows Cellphone.
Quick-forward to 2017 when Microsoft formally discontinued Home windows Cellphone, and I used to be pressured to modify to Android. Guided by my previous experiences, I selected a cellphone that gave as near a inventory Android expertise as potential. I first went with Motorola telephones operating Android One, later upgrading to a Pixel 4a.
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Most, if not all, Android smartphone producers add their very own launchers, apps, and options to Android. It is what makes telephones from a selected firm stand out, however it additionally dilutes the general Android expertise, and the added options are not often helpful.
Google, then again, supplies a near-stock model of Android. The Pixel UI is intuitive and does not get in the way in which of utilizing your cellphone. It really works the way in which you anticipate it to, and does not confuse you with undesirable menus and duplicate capabilities.
This is not nearly aesthetics. Aside from a clear look and helpful options, this additionally contributes to higher efficiency. Pixel telephones persistently really feel extra responsive and fluid than different Android units I’ve examined prior to now, even with inferior Pixel {hardware}. Google has tightened its management over each {hardware} and software program with the launch of its Tensor G lineup of customized chips, which work in excellent concord with the software program.
To be clear, the Android you see operating on Pixels is not 100% inventory. Pure inventory Android is extra of a place to begin for producers to begin constructing their very own machine experiences—just like the Chromium browser that so many corporations construct customized browsers from.
Associated
What is the Distinction Between Samsung and Android Telephones?
Samsung makes nice telephones, however how are they distinctive in comparison with different Android telephones?
Android has come a great distance since its inception, and different producers have made enhancements to their customized variations of Android that allow them compete with Google. Regardless, I nonetheless really feel inventory Android (or as near it as potential) is the perfect Android expertise you will get.
4
They Have One of many Greatest Digital camera Experiences on Android
One of many first exams I did with my Pixel 4a was a biking journey to the mountains. This was completed inside hours of unboxing my cellphone, offering the proper check floor for the Pixel 4a’s digicam. The competitors was an iPhone 11, an iPhone 12, and my Canon 200D Mk 1 DSLR with a 50mm lens.
The pictures I took on that journey modified how I used my DSLR solely. For almost the whole period of the journey, my DSLR remained in my backpack whereas I used to be testing Google’s images and video software program wizardry.
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Not solely did the Pixel 4a beat telephones means above its class when it comes to digicam {hardware}, however it additionally made me notice that I did not want to hold my cumbersome DSLR in all places with me. The largest sport changer was Evening Sight, and I nonetheless imagine that it offers the perfect low-light smartphone pictures in 2025. The astrophotography mode made my life so much simpler, permitting me to take close to professional-grade pictures of the night time sky with out having to arrange my digicam within the freezing mountains and hoping to get the main focus and publicity proper.
Each my Pixel 7a and the newest 9a have stayed true to this sample. The digicam {hardware} has additionally improved since then, which means the pictures are higher than ever. As you’d anticipate, my DSLR nonetheless takes pictures that the Pixel (or any smartphone) cannot beat. Nevertheless, the DSLR has a considerably bigger sensor and a lot better optics. With the Pixel, you simply level and shoot and might relaxation assured that the picture will end up nicely.
One grievance I’ve in regards to the Pixel’s digicam expertise is that it isn’t the best at video. iPhones nonetheless handle to beat Pixels in the case of video, particularly cinematic video. Nevertheless, Google has made noticeable enhancements to how Pixels shoot video since then, and this appears to be heading in the right direction.
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Then come all of the AI options baked into Google’s digicam and gallery apps. Aside from Evening Mode, you get Magic Eraser, Add Me, Portrait Gentle, and tons of different options that may fully change your pictures from “barely usable” to “completely shot”.
3
Pixel-Unique Options Are Really Helpful
Once you purchase a Pixel, you get a litany of Pixel-exclusive options that combine themselves into your life. Earlier than you already know it, you possibly can’t return to a non-Pixel Android machine.
Aside from the aforementioned Google Digital camera options, these embody small high quality of life bits like Now Enjoying, Name Display, Maintain For Me, Direct My Name, and Face and Picture unblur. You additionally get nice software program like the superb Google Recorder and Pixel launcher. The power to make use of your cellphone as a webcam in your PC is neat, too.
These are all small options which may not be one thing you employ day by day, however turn into instruments you will not wish to do with out when you get used to them.
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You’ll be able to attempt to port Pixel-exclusive options to any Android smartphone to counter this benefit, however the porting course of typically includes putting in unofficial third-party APKs, manually dealing with processes, and even rooting your cellphone. Even then, the ported options will not work with the identical seamlessness as they do on Pixel {hardware}.
2
Distinctive Look and {Hardware}
Till the Pixel 5 lineup, Google’s smartphones had nice software program, however did not differentiate themselves a lot on the {hardware} and design entrance. With the launch of Google’s Tensor chip, each the {hardware} capabilities and design language have made enhancements that lend Pixels the distinctive design you see at this time.
The digicam bar (or visor) now offers Pixels a definite look, and the construct high quality has been bettering every technology. The Pixel a lineup, regardless of being the most cost effective telephones Google affords, displays this with higher supplies, inside {hardware}, and total design. This additionally interprets to the ergonomics of the telephones; I’ve no complaints about how good these telephones really feel within the hand.
On the Pixel 9, Google credit the brand new design language for making its newest cellphone twice as sturdy because the Pixel 8. I can say from expertise that these advantages trickle all the way down to Google’s finances telephones as nicely.
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No quantity of design and {hardware} enchancment goes to make a cellphone completely sturdy, although. I’ve cracked the screens on all my Pixel telephones shortly after shopping for them, together with cracking my Pixel 9a’s display inside a month of shopping for it (because of an unintentional drop). Nevertheless, they’ve all survived the display breaking and proceed to function as normal with no repairs in any way.
As for the interior {hardware}, Google’s Tensor chips cannot match prime performers within the Android area. Should you’re going by benchmarks and efficiency figures, these aren’t precisely top-of-the-line chips. That mentioned, they are not far behind, and I extremely doubt you will see any efficiency distinction in day-to-day utilization.
A few of it comes down to only how well-optimized Google’s software program is—now greater than ever, contemplating it is utilizing in-house silicon. Regardless, the {hardware} has wholistically improved over time. From the digicam, batteries, SoCs, and inside storage/reminiscence, to the supplies used within the cellphone’s building, Pixels really feel like flagship telephones and might justify their value tags.
1
Lengthy-Time period Software program Assist
In order for you your Android cellphone to final so long as it presumably can, shopping for a Pixel is your finest guess. A Pixel 9 bought at this time will get software program updates till 2031.
In comparison with most Android producers, Google affords seven years of software program help for Pixel 8 and newer units. This consists of Android updates, safety patches, and new Pixel characteristic drops. You may not get the newest options launched for the latest units, however your cellphone will nonetheless be supported and safe. Even older units such because the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 collection, launched in 2021 and 2022, respectively, are supported as much as 5 years—a rise from the initially promised three years of help.
Additionally, you will be first in line to get these updates, whether or not safety updates or a brand new model of Android. This retains your cellphone recent on the software program facet, with new options, enhancements, and safety updates commonly being added.
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Talking of safety updates, Google launches one each month. Android smartphones are a much more engaging goal for attackers to hit, making these safety updates typically the one barrier standing between a hacker and your cellphone.
Google’s Pixel telephones is perhaps a dearer purchase upfront, however they’re an funding that justifies the associated fee. The software program works wonders, the {hardware} is continually bettering, and the general package deal is healthier than what you get from the overwhelming majority of the Android ecosystem.
