Why is the latest generation of Google smartphones significantly cheaper than the competition? There are even some obvious reasons for this. Google is pursuing a rather unusual strategy for its own Android smartphones. Although the competition was already approaching. And at least in some respects, you continue what you had already started in the years before.
The two Pixel 6 smartphones were surprisingly cheap and that should look very similar even with the group’s first foldable. Of course, always evaluated in price comparison with other devices. Everyone has different ideas about what is cheap.
Pixel 6 series was surprisingly cheap
Google had surprised with the Pixel 6. The price starting at just 649 euros was damn close to the Pixel 5 from the previous year, despite the many innovations. The Pixel 6 Pro also made a statement. Comparable devices usually cost well over 900 euros or sometimes even at least four digits. Google “only” wanted an RRP of 899 euros and thus did not confirm their greatest fears.
It makes sense to do without the hardware used
Certainly there is also calculation behind it. So far, the Pixel phones have not been a huge success. It was rather the a-devices that sold quite well. However, Google probably also wants to keep up with Samsung and Co. in the upper price segment. You take a slightly different approach for this because the Pixel 6 phones didn’t just offer brand-new high-end hardware. Google didn’t try to outperform last year’s devices in every respect.
Examples: The newer 50-megapixel camera sensor is not the most expensive and newest model. In addition, the camera sensor for ultra-wide angles has almost been neglected. When it comes to loading speed, Google has taken a step towards its customers but is still very far away from the competition. This saves money in development because you don’t have to keep reinventing the wheel. The same with the fingerprint sensor in the display, which is just about good enough, but not top level.
In my opinion, savings are made where the exploitation of the latest possibilities is perhaps not absolutely necessary every year. The camera in particular shows that Google does not need the latest hardware to be able to keep up in terms of quality. And so we will also see various savings with the upcoming Pixel Notepad, which can make a lower price than the competition possible.
As a fan of the Pixel series, I very much hope that Google will stick to this strategy as far as possible, but not make any serious mistakes in the selection of the hardware used. The Pixel 6 series was a tightrope walk in some respects, but it managed to succeed apart from the software bugs.