2023 was a solid year for Google as it expanded its mobile ecosystem. The Pixel 8 series brought some key updates that helped continue Google’s rise in the premium smartphone market. The Pixel Fold marked Google’s first foray into the foldable world while the Pixel Tablet was the latest piece of Google’s mobile ecosystem.
However, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Google, so let’s take a look at both the positives and negatives of the last 12 months.
Winner: Pixel 8 series
The Pixel 8 duo is Google’s most competitive flagship to date. Both phones got some notable hardware upgrades like brighter displays with thinner bezels, new Tensor G3 chips, and updated ultrawide lenses. The signature Pixel design has been slightly revised with the 8 Pro’s visor now housing all three cameras and both phones have received a boost in battery capacity although their endurance is still lower than that of Samsung and Apple flagships .
The Pixel 8 finally got a 120Hz refresh rate, and the added temperature sensor on the 8 Pro is a nice party trick, but two things separate the Pixel from any other Android phone: cameras and software.
The Pixel camera experience is undoubtedly the killer feature here, and it’s improved in both hardware and software with new ultrawide cameras and expanded AI features like Best Take, Magic Editor, and Photo Unblur. AI capabilities have also extended to the software side with the new generative AI wallpaper creation tool, as well as Pixel basics like call screening, real-time translation, and voice-to-text dictation.
Another key addition of the Pixel 8 series is the guaranteed 7 years of spare parts and software updates which would set a new benchmark for smartphone support. We’ll talk about it later.
The Pixel 8 and 8 Pro tick many of the right features for a flagship device. We hope Google stops limiting its software features outside of its core markets and expands into more regions in the next year.
Winner: Longest software and hardware support
Backing up your new devices with longer software and hardware support is one way to set yourself apart, even though this is now required by law in Google’s home state of California. With the launch of the Pixel 8 devices, Google has officially extended software support to 7 years. This means that the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro will benefit from up to 7 Android OS updates: Android 21 or whatever it will be called in 2030.
This is a huge win for consumers everywhere and we can only hope that more Android OEMs follow a similar approach with their upcoming flagships. The only downside is that older Pixels won’t have the same 7-year promise since the new software support is for devices using the Tensor G3 chip.
The right to repair movement has also led Google to promise 7 years of spare parts availability for its latest flagships. This deserves praise, especially as more and more users are hanging on to their phones longer and can now do so knowing that repairs will be readily available.
Loser: Tensor G3
For all the effort Google has put into its custom Tensor chips, they have historically performed worse in performance and power efficiency than their flagship counterparts Qualcomm and Apple. Even though the Tensor G3 is Google’s best chip yet, it still lags behind last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and Apple A16 chips, and that difference is only more noticeable with the new generation of competing SoCs.
As it stands, Tensor G3 is the Achilles heel of the Pixel 8 series with sustained CPU and GPU tests showing throttling within minutes and even worse performance than previous generation Tensor chips. Hopefully Google fixes its mistakes with the Tensor G4.
Winner: Pixel Fold
After years of waiting, Google finally delivered its first foldable phone in 2023 with the uninspiring name Pixel Fold. The device not only certified Google’s commitment to the future of foldable devices, but also showed how it should look from the Android maker’s perspective.
The Pixel Fold is one of the best-looking phones launched in the last year, bringing the signature Pixel design into a compact “book” foldable phone. Despite its 5.8-inch diagonal, the large cover screen makes typing and navigating the user interface much easier when folded, while the 7.6-inch main screen leaves plenty of space for multitasking and multimedia consumption.
The trio of cameras on the back may not be at the level of the Pixel 8 Pro or its predecessor, but you still get three significant lenses with a wide-angle, ultrawide, and 5x telephoto lens. You also get the clean Google software experience with specific optimizations for the foldable form factor and the promise of being first in line for major Android OS updates.
Pixel Fold It comes with the older Google Tensor G2 chipset which can be considered a major drawback and that high price is another big deterrent. However, we have to give credit to Google for a great first chapter in its foldable phone journey.
Loser: Pixel Watch 2 charging situation
The Pixel Watch 2 is a notable improvement over its predecessor with a faster chipset and longer battery life, but Google has decided to go with an entirely new charging solution that makes older chargers incompatible.
Google has opted for a new pogo-pin charger for the Pixel Watch 2 that, while shared with Fitbit devices, is still proprietary. Proprietary charging solutions are quite common in the smartwatch and smartband market, but not offering support for the common Qi wireless standard is a big disappointment in our eyes when we know that other brands’ smartwatches can easily recharge their batteries with wireless chargers Qi.
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