Pixel 6 is Google’s first real answer to the iPhone

Google often positions the Pixel series as an alternative to the iPhone, but in fact the competition does not start like this. Under normal circumstances, Pixel has become a foil to other Android phones. If you’re tired of cluttered interfaces, overly complex cameras, or the high prices of Google partners, this is what you get. Although this is good, there is a lingering feeling that Google doesn’t understand what makes iPhone fans so loyal.

Pixel 6 looks promising to change all of this. Although there is no guarantee that it will make Pixel a household name comparable to the iPhone or Galaxy brands, it shows that Google is ultimately targeting Apple directly. Not only in terms of specifications, design and even marketing-Google is pursuing this tight integration, which is difficult to achieve for many Android device manufacturers. This is Google’s best opportunity to affect not only iPhone users, but also Android fans who desire some of the advantages of the iPhone.

Hardware and software can achieve Apple-like harmony

Ask iPhone users why they don’t switch to Android phones like Pixel. They usually say that this is because many things are “available.” Whether they know it or not, they mean that hardware and software work closely together-this is correct on a basic level. Apple can optimize iOS features and performance for a small number of devices; it can design chips and other components to support iOS features that may take years to achieve. You know that you will get a fast, well-supported phone whose advantages are not always easy to replicate elsewhere.

Google has dabbled in custom hardware in the past. Pixel Visual Core helps to process image processing on Pixel 2 and Pixel 3, while Neural Core of Pixel 4 is an internal machine learning processor, which goes a step further in this regard by implementing more powerful speech recognition and transcription functions. Pixel 4 also implements Google’s Soli radar technology for touchless gestures.

read more: Why Pixel 6’s Tensor chip is actually important (why not)

Even so, Google does not have much control over the fate of its hardware. Like many Android vendors, it is largely related to its main chip supplier Qualcomm. Despite Google’s best efforts, the latter’s roadmap largely determines the limitations of Pixel’s performance, updates, and functions, and Apple can move freely in almost any direction with the iPhone.

For Pixel 6, this will not be a big problem. Google launched its first mobile system chip-Google Tensor, whose core is machine learning. The company has more freedom to prioritize performance, security, and CPU-related functions (such as voice recognition). Google will still have to use some inventory components, and will not have as much control as Apple. Even so, it should have more iPhone-like integrations, which many Android vendors only want them to have.

We will be blunt: Google’s Pixel phones have only truly flirted with flagship status. Although they often have high-end chips and occasional material comforts, they are rarely comprehensive equipment that wins the specification or design wars. They use the same basic camera hardware to a large extent, and their design can best be described as…thrifty. Although Pixel phones are sometimes better value for money than iPhones and similar flagship phones, they are never the absolute best (or brightest) device you can put in your pocket.

Pixel 6 did not make these concessions, at least not at first. Of course, Tensor promises unique performance advantages, but you can also expect a completely updated camera array with an improved main sensor, as well as the shift to a triple camera array on the Pixel 6 Pro long ago. We are also looking forward to seeing a 120Hz display on high-end models, and the leak indicates that memory and storage will catch up with modern expectations. This Pixel may easily keep pace with the iPhone and the best Android phones, not just competitors in the same price range.

You can also take a look: What to expect from the Google Pixel 6 camera

Yes, design is important. Whether you think the Pixel 6’s two-tone appearance is outstanding or a gimmick, there is no doubt that it screams “flagship” in a way that Pixel 4 has never done before. This is a Pixel that you want to show off in front of your friends. It might make iPhone users a little jealous. In turn, this may attract the attention of everyday shoppers who ignore the early Pixels in favor of competitors that look good (if not necessarily technically better).

Google will also sell it like a flagship

Android fans like to argue that the iPhone defeated the Pixel, thanks to marketing, not technology. However, compared to its biggest competitor, it would be fairer for Google to short-sell Pixel. Aside from the initial marketing blitz and occasional advertising, you can hardly believe that Google is one of the most influential technology companies in the world, and it makes its own mobile phones. Pixels are great devices-it’s just that most people don’t even know they exist.

This may not be a problem with Pixel 6.Google’s Rick Osterloh tells edge The company believes that Pixel 6 is “really a Google phone now”, and the company hopes to gain market share. Therefore, Google’s Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat warned that marketing expenditures for product launches will increase significantly later in 2021. The technology giant is finally confident that the Pixel will be sold as a flagship product on par with the iPhone and Galaxy S. This may be the key to Google’s realization of some belated sales.

In this regard, Google will have more control over the way it sells Pixel 6. Although Google has only one permanent retail store at the time of writing, a larger network of stores helps reduce the company’s reliance on operators and large technology stores, which are generally less interested in promoting Google hardware. Apple’s retail stores help the iPhone succeed by providing customers with a simple way to view and try out the device—Google won’t repeat this success anytime soon, if any, but it may scroll through the Pixel 6 life cycle.

However, the surge in spending suggests that Google may not have to rely too much on its own stores. Marketing funding may lead to wider carrier availability, not to mention more prominent in stores. You might buy Pixel 6 because it is more likely to appear in a local store near you. Simple exposure is also very important. Apple and Samsung often flood the market with advertisements for their latest flagship products. If Google can promote the new Pixel with close to the same level of intensity, it may have a flagship product that is both popular and powerful.