Google challenges Apple in high-end smartphones
Second generation of Pixel phones unveiled with larger, brighter screens, changes also on iPhone X
Google is borrowing from Apple’s playbook as it takes on its rival in the high end of the smartphone market.
The second generation of Google’s Pixel phones unveiled Wednesday feature larger, brighter screens that take up more of the phone’s front, changes that Apple is also making with its iPhone X scheduled to be released next month.
Both the Pixel XL and the 5-inch Pixel will also get rid of the headphone jack, something Apple did with the iPhone last year.
Google also souped up the already highly rated camera on the Pixel, boasting that it will take even better photos than the iPhone.
The smaller Pixel will sell for almost $650, $50 less than the iPhone 8. The Pixel XL will sell for almost $850, or $50 more than the iPhone 8 Plus. Prices for the iPhone X start at $1,000.
In Canada, the price for the Pixel 2 is set at $899, with the larger XL available for $1,159.
The company also introduced different sizes of its internet-connected speaker to compete against similar devices from Amazon and Apple. The Google Home Mini unveiled Wednesday is a button-sized speaker covered in fabric. It includes the same features featured in a cylindrical speaker that Google rolled out last year in response to Amazon’s Echo.
The Mini will cost almost $50 U.S., or $79 in Canada, roughly the same price as Amazon’s smaller speaker, the Echo Dot.
The standard Google Home speaker costs almost $130 U.S., or $179 in Canada. The Google Home Max is a rectangular speaker with superior acoustics for playing music, mimicking Apple’s HomePod. Google is selling the Home Max for almost $400, $50 more than the HomePod. Both speakers are due in December.
Google’s voice-activated digital assistant will serve as the brains for all the speakers. Something really unexpected: Google may not have the world’s best record when it comes to hardware, but when it does succeed it’s because it offers something that’s both a little bit out there and solves practical problems. Think of the Chromecast: When it launched, it was sort of a weird device for Google, and its main selling point was its ability for you to easily watch YouTube on your television. But it was also just $35 and let you watch streaming services on your TV without having to buy another subscription — so, what was there to lose?
But Google’s real strength is in software and services, which could make for some interesting logistical advances in the smartphone category. Even useful, working improvements to Google Assistant would be a good selling point if it really meant that your phone would understand what you were saying. With files from the Washington Post