so how come Google<\/a> continues to fail to turn its flagship into the “default” Android flagship that the Pixel should be?<\/p>\n Given that Google was the pioneer of Android and after years in the phone manufacturing business, how much time does Google need to convince people that the Pixel is the main event in the Android world?<\/p>\n Without getting too philosophical, I'd say that Google's biggest mistake was not trying as hard (as it does today) early on, since the days of the Nexus phone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Now, from a user perspective, the current state of the Pixel is what really matters, and while I prefer the Pixel 8 Pro<\/a><\/span> above Galaxy S23 Ultra<\/span>The truth is that there are a few crucial aspects of the Pixel experience that don't live up to the $1,000 starting price of the Pixel 8 Pro<\/span>:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Google now plays in the “pro league” of flagship phones, but the $1,000 Pixel 8 Pro still runs on a mid-range SoC, which offers decent battery life. Is it time to return to Qualcomm?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Google continues to mock the iPhone for its lack of the Pixel's AI camera features, but (in my experience) the iPhone takes better photos and videos in most cases.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n What strikes me most is that when asking me what phone I have, many \u201cnormal\u201d people answer \u201cdo you have an iPhone or a Samsung\u201d, instead of \u201ciPhone or Android\u201d. In other words, for many people, Samsung is the same as Android and vice versa, and this has been the case for many, many years. And that's a real advantage that Google will struggle to overcome.<\/p>\n What doesn't help is the relatively homogeneous Android scene in the US and Europe, which no longer has as many mid-range and flagship Chinese phones as before (partly due to the ban on Huawei).<\/p>\n So, yes, the Galaxy S23 series is (arguably) the default Android flagship for many people (especially in the US), which means Google should probably focus on competing with Samsung instead than Apple. However, if you look at Google's Pixel marketing campaign, you will only see videos aimed at “mocking” the iPhone. But the joke currently revolves around the Pixel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Can the recently announced OnePlus 12 become the default Galaxy challenger in 2024 instead of the Pixel 8 Pro?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The bad news for Google is that the Pixel doesn't exist in isolation. Nothing now attempts to create a better \u201cflagship killer\u201d than the Pixel; the iPhone has a better camera (in my experience); and OnePlus' next flagship could put the Pixel 8 Pro in a very awkward position.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Google's real 'enemy' is Samsung, not Apple: is the Galaxy S23 really the default Android phone?<\/h3>\n
Can the Pixel or any other 2024 flagship challenge Samsung's image as the “de facto Android phone”?<\/h2>\n
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