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Google’s Pixel Smartphones are Hardware Challenged
May 24, 2020
Google management expressed disappointment regarding the design of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL before the devices even launched, and the line’s poor sales are proving their gut feelings correct causing two of the most important people on the Pixel team to leave. Marc Levoy was the computational photography expert who is a huge reason why Google Pixel cameras are so highly regarded and the camera performance was never an area of criticism, so it’s hard to say what Google phones will even be like without Levoy around overseeing the team.
Figure 1: Pixel 4 and 4XL
May 24, 2020
Google management expressed disappointment regarding the design of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL before the devices even launched, and the line’s poor sales are proving their gut feelings correct causing two of the most important people on the Pixel team to leave. Marc Levoy was the computational photography expert who is a huge reason why Google Pixel cameras are so highly regarded and the camera performance was never an area of criticism, so it’s hard to say what Google phones will even be like without Levoy around overseeing the team.
Figure 1: Pixel 4 and 4XL
Source: android authority
Google with control over Android is attempting to make a smartphone for everyone, not specific niche consumers, such as:
- Samsung and Huawei which make phone for power users
- OnePlus makes the fastest phones for Millennial tech enthusiasts
- LG makes the phones for audiophiles
- Xiaomi makes high performance phone at mid-range prices
Google has left its buyers craving
- Pixel phones have terrible battery life -- the Google Pixel 4 had a smaller battery than the Pixel 3, Battery life was already one of the most criticized aspects of every Pixel phone, so why provide a smaller battery
- Pixel phones have don’t have enough memory -- Google argues that Pixel phones don’t need tons of RAM or internal storage, but the company is developing software solutions and services that will make small amounts of RAM and storage work more efficiently. RAM is one of the cheapest hardware aspects of a smartphone and 64GB of storage is just not enough for most people. The high performance cameras in the Pixel encourage taking lots of pictures and videos
- Google Pixel phones are uncompetitive – While competition is reducing or eliminating, Google bezels are thickened; notches are on the way out, but Google is making them enormous; with multiple camera lenses added to phones, Google’s sticks with just one; With phones charging at super-fast rates, Google’s taking it slow.
- Pixel phones are plagued with hardware issues -- Buying a Google Pixel phone should assure the buyer that they will get all the help they could ever want, just like how iPhone users know Apple will help them with whatever they need but unfortunately every Pixel phone comes with hardware problems
- Millions of people can’t buy some Pixels -- The second-largest smartphone market on the planet is India, but the Pixel 4 is unavailable in India.
Google does get a lot right --the speed, consistency, and longevity of software updates are done really well, as is the general design aesthetic of Pixels. The way Pixel phones work with other Google products is also done really well, with seamless compatibility with things like smart speakers, Chromebooks, Pixel Buds, etc. Even the pricing of Google Pixel phones is pretty good. Google does alot right but somehow is blind to a bunch of really obvious problems. Google has everything it needs to make the Pixel line the most popular and best phone in the Android ecosystem. It has the money, the resources, the talent, and a direct line to every Android user. From: Android Authority.
In an interview with the Verge, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said, “The last couple of years have been a major integration phase for us because we’ve combined our Google hardware efforts with Nest. We absorbed the mobile division of HTC. So, it’s been a lot of stitching together. And we have a wide product portfolio, too. So, it’s definitely been a building phase. We’re super committed to it for the long run. Hardware is hard. And it definitely has components, which take real time to get it right, thinking about underlying silicon or display or camera or any of those tacks. I think we’ve made a lot of progress.” While Pichai saying that there have been difficulties in integrating Google-branded hardware efforts with the Nest team is both true and valid, it doesn’t really paint a rosy picture of Google. Google is one of the richest, most successful companies of all time, with huge power over both the tech industry and how we live. To think that a company of that magnitude can’t quickly and seamlessly blend two of its divisions is kind of strange.
Pichai discusses the three integral factors of successful hardware — including Google Pixel hardware.
- Drive computing forward-- make computing ascend to a new level; smartphone isn’t an end unto itself, but simply a means to create advancements in computing, which is a major aspect of Google Pixel hardware.
- Guide our ecosystem -- Looking at areas maybe where we haven’t done opinionated [work] — maybe [smart]watch is a good example where we haven’t. And then you can see it’s tough to guide an ecosystem to what your vision of it is, just building the underlying platform.
- Build a sustainable hardware business. I think all of it is important, and that’s how I think about it. And I’m excited. Rick [Osterloh] and team, working closely with Hiroshi [Lockheimer] and team, they have that long-term view.
- Driving computing forward: This is pretty self-explanatory. Basically, Pichai thinks that hardware’s purpose is to make computing ascend to a new level. It’s important to note this, though, as he’s essentially saying a smartphone isn’t an end unto itself, but simply a means to create advancements in computing, which is a major aspect of Google Pixel hardware.
- Guiding the Google ecosystem: This is a major aspect of all Google hardware. Google doesn’t just make laptops, for example. It makes Chromebooks that push all things Google so that trying to use the product without Google integration would be exceptionally difficult. Apple does the same thing.
- Sustainability: Runs through nearly everything Google does but how has the Google Pixel hardware team justified being on the list?
Pichai admits that Google hasn’t been doing such a good job in the smartwatch space. That’s hardly news to anyone even passively following the wearable industry, but it’s interesting to hear from the company CEO. He responded to the news of turmoil inside the Google Pixel hardware team by providing a clearer idea of how the company approaches hardware as a whole and that could help explain why Pixel phones look and function the ways in which they do. The next big piece of Google hardware is the upcoming Google Pixel 4a, which is expected at the end of June. The phone (expected to cost just $349) is expected to be a world beater, especially in comparison to the much more expensive Google Pixel 4 line or the recently released iPhone SE at $399.