Google is dialing up the smartphone competition.
The Alphabet-owned
GOOGL,
tech giant revealed its anticipated Google Pixel 8 phone series during its Made by Google event in New York City on Wednesday, where it also shared its Pixel Watch upgrade and played up its AI innovations.
The newest Google smartphones and watches are already available for preorder, and will ship the week of Oct. 12.
The Pixel 8 base-model phone starts at $699, which is $100 more than last year’s Pixel 7 model. Google played up the phone’s camera and AI features, and how they will deliver “simple, fast and smart experiences” for users. For example, “Clear Calling” claims to automatically reduce background noise and enhance voices on any phone call, so you can hear the speaker clearly even if they’re on a busy sidewalk or in a packed restaurant — and it kicks in automatically, without the user needing to turn it on.
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The cameras, particularly those on the Pixel 8 Pro (which starts at $999), are also tapping AI to give you more control in creating the photos and videos you want. For example, the new Best Take feature is supposed to help you get the perfect group shot. Let’s say you try taking a group photo dozens of times, but someone is blinking or looking away from the camera in every single snap: Best Take lets you choose the best expressions or “faces” among a series of photos that were shot closely together, and you can grab different expressions from different takes and swap them into one perfect image. And the Audio Magic Eraser lets you erase distracting sounds — like a barking dog or a car horn — in your videos.
This announcement comes just weeks after Apple
AAPL,
dropped its latest iPhone 15 series and Apple Watch Series 9 models. Apple also raised some of its phone prices this year. While it kept the starting price for its newest base-level iPhone the same $799 as last year, and the iPhone 15 Pro also kept last year’s $999 starting price tag for 128 GB of storage, the cheapest iPhone 15 Pro Max is now $100 more than last year’s $1,199 starting model, although it comes with double the storage.
So here’s a look at how the Google Pixel 8 base model compares to the base-level iPhone 15 and Samsung Galaxy S23
005930,
:
And here’s how the pro models/premium versions of Google, Apple and Samsung’s phones compare:
Some analysts think that the iPhone 15 series could push Apple toward finishing the year as the global leader in smartphone shipments for the first time ever. “The iPhone 15 launch is a window for carriers to steal high-value customers,” Jeff Fieldhack, Counterpoint’s North America research director, said in a recent statement. He noted that with many iPhone 12 owners probably due to upgrade their devices, “promos are going to be aggressive, leaving Apple in a good spot.”
Here’s more on smartphones at MarketWatch:
What’s a better deal — buying an iPhone 15 or investing $800 in Apple stock?
Apple’s iPhone 15 vs. iPhone 13: Is the upgrade worth it?
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