Google is leaving no stone unturned within the newest Tensor-powered chapter of its Pixel merchandise. Not solely has the corporate refreshed Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Professional, however it’s additionally introduced the Pixel Watch and extra particulars in regards to the Pixel Pill. Whereas Google’s new flagship Pixel telephones and its first-ever smartwatch home top-of-the-line specs, that’s not what it’s banking on to promote them. As a substitute, it’s taking over Apple’s iPhone 14’s unmatched {hardware} by taking part in to its energy: software program.
The Made by Google occasion made one factor unequivocally clear: Google is aware of taking over the iPhone’s {hardware} is an uphill battle. Apple’s in-house silicon division has years on Google’s pretty nascent counterpart. Regardless that Google’s Tensor processor was successful on final yr’s Pixel 6, it’s nonetheless removed from catching as much as Apple’s A-series chips.
Google’s pitch for the Pixel 7 telephones, subsequently, was in clear distinction to the one Apple made for the iPhone 14 final month. In contrast to Apple or another cellphone maker, Google didn’t spend a lot time diving deep into the Pixel 7’s specs — it didn’t inform its viewers what the distinction ratio was of the display screen or the variety of transistors inside its new Tensor G2 chipset. No, as soon as it revealed just a few important bits of the telephones, akin to their show sizes and the addition of Face Unlock, Google shortly moved on to debate the experiences these upgrades allow and why they matter.
Versus placing up a chart pitting the Tensor G2 towards the competitors, for instance, Google launched a spread of intelligent AI-backed options like the power to see the extension choices of a enterprise name proper in your display screen as a substitute of getting to take heed to them and reducing the noise out while you’re phoning somebody in a loud atmosphere.
The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Professional’s cameras have been equally uplifted by way of software program due to the Tensor G2’s further energy. They provide a bunch of latest choices that can come in useful in day-to-day use. You possibly can, for instance, scan your previous polaroids and the Pixel 7 will unblur any blurred faces on them and repair different blemishes like lighting points. Plus, the Pixel 7 can neatly reap the benefits of its a number of cameras to forestall your shaking arms from affecting your zoomed-in photos and movies. A brand new accessibility device known as Guided Body will help visually impaired customers to angle their telephones appropriately to seize selfies with audio cues and haptic suggestions.
“Each Pixel gadget is designed to ship a degree of non-public intelligence that turns day-to-day issues into actually pleasant experiences,” Google wrote in a weblog put up.
The Pixel 7 and the iPhone 14’s taglines mirror this stark distinction in approaches. The previous focuses on what its specs ship on the finish of the day: “Merely Highly effective. Tremendous Useful,” whereas the latter is supposed to plainly spotlight the iterative soar in its show and battery sizes: “Large and Greater.”
In fact, Google’s software program has been the cornerstone of the Pixel sequence since its inception. Nonetheless, the arrival of the Tensor chip has allowed Google to fine-tune the expertise for its in-house companies. And because the Pixel 6 proved Google is now not too far behind in efficiency — releasing up its silicon efforts from the limitless scrutiny — the corporate can tuck the {hardware} within the background and let its software program actually take middle stage.
Moreover, {hardware} supremacy has a ceiling and as evident from the iPhone 14 keynote, Apple can be working out of concepts to promote its units, turning to grand software program instruments like automotive crash detection to draw consumers. Excessive-end specs are just about now the default throughout the trade, particularly within the premium flagship vary. Irrespective of the cellphone you choose up, you’ll get a display screen that’s shiny and sharp sufficient, a sufficiently quick chipset, all-day battery life, and extra.
The one place the place there’s room for competitors, it seems, is within the software program. Google is now capitalizing on this saturation in addition to its machine-learning prowess to place the Pixel 7 as a continuously evolving smartphone.
We’ve already witnessed this with earlier Pixels. Since 2019, Google has commonly introduced new skills to its previous telephones — along with the newest mannequin — by way of an initiative known as “Characteristic Drops.” The latest one in June of this yr was rolled out to the three-year-old Pixel 4. Apple, as compared, hardly ever broadcasts backward-compatible options no matter whether or not they’re hardware-dependent. For somebody spending $1,000 on a cellphone (the Pixel 7 Professional prices $899), Google’s software-first focus just isn’t solely extra attention-grabbing but additionally sensible as they might count on it to final just a few years.
Google, in plenty of methods, breathed new life into its Pixel sequence final yr with the Tensor chip. The Pixel 7 is a extra refined iteration of that, and on paper it gives a super stability of software program and {hardware} at a extremely aggressive value. Whether or not that’s sufficient to make Apple nervous stays to be seen, however Google is unquestionably going all-in because it despatched its largest Pixel order to suppliers. It reiterated its dedication to the Pixel lineup by including that Tensor “represents years of improvement throughout Google and a long-term funding within the Pixel portfolio.”
