I have been a happy owner of iPhone from 3Gs in 2009, and yes, I have updated since then. Once in those 16 years I have been temptedly tempting to change a pixel phone to Android or. But seeing Google Pixel 10 this week was the first time in a time that I started to entertain at least a sleeveless future.
Google’s new pixels are far from perfect, and I’m still far from changing. But it was the general tone of the event (from a technological perspective, instead of the celebrity festival) that left me feeling a change of impulse in smartphones. The pixels will continue to be a niche compared to the iPhones, but Google knows that the AI is its era, and the launch of Pixel 10 showed that its optimism is well founded.
The pixels are the phones most similar to iPhone on Android, instead of striking specifications and reference battles, these are characteristics. And they are these characteristics, in addition to Google’s surprise impulse in the repair and fun accessories, which caught my attention as an Apple fan for a long time.
Here are the five things that I think Apple needs to respond in its launch of the iPhone 17 in September.
1. Really useful characteristics
The great asterisk here is that we do not know exactly how well the new characteristics of Google, such as Magic Cue, will work in practice. And I have also lost the account of the number of times that Google has promised us a perfect magic, only to get crumb in contact with the real world.
But my impression of Pixel 10 launch is that Google has some great ideas and, most importantly, it is in the best position to achieve them. Take the magical example, for example: it is announced as the smartphone assistant of AI that we all want in recent years, appearing with relevant files or calendar inputs when we are sending messages or calling friends.
Even as an iPhone user, I’m still in the world of Google as a calendar user, maps and Gmail. I even use the Gmail application instead of Apple Mail on my iPhone. So, the idea of an AI assistant who can make connections between all these services is attractive, and I really do not see that Apple Intelligence does it better than Gemini in the short term.
Obviously, there are privacy problems, and it is likely to be a characteristic of slowly burning, but many characteristics of Google, such as voice translation, work well on the device. For a long time it feels as if Apple updates in the spaces of AI that attract me the most, which are not genumjis and playground. And the launch of Pixel 10 really rammed that house.
2nd first folding steps
Google knows that he is not a folding leader, but I like the fact that he is willing to at least throw his hat into the ring and itera. As our practical review of 10 folding Google Pixel concludes, it is not a reinvention and remains a few steps behind the Samsung Galaxy Z fold 7 due to its weight, thickness and lower cameras.
But the existence of the folding makes the Pixel 10 line feel more exciting. If I were in Team Pixel instead of Apple, I would comfort me that although Google is not a folding champion, at least he is refining his trade and obtaining the real world feedback you need to make a great pixel one day. Maybe.
After so many years with Apple, I know that this is not how it rolls with a new technology. Wait for others to publicly solve the problems before jumping everyone with the polished version to which they have stumbled. In theory, at least.
Am I sure what will do this with folding? It is not particularly, if the Apple Vision Pro and Apple Intelligence are something to happen. It is rumored that the iPhone fold is solving many folding problems (screen wrinkles, weak hinges and more), but for the time it is launched, it could be more excited about the AI devices without screen that will make the folders look like an organizer of PSION.
3. AI health coach
Health and physical condition is the area where I am more excited about AI’s personalized potential. Although for a long time I have been a fan of swimming and open water triathlons, I have never been a true data with BPM and VO2 Max, so the new Ai health coach of Google really appeals.
Unfortunately, we do not listen to much in terms of details, but the concept is exciting: a personal health coach, trained in their exercise, sleep and nutritional data, which can make small adjustments to their plans depending on their metrics and how he feels.
Watch
I have always fought with the tension between training plans and real life, with injuries, bad sleep and other events often cut my good intentions and lead to prolonged breaks. In theory, the new AI health coach for the redesign Fitbit application could solve this, for example, allowing me to talk with the assistant on the exercises for my rigid and the best alternative training for my deprived body of sleep.
Is Apple doing something like this? Almost sure, with rumors about Project Mulberry, recently suggesting that an AI health coach will be part of an Apple renewed health application. But again I am not convinced that Apple is better located to win here: Google’s coach is driven by Gemini, and so far Apple’s intelligence characteristics have been disappointing.
4. Chamber consistency
For a long time I have been an Buyer of Pro Model Pro iPhones, because the cameras are important to me, but I do not see why teleobjective cameras should already be reserved for more expensive models. The Pixel 10 series has eliminated this disparity, even the base model now comes with a 5X telephoto camera.
This is well reflected in the Pixel series as a whole. They are much more friendly to the average photographer than the iPhones, which are rumored that they will maintain their teleobjective cameras restricted to Pro models in the iPhone range 17. Even as a professional owner, that feels a bit bad.
This feeling of making photography accessible to all is also behind the camera coach, a new characteristic of AI that tells him the best way to compose and take photos. It is not a characteristic that I would use, but I like the concept and I am glad to exist.
That said, I am not a fan of all the functions of the Google AI camera. Its new 100x Pro Res Zoom (which should not be confused with Super Res Zoom) sounds as if it are exceeding the brand when it comes to the amount of details created in our photos. It still does not work in people, and the photos of the Pro Zoom are labeled as ‘edited with AI’ tools, but it still feels like a slippery slope for a predetermined chamber application for me.
5. The repair of Pixel Watch 4
I have owned Apple Watch for a long time, but the new Pixel Watch 4 has defeated it to a very great feature. Whenever you have a Torx screwdriver, you can replace your battery or screen at home.
Impressive, this very necessary feature does not affect the waterproofing of the smart watch. The only inconvenience is that Google has had to move the load pins next to the device, which means another new loading dock. Even so, that dock also looks pretty good, and the repair is generally a great net victory.
Although I hope that Apple Watch coincides with the other great update of Pixel Watch 4, satellite connectivity without emergency phones, I am less sure that we will see any important design change in the Apple Watch 11 of this year.
Rumors point to an important redesign for the Apple Watch 12, but there is still nothing in speculation about repairs. It is another area where it feels again as if Apple stays behind and is happy to rest in its neutral carbon ‘laurels’, but I hope you pleasantly surprise me in September.
