In the pursuit for a new job, post layoff, I had to step away from tech. But now that things have calmed a little I am able to catch up on a few stories I have been meaning to weigh in on. In particular the new iPhone and the Pixel 5. I’ll begin with the Pixel 5.
We knew Google was going to step back away from high end flagship this year, and though it may have been not ideal for fans of bleeding edge tech, it was at a perfect time. With the economy still being in recovery as a result of the Pandemic, more people are likely to want to hold on to their money. Especially given that in the States a stimulus is even less likely until at best after the election. With layoffs and economic shifts continuing, the thousand dollar smartphone will be less ideal this year. This should mean Google will have the leg up right?
Eh, even from a diehard Google fan I felt it better to hold on to my phone another year. Though I liked the look of the phone, I was not ready to go back to a smaller phone just yet. Though I would have loved the fingerprint scanner at a time like this, where masks are required and more stores are set up with touchless payments. Face unlock is just not ideal. That said, I question why not adopt the newer standard of the underglass fingerprint scanner. The technology is over 3 years old now so I am sure Google could have still made that work without raising the price.
The other issue is that One Plus has practically out performed and out priced Google. The reason people like myself choose Google is for the stock Google look and feel. Well you can get that plus more with One Plus. And you can get it cheaper or pay a little more to get a topped out model.
At the end of the day I just do not see a justification for buying the Pixel 5. Had the economic downturn not happened I would have grabbed the flagship One Plus. But given the current environment I am ok keeping my Pixel 4XL for another year and seeing what Google is able to do next year.
How about the new iPhone?
I actually like the look of the new iPhone Pro models. Apple really did a nice job with the design. However, they too are dealing with the same economic challenges. With a lot of uncertainty people are holding onto their money. And a thousand dollar iPhone is just not going to cut it. Especially given that they decided not to include a charger in the box. Economists will point to sales being affected by the disappointment of the new iPhone. I think Apple may have released their best looking iPhone at the worst possible time.
