The Nexus 4 was a groundbreaking telephone – a close to flagship for $300. Okay, it did have its quirks, e.g. no LTE assist (although that wasn’t as necessary again in 2012), storage was restricted too. As an alternative of specializing in only one telephone we wished to take a look at the traits in Google’s telephone line-up.
We talked about the value of the Nexus 4 and we’ll see what occurred to the “flagship killer” standing of the sequence. This sequence is all about exploring a effectively acknowledged trait of a specific model or sequence – and we expect that software program assist is likely one of the defining options of the Nexus and Pixel telephones.
The Nexus telephones had been reasonably priced at first, particularly in the event you waited a number of months. The Nexus 4 dropped as little as $200 at one level. The Nexus 5 received worth cuts as effectively. Then got here the Nexus 6 – its $650 price ticket made many followers sad. It was nonetheless a superb telephone and it influenced Google’s strategy to handsets.
The next 12 months in 2015 the Nexus line was break up into two fashions that we’ll name “base” and “professional” for consistency. That was additionally the final of the Nexus line, Google began recent with the Pixel telephones.
These step by step elevated in value over time, peaking in 2018 and 2019 with the Pixel 3 and 4 at $800 and Pixel 3 XL and 4 XL at $900. After that Google modified course and recently the value of the small mannequin has been falling, taking place to $600 with the Pixel 6. The Pixel 6 Professional continues to be $900, although.
Curiously, the elevated costs didn’t harm the efficiency of the Pixel telephones available on the market. The other, in actual fact, as Google’s 2019 shipments surpassed earlier years by fairly a margin. Observe that the picture beneath exhibits cumulative shipments of all Pixel telephones, nevertheless it clearly regarded like Google is on the precise path. The corporate allegedly had large plans for the Pixel 6 sequence too, planing to supply 7 million, greater than every other sequence. Nevertheless, Google isn’t one to speak about gross sales, so we don’t really know the way effectively the 6-series did (we’ll have to attend for analysts to determine that out).
We are going to get again to pricing in a second as we haven’t lined the “Pixel a” sequence whose principal aim is to supply a Google telephone on a budget. How a lot would you pay for that fabled Google software program assist? Truly, how good is that assist?
We tried to convey that by a chart. The crimson line exhibits the interval in years throughout which a technology of telephones acquired OS updates (together with minor ones). The blue line is for the interval throughout which safety patches had been issued.
On common, Google presents 3 years of OS updates. The Nexus 6 stands out, however that was really an previous replace that arrived late – early on Android 7.1.1 was breaking Android Pay and it took Google some time to discover a repair (in the meantime customers had been downgraded to 7.0).
The Pixel 3 technology additionally stands out – it received 4 years safety patches as an alternative of three years as initially deliberate. In truth, the final replace for the 2 2018 telephones rolled out on the finish of June this 12 months (Android 12 arrived final 12 months).
Observe that the Pixel 4, 5 and 6 sequence presently run Android 12. The Pixel 4 and 4 XL will obtain their final assured OS replace in October of this 12 months. By the seems to be of it, that shall be simply lengthy sufficient to get Android 13 put in.
Beginning with the Pixel 6 technology, Google modified up the technique a bit. It nonetheless guarantees solely 3 years of OS replace (opponents like Apple and Samsung supply extra), nevertheless it dedicated to five years of safety patches. In accordance with the Assist heart, the Pixel 6 and 6 Professional will get their final assured OS replace in October 2024 and the final assured safety patch in October 2026. “Assured” since, as you noticed with the Pixel 3, there are some exceptions.
Earlier than we wrap up, let’s have a fast take a look at the Pixel a telephones. We have now grouped the Pixel 3a and 4a as comparatively small telephones and the Pixel 3a XL, 4a 5G and 5a as bigger telephones (with 5G within the newest iterations). As you may see, the pricing is pretty steady at round $400 for the primary group and $500 for the second.
We haven’t plotted software program assist on a chart since it could have made for a boring chart – the “a” telephones get 3 years of OS updates and three years of safety patches.
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
| Telephone | 3a & 3a XL | 4a & 4a 5G | 5a |
| Begin OS ver. | 9 | 10 & 11 | 11 |
| Finish OS ver. | 12 | – | – |
| When? | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| OS updates | 3 years | 3 years | 3 years |
| Final safety patch | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Patches | 3 years | 3 years | 3 years |
| Value (base) | $400 | $350 | $450 |
| Value (professional) | $480 | $500 | $450 |
There’s a Pixel 7 sequence coming later this 12 months, however Google hasn’t revealed an excessive amount of about it but. Contemplating earlier fashions, nevertheless, we will say that the telephones will in all probability get 3 years of assured OS updates and 5 years of safety patches. And we wouldn’t be shocked if Google maintains the beginning costs on the present ranges both.
