How much option is too much choice , and when does it become no pick at all ? Whether it ’s scrolling through Netflix or YouTube ’s huge libraries or bet at a wardrobe bursting at the seams for something to wear , but finding nothing , it ’s often dewy-eyed when there are just a couple of unmortgaged , well - curated choices from which to select .
Google has start full “ packed wardrobe ” with the new Pixel 9 serial publication . There arefour different good example in the range , with a fifth already on the shelf , and I ’m about to tell you why Google has still gotten it all wrong .
Your choices for the Pixel 9
For 2024 , you may prefer between the 6.3 - inchPixel 9 , the 6.3 - inchPixel 9 Pro , the 6.8 - inchPixel 9 Pro XL , and the 6.3 - inch/8 - inchPixel 9 Fold Pro . The screen represents the liberal visual conflict between the unlike phones , apart from little changes in the battery capacity . Of of course , the higher up the range you go , the more technically impressive the camera catch . The 9 Pro Fold stands slimly aside , as it has two screens , and the camera sit somewhere in between all the non - foldaway Pixel 9 phone .
Google has four “ main ” phones and a foldable phone , ready to please everyone disregardless of whether they want a modest , medium , or large headphone with a good television camera or not . Or so it thinks . It has also hit those all - significant cost points ( which is really what its newly fill out range of mountains is all about ) withthe Pixel 9 yours for $ 799,the Pixel 9 Pro for $ 999,the Pixel 9 Pro XL for $ 1,099 , andthe Pixel Fold Pro at the top of the pile at $ 1,799 . Do n’t forget about the Pixel 8a either , a 6.1 - inch telephone set for $ 499 .
This is too many example of the same phone , with the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL being the worst wrongdoer , as they are the same phone split in two , with one adopting the Pixel 9 ’s screen size , yet keeping the best camera recover on the bigger phone . Inside the merchandising beehive mind , this stand for the 9 Pro is a “ small ” flagship phone for those who do n’t want a screen as tumid as the Pixel 9 Pro XL ’s , but do n’t want to miss out on the camera . Brilliant ! A heavy vendor , for sure , they all tell each other . Except , it’snotsmall at all , is it ?
These are not small phones
The Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro are the same physical size and , interestingly , also portion out basically the same dimensions as the Pixel 8a , a phone with a 6.1 - column inch blind . They are just4.6mmless wide than the Pixel 9 Pro XL , but 10 millimeter shorter . All three have the same 8.5 mm astuteness , but the weights are dissimilar , with the 9 Pro XL being 22 grams heavier than the other Pixel 9 earpiece , which are just a gram or two away from being 200 grams . It ’s hardly a range replete with dramatically different model , and I bet hoi polloi will gravitate toward the top or bottom of the pile .
None of these are little or calorie-free smartphones and , therefore , become sport on the same radical . Sure , the Pixel 9 Pro does a goodimpressionof being a small flagship machine , as it baby-sit neatly in the midriff of the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro XL on report , but since when has a 199 - g , 72mm - wide , 8.5mm - chummy earpiece with a 6.3 - column inch silver screen been small?It has n’t , and I wonder whether anyone who really wants a high - end little earphone will genuinely be satisfied with it .
Apple makes a smallish flagship smartphone . It ’s theiPhone 15 Proand it has a 6.1 - inch silver screen , is 187 Hans C. J. Gram , and 70 millimetre astray . Asus does it properly with theZenfone 10 , which weighs just 172 g , is 68 mm wide , and has a 5.92 - in screen . That ’s a little phone by today ’s touchstone , but even it look enceinte next to the oldiPhone 13 Miniwith its 5.4 - in screen , 64 mm width , and 141 Hans C. J. Gram weight . Google has n’t got anywhere near making a modest Pixel phone . Instead , it now has three phones that are bigger and grueling than aSamsung Galaxy S24 .
Who wants what?
None of Google ’s Pixel phones are small , but it does n’t matter as , for the most part , nobodyactually buyssmall phones despite saying they want one . Google has really made various “ positive ” phones , but most of the time , those phones are the one no one need either . These awkward Plus models sit down in the middle of the range , pleasing nobody , as you either think the standard model will be fine or plainly go all - out and buy the top one .
Google has successfully made its scope perplexing . I do n’t require the canonical model because I desire the best camera , but the 9 Pro is n’t really all that smaller than the 9 Pro XL , and the bigger battery and sieve are worth the supernumerary $ 100 , so I ’ll just get that one . Or I desire a really magnanimous screen and I am not so worried about the camera , so I ’ll get the 9 Pro Fold . Or perchance that ’s too expensive , so I ’ll just get the 9 Pro XL . If I want a cheap Pixel , then the Pixel 8a is much cheaper than the Pixel 9 .
The Pixel 9 range is bigger than ever before , but it does not seem to solve any more problem than before . Instead , it makes the purchasing decision hard as , in all likelihood , more than one sound will do what you need , or if you ’re really unlucky , what you want will fit in between two models , and you wo n’t know which to pick .
It ’s a problem of Google ’s own making . If it wanted to make a low flagship sound , it should have made one , even if no one went on to grease one’s palms it . What we ’ve got is a collection of phone that have been made to accommodate a Mary Leontyne Price and have ended up being much too similar , bookended by a cheesy earphone with old technical school and a very big , very expensive phone . At least one model in the Pixel 9 range is move to be ignored anyway , and I ’d rather that have been a genuinely dissimilar model from the ones we ’ve got .
