The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 saga has left many ardent Samsung fans in shock. Samsung’s high end phones have always been highly regarded. But this year, many of you might be looking away from Samsung devices. And if you are indeed considering other brands, we would suggest you to consider the Google Pixel devices.
Google has just announced its Pixel smartphones for India which are now available for pre-order as well. The new Pixel and Pixel XL are the first smartphones to be made by Google itself (atleast that what Google claims). Pixel is priced at Rs 57,000 for 32GB variant and Pixel XL is selling at Rs 67,000 for 32GB variant.
But does Pixel XL has everything it needs to overcome the challenge of Samsung Galaxy S7 EDGE which still has a fan following despite Samsung’s woes.
Note that Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge sells at Rs 50,900 for the 32GB variant. While, the price difference is of about Rs 16,000, still these smartphones come head to head and let’s see if Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge can compete against the recently launched Pixel XL.
Design and Display
Starting with the design, these smartphones differ a lot. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge takes the design language from S7 or Note 5 with glass both on the front and back making it an extremely slippery device and a fingerprint magnet. Nevertheless, it feels premium in hand, Thanks to metal sides coupled with glass front and back. On the other hand, Google Pixel XL features a unibody metallic design with a fingerprint scanner at the back.
So we would suggest you to go to an experience center and check out the devices physically which will give you a decent idea about their actual build quality.
Regarding the display, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge’s 5.5 inch screen has Quad HD Resolution and it is a Super AMOLED Display that offers superb output and is considered as one of the best to feature in a smartphone. The display is slightly curved in the edges which is why the name is named Galaxy S7 Edge.
Google Pixel XL too has a 5.5 inch Quad HD AMOLED display but it has no curves. Note that both of them offer with Gorilla Glass 4 protection.
Processor and Memory
Google Pixel XL with just being launched has an edge in this department. Google Pixel XL is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Processor clocked at 2.15GHz and Adreno 530 GPU. For multi-tasking, it has 4GB RAM and 32GB internal storage which is not expandable. Though there is a 128GB variant as well but that is even more costlier.
On the other hand, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (Indian version) has the Exynos 8890 Octa-Core processor clocked at 2.3GHz and Mali-T880 MP12 GPU. Further, it also has 4GB RAM and 32GB internal storage which is expandable up to 200 GB.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box and will be upgraded to Android 7.0 Android Nougat soon. On the other hand, Pixel XL is a device from Google so it runs on the latest Android 7.1 Nougat and will get the future updates straight from Google.
Camera
In the photography department, things get really intense. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge boasts a 12 MP primary camera with f/1.7 aperture, phase detection autofocus, OIS, and LED flash. At its front lies a 5 Megapixel camera with f/1.7 Aperture and Auto HDR feature. The primary camera is capable of 4K video recording.
Google Pixel XL offers a 12.3 MP rear facing camera with 1.55 micron pixels size and f/2.0 aperture. It has an 8 megapixel front shooter with f/2.4 aperture. Google boasted that both Pixel and Pixel XL received a DxO Mark rating of 89 which is highest in any smartphone up till now. However, we are yet to test Pixel XL’s camera so we can’t comment on the actual quality. Whereas, Galaxy S7 Edge’s camera is one of the top smartphone cameras in the market right now.
Battery and Connectivity
Batteries on both the phone promise to be offer a decent battery life. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is powered by a 3600 mAh battery life while Google Pixel XL is powered by a 3450 mAh battery.
Both the phones also come with necessary connectivity options such as WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS, NFC etc. While, Galaxy S7 Edge comes with a Micro USB 2.0, Google Pixel XL comes with the new USB Type-C for charging and data transferring.
Wrapping Up
Well, given the price difference, Galaxy S7 Edge comes with pretty decent specifications but if you want latest updates and a Stock Android experience then Google Pixel XL is for you. In fact, there is no other device right now in Android mobile industry which will receive updates faster than Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge on the other hand comes with TouchWiz UI which though has been improving year on year still it is far behind the stock Android experience. However, it comes with some additional features such as Multi-Window which Google introduced in Android 7.0 for stock android.