Last week was the big launch of the Pixel 9 series. Pre-orders are now over for the vanilla Pixel 9 and 9 Pro XL, and they’re on sale now . You can still get store credit from Google ($100 for vanilla, $200 for XL) or a gift card from Amazon. The smaller Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro Fold are still available for pre-order, launching early next month.
These are the two models available from this week: the Google Pixel 9 and the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
This week we wanted to focus on what you can get instead of a Pixel 9 – starting with a Samsung Galaxy S24 model. All three of these get 7 years of software support, just like the Pixels, and they come with a host of AI features, often driven by Google itself. Still, One UI does come with some advantages (e.g. DeX, Good Lock), and you can get more storage for less. That said, the Galaxy S24 phones are light on RAM compared to their Pixel counterparts, but that shouldn’t be a problem for AI.
Right now is a terrible time to buy a new iPhone: The iPhone 16 series is still a few weeks away, and once they arrive, prices on current models will plummet. We’ll revisit the Pixel vs. iPhone conundrum in a month or so.
OnePlus will also be refreshing its lineup soon, but the brand isn’t as allergic to discounts as Apple is. The OnePlus 12 is cheaper than the Pixels and even the Galaxys, but uses a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which easily beats the Tensor G4. And it comes in a version with 16GB of RAM, unlike the Samsungs (which do have 8 Gen 3 “for Galaxy” chips, which run at higher clock speeds).
Come to think of it, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 inside the OnePlus 12R is still pretty snappy. There’s no telephoto camera, but it does have an LTPO display, unlike the base Pixel 9. It’s a lot bigger than the Pixel 9, though, with a 6.78-inch display. Software support will also be shorter – 3 OS updates and 4 years of patches for the 12R, and 4 OS updates and 5 years of patches for the flagship 12. That said, the OnePlus 12 and 12R launched with Android 14, just like the Pixels, so at least they’re not a step behind.
The new Moto Edge (2024) is powered by the slower Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, which ditches the fancy curved OLED display and leatherette back. Last year’s Motorola Edge+ (2023), on the other hand, costs $500 for a 512GB phone and comes with the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 as the 12R. It doesn’t have an LTPO display (6.67” FHD+ 120Hz OLED), but it does have a 12MP 2x telephoto lens and a 50MP ultra-wide lens, in addition to the 50MP main lens. There’s also a 60MP selfie camera. Software support won’t be as good as that of Google or Samsung phones, even the OnePlus models.
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