Quick Take: Google’s Fall Hardware Event
Summary - Pixel 4, Pixelbook Go, and updates to Nest smart speakers
The Pixel 4 represents a maturing product line from Google, with more refined build quality, unique features, and improved distribution. However, it remains expensive, and the basic value proposition remains the same: you’re paying for the best Google software experience and a superb camera. It is easy to imagine buyers loving their purchase, but at the same time, the Pixel 4 is not likely to radically expand the Pixel’s customer base.
The Pixelbook Go does expand Google’s reach in Chromebooks. The Go is lightweight, reasonably spec’d, and competitively priced at $649 (Core m3/64GB) or $849 (Core i5/128GB). There are also more expensive variants that are harder to justify, but a $999 Enterprise SKU may attract IT managers who can justify the added up front cost to save money on deployment and management.
Google also updated the $49 Nest Mini with better audio quality to keep up with Amazon’s 3rd generation Echo Dot. The Nest WiFi Router combines a Nest mini with a mesh WiFi system, which makes sense on paper – we’ll see if consumers actually want these things combined. Finally, Google is hoping that if it promises earbuds in six months, you won’t buy wireless headphones from Apple or Amazon or Microsoft instead.
Pixel 4 distribution and pricing
The Pixel 4 is now available at all four U.S. national carriers. Widespread carrier availability is a prerequisite for sales but does not guarantee success. It ensures that if consumers want to buy a phone in the place where they go to buy a phone, they can, and it definitely improves Google’s position over the long term. But Google still needs to do a much better job in marketing and merchandising at retail to actually make the sale. That will be further hampered by the $799 starting price. The Pixel 4 provides a lot of functionality for the price, but Google is sticking with a premium pricing strategy that has kept previous Pixel sales relatively low. Apple and Samsung and entrenched in the markets where Google sells the Pixel, and OnePlus (and Xiaomi in Europe) provide strong alternatives at lower price points. If Google wants to move Pixels in volume, it will need more a more radical value proposition, or resort to lower pricing and promotions.
Pixel 4 key features:
The 90 Hz variable refresh display is not unprecedented, but it does make using the Pixel 4 uncommonly smooth. We’ll see how this impacts battery life, especially since the base Pixel 4 has a fairly small 2700 mAh battery.
Google is moving to Face unlock, and the company is confident enough in its implementation that there is no fingerprint reader at all.
Google’s implementation of on-board sonar is quite useful: Google is mostly using Motion Sense to give the Pixel 4 spatial awareness for faster, more responsive unlocking along with more nuanced reaction to incoming calls. However, Google is marketing Motion Sense as a way to wave at your phone or tickle Pokémon, which certainly seems like a gimmick. This is a positioning mismatch, and it is likely to backfire on Google.
A faster Google Assistant and a live transcription voice recorder that utilize local processing are exciting. I look forward to testing them.
Google has mostly made tweaks to its excellent camera, and now adds a 1.8x zoom lens to the mix. I think zoom is more useful than a wider angle lens, but I would have preferred even more zoom – Huawei’s P30 Pro with 5x optical/10x hybrid zoom is the industry leader.
It is worth explicitly listing Google’s software and security advantages, which make the Pixel line attractive to consumers and enterprises alike: the Pixel 4 launches with Android 10, and will stay current with new OS updates and security patches for three years. It also has a Titan M security chip for ensuring secure boot and storage.
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