Thinking About the Next Pixel Phones (Premium)

Given the endless series of problems I've had with the Pixel 2 XL, I'm perhaps understandably reticent about its successor, which has been revealed in numerous leaks in recent days. But I'm getting one regardless.

Yes, this one is personal.

It's a lot more personal than my go/no-go decision on Pixelbook 2, which I can already tell is just not for me: It combines the detachable tablet form factor I don't want with a too-small and 16:9 display, making it a non-starter.

But the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL? Google, you're breaking my heart.

The issues here are so profound that I almost don't even know where to start. But dating back to, oh, the Nexus 5, and continuing in sequence through the Nexus 5X and 6P, the original Pixel XL, and now the Pixel 2 XL, I've watched as Google has slowly refined its in-house phone designs. And as it has taken major steps forward in photographic prowess. And major steps back in quality and usability.

This is personal because my Nexus/Pixel usage has grown from an experiment into the device I carry with me at all times. That Google has won me over with its phone hardware during a time in which it has shown itself to be incredibly obtuse to the needs of the market is rather incredible. I can explain it, I think. But I'm not happy about it. Even I'm not convinced.

A few things to consider here.

For the most part---but not always---Google's previous phone lineup, Nexus, delivered on two important aims: These were flagships phones that provided a pure Android experience, showing off Google's real vision for the platform. And they were affordable, and much more so than the other flagship devices with which they competed.

And then Google lost its mind.

Both generations of Pixel handsets were priced commensurately with the Apple and Samsung flagships of their day. For example, the Nexus 6P started at just $500, and it could be had with double the storage for just $50 more, a comparable iPhone 6S Plus was an incredible $300 more. But with the Pixel XL, release a year later, Google jacked up the prices: That phone started at $770, basically the same price as an iPhone 7 Plus. Ditto for the Pixel 2 XL, which is even more expensive (!), starting at $850, with double the storage setting you back another $100.

Even if the Pixel lineup provided the same quality as the Samsung Galaxy and iPhone flagships with which it allegedly competes, this pricing would be untenable: Despite owning the software platform on which the handsets run, Google is, at best, a boutique phone maker. Pixel sales are so low they barely even register: Pixel accounted for just .26 percent (that's point two-six) of all smartphones sold in 2017. Even Microsoft Surface can claim about 10 times that market share in its own market.

But Pixel doesn't match the quality of its competition: As I've documented numerous times, the Pixel 2 XL is one of the most unreliable and buggy smartphones on the market today and is surely the only fl...