Google Pixel Strategy: Is Software a Priority?

The Google Pixel 9 series is the latest major smartphone family in town and it just launched with four models on August 13. I joined the launch event and in case you didn’t know, one thing that set it apart from most other flagship launches was that Google didn’t spend much time talking about its hardware.

The launch event began with a talk about Gemini and how it can make your life easier, before moving on to some of the major new software features coming to Google’s Pixel 9 smartphones, like Add Me and Pixel Screenshots. It’s clear that Google’s strategy is to use software to differentiate itself, but is that enough? Let’s talk about it.

The flagship market is incredibly competitive; everyone can make the most of the spec sheet

The upper limit of flagship smartphone specs is now much lower than it has ever been. We’ve reached what I’ll call the “practical limit” for many smartphone specs. For example, Sony has been experimenting with 4K screens, which seemed like the natural next step after 1080p and 1440p, but in practice, while they add to the spec sheet, their practical value is limited—in fact, when you factor in power consumption, they’re a net negative.

This can also be seen with screen sizes, as the bezels have shrunk significantly, but phones haven’t gone beyond the 6.8-inch mark, as anything larger is too big. Sure, there are phones with 24GB of RAM, but most manufacturers don’t really need to go above 12GB or 16GB, as that’s practically usable for most; even power users.

You could put the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra next to the Xiaomi 14 Ultra or Oppo Find X7 Ultra, and going by the spec sheets alone, you’d see that these phones compete pretty closely with each other. It’s not uncommon for big manufacturers to be able to make pricey flagships that tick all the right boxes.

Google focuses on AI and software to stand out from competitors

So the question becomes: If you can easily max out the spec sheet of a phone that will cost over $1,000, how can you stand out from the competition? Google seems to think the answer is software, and I really don’t know if they could be right.

The Google Pixel 9 series launch event focused heavily on Gemini, Google AI, and a slew of new software features coming to the new smartphones, especially those related to cameras. Other than cameras and the new Tensor chip, Google didn’t spend much time talking about batteries, screens, charging, etc.

The truth is that Google’s software is some of the best in the game, and that’s a very good reason to buy a Pixel over anything else on the market. For people who are looking for a flagship phone that’s fast and powerful but doesn’t care about comparing numbers, the Pixel is near the top of the list because it almost guarantees a good Android experience with a ton of software wizardry on top.

Google has tried to buck the trend before and eventually gave up.

However, that brings me to my final point. Google isn’t trying to push for super-fast charging, a processor that can squeeze out crazy benchmark scores, or even UFS 4.0 storage (yes, the Pixel 9 line still uses UFS 3.1). They’ve made the software the main attraction, which is bold but can backfire.

Consumers are simple people. We want a phone that meets our needs and gives us the best value for our money. Few of us would buy a phone we like if we felt we were getting $300 less value than a competitor—at least I wouldn’t. I would learn to love a phone that gave me the best value for my money.

Google has been in this situation before and had to adapt. Remember how the company stubbornly stuck to a single camera in its earlier Pixel models but ended up introducing multiple cameras? Remember how they were okay with keeping the huge notches but ended up going the notch route? Google has tried to stand out from the crowd before and failed. Only time will tell if its software strategy will achieve a similar goal.