With Google about to release to its new premium smartphone, we compare it against the established market leaders from Apple and Samsung.
The Nexus is dead, long live the Pixel! That's right, Google is no longer outsourcing its handsets to LG and Huawei. And its first two offerings – the Pixel and Pixel XL – look like being the stuff of smartphone dreams.
But where does that leave 2016’s other big hitters? In terms of glowing reviews and strong sales, it’s hard to look past the Galaxy S7 and iPhone 7. But are the Samsung and Apple flagships going to be bettered by Google?
With the Pixel set for release this week (on October 20), we compared it with the Samsung S7 and iPhone 7 to see if there’s likely to be a new market leader.
We haven’t been able to thoroughly test the new Google phone as yet, but from the specifications and our early hands-on preview, we know to enough to help point those in the market for a new smartphone in the right direction.
We’ll compare the Pixel against the iPhone 7 later in this feature, but first, let’s see how the new Google phone stands up against the Galaxy S7.
| Google, Samsung and Apple flagship phones at a glance | |||
| Google Pixel | Samsung Galaxy S7 | Apple iPhone 7 | |
| Current outright price | From $1,079 (32GB) | $1,150 | From $1,079 (32GB) |
| Cheapest 1GB plan (per month) | $85 (Telstra) | $55 (Virgin) | $66 Virgin, $68 Optus |
| Display size and type | 5in AMOLED | 5.1in Super AMOLED | 4.7in LED-backlit IPS LCD |
| Display pixel density | 441 ppi | 577 ppi | 326 ppi |
| Processor | Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 | Eight-core Exynos 8890 Octa | Quad-core A10 Fusion |
| RAM | 4GB | 4GB | 2GB |
| Built-in storage | 32GB or 128GB | 32GB | 32, 128 or 256GB |
| Expandable storage | No | microSD | No |
| Rear camera | 12.3MP, f/2.0 | 12MP, f/1.7 | 12MP, f/1.8 |
| Front camera | 8MP, f/2.4 | 5MP, f/1.7 | 7MP, ƒ/2.2 |
| Water and dust resistance | No | IP68 | IP67 |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes | No |
| Weight | 143g | 152g | 138g |
| Operating system | Android 7.1 | Android 6.0 | iOS 10 |
We’ve focused on the standard-sized phones in this feature, but all three are available in larger, 5.5in screen versions – the Pixel XL, Galaxy S7 Edge and iPhone 7 Plus.
| Big-screen flagship phones at a glance | |||
| Google Pixel XL | Galaxy S7 Edge | iPhone 7 Plus | |
| Current outright price | From $1,269 (32GB) | $1,249 | From $1,269 (32GB) |
| Cheapest 1GB plan (per month) | $92 (Telstra) | $60 (Virgin) | $73 Virgin, $75 Optus |
| Display size and type | 5.5in AMOLED | 5.5in Super AMOLED | 5.5in LED-backlit IPS LCD |
| Display pixel density | 534ppi | 534 ppi | 401 ppi |
| Processor | Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 | Eight-core Exynos 8890 Octa | Quad-core A10 Fusion |
| RAM | 4GB | 4GB | 3GB |
| Built-in storage | 32GB or 128GB | 32GB | 32, 128 or 256GB |
| Expandable storage | No | microSD | No |
| Rear camera | 12.3MP, f/2.0 | 12MP, f/1.7 | 12MP, dual lenses* |
| Front camera | 8MP, f/2.4 | 5MP, f/1.7 | 7MP, ƒ/2.2 |
| Water and dust resistance | No | IP68 | IP67 |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes | No |
| Weight | 168g | 152g | 188g |
| Operating system | Android 7.1 | Android 6.0 | iOS 10 |
* The iPhone 7 Plus’ rear camera has wide-angle (ƒ/1.8) and telephoto (ƒ/2.8, 2x optical zoom) lenses.
