Apple iPhone 7 vs. Google Pixel

Published in

Tek Mag

6 min readNov 1, 2016

Apple iPhone 7 (left) and Google Pixel (right)

If you don’t already know, both Apple and Google had their huge annual events where they announce their latest products for the upcoming year. In September, Apple released their iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. This comes after a very successful year of its predecessor, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. iPhone is known for having the best smartphone camera, but the Pixel brings a new smartphone into the debate. Prior to the Pixel, Google had the Nexus phones. Google partnered with other manufacturers such as Motorola, HTC, and LG to build their Nexus devices for the Android operating system. Pixel is the first Google phone produced by Google. Since they partnered with other manufacturers before, the Nexus devices were called the ‘Motorola Nexus____’ or the ‘LG Nexus____’, so Google will be able to use their own name to push the product now called the Google Pixel and the Google Pixel XL.

Usually this “Which is the Best Smartphone?” competition would only between Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy phones. Earlier this year, Samsung released the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge and it is an amazing phone. In comparison to the iPhone 6s, many say that the camera is just as good, if not better than the iPhone 6s with a 12mP camera and fast auto focusing. Not to mention its beautiful curvature gives it an “edge” because the curved design creates more space at the edges with a 5.1 inch screen on the phone and it has a smooth and crisp look with 1440 x 2560 pixel and 577 ppi pixel density resolution.

Mid-year is when Samsung announces the phone for the Galaxy Note series, which they did on August 19, but the phone was an absolute failure. After just a couple weeks of the most anticipated phone of the year being released came several reports about the phone’s battery exploding while charging. So currently Samsung has discontinued the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 and the battle of the best smartphone has become between the iPhone 7 and the Google Pixel.

iPhone Madness

Since the first iPhone was released back in 2007 it has had “super fans”. People have fallen so in love with this product that they continue to purchase it year after year just because they don’t want to go through the effort of switching to another phone. Apple has stored contacts, music, and other downloadable content for years on their iCloud servers. Users have been able to video chat with each other with out downloading an external app due to Facetime . Siri gets smarter with each update, the size of the phone and its specs continues to grow exponentially, it is popular among the elderly and disabled users because of its ease of use and its layout, customer service and support has become simple through the Genius Bar that can be installed in the App Store, and it continues to make the lives of millions of iPhone users around the world much easier. So if you are comfortable with a product and you have been a loyal customer for years, then why switch to something new and you are unsure whether you’ll like it or not?

iPhone 7 & 7 Plus Specs, Features, & Prices *

Each iPhone 7 & 7 Plus color from left: Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, Black, & Jet Black

Colors: Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, Black, Jet Black

Storage: 32GB, 128GB, or 256GB (both 7 & 7 Plus, 32GB not available for Jet Black color)

Display: 4.7 inches and 1334 x 750-pixel resolution at 326 ppi (iPhone 7)/ 5.5 inches and 1920 x 1080-pixel resolution at 401 ppi(iPhone 7 Plus)

Water Resistant: Yes, Rated IP67

Battery Life: 1,960 mAh battery, 12 hours on LTE & 14 hours on Wi-Fi (iPhone 7) / 2,900 mAh battery, 13 hours on LTE & 15 hours on Wi-Fi

Camera: 12MP, f/1.8 aperture, digital zoon up to 5x (iPhone 7) / 12MP wide-angle and telephoto cameras, Wide-angle: ƒ/1.8 aperture & Telephoto: ƒ/2.8 aperture, Optical zoom at 2x; digital zoom up to 10x (iPhone 7 Plus)

Both models:

Optical image stabilization
Six‑element lens
Quad-LED True Tone flash
Panorama (up to 63 megapixels)
Sapphire crystal lens cover
Backside illumination sensor
Hybrid IR filter
Autofocus with Focus Pixels
Tap to focus with Focus Pixels
Live Photos with stabilization
Wide color capture for photos and Live Photos
Improved local tone mapping
Body and face detection
Exposure control
Noise reduction
Auto HDR for photos
Auto image stabilization
Burst mode
Timer mode
Photo geotagging

Additional Features:

Touch ID fingerprint sensor for Home button
Lightning port
iOS 10 Operating system
Apple Pay
Syncs with wireless AirPods (sold separately, $159 per pair)

Price: 32GB (not available in Jet Black*)- $649, 128GB- $749, 256GB- $849 (iPhone 7) / 32GB- $769, 128GB- $869, 256GB- $969 (iPhone 7 Plus)

Pros & Cons of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus

Pros

Dual camera on iPhone 7 Plus, wide-angle and telephoto
Easy to sync and/or connect with other Apple products
FaceTime
Apple Pay
Touch ID
iOS 10
Simple touch home button
5-color selection

Cons

No headphone jack; comes with a headphone adapter, but it’s small and easy to lose.
Not able to charge and plug in headphones simultaneously
Third party apps have not yet adjusted to the sensitivity of the home button
Jet Black color is more sleek and more sensitive to finger prints; makes scratches visible
Size and appearance is not much different from iPhone 6 and 6s

Will the Google Pixel Steal iPhone Customers from Apple?

Google came out swinging at their hardware event — — and they came swinging hard! Although many iPhone fans won’t admit it, the fact is that Apple makes minor upgrades to their product every year. But the real question is, “Are Apple customers getting tired of the iPhone?” This rivalry between Apple and Google certainly is not a new thing. Apple has iOS while Google has Android, Apple has Safari while Google has Chrome (by the way, the Apple Events can be streamed live on every browser except Google Chrome), Apple has Apple TV while Google has Chromecast… and so forth. Although Google and Apple have always been competitors, is Google ready to step in the ring with Apple where Apple has such a loyal fan base to push a new product with striking similarities to the iPhone? One thing this phone does bring to the plate is the first ever Google Assistant, an upgrade from its predecessor, Google Now, allows Google users to be conversational with with Google in a chat window and it is able to respond to requests at a much faster rate and provide a lot more information.

Google Pixel and Pixel XL Specs, Features, & Prices **

Colors: Quite Black, Very Silver, Really Blue

Storage: 32GB or 128GB

Display: 5.0 inches, 1080 x 1920 pixels & 441ppi (Pixel) / 5.5 inches, 1440 x 2560 pixels & 534 ppi (Pixel XL)

Water Resistant: No, IP53

Battery Life: 2,770 mAh battery, 13 hours on Wi-Fi & LTE (Pixel) / 3,450 mAh battery, 14 hours on Wi-Fi & LTE (Pixel XL)

Camera: 12.3MP, Large 1.55μm pixels, Phase detection autofocus + laser detection autofocus, f/2.0 Aperture (main camera) / 8MP, 1.4µm pixels, f/2.4 Aperture, Fixed focus (Front camera)