The issues with Google Pixel worth hikes

Like every part else within the tech business, Google’s Pixel 11 collection seems to be getting a worth hike, however there are a number of elements that make this one a bit tougher to simply accept.

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First issues first: it’s official. Google is launching the Pixel 11 collection throughout an occasion on August 12.

However simply hours earlier than that was introduced, a report revealed potential pricing for the Pixel 11 collection and, ouch.

In response to this week’s report, the Pixel 11 collection is getting €100 (so most likely $100) worth hikes throughout the board. The grain of fine information there may be that the 128GB tiers are going away, however this pushes Pixel firmly into top-tier flagship territory, with Pixel 11 at €999, Pixel 11 Professional at €1,199, Pixel 11 Professional XL at €1,399, and Pixel 11 Professional Fold at €1,999. If we translate these to US costs and assume there aren’t any regional adjustments right here, we’re taking a look at Pixel 11 at $899, Pixel 11 Professional at $1,099, Pixel 11 Professional XL at $1,299, and Pixel 11 Professional Fold at $1,899.

Once more, ouch.

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Worth hikes are, proper now, inevitable. Google’s subsequent Pixels had been all the time going up in worth, however there are a number of causes this worth hike specifically is difficult to swallow.

That begins with the Tensor of all of it.

Whereas, personally, I’ve lengthy felt that Tensor is completely acceptable generally efficiency and greater than able to what most customers really wish to do on their telephones, it’d be silly to not acknowledge that, objectively, these chips are not so good as a Snapdragon flagship. With Google charging the identical costs for its telephones as we see on Snapdragon-powered flagships just like the Galaxy S26 collection, it’s laborious to disregard that, on the finish of the day, you’re taking a look at a drop in efficiency in particular areas like gaming, in addition to different downsides, like Pixel’s long-running struggles with warmth administration (which largely stems from Tensor).

Tensor G6 seems to be promising sufficient however, until one thing unimaginable occurs, the Pixel 11 collection will nonetheless be much less highly effective than units at comparable worth factors.

The storage change helps a bit right here. Pixel 10 nonetheless having a 128GB base was an enormous detractor final yr, but it surely’s additionally laborious to simply accept a worth enhance for that. Google ditching that base storage tier has been lengthy overdue, arguably for 2 generations now. That “improve” lastly arriving softens the blow of this worth hike, but it surely additionally simply seems like absolutely the least Google may do on this scenario.

However the storage can also be part of the issue I’m seeing. Pixel 9 Professional and Pixel 9 Professional XL solely had a $100 distinction in between – $999 and 1,099. That modified on the Pixel 10 technology, with the Pixel 10 Professional (128GB) at $999 and the Pixel 10 Professional XL at $1,199, however with 256GB of storage as the bottom. Evaluating the equal storage tiers, there was no worth hike. However, this time round, Google is upping the XL’s worth to the place there’s a $200 hole between these units. That’s kind of the business customary, however I feel Google had it proper earlier than, and this can be a barely sneaky change as such.

The Pixel 11 Professional Fold has completely no proper to go up in worth in my guide. It’s recycling the identical design that’s merely not maintaining with the remainder of the foldable world. Nobody must be taking a look at $1,899 for a Pixel 11 Professional Fold after they may get a Galaxy Z Fold 8 for $100 extra with a thinner, higher type issue (or, you understand, a used Fold 7 for much less).

The opposite elephant within the room is the alleged drops in RAM allotments on sure fashions. A previous leak advised that the bottom Pixel 11 may drop to 8GB of RAM, whereas the Pixel 11 Professional fashions may drop to 12GB. If that’s the case, that makes worth hikes virutally unattainable to simply accept, as whereas reminiscence costs are certainly skyrocketing, paying extra money for much less simply stings all of the extra, particularly seeing as Google is the smartphone model extra centered on RAM-hungry AI than anybody else.

Once more, worth hikes had been inevitable, and these alleged costs won’t even be the worst of it as RAMageddon rages on. However these Pixel-specific elements make Google’s supposed raises slightly tougher to take care of.

What do you suppose?

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