Not only Apple and Google are two of the most technologically advanced brands, they have also started competing at the smartphone level with Google’s Pixel Series. As the years have passed they have pioneered in smartphone engineering with state of the art R&D centres and the best smartphones in the market till date. However, these big bullies do not come cheap, if you can afford them, then they are some of the best smartphones on their own territory. In this article, we are trying to put down our points to compare the two best available smartphones arguably, Google Pixel 2 XL and Apple iPhone X.
Price: In India, Google Pixel 2 XL is priced at ₹73,000 ($1100) for the entry-level model (64 GB) and the 128 GB variant is priced at ₹82,000 ($1230). The Apple iPhone X is priced at ₹89,000 for the 64 GB variant and ₹102,000 for the 256 GB storage variant. As both models don’t offer an SD card slot, choosing a correct storage variant, in the beginning, will be a great decision. One the first note, the Apple iPhone X seems like overpriced device, but for that extra cash, you also get the extra features.
Design: This is something that depends on one’s own likeness. The Apple iPhone X offers an all-glass design with mirror finished stainless steel frame with mirror finish. The Pixel 2 XL offers a full metal unibody design with a top glass back (for the network reception). The back case of metal is coated with thick paint to reduce smudges and fingerprint marks.
Display: Starting off with the state of the art OLED display in the Apple iPhone X, the device offers a 5.8-inch edge to edge display with up to 82.9 percent screen to body ratio. The Google Pixel 2 XL offers a slightly bigger 6.0-inch QHD+ display as same as that of the Apple’s counterpart. However, there is no fancy edge to edge display design. Also, the Google Pixel 2 XL’s P-OLED display has been criticised a lot due to its bluish tint and dull colour reproduction compared to the standard OLED display (Google says they are on the verge of fixing). From the initial impressions, the colours are accurate on the iPhone X and look true to life without over saturation. On the other hand, the Google Pixel 2 XL has not impressed anyone at least on the display department.
Hardware: Flagship smartphones should have flagship hardware capability. So, both devices offer the best hardware in the market. Apple has engineered their own SoC AKA the A11
6 core processor, which is the best mobile processor till date with neuron engine. However, the Google Pixel 2 XL is powered by the standard Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Octa-core SoC, which is found on most of the Android-powered flagship smartphones (price ranging from $400 to $1000). In terms of performance, they have the best match for themselves. However, if we consider the benchmarking performances, Apple steals the show from Google.
Software: As these are two different aspects of the world, both Android and iOS are the best and the most used mobile operating systems in the world. The features like multi-window, ability to customise the overall UI is some of the best features on the Android. On iOS, security and ease of use is something that everyone has been appreciating from last few years. Considering the future capability, the Google Pixel 2 XL is entitled to receive updates for the next two years, whereas the Apple iPhone X will receive updates for 4 years making it much interesting and future proof.\
Camera: In our previous articles, we have mentioned that numbers don’t mean performance. However, in this case, it does. The Google Pixel 2 XL features a single 12 MP camera with dual pixel technology, which offers bokeh effect via software with portrait mode. As a matter of fact, the camera on the Pixel 2 XL is the highest rated camera smartphone from DXO mark (99 points out of 100). The Apple iPhone X offers a dual 12 MP cameras with OIS on both the lenses with real-time bokeh effect using the wide angle lens. This is the first smartphone to feature native 4K video recording capability with up to 60 frames per second. Both smartphones have the best camera, however, the additional sensor on Apple iPhone X does offer features like X2 optical zoom and the professional portrait mode is something impressive, to begin with.
Additional features: 4G LTE, VoLte dual-band WiFi support, Bluetooth 5.0 is something common in these smartphones. However, there will be few features which make them the true differentiators in the market. To start with the Google Pixel 2 XL, the phone squeeze feature is something nice, though this is not the first smartphone to offer this feature, having a small touch like this will really make it cool. On the iPhone X, it’s the true depth-sensing camera which enables a plethora of features like Animoji, Face ID (which replaces the Touch ID) and Qi-based wireless charging capability.
Conclusion: As these are the true flagship class smartphones from those who know how to time and hardware and software in the right direction, these smartphones indicate their ability, hope, and the carving inside them to think out of the box. If you are looking for a stylish smartphone with a ton of features that you don’t know how to use but will fall in love from the first time you use those, then go with the Apple iPhone X, if you like to