It’s Sunday, which suggests it’s time for one more version of Winners and Losers.
This week was a giant one on the earth of cell with Google and Xiaomi each unveiling their newest flagship smartphones. The Xiaomi 12 Professional got here with an enormous digital camera improve, but it surely was the Pixel 7 that earned our winner title this week.
Our loser, in the meantime, went to Amazon after the Amazon Glow was reported to be discontinued only one yr after its poorly-timed launch.
Scroll right down to be taught extra about this week’s winner and loser…
Winner: Google
This week’s winner is Google after the corporate unveiled its newest vary of Pixel gadgets, as soon as once more providing an inexpensive choice for these trying to improve their good gadgets this yr.
As all the time, the spotlight of the occasion was Google’s flagship smartphone collection. This yr, the launch consisted of two telephones – the Pixel 7 and the premium Pixel 7 Professional.
The Pixel 7 contains a 6.3-inch 90Hz always-on OLED show and is available in three colors: Obsidian, Snow and Lemongrass. The cellphone comes with a twin rear digital camera that consists of a 50-megapixel fundamental sensor and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide, with Tremendous Res Zoom to compensate for the shortage of a telephoto lens.
There have been tons of clever digital camera options revealed as properly, just like the Magic Eraser, Movement Mode, Picture Unblur and Evening Sight, in addition to a 4355 mAh battery.
The Pixel 7 Professional, in the meantime, has a bigger 6.7-inch 120Hz always-on OLED show, together with a 3rd digital camera sensor, a 48-megapixel telephoto with 5x optical zoom and Tremendous Res Zoom. The Professional switches out the Lemongrass end for Hazel and comes carrying a 5000 mAh battery. Each telephones are powered by the Google Tensor G2.
The occasion additionally noticed the launch of the Pixel Watch, Google’s first wearable outdoors of its Fitbit acquisition final yr.
Whereas neither the Pixel 7 nor the 7 Professional look like an enormous leap over the 6 and 6 Professional that got here earlier than them, the Pixel continues to be one of the competitively priced smartphones.
Google sits up there with Apple and Samsung when it comes to consciousness, however the Pixel 7 is £250 lower than the iPhone 14 and £170 decrease than Galaxy S22. In the meantime, the Pixel 7 Professional prices £250 lower than the iPhone 14 Professional and £300 lower than the Galaxy S22 Extremely.
The Pixel continues to impress us year-on-year, particularly with regards to its images capabilities. Whereas we haven’t reviewed the Pixel 7 collection simply but, at first look it appears like Google has delivered nice worth for cash as soon as once more.
Loser: Amazon
Our loser this week is Amazon after a report by Bloomberg confirmed that the Amazon Glow had been cancelled. The youngsters’ machine had obtained a large worth minimize on Amazon earlier this week however till now, the corporate had been quiet concerning the product’s future.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the Glow, you wouldn’t be the one one.
The Amazon Glow was a video-calling machine with a built-in projector marketed at youngsters. The concept was to make it straightforward for youngsters aged 3 to 9 to talk with household and play on a projected floor on the identical time.
The chunky periscope-shaped webcam included an 8-inch vertical display the place calls may happen and got here with a 19-inch touch-sensitive projection mat within the field, permitting the Glow to mission books, video games, artwork packs and extra. On the identical time, kinfolk may play alongside on their very own tablets.
Whereas the Glow was obtained positively by reviewers, it seems like Amazon missed the boat with its launch.
The machine entered the market with an uncommon technique in 2021. Not solely was the Glow a US-only launch, but it surely was additionally a part of Amazon’s “Day 1 Editions” product testing programme, that means it was invite-only for the primary six months after launch.
When the Glow finally opened as much as the general public, its worth instantly spiked from $249 to $299.
The entire idea felt late to the sport. The Glow relied on youngsters making calls to spend time with their kinfolk, however by the point the product was introduced in late 2021, Covid-19 restrictions have been winding down and households have been capable of spend time collectively in particular person once more.
Clearly, it’s tough to really feel dangerous for a corporation for not making the most of the circumstances of a pandemic, but it surely does really feel like Amazon missed its alternative with this one.
