Flashback: a decade of Google Nexus/Pixel costs and software program updates

The Nexus 4 was a groundbreaking telephone – a close to flagship for $300. Okay, it did have its quirks, e.g. no LTE help (although that wasn’t as essential again in 2012), storage was restricted too. As an alternative of specializing in only one telephone we needed to have a look at the traits in Google’s telephone line-up.

We talked about the value of the Nexus 4 and we’ll see what occurred to the “flagship killer” standing of the collection. This collection is all about exploring a properly acknowledged trait of a selected model or collection – and we predict that software program help is without doubt one of the defining options of the Nexus and Pixel telephones.

The Nexus telephones had been reasonably priced at first, particularly in the event you waited just a few months. The Nexus 4 dropped as little as $200 at one level. The Nexus 5 bought worth cuts as properly. Then got here the Nexus 6 – its $650 price ticket made many followers sad. It was nonetheless a wonderful telephone and it influenced Google’s method to handsets.

The next yr in 2015 the Nexus line was cut up into two fashions that we’ll name “base” and “professional” for consistency. That was additionally the final of the Nexus line, Google began recent with the Pixel telephones.

These step by step elevated in price through the years, peaking in 2018 and 2019 with the Pixel 3 and 4 at $800 and Pixel 3 XL and 4 XL at $900. After that Google modified course and these days the value of the small mannequin has been falling, happening to $600 with the Pixel 6. The Pixel 6 Professional remains to be $900, although.

Apparently, the elevated costs didn’t damage the efficiency of the Pixel telephones available on the market. The other, actually, as Google’s 2019 shipments surpassed earlier years by fairly a margin. Notice that the picture under exhibits cumulative shipments of all Pixel telephones, however it clearly appeared like Google is on the suitable path. The corporate allegedly had huge plans for the Pixel 6 collection too, planing to produce 7 million, greater than another collection. Nevertheless, Google isn’t one to speak about gross sales, so we don’t really understand how properly the 6-series did (we’ll have to attend for analysts to determine that out).

We are going to get again to pricing in a second as we haven’t lined the “Pixel a” collection whose primary purpose is to supply a Google telephone on a budget. How a lot would you pay for that fabled Google software program help? Truly, how good is that help?

We tried to convey that via a chart. The crimson line exhibits the interval in years throughout which a technology of telephones obtained OS updates (together with minor ones). The blue line is for the interval throughout which safety patches had been issued.

On common, Google affords 3 years of OS updates. The Nexus 6 stands out, however that was really an outdated replace that arrived late – early on Android 7.1.1 was breaking Android Pay and it took Google some time to discover a repair (in the meantime customers had been downgraded to 7.0).

The Pixel 3 technology additionally stands out – it bought 4 years safety patches as a substitute of three years as initially deliberate. In actual fact, the final replace for the 2 2018 telephones rolled out on the finish of June this yr (Android 12 arrived final yr).

Notice that the Pixel 4, 5 and 6 collection at present run Android 12. The Pixel 4 and 4 XL will obtain their final assured OS replace in October of this yr. By the seems of it, that will probably be simply lengthy sufficient to get Android 13 put in.

Beginning with the Pixel 6 technology, Google modified up the technique a bit. It nonetheless guarantees solely 3 years of OS replace (rivals like Apple and Samsung provide extra), however it dedicated to five years of safety patches. In line with the Assist middle, the Pixel 6 and 6 Professional will get their final assured OS replace in October 2024 and the final assured safety patch in October 2026. “Assured” since, as you noticed with the Pixel 3, there are some exceptions.

Earlier than we wrap up, let’s have a fast have a look at the Pixel a telephones. We’ve got grouped the Pixel 3a and 4a as comparatively small telephones and the Pixel 3a XL, 4a 5G and 5a as bigger telephones (with 5G within the newest iterations). As you possibly can see, the pricing is pretty steady at round $400 for the primary group and $500 for the second.

We haven’t plotted software program help on a chart since it could have made for a boring chart – the “a” telephones get 3 years of OS updates and three years of safety patches.

	2019	2020	2021
Cellphone	3a & 3a XL	4a & 4a 5G	5a
Begin OS ver.	9	10 & 11	11
Finish OS ver.	12	–	–
When?	2022	2023	2024
OS updates	3 years	3 years	3 years
Final safety patch	2022	2023	2024
Patches	3 years	3 years	3 years
Worth (base)	$400	$350	$450
Worth (professional)	$480	$500	$450

There’s a Pixel 7 collection coming later this yr, however Google hasn’t revealed an excessive amount of about it but. Contemplating earlier fashions, nevertheless, we are able to say that the telephones will in all probability get 3 years of assured OS updates and 5 years of safety patches. And we wouldn’t be shocked if Google maintains the beginning costs on the present ranges both.