Compare Google Deals

You might more commonly associate Google with software, and specifically the internet, than with smartphone hardware. The tech giant made its name building the world's pre-eminent search engine, and solidified its position with the world's most used web browser (Chrome), email service (Gmail), and mobile operating system (Android).

It's Google's work with the latter that led it to enter the smartphone hardware business in 2013. The Google Pixel line has never troubled Apple and Samsung at the top of the charts in terms of popularity, but it's always served as a handy template for other Android manufacturers to follow.

More importantly, they're always great phones, with excellent cameras, uncluttered and up-to-date software, solid build quality, and extremely competitive price points.

Like Apple, Google was quite late to market with a 5G phone. It was only towards the end of 2020, with the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G, that it launched hardware supporting the next-generation network standard. But at this point it has quite a lot of 5G phones, as you can see in the chart below.

Google doesn't release quite as many phones as some other smartphone manufacturers. There are just four phones in its most recent line-up, which makes choosing the right Pixel phone slightly easier than with other brands.

Here's a breakdown of the range.

The best phone that Google currently makes is arguably the Pixel 9 Pro XL. It’s not the company’s most expensive handset (that’s the Pixel 9 Pro Fold), but aside from the lack of a foldable screen it has the best assortment of specs and features.

That includes a 6.8-inch OLED display with a fluid 120Hz refresh rate, as well as a bespoke Tensor G4 chipset and a massive 16GB of RAM.

Its camera system is also one of the best around, with a 50MP main sensor, a 48MP ultra-wide one, a 48MP telephoto (with 5x optical zoom), and a 42MP front-facing camera.

That camera system – and many other things on the phone – are also supported by AI, with this being one of the most complete ‘AI phones’ you can buy.

The cheapest Google phone on the market is the Pixel 7a, and while this is a little old now, it still has a lot going for it.

That includes a 6.1-inch OLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate, a dual-lens camera headlined by a 64MP sensor, and a bespoke Tensor G2 chipset.

Though you might want to instead consider the newer Pixel 8a, which is still fairly cheap but a little better.

In terms of value for money, out of all the current Google phones, you can't look past the Pixel 9.

This is the base model in the Pixel 9 line, so it’s cheaper than its siblings but it still has many of the same specs and features.

That includes a powerful Tensor G4 chipset, a 50MP main camera, a 48MP ultra-wide, and a 6.3-inch OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate.

Like other models in the Pixel 9 line, this also has loads of AI, and will get seven years of software updates, so it will be supported for a long time.

The latest Google phones include the Pixel 9, the Pixel 9 Pro, the Pixel 9 Pro XL, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. These were all announced in August 2024, and we don’t expect successors until around August of 2025.

The latest mid-range model is the Pixel 8a, which landed in May of 2024, so the Pixel 9a will probably be the next model at the time of writing, around the middle of 2025.

It's unusual to think of Google as the cool or niche alternative to anything, but that's precisely what the brand represents in the smartphone hardware market. You won't see all that many Pixel phones out in the wild, but those that have them will probably be happy customers.

Buying a Pixel phone means guaranteeing a clean and quickly updated software experience, as well as a level of camera quality that far exceeds much of the competition. Buying a Pixel phone comes with the assurance of a giant brand, but also the satisfaction of doing things a little differently.