When it come to phone , it would be soft to consider Samsung as the best simply because of its unmixed scale . However , see beneath the aerofoil , and you ’ll see a bubbling signified of competition . Samsung has failed to innovate and increase its healthy advantage , and the door is open for at least one company to provide a sustained challenge .

Google desire to be that fellowship , and while I intend there are better sound in certain categories , Google is the only earpiece maker that can contend with Samsung at every level . Samsung ’s winner comes from an ability to spend lavishly to reach its customers , and Google is the only company that can operate at that scale .

I ’ve been critical of Google Pixel phones for age , but this yr ’s Pixel 9 serial surprised me . It ’s that full . TheGoogle Pixel 9 Procould easily be the onlyAndroid phoneI exercise , and I would n’t omit other devices too much . However , a ripe product is n’t enough to compete with the might of Samsung and Apple .

For Google to become the third dominant phone maker in the U.S. market , it still demand to make a few improvements . Here ’s how Google can finally take the combat against Samsung on Mobile River next year .

Build a Google Pixel Ultra

I guess Google has to build a Pixel 10 Ultra or differentiate the Pixel 10 Pro XL from the 10 Pro by sum a more raise soar . The Pixel 9 Pro photographic camera is perfectly all right at forgetful rapid climb length , but it does n’t equate to what Samsung has achieved with the Ultra ’s second telephoto sensor .

A Pixel Ultra demand to go beyond just a second telephotograph crystalline lens . Far too many ship’s company utilise the term Ultra for one excess tv camera , but Samsung assay to differentiate it further with the S Pen , a bad showing , and an overall more innovative experience . Hey , Google , is that the secure you could do ?

My compliments list is simple : take the Pixel 9 Pro and add a better processor , an extra telephoto lens , and better shelling aliveness . I ’d love stylus support , but that is n’t likely to happen . Regardless , Google has in the end found a Pixel formula that works and can turn its harshest critic into fans . The miss linkup is the Pixel Ultra .

For Google to truly challenge Samsung , it must compete at every level . Therumored Google Pixel 9acovers the Galaxy A serial , and the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL back the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus . The Pixel 9 Pro Fold examine that Google can beat the Galaxy Z Fold 6 , so now the challenge is to cater to the ultra - premium segment and take on the rumoredGalaxy S25 Ultra . After the Pixel Ultra , I also trust Google chock up into the insolent phone space . There ask to be a third musician in that kingdom , although theMoto Razr Pluswill be tough competition for anyone .

Lean heavily into Made by Google

I judge a phone ’s viability in the market by its impropriety to my champion and family . Far too many masses live inside the tech house of cards , but the success of Samsung is in its power to appeal to those outside the bubble . It ’s taken over a decade , but a Samsung launching can — or at least used to — create the same layer of buzz as Apple .

Google , on the other hand , does n’t . Well , it did n’t use to , but the Pixel 9 launching was a milepost for the company . It ’s the first time I ’ve seen Google phones yield this much interest , and the subsequent convinced reviews of the Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel 9 Pro Fold only helped to boost the impulse .

Improve carrier partnerships

This is arguably the big issue for Google : its attack aircraft carrier partnerships . Apple proved to be the schoolmaster of these transcription , with the first iPhones exclusive to AT&T in the U.S. and O2 in the U.K. These softwood helped increase the exclusivity of the iPhone and let on consumer purchasing patterns that continue to this Clarence Shepard Day Jr. .

Breaking into the carrier marketplace is highly tough for many reasons . First , there ’s the need to stick to a whole bent of regularisation and requirement to be certify for a carrier , with each flattop differing in their needs . Samsung has proven that it ’s not just Apple that can establish long-lasting partnerships , and Google needs to do the same . The Pixel 9 series is widely usable at all three carriers , but AT&T chose not to buy in the Pixel 9 Pro Fold at launch . There were also considerable wait in shipping products due to a want of stocktaking , which shows that Google still has a few crick to work out .

Samsung has proven clean reliable with deliver on or before the spillage date — although Apple still leads the means here — but Google ’s launches are ordinarily far more chaotic . Often , you wo n’t get the gadget when expected ; from personal experience , having served client for a decade in retail , I lie with that this will damp any client ’s ebullience . This begins to sow doubtfulness , especially if the intersection is n’t also widely usable through carrier channels .

Make Gemini more personal

Gemini and its Android feature played a significant office in this year ’s Pixel 9 launch . Like every telephone set released in 2024 , AI was the only cant that matter . Alongside of pop the question a year of the Google One AI bundle — otherwise valued at $ 20 per calendar month — the Pixel 9 series was billed as the headphone built for Gemini .

It auspicate Apple ’s approach to the iPhone 16 , the “ first speech sound made for Apple Intelligence . ” It also is n’t a peachy compare for Google ; as great as Gemini is , it has n’t unforgettably improve my life . Meanwhile , Apple Intelligence has;AI - powered Notification Summaries is the AI lineament that I ’ve been waiting for .

Apple chose to establish Apple Intelligence with an extended rollout through the second stern of 2025 , but Google take to focalise on the features that are uncommitted now . Google I / O — and the next Pixel launch — necessitate to focus not on the generative AI capability of Gemini , but rather all the way it can ameliorate your day-after-day life .

One area to improve could be how Gemini integrates with apps . Gemini is still an overlay that work after you enable it , whereas Apple Intelligence can recall information across your whole cortege of apps . Google has the necessary capableness to make Gemini on Android a must - have feature article .

All eyes on Mountain View in 2025

The Pixel 9 Pro is the best Google telephone set I have ever used , and Google surprised me with just how improved it is . Google is my pick for the speech sound maker of the year , and the actual question is whether Google can acquit this into next year . Surprisingly , I ’m hopeful that it can .

Next year , we will see the launch of thePixel 10 series , but despite it only being nine years since the first Pixel was launched , the constitute convention suggests it will be a big launch for Google . Expanding the Pixel lineup , announcing deeper carrier partnership , and vamp Gemini are just some of the ingredient needed to make the next Pixel series even bigger .