What you should know
- The author is a big fan of the Pixel 6a, appreciating its comfort, performance, photo quality, and unique features.
- Despite the Pixel 6a’s qualities, the author has found it difficult to convince friends to consider purchasing a Pixel phone.
- The author suggests that one reason for the difficulty in promoting Pixel phones is their relative rarity; people are more likely to choose brands they see others using.
- Even when a phone meets all a consumer’s needs on paper, they may still be hesitant to choose it if it seems too good to be true or if they are unfamiliar with the brand.
Full Story
No joke, I don’t understand it. Or at least, I didn’t until I gave it some thought. I’m a big fan of my Pixel 6a. It may not be the newest or the “flagship” model, but it’s my go-to device. I’m not shy to admit it, because anyone who’s tried it knows it’s a good piece of tech.
But here’s the issue: not many people have tried it. Or any Pixel, for that matter. I can’t wrap my head around it. My Pixel is comfortable to hold. It can tackle anything I throw its way. We take such fantastic photos together that I sold my DSLR. It boasts a bunch of cool, unique features that I appreciate, including a Pocket Operator app from Teenage Engineering, which is my absolute favorite.
Okay, half of you probably don’t know what Teenage Engineering is, but that’s not important. I believe that the latest Pixel phones meet the general needs of most modern-day consumers: competitive price, can handle any task, takes great photos, and has a solid battery life. So, if that’s the case, why have I struggled to get my friends to consider a Pixel phone three times in the past six months?
Image credit — PhoneArena
Seriously, I don’t know why my friend had a Huawei phone to begin with. The whole regulatory and ban drama had already happened, so why anyone in the West would continue to use a phone from this brand is beyond me. But there we were, my friend and his beat-up Huawei phone, ready to hunt for a new device. The criteria? Budget-friendly, has a PlayStore (amazing!), and not easy to break.
That sounds like “any Android phone out there”, right? Despite that, my friend insisted that we look at Chinese phones exclusively. It took me a while to understand why: that’s what he knows. He’s used to a Chinese phone, which would’ve been good if not for the lack of the above criteria. So, he wanted to repeat the process, but improve upon it. A totally human thing to do!
Image credit — PhoneArena
“Wow, do those even exist?!” I exclaimed when another friend described what he was looking for. “Well, yeah, check these out!” And then he bombarded me with links to Ulefone models from more than four years ago. No, seriously: manufacturers aren’t doing a good enough job of explaining why an old phone can be a very bad thing for you if you’re not a techie, but I digress.
After a short discussion on the topic of “What is a security update and why do I need it?”, we decided that my friend needs a Galaxy Xcover phone! He, like many other people out there, had no idea that Samsung had its own line of rugged phones. Then we saw the price and we realized that no, we weren’t about to order one.
Image credit — PhoneArena
“This is going to be a breeze” I said to myself when I was approached by another one of my besties. He’s a Samsung fan and he isn’t looking for budget or Pro-grade: he just wants to have a good Android phone that can get the job done. So just the usual then: Solid set of features, enough horsepower to multitask, a battery capable of getting him through the day. Not even a camera requirement?! Man, this would be easy!
Image credit — PhoneArena
You go out, you see people with phones. Everyone has a phone nowadays. They’ve got phones from Samsung, Motorola, OnePlus or Xiaomi. But nobody seems to have a Pixel phone. In fact, before the start of my story, I was the only Pixel user in my friend group. Heck, possibly even in my friends’ friends groups.
In other words: how could you begin to consider getting a phone that you’ve barely even seen in people’s hands? Even if you’ve heard it in a commercial or caught glimpses of the line in some online article, restaurant logic still applies, right? Here’s what I mean by that: you’re on a street and there are two restaurants in front of you. One is practically empty, while the other is buzzing with people. The safer bet? Go where the people are.
Even if they’re not offering your favorite dishes, the mere fact that so much food is going into circulation should at least guarantee you that everything is fresh. So, to turn that into a phone analogy: if you’re seeing tons of people with Samsung phones and Motorola phones, then those become the default safe picks for you. And if you’re not seeing many people with Pixels… Well, then, there must be something wrong with them, right?
So that explains the bit related to most people. But what about my friends? I mean, they know where I work and they know that they can trust me on a personal level. Despite that, getting them to even consider getting a Pixel phone was a pretty tough sell. On paper, it sounds like a no-brainer decision: a phone with a great camera and solid battery life that is very competitively priced, capable of handling almost anything that you throw at it, with a slew of unique features on top.
That’s a great deal. One could say too good of a deal. And you know what they say about things that seem too good to be true, right? After all, if it’s so easy to give people a complete package like this, then the other brands would be doing it too, right? Right? I think I’ve made my case. And it seems like giving people exactly what they want isn’t just confusing to them: it may be a double-edged sword for you too.
Yet I still recommend that you check out a Pixel phone the next time you’re considering an upgrade. Because I’ve got three examples of people who didn’t know they wanted a Pixel phone until they got one right here. Wait, wasn’t there something that Steve Jobs once said about people not knowing what they want until you show it to them? Huh. Food for thought.
