This is a good 'successor' to the iPhone. I tried using the Pixel 6a.
[Conclusion first]
I won't write about the details first. While this is just my personal conclusion, "The Pixel 6a is recommended." I hope only those who want to read the rest of this article will do so. I have an iPhone, but I think I can take the SIM out of it now. I'll go with this one. By the way, in my case, I bought the Pixel 6a normally, and I didn't receive any money from anyone to use an iPhone either. Since everything is completed entirely on my own, I want to state clearly that no money is coming from anywhere for this note.
[Isn't it good as a successor to the now-expensive iPhone?]Right now, I have work, and I have been using a high-end iPhone and Android together for over a year. So, looking at it overall, honestly, both have their pros and cons, but the Pixel 6a released this time, while not exactly dirt cheap, is still significantly cheaper than an iPhone with the same specs. It's not quite half the price of the regular, non-discounted, one-time payment price, but it is about 15,000 yen cheaper (excluding tax - I wrote "half price" in the previous text, but it doesn't go that far, so I corrected it). If you are worried every time a new iPhone comes out after summer ends, thinking, "Should I replace my old iPhone that's several generations old with a new one? But it's expensive due to the weak yen," then I think the Pixel 6a is a good candidate if you're thinking, "Should I try Android?" this time. That is, speaking strictly from my own "feeling."
"An iPhone is a 100,000 yen purchase all things considered," but you can get the same or better with the Pixel 6a for "about a 60,000 yen purchase." That's the kind of feeling it is.
[There is also the peace of mind of fingerprint authentication] At the time of writing this, even the current latest iPhone model, the iPhone 13, does not have fingerprint authentication and only has face authentication.
The Pixel 6a has four types of authentication, including fingerprint, pattern, and password authentication (← I wrote it wrong earlier, so I corrected it, but the Pixel 6a does not have face authentication).. The Pixel 6a also has Felica for so-called "wallets" and is waterproof. The CPU speed of the Pixel 6a is quite fast, and unless you are aiming to be the best in the world at gaming, the response speed is more than enough. The problem is "masks" in this day and age. Fingerprint authentication is truly appreciated.
[What the Pixel 6a lacks] Features that the current iPhone has but the current Pixel 6a lacks are "wireless charging" and a "genuine smartwatch." In addition, since the Pixel 6a was just released, there are no battery cases available yet. Battery cases will come out eventually, and a genuine smartwatch is scheduled for release. Nowadays, even if you spend about 10,000 yen on a smartwatch, you can get something quite good in terms of design and functionality, even if it's not a genuine product.
I wrote about "wireless charging" in a previous note as well, but since it can be a waste of energy, I don't really want to use it in these days of SDGs. Therefore, for me, I don't particularly mind not having a wireless charging function. Actually, using it, I feel the battery lasts quite a long time. That is just my feeling from comparing and using it.[What about as a 'status'?]
With the iPhone/Apple, there is a sense of
"I'm wonderful for using something cool and expensive." This is what you call "status," but in my case, I've never really cared about that, so I won't write about things like "satisfaction from owning a product" in this note. However, it's not limited to the company Apple, but the iPhone is a product born from the honor student of "modern capitalist society" that "makes you want it and makes you buy it," and I sometimes look up at that as being amazing in its own right. In a word, the Pixel 6a has "practicality" to the extreme, but it doesn't have much "status" or "brand appeal." Still, I personally think the recent Pixel 6 series has a design that is quite conscious of that, but at this point in time, the Pixel 6a does not reach the iPhone/Apple. That means if "status" is more important than anything else, including functionality, then the iPhone is overwhelmingly better at this moment. For me, a smartphone is not a gold product or jewelry, but just a daily practical item, so I've never really cared about it, but I think some people do. That said, I don't need to carry an iPhone anymore; it feels expensive to get used to an iPhone, and as for status, there are many people who say the design and content of the Pixel 6a are enough. In fact, I have to confess that after having the Pixel 6a for a while, the iPhone started to look a bit faded. I feel a "turning point of the era."[Small things, but]
Also, to mention small things, the Pixel 6a cannot use one of the many frequencies used by docomo. It doesn't have a big impact, though. Also, like the iPhone, the Pixel 6a
cannot use "5G" "millimeter wave." There are already many 5G smartphones, but most of them don't have "millimeter wave," and they don't reach explosive speeds, and since that seems to have become the mainstream of 5G now, that's a point of compromise for the time being. By the way, regarding the Antutu benchmark, when I checked mine, it was about 500,000 points in total, so it can be said to be in the high-end range at present. Sorry for the details.[However, the amazing sales strategy of the Pixel 6a]
On the other hand, the
amazing sales strategy of the Pixel 6a also became apparent after a while. Using the Google name, which is established as a "brand," to the fullest, they gave it as a gift to YouTubers and influencers with many followers more than a week before the release date, saying, "You don't have to advertise it, but here you go." Furthermore, for those who pre-ordered, they included genuine wireless earphones worth over 10,000 yen at list price as a bonus, albeit for a limited time. And they emphasized that the main unit itself is equipped with the same SoC as the higher-end models that cost over 100,000 yen. It's certainly not something you can clearly say is "100,000 yen value for 50,000 yen," but it seems to me that they have succeeded in creating that "atmosphere." It's also the time when news that "iPhones have become expensive due to price hikes caused by the weak yen" is circulating, and it's also the time when rumors are preceding that "the next Apple iPhone announcement is around September, and won't it be even more expensive?" I think they took advantage of Apple's absolute secrecy, which is unshaken by rumors. It feels like they caught up with "consumer needs" that say, "Smartphones are already daily necessities, not an era for luxury models. But I want something reasonably good even if I pay a little money." It seems to me that Apple's strategy so far, which has the "feeling" of "we are a luxury product (so it's natural that it's expensive)," cannot compete with this, and they have brought it "sharply!" in a short period of time. I am watching with admiration, thinking it is wonderful marketing that studied the enemy well. Who on earth thought of this?