And while I’ve sort of done the whole “two phones” thing before, I don’t think my experience has ever been as polarizing as it is right now.
Having spent three months using my iPhone 13 mini (and sometimes, the iPhone 15 Pro Max) alongside the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, I’ve come to the conclusion that (right now) I can’t decide which phone I’d keep if I had to make a REAL choice.
As of now, the iPhone 13 mini remains the only phone I carry in my pocket everywhere I go because of how incredibly compact it is, while the Pixel Fold is just the perfect “home” phone thanks to the obvious “mini tablet” superpower it possesses.
But there’s much more beyond that. In fact, the biggest reasons I keep using an iPhone or an Android have nothing to do with the size of the iPhone, or the folding screen of the Pixel. So, I’ve tried to put together not just any list, but a list of practical reasons I keep going back to one or the other. On a daily basis.
And let’s see what we can learn from it…
The practical Pixel features I wish I had (almost) every single time I pick up my iPhone
So, let’s jump right into the practical reasons/features that get me to pick up the Pixel over the iPhone.
Shocker, but a lot of it has to do with software, and/or Artificial Intelligence… These are not in order of importance, so you can pick and choose, which ones seem game-changing to you, and which ones seem like a feature you wouldn’t care about.
However, to be fair, some of the features are a “don’t knock it before you try it” case, so keep that in mind…
Artificial Intelligence – Pixel Studio makes the iPhone’s Image Playground image generative AI look like like a joke
Google’s Pixel Studio app recreated exactly what I had in mind.
For example, using Pixel Studio with a sprinkle of imagination can make you a cool t-shirt patch, or a print design you can then apply to pretty much anything you can think of, and… I don’t know – sell it on eBay. Performers can create a poster for a gig, you can make a wedding invitation – you name it.
Meanwhile, the iPhone’s Image Playground alternative is nowhere near as good – generating cartoonish images that wouldn’t be applicable to most of the above-mentioned examples.
Now Playing – Apple killed Shazam for nothing?
My Pixel always knows what song is playing in the background.
I was at the store when I heard an old song I didn’t know the name of, and I realized I didn’t have Shazam installed on my iPhone. So… the song was gone.
Ironically, Apple bought Shazam years ago, and for some reason, it’s totally missing out on the opportunity to make something useful out of it – like “Now Playing” on Pixel.
But it gets more interesting – I was able to use my impeccable humming to search for the song with the Google app on my iPhone. Sure, I was technically able to find the song with my iPhone… But only thanks to Google’s app and algorithm.
Magic Editor and Magic Eraser work like… Magic
Magic Eraser is already better than Clean up in pretty much every single way, but Magic Editor is a feature Apple doesn’t even have an alternative to. You can think of the Magic Editor as Magic Eraser on steroids – it won’t only remove your background/subject, but replace it with anything you want, which is something I can’t do on an iPhone.
But Magic Editor also takes the object removal feature to a whole new level, since it can add detail back in the picture to make the imperfections from the removal process far less noticeable.
It’s a huge win for Pixel on this one.
Circle to Search is possibly the best software feature of 2024 (certainly my favorite one)
I can hold down the home button on my Pixel phone and translate any text on my screen… Search anything on my screen… and take a photo and look up anything I’m looking at. My iPhones… can’t do any of that.
I can hold down the home “button” on my Pixel and get options to translate anything on my screen (which I do daily), Google Search anything, search a song, and more. Meanwhile, my iPhone 13 can do… absolutely none of that.
But to add insult to injury, Apple has decided to make its Visual Intelligence feature (the equivalent to Circle to Search) exclusive to the iPhone 16 series, which means even my $1,200 iPhone 15 Pro Max will feel like a 5-year-old iPhone.
I pick up my Pixel to Circle to Search more than I pick up my iPhone to do just about anything else, which speaks for itself.
Folding design + real multitasking features
That’s what multitasking looks like.
It’s exactly what it sounds like – the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s folding design and ability to run two “normal size” apps side-by-side put any of my iPhones to shame.
Don’t knock it before you try it – the ability to use two apps simultaneously can be super useful. In my use case, these would be the Amazon app and Chrome, YouTube and Chrome, the Calendar and the Calculator, etc.
Of course, the iPhone can’t run two apps simultaneously at all, which (with folding phones becoming more and more popular), is starting to make it look like a dumb phone.
But hey… the folding iPhone is allegedly coming in 2026, so what’s another two years to wait!
Gemini – not as good as Chat GPT but much better than Siri
Needless to say, Siri is nowhere near that level of sophistication even after the launch of Apple Intelligence, and I’d be surprised if Apple manages to catch up to Google in the near future.
For the record, I do think Chat GPT trumps both by a decent margin, and Apple does have a deal with Open AI, which already allows Chat GPT to run almost natively on iPhones with Apple Intelligence (via the Action or Capture button), and that’s certainly a nice option when Siri can’t give you the answer you need (which is almost always).
Generous software support and less bugs than iPhone on iOS 18 – another surprise win for Pixel given iPhone’s reputation
Apple is losing the software war to Android. Big time. But that’s just my opinion. Whatever.
Meanwhile, it’s my iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 13 mini, which show more bugs than usual.
Pixel is cheaper to buy after lunch – gives you better value (if you keep it long enough)
The Pixel’s poor resale value before (especially compared to the iPhone) is a definite disadvantage if you’re hoping to get more money when selling/trade-in-in your old Pixel. That’s a fact. However, this means that if you want to buy a Pixel phone after launch, it’s usually a decent amount cheaper to do so compared to buying an older iPhone – no matter how old both phones are.
If you know you want a Pixel phone, and you’re OK with buying either an older model, or a used/refurbished phone, Pixel is a gem, which can give you great value compared to the iPhone.
For example, buying a refurbished Pixel 7 Pro would be cheaper than buying a refurbished iPhone 14 Pro, and the former will give you a great deal of AI features found on the latest Pixel 9 series, while the iPhone 14 Pro will give you exactly zero Apple Intelligence features.
My Pixel is far from perfect, but it easily outshines my iPhone when it comes to software and AI – and it’s not even close
Whether it’s wrong or right, let’s not forget that Android offers real choice. If you don’t like the Pixel – you can get a Galaxy. And if you don’t like the Galaxy… you are a hater. Some would say.
On the other hand, the iPhone has some obvious strengths, which mostly revolve around its hardware and the “ecosystem”, which I might discuss in a future story.