Get a bargain on Google’s wonderful Pixel 3
When software and hardware are in perfect sync
In computing, making both the hardware and software is often hugely advantageous – just ask Apple. For Android phones, that means the Google Pixel family of phones always seem to add up to more than the sum of their parts.
And the good news is that if you’re keen on fully signing up to Google’s way of doing things, then everything is pretty temptingly priced at the moment. Right now, you can get a Pixel 3 for £539 from a number of retailers including Carphone Warehouse, John Lewis and Currys PC World.
If you want something a little bigger, then the Pixel 3 XL is available for £30 more here. And if all of this sounds a little pricey, it’s worth remembering that the Pixel 3a and 3a XL – cheaper, but still brilliant versions of the Pixel 3 – are available for £349 and £399 respectively.
In terms of difference between them, the Pixel 3a has a slower processor, a plastic back, and lacks one front-facing camera, wireless charging and waterproofing. It does, however, add in a 3.5mm headphone jack, and more importantly it keeps the brilliant rear-camera, making it the best phone camera you can get at this price. For both flavours, XL just means more screen space (and a notch for the 3 XL): nothing more, nothing less.
None of the Pixel 3s have expandable storage, so the 64GB built-in is all you’ll ever have. If that’s a problem, you’ll need to pay a bit more for the 128GB version or look elsewhere.
Other than that, though, I have nothing bad to say about Google’s Pixel 3 family. They’re wonderfully designed, and feel more intuitive than many other Android devices thanks to the clean version of the OS they run. Plus as Google devices, you’ll get security patches and the latest version of Android before everybody else, which is quite a big perk too.