Advertising Just recently, Google officially announced their new Pixel 3a and 3a XL smartphones. These are budget Pixel handsets that sport mid-range hardware, but at the same time still feature some of the Pixel 3’s features, such as its camera system. This means that for a few hundred dollars less, you get features that would have otherwise been exclusive to the Pixel 3. Google has decided to show off that fact by buying some billboard ads in which they seem to be trolling a certain “Phone X” which is priced at $999, versus the Pixel 3a’s price of $399, while seemingly sporting poorer low-light capabilities. It doesn’t really take that much deduction to realize that the “Phone X” is Apple’s iPhone X series, which not only pushed smartphone prices into the thousands, but based on reviews, still seems to fall behind in terms of camera capabilities. Of course, camera capabilities only tell one side of the story and to be fair, Apple’s iPhones have always managed to take some pretty amazing photos. Granted, it might be lacking in certain areas, but who’s to say that Apple couldn’t improve on them in future models? In the meantime, it also seems that Google is trying to get customers to switch to their new Pixel smartphones by giving them credit for when they trade in their iPhones. Filed in . Read more about Google and iPhone. Source: 9to5google<doc-sep>The Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL went immediately on sale at physical and online retailers after Google announced them on stage at I/O 2019 on Tuesday. Similarly, the marketing campaign is in full swing with one billboard from Made by Google driving home camera performance and price versus “Phone X.” Google began this Night Sight advertising campaign calling out the iPhone XS in February. Just before the Super Bowl, Google released side-by-side comparisons of the Pixel’s Night Sight mode versus the iPhone’s low-light performance. Beyond social media, Google has physical billboards for this advertising campaign. They are continuing this line of attack for the Pixel 3a with a new billboard that 9to5Mac’s Michael Steeber spotted in Washington, D.C. — amusingly near Apple’s new Carnegie Library store. (Update: A second identical ad was spotted in the D.C. area.) For its latest phone, Google added prices to the billboard to distinguish how its cheaper phone takes better pictures in the dark compared to a flagship. Night Sight’s computational photography prowess is available on all Pixel phones dating to the original in 2016. On first glance, “Phone X” might harken to 2017’s iPhone X, but fine print in past ads specified how the competing shot was taken on an iPhone XS, with the $999 price point today backing that up. In addition to the Pixel 3a vs iPhone ad, Google released a slew of videos this week for the mid-range device. They amusingly feature Awkwafina and 2 Chainz highlighting various aspects of the new phone, including Night Sight, Google Assistant, Lens, photo backup, and all-day battery life. More about Pixel 3a: FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More. Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:<doc-sep>
Banner ads showcasing Google’s new Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL handsets pit them against Apple’s iPhone X series devices. The banner ads, which are appearing on a number of billboards around the U.S., contrast the $999 price of the iPhone XS to the significantly cheaper $399 for the Pixel 3a. Comparing the iPhone XS to the Pixel 3a is slightly disingenuous. As we wrote recently, it’s closer to the iPhone SE than the top-end iPhones. The Pixel 3a is similar in looks to the Pixel 3 that debuted last year. However, it is built with the price-conscious consumer in mind. It made its debut at the recent Google I/O conference. Apple the luxury company The new ads serve to position Apple as the elitist, overpriced handset maker, compared to Google’s more egalitarian approach. Somewhat confusingly, while it refers to the iPhone X, its price references the newer iPhone XS. This mirrors a recent stance taken by Google CEO Sundar Pichai in a New York Times op-ed. Pichai was responding to previous criticism from Tim Cook. In turn, he blasted companies which sell privacy as a “luxury good.” In essence, it’s the same swipe taken against Apple by many competitors, which refer to a so-called Apple tax. Google’s not the first tech giant to take out ads lambasting Apple products. Everyone from Samsung to Huawei have taken their shots in the past. Whether this ad will help sway new customers in the direction of the Pixel 3a series remains to be seen.