Pixel vs Galaxy: Which Is the Right Android Phone for You?

If you’re looking to prime up 1 of the best phones connected the marketplace for your adjacent upgrade, and you’ve settled connected Android arsenic the mobile operating strategy you privation to spell with. In that case, you’ll astir apt privation to get 1 oregon 2 Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy handsets connected your shortlist.

Although determination are plentifulness of different good Android phones—made by OnePlus, Motorola, Nothing, and respective others—Google and Samsung are the astir high-profile Android instrumentality makers extracurricular of China. Of course, the Android you get connected Pixels isn’t rather the aforesaid arsenic the Android you get connected Galaxys, which is what we’ll instrumentality a person look astatine here.

We’re going to comparison the Pixel acquisition to the Samsung acquisition up of the rollout of Android 15 and One UI 7 (which won’t alteration a immense amount). We’re besides going to disregard the hardware successful this peculiar article—which processor such-and-such handset has oregon however galore cameras—for a much straightforward head-to-head comparison.

Pixel vs Galaxy: Interface and customization

Pixels tin amusement suggested apps connected the location screen. (Gizmodo)

There’s not overmuch to take betwixt Pixels and Galaxys regarding the basics of location screens and app drawers: Android being Android, you tin customize the location screens extensively with widgets and wallpapers (and adjacent instal a caller launcher). Both phones fto you tweak the location surface grid size, but lone Samsung lets you region the Google hunt barroom from the location screen.

Both phones enactment motion navigation oregon the aged three-button navigation, and Google Discover is conscionable 1 swipe to the near of the location screens. You tin besides signifier apps into folders, rotate the location surface into scenery oregon representation mode, show badges connected notifications, and more.

There are a fewer differences. For example, Pixels person their ain customized at-a-glance location surface widget showing the weather, calendar events, and much (you tin benignant of emulate this connected a Galaxy, but not quite). They tin besides amusement a enactment of suggested apps connected the location surface and the app drawer based connected what you usage astir often.

You tin tweak the Galaxy location surface successful a batch of ways. (Gizmodo)

Samsung, meanwhile, has a fewer much built-in widget options than Google, including a day countdown for the calendar and a strategy widget showing representation and retention usage. It besides offers the enactment of the Edge Panel, a pane that pops retired from the broadside of the surface and holds your favourite apps for casual access.

The Edge Panel is an illustration of what Samsung Galaxy phones bash truly well: It gives you a ton of options and features to play astir with. You get much choices erstwhile it comes to font styles and colour modes connected Galaxy phones, whereas Pixel phones thin to beryllium a small simpler and much minimal crossed the interface and the settings screens.

Both Pixel phones and Galaxy phones springiness you a wide prime of built-in wallpapers, of people (as good arsenic the enactment to usage AI to make caller ones), portion some phones besides fto you acceptable the colour palette based connected the wallpaper (or connected immoderate different colour operation you like). Overall, you’ll find a Pixel preferable if you similar simplicity with immoderate clever touches and a Galaxy preferable if you privation arsenic galore options and features arsenic possible.

Pixel vs Galaxy: Built-in apps and features

Pixels prioritize Google apps. (Gizmodo)

Google has immoderate of the champion mobile apps successful the business: Gmail, Google Keep, Google Chrome, Google Maps, Google Docs, YouTube, and the like. It’s hard to reason that the Samsung alternatives are amended than these apps, but you get them each connected Galaxy phones arsenic well, and they each enactment successful the aforesaid way.

If you’re spending each your clip wrong Google apps, you could reason that Galaxy phones person excessively overmuch successful the mode of bloatware connected them—but you tin rapidly uninstall apps similar Samsung Health, Samsung Internet, Samsung Calendar, and Samsung Notes without excessively overmuch trouble. There are immoderate you can’t instal arsenic well, though, specified arsenic the Galaxy Store, Samsung Contacts, and the Samsung Gallery.

Of course, there’s thing incorrect with preferring the Samsung apps and going with them alternatively (and you tin instal some, similar Samsung Internet, connected immoderate Android phone). If you’ve got a Samsung laptop and a Samsung smartwatch, past you whitethorn privation to instrumentality with the Samsung options. If you’re each successful connected the Google ecosystem, you’ll astir apt privation to spell for the axenic Pixel experience.

Galaxy phones connection Samsung DeX. (Gizmodo)

Pixels does person a fewer exclusive tricks: These see the Call Screen feature, which makes Google Assistant surface calls for you and helps you debar scams and spam, and the caller Pixel Screenshots app, which is exclusive to the Pixel 9 bid and helps aboveground accusation from your screenshots. There’s besides the fantabulous Pixel Recorder app for turning spoken substance into transcribed text, but Samsung has its mentation successful the signifier of Voice Recorder.

On the Samsung side, Galaxy phones fto you power the measurement of idiosyncratic apps separately—something you can’t bash connected a Pixel phone. They besides person a Modes and Routines conception built close into Settings, which means it’s easier connected a Samsung telephone to acceptable up adjuvant automation (like customizing the power-saving settings based connected wherever you are oregon the clip of day). Then there’s Samsung DeX, which lets you usage your telephone arsenic a desktop OS via a keyboard and monitor.

We should besides notation Android updates: Google is successful complaint of the full Android project, truthful it’s nary astonishment that Pixels get large and insignificant updates earlier Galaxy phones do, arsenic Samsung needs to get everything tweaked and aligned with its One UI code. If you privation Android updates earlier anyone else, that’s a crushed to spell for a Pixel.

Pixel vs Galaxy: On-board AI tricks and tools

Now Playing is simply a large small Pixel feature. (Gizmodo)

There’s present a heap of AI worldly connected some Pixel phones and Galaxy phones—and your mileage whitethorn alteration arsenic to however adjuvant it each is. Both these handset bid enactment Circle to Search, for instance, and its ever-growing suite of capabilities (you whitethorn retrieve the diagnostic launched connected the Galaxy S24 earlier immoderate Pixel phone, successful fact).

Pixels person agelong impressed successful presumption of their photograph and video processing, adjacent with constricted hardware. You could reason they’re the champion connected the marketplace successful this respect: Night Sight for debased airy photography, Audio Magic Eraser for wiping retired inheritance sounds from video, Magic Eraser for removing objects from photos, Astrophotography for capturing the nighttime sky, and truthful on. 

We’ve already mentioned immoderate of the different Pixel AI features and tools above, but there’s besides Now Playing—which identifies each the songs you travel into earshot of automatically successful the background—and the ever-improving capabilities of the Gemini adjunct (which is casual capable to instal connected Galaxy phones too).

More and much Galaxy AI is arriving connected Samsung phones. (Gizmodo)

Top-end Galaxy phones person besides been fixed a clump of AI functionality recently: Tools for summarizing notes, webpages, and documents, translating betwixt languages, turning sketches into works of art, and moving astir (or erasing) objects and radical successful pictures. There’s already a batch nether the Galaxy AI umbrella, with much to come.

There’s a batch of overlap betwixt AI and apps here, and so a batch of overlap betwixt Pixels and Galaxys—a batch of the AI tricks connected Samsung phones are powered by the Gemini exemplary that Google develops. Based connected the astir caller sound coming from Samsung, it won’t hide astir Bixby either, adjacent if it’s not truly successful the speech arsenic acold arsenic generative AI goes.

That’s a batch to work and instrumentality in, and we inactive haven’t covered everything that makes Pixel phones and Galaxy phones different. If you’ve got your reasons for preferring 1 implicit the other—and if you’ve settled connected 1 of these options aft trying some retired extensively—then fto america cognize successful the comments.