Google and Samsung are lock in a battle at the premium end of the Android smartphone market , and one of the reasons why you might pick aGoogle Pixel 2over aSamsung Galaxy Note 8 — or frailty versa — is the on - board software . We put the two flagship equipment side by side to see how Pixel Android compares to Samsung Android .
Having a fair , stemma adaptation of Android was always one of the main selling points of Google’sNexus gadget , but with the Pixel series , Google is pushing this further — summate more single tweaks and duplicate on top of the “ stock ” version that every Android phone maker has access to . basically , Pixel Android is the new line Android .
Meanwhile , Samsung ’s take on Android , originally call TouchWiz and now called the “ Samsung Experience ” , has gone from littered and complicated to something much more compelling — it ’s for certain dissimilar to what you get on the Google Pixel .
Samsung Galaxy vs Google Pixel… Image: Sam Rutherford/Gizmodo
Where Google is still ahead…
1) Google Assistant
No surprises here . Google Assistant run rings around Bixby — though to be fair to Samsung , it has n’t been in the digital assistant game as long as Google has . Thanks to Google ’s deep AI expertise , and integration with a host of other apps , Assistant is way ahead at this peak .
Google Assistant can find nearby restaurants , and launch drive directions , and find picture on the web , much more intuitively than Bixby can . Where Bixby does have the border is in give youmore granular controlover your headphone and some apps — so for exemplar “ opened configurations and change by reversal on vibration ” plant on Bixby but not on a Pixel phone .
2) Simpler interface
It ’s no secret that Samsung loves to mob features and choice on top of each other whenever it can , and although its operating system and apps are much easy to navigate around than they used to be , they still seem confusing compared with the Android OS on Pixel devices . It ’s discernible everywhere from the lock blind to the quick options pane .
The opening move screen for configurations is another exercise . Google ’s option is simply easier on the eyes ( and brain ) . The search box at the top helps on Pixel Android , as does the way the software hides more innovative pick behind a submenu . It ’s usually easy to ascertain what it is you ’re looking for .
3) More polished apps
Samsung is trying hard with its aboriginal , bundled apps — and has made improvements in recent years — but Google still beat it almost every department . Compare Gmail with Samsung ’s e-mail app , for example , or Google Photos with Samsung ’s Gallery ( do n’t forget , you get unlimited cloud storage for photos and videos taken on a Pixel telephone set too ) .
To give Samsung credit , almost all of its apps can now be uninstalled from its phones if you want to dumbfound exclusively to Google ’s offerings , so this is n’t a huge issue ; but there are still a few , like the Phone and Messages apps , that remain pig-headedly in place . To make the salutary of Google ’s superior apps , you ’re better with the tight desegregation that Pixel phones tender .
4) Faster OS updates
Pixel devices get you to the front of the waiting line for young versions of Android , just as it did if you got one of the Nexus headphone of yesteryear . Samsung is n’t too far behind , but it is behind : Android 8.0 Oreo has been out since August and Samsungjust finished beta testingit on the Galaxy S8 , with no prescribed roll - out date confirmed as of yet .
With a portion of apps and services now spun out of the Android OS itself , this does n’t count as much as it used to . Yet it ’s still true that if you want the newest feature film — like dot badges , better notice direction , and more — you’re going to get them far quicker if you ’ve buy a phone straight off from Google .
Where Samsung is catching up…
1) More options, everywhere
We ’ve already remark the “ Samsung Experience ” having a more littered interface , but the impudent side of that is it ’s take with more options : From hiding the seafaring bar , to annotate screenshots , to enhancing the looking of videos on screen . If you desire to tweak something on a Samsung headphone , it ’s usually possible .
Samsung has handle to make these optional extras more useful and less bloated in recent time , like the “ see also ” data link at the bottom of options screens in case you have n’t found what you ’re looking for , or the redundant control you get over the always - on display and the whatchamacallum on your lock chamber screen . Now they in the main outride out of the way unless needed .
2) You can make your phone your own
you could entirely transform the look of Android on Pixel headphone too , but you need a third - party launcher .
3) More innovative features
Samsung loves to try new things , even if they do n’t make a lot of sense or work straight away . For example , it offer living for multi - window vista on Android long before it came to the prescribed oxygen . The experiments that Samsung tries can be bump off and miss , but it continue to try .
Takethe App Pair pick , presently single to the Galaxy Note 8 , which lets you launch two app windows from one icon ; or the Samsung Dex desktop environs , which ( as this is Samsung)isn’t quite working in good order yet , but is something you ca n’t do with a Pixel telephone right now . Samsung like to stay on the cutting off edge , for unspoilt or for bad .
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