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No two phones provide peak Android experience like the Pixel 7 and Galaxy S22. This Holiday Sale presents a rare opportunity to grab these flagship smartphones for a bargain.
Most people who are turned away due to the exorbitant prices of elite options usually settle for a premium mid-ranger. Sales provide such enthusiasts with an excellent opportunity to experience flagship performance at relatively affordable prices.
If the Pixel 7 is the tried and tested default Android experience envisioned by Google, the Galaxy S22 is the epitome of a feature-rich productivity suite designed for power-users.
Both of these phones serve varying purposes but are based on the same Android OS. While Pixel offers something barebones and yet exceedingly smart, the Galaxy offers incredible and unseen productivity. So, which of these flagship smartphones should one get for the Holiday Sale? Let's dive right in to find out.
A comparison between the Pixel 7 and Galaxy S22 for Holiday Sale
Both of these flagships offer top-of-the-line hardware with some ddifference
The Pixel 7 is equipped with Google’s latest Tensor G2 processor, which has seen a massive jump in performance in the second iteration. The tech giant has also packed in a lot of AI features on the chip that not only make the phone smarter than most flagships, but also help preserve battery life. This is something Holiday Sale shoppers should keep in mind.
Samsung, on the other hand, has opted for Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 for the rest of the world, while preferring Exynos 2200 in Europe. Both of these are top of the line processors based on the 4 nm architecture.
However, the Snapdragon offering in the Galaxy S22 has been criticized for thermal throttling and battery-endurance issues. It should be noted that this heating is apparent in tasks that push the phone to its absolute limits, not in regular usage.
On paper, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is faster than the Tensor G2. This difference is barely noticeable, and apparent only when the two phones are kept side by side for comparison.
Both the Pixel 7 and Galaxy S22 offer good protection against the elements with an IP 68 rating. A one-off unfortunate swimming pool incident wouldn’t kill either of the two.
As for display protection, the Pixel offers Victus from Gorilla Glass while the Galaxy goes for Victus+, a slightly modern advanced protection compared to the other. Even then, both devices are capable of surviving occasional drops and slips.
The Pixel 7 has a brighter screen of the two at 1400 nits. This, by no means, implies that the S22 is a bad choice for outdoor visibility. With 1300 nits of peak brightness, the Samsung flagship is aptly equipped for even the brightest of sunny days. Holiday Sale shoppers cannot go wrong with either when outdoor visibility is the criteria.
The displays on these two flagships are amazing thanks to HDR10+ supported OLED screens. The Pixel 7, however, comes with only 90 Hz refresh rate compared to 120 Hz on the S22.
With UFS 3.1 storage technology, none of these phones are a slouch when it comes to navigating the UI and accessing large files. The Pixel 7 and Galaxy S22 fly through any task thrown their way. It is impossible to go wrong with either for the Holiday Sale when the requirement is a fast and reliable device.
The race is almost neck-and-neck in software support and utility
The Galaxy S22 was released in February with One UI 4, which is based on Android 12. This effectively means it will get OS updates until Android 16.
The Pixel 7 is a recent entrant having been released in October, a few months before the Holiday Sale. It has the advantage of coming with Android 13 out of the box. With Google’s policy of providing three years of OS updates, the Pixel should get Android 16 and possibly more if the company decides to compete on that front too.
Technically speaking, Samsung offers more years of OS support, but the Pixel 7's recent release has seen it match the update lifecycle of the Galaxy S22. Then again, Google offers Day One update support on its devices.
Furthermore, One UI has reinvigorated the winds in Samsung’s sails. It is smooth, fluid, feature-rich, and extremely intuitive to use. Meanwhile, the Pixel UI may not be as stuffed with features like the One UI, but its performance and consistency is a notch above the other.
Google, instead of adding major utilitarian features, has opted for AI and machine learning tricks that make it one of the smartest phones, if not the smartest.
Take, for example, the incredibly accurate voice typing through GBoard and live-call-screening features. These can come in handy in a pinch when you cannot use your hands, and save time from spam calls. Similarly, the Pixel is also responsive to voice commands. When you hear your alarm ringing at a bad time, you can simply say "mute" and the phone will turn the alarm off.
These small, almost insignificant features can tilt things in favor of one over another while deciding upon a flagship phone for the Holiday Sale.
The One UI on the Galaxy S22 too has a wide suite of features aimed at making life easier for anyone who picks it for the Holiday Sale. Bixby Routines is a feature that almost every Android purist wishes to be present on the Pixel. It allows a user to set ‘if-then’ conditions based on location, network, Wi-Fi, applications, and proximity.
For example, one can create a routine so that whenever maps are opened, the phone will automatically turn on the location and reverse the action when the application is closed.
Camera comparison provides an outcome in Pixel's favor, and so does the battery
The Pixel 7 takes better selfies than the Galaxy S22. It preserves color and details better than the latter, which has a habit of over-saturating the background. The Galaxy does have a better dedicated zoom lens, though.
The video from the selfie camera is also better and more detailed on the Pixel. When it comes to wide-angle rear offerings, Google's device again offers better pictures compared to the S22. This could be due to better post-processing offered on the PIxel. The Galaxy S22 isn't a bad camera by any means, it is quite the opposite. The Pixel simply highlights any details better than its rival. As
for the video, the Galaxy is capable of recording 8K at 24 fps while the Pixel tops out at 4K 60 fps. If someone is looking for a flagship phone in the Holiday Sale that can take incredible portrait shots with good separation between objects and take good selfies while having more zoom, it is the Galaxy S22, which does this category more justice compared to the Pixel 7.
Meanwhile, Google's offering should be considered if picture details, sharper night shots, and natural color saturation are the priority in a complete all-round package for shoppers in the Holiday Sale.
As for battery life, both the phones are capable of offering a full day, with the Pixel 7 capable of slightly more, thanks to higher capacity and adaptive battery that has been shown to increase endurance over the weeks.
The Galaxy S22 charges faster with 25 W of fast-charging while having a smaller battery. People looking for more endurance in a flagship should opt for the Pixel 7 in the Holiday Sale.
Pixel 7 advantages over the S22
- Faster Day One updates.
- More advanced and smarter AI features like call screening.
- Better color saturation in photos with more detail preservation.
- Software feels more fluid and optimized if ever so slightly.
- Bigger battery and higher endurance.
Get the Pixel 7 here for the US and here globally.
S22 advantages over the Pixel 7
- Longer software-update lifecycle.
- Bixby Routine saves a lot of time.
- Better portraits and zoom shots.
- Faster charging.
Get the S22 here for the US and here globally.
Which one to choose?
Purists of Android who want a barebones but reliable software experience and care more about AI-enabled smart features without paying a premium, should go for the Pixel 7 in the Holiday Sale.
People who prefer an experience that offers loads and loads of productivity with longer software support shouldn’t hesitate to go for the Galaxy S22 in the Holiday Sale.
As for us, we recommend the Pixel 7 for most users.
