In 2024, Pixel 7 makes both the $1,300 Galaxy S24 Ultra and $350 Nothing Phone 2 look overpriced!

As Pro, Ultra, Titanium, or AI they are, premium flagship phones from Samsung, Apple, or even Chinese phone-makers are now more expensive than ever. And I don’t know about you but… I don’t like that!

Take the $1,300 Galaxy S24 Ultra, which I’ve been using for about a week now. Sure, it’s an awesome phone, but it doesn’t do anything extraordinary. And it certainly isn't “$1,000 better” than the refurbished Pixel 7 Pro you can buy from BestBuy (in the US) or eBay (in Europe).

Save for the anti-reflective display coating, and some exclusive AI tricks (which you might not even care about), the S24 Ultra is just another Android flagship under the sun, and the same applies to the Pixel 8 Pro. How come? Well, smartphones are slowly but steadily reaching their peak.

• Brand new for $500, or refurbished for $350, the Pixel 7 Pro offers one of the best displays you can get at this price point

• It also has the best camera system you can get for this price, with the longest zoom range, thanks to a 5x optical zoom camera, which takes 10x zoom photos with “lossless” quality - just like the $1,300 Galaxy S24 Ultra

• Being a Google phone, the Pixel 7 Pro comes with plenty of AI features like the Gemini assistant, Magic Eraser, and the brand new Circle to search feature (otherwise only available on the Pixel 8 and Galaxy S24)

• The Pixel 7 series is promised to get two extra OS updates directly from Google (and faster than any other Android phone), and receive security patches for another three years

• The Pixel 7 Pro might lack the stellar battery life you’d get from an S24 Ultra or an iPhone 15 Pro Max, but it’s perfectly capable of lasting through a whole day of use

• It goes without saying, being an “old but premium” flagship, the Pixel 7 Pro comes with IP68 rating for water/dust resistance and wireless charging

Super affordable Google Pixel 7 makes 2024 mid-range and flagship phones look like a bad deal

And then, if you want/need to spend even less, there’s the vanilla Pixel 7, which is now going for as low as $250 if you’re OK with a refurbished device. And at the price of a fancy dinner in New York or Paris, I don’t see why you wouldn’t be.

What stands out about the Pixel 7 (and from the time I’ve spent with it), the 6.3-inch display and light body are the perfect combo for most people out there. While the 90Hz OLED isn’t the best display out there, it’s almost as good as the best you can get for the price.

Then, if you forget about the 5x zoom camera, the Pixel 7 has the same camera system as the Pixel 7 Pro, and (easily!) will outperform any $250-400 phone on the market in terms of photography.

Of course, being a Google phone, the Pixel 7 will share the same AI features with the Pixel 7 Pro; it gets two extra OS updates and three years of security patches, and it has decent battery life.

Again, being an old flagship, the Pixel 7 gives you with IP67 rating for water/dust resistance and wireless charging - something you simply can’t get with any other $250 phone, or the $330 Nothing Phone 2a, for example.

Even in 2024, my Pixel 7 Pro’s camera gives my $,1300 Galaxy S24 Ultra a run for its money

For the camera buffs, I snapped some photos with my Pixel 7 Pro and Galaxy S24 Ultra, and I was surprised to see how similar they can perform under some of the most challenging conditions you’ll come across - indoor light and low-light.

For the record, the Galaxy S24 Ultra will absolutely take better Portrait mode photos and better videos than the Pixel 7 Pro, which isn’t the best in these two categories. The Galaxy S24 Ultra also extracts better detail 9/10 times, which isn’t surprising given that it’s almost two generations newer than the Pixel. That aside, and especially for social media use, the Pixel 7 Pro’s takes awesome photos and videos.

The $400 Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro make both the $1,300 Galaxy S24 Ultra and $350 Nothing Phone 2 look overpriced, and that’s… crazy

Although Google’s phones are still far from popular/mainstream, they’ve managed to change my perception of what a “great value phone” is, and they’ve done that in a unique way I don’t think I’ve seen before.

That’s thanks to Google’s willingness to sell premium phones at lower prices (than the competition), but also, thanks to the fact that Google phones depreciate in price very quickly (similar to most Android phones).

As a result, this creates a unique market role and placement for Google’s old flagships, where they get to challenge budget, mid-range, and premium flagship phones all at the same time.

A year and a half after launch, the $250-500 Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro manage to make premium flagships like the Galaxy S24 Ultra AND great mid-range phones like the Nothing Phone 2a seem overpriced. And considering the humongous price gap between the $1,300 S24 Ultra and $350 Nothing Phone 2a, that’s just remarkable.

Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will be even better deals a year after launch

Ironically, the only phone that comes close to giving you the same value as the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro is the mid-range Pixel 7a. However, I’d argue the Pixel 7 Pro is worth the upgrade, even if you have to pay some $50-100 on top.

That being said, if you aren’t in a hurry, but (like me) you like getting the best deal possible, you might want to wait for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro to have their one-year birthdays. They’ll be even better old flagship deals than their predecessors thanks to more AI, better cameras, and a whopping 6 years of OS updates even if you bought them at the end of 2024!