Pixel 5 is off to a good start in Europe: is it because of the non-US sub-6 model?

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Pixel 5 is off to a good start in Europe: is it because of the non-US sub-6 model?
The Pixel 5 is enjoying a warm welcome in the European countries it has launched in, early metrics suggest.

The green and black variants currently occupy the second and third spots, respectively, on Amazon UK's best sellers list for unlocked smartphones.


If you are thinking about buying it through the British or French Google Store, you better hurry up, as Pixel 5 Sorta Sage pre-order has already sold out, and your only option is Just Black at the moment.

Both models are listed as out of stock on the company's German website, and the same is the case for Irish buyers.

Of course, this doesn't serve as a definitive proof that sales are robust, and we don't know how many units Google had in stock, to begin with. The company has reportedly set a modest sales target of 1 million units for the Pixel 5, but it will only be able to produce 800,000 units this year because of supply-side issue. 

Pixel 5 retail price could have been $599 in the US, were it not for Verizon



Compared to the US, the Pixel 5 is more reasonably priced in rest of the markets, if you count out import duties and VAT.

In the US, we have Google and Verizon's camaraderie to thank for the $699 price tag. 

The Pixel 4a (5G), on the other hand, costs $499 despite having the same key specs - the Snapdragon 765G, 128GB of storage, dual camera setup (12.2MP + 16MP), and an 8MP front camera. 

The Pixel 5 offers more battery capacity, wireless charging, water resistance, an aluminum shell, a higher refresh rate, and more RAM. 

If you want Verizon's Pixel 4a (5G) which supports mmWave 5G, you will have to shell out $100 more, and this also explains why the Pixel 5 costs $699 in the US.


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The $499 Pixel 4a (5G) is the sub-6 model. The Pixel 5, unfortunately, doesn't come in a sub-6-only version in America, and that's the reason why US consumers have to pay more than the rest of the world for the same phone.  So, whether you buy the Verizon-locked version or not, you will still have to pay for mmWave connectivity.

Even though Google is making a big deal out of the fact that it is not selling a $1,000 phone during the pandemic, a $599 retail tag would have made much more sense for the specs we are getting.

The addition of mmWave support is also presumably the reason why the phone will arrive in the US after in launches in other markets.
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