The iPhone 17 and Pixel 10

With just a month apart, Google and Apple have launched their new bets for next year. At the end of August the Pixel 10 like him Pixel 10 Pro and on September 19 they will disembark the iPhone 17he 17 pro and the iPhone Air. Each generation, it is the pro models that monopolize all eyes due to their higher characteristics, but this generation is something curious: Apple and Google have agreed to launch some base models that They can take away a lot of prominence from the Pro.

Of all presented, The iPhone Air is the one that competes in its own leagueone in which another classic rival will be found: the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge. But, as I say, each generation PRO Mobile has enough key features such as the camera, the screen or the storage that do not reach the ‘No Pro’. Is it an artificial differentiation in some cases? Totally (that the base iPhone did not have a 120 Hz screen was traca), but it was there.

But, for the first time in many years, the basic models attract me more attention than the pro. And I have my arguments.

When the base makes difficult things to the ‘pro’

I will start with the first to reach the market: the Pixel 10. The designs of the base pixel and pro usually share the same line, but with differences in the frames (thicker in the models non -pro), lower resolution screens and configurations of lower memory or an equal amount, but with slower technology. There was also an important difference: the absence of Telefoto.

With Pixel 10, Google has given a flying. If in the previous generations we saw that the Pixel 9 and the Pixel 9 Pro They shared the main camera and wide angle camera, but the telephoto was totally absent, Google has opted with the Pixel 10 for offering the same configuration:

• Main Chamber.
• Great angle.
• 5x Telefoto, the same as his older brother.

Three native cameras in a pixel no pro. Finally | Photo: Xataka

The little girl comes when we see that None of the three sensors is the same as pixel 10 pro sensors (In the previous generations, focal and sensors were shared, although the telephoto was missing), but in the case of Google, that step back in sensors and megapixels may not affect so much because it uses a very aggressive process, one that has been using since … well, since the pixel is the pixel.

The 10 pro remains superior in many aspects, but both have IP68 certificationboth reach up to 120 Hz, the screens are bright, they have memories that start from the 128 GB in both cases, They share pixelsnap technology and the same versatility of cameras.

Let’s go to the neighbor, Apple. Cupertino’s are experts when differentiating Product classes so that, if in the basics we want to increase storage, let’s see that for a little more we can move on to a pro model that is clearly superior to the basic we wanted. The iPhone Pro screens have 120 Hz, the processors are already different and have the most powerful version and are the only ones with three cameras, one of them a native telephoto.

The cameras has not changed, but the iPhone 14 They introduced main sensors of 48 megapixels that allowed a 2x hybrid telephoto that has remained in the following generations and gives more versatility to the photographic section. The big difference – in force, for the price – between the base iPhone and the PRO was now the screen: they were still anchored in a 60 Hz soda.

Photo: Xataka

If Pixel 10 has closed the gap with the PRO by including Telefoto, the iPhone 17 has done the same by including, finally, the Apple Pro Motion Technology With the 120 Hz soda. It is not the only thing: they are 256 GB of storage, they have the same Center Center Stage and Shield cereic 2.

Price issue, weight issue

In the end, it is a very personal opinion, but it is the first year in which, if I had to change mobile, Maybe I would think before versions not pro of a pixel and an iPhone. I consider that the two companies have updated their base models with sufficient novelties to convince more users not to spend more money on the most advanced model.

And, of course, there is also the price. The base models are more attractive than in past generations, but there is also significant savings both in the Pixel (899 euros compared to 1,099 euros) and, above all, in the case of iPhone. The price of iPhone 17 is identical to that of iPhone 16: 959 euros, but the iPhone 17 pro has risen 100 euros compared to 16 pro to the 1,319 euros.

There are 200 and 360 euros that, if I had to change my mobile, they would weigh a lot in the decision. Above all, taking into account that the main aspect that threw me back when choosing a base model, such as telephoto and the refreshment panel, respectively, has been solved.

In Xataka | Mobile change every week: I can not go crazy in the attempt