Competition in the smartphone sector is tougher than ever. Apple may have finally reached the world’s top position, overtaking Samsung after a decade’s delay; but he will have to fight to maintain this position.
Not only did Samsung itself surprise with the Galaxy S24, but it has new competitors that, until not long ago, did not have much weight in the market, such as Google. Pixels have gone from being mobile phones just for business enthusiasts to one of the best alternatives on the market.
Today, Google was recognized for this work, receiving for the first time one of the highest recognitions in the industrywhich major manufacturers like Apple and Samsung had until now taken over.
Pixel 8 beats iPhone
The Global Mobile Awards took place this week during MWC Barcelona, a special moment in which representatives of the technology industry come together to celebrate the best launches of the past year. It’s not just about rewarding the best-selling products, the different categories focus on finding the best innovations, infrastructures and services which are already active or which will be in the future.
In the device category, the most prestigious award is that of the best smartphone. For this year’s edition, the devices had to have been launched between January 2023 and December 2023, and the jury included independent analysts, journalists and “influencers”. This award is given to devices that “combine exceptional performance, innovation and leadership”.
Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro
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Based on these considerations, The Pixel 8 received the award for best smartphone. Rick Osterloh, senior vice president of Google, received the award in person and thanked “the entire Pixel community for the achievement”, in addition to congratulating his team for the “great progress” made.
This is not surprising, since Pixel phones never stood a chance real to win this prize; The brand’s last device considered as a candidate was the Pixel 6 Pro, but it was not selected. In recent years, Samsung and Apple have shared the awards, with the Apple brand having won the last two years, with the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 13 Pro Max; and before, it was the Galaxy S21 Ultra that was chosen.
The Pixel 8 had to directly beat the rest of the candidates, including the iPhone 15 Pro; Samsung was the only brand with two candidatesthe Galaxy S23 and the Galaxy Z Flip 5, and the list was completed by the OnePlus Open.
Samsung and Honor win
The other awards related to mobile telephony were also very striking. The breakthrough device innovation award went to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, although Google’s AI to enhance images is a candidate, in addition to its promise to offer updates for Pixels. The Honor Magic V2 stood out for its silicon-carbon battery and the OnePlus Open for its foldable multitasking.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra
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Samsung took revenge by winning the award for best consumer connected device, won with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra tablet. The other devices were the Motorola Defy with satellite connection, the HTC Vive, the Huawei Watch Ultimate smartwatch and the RayNeo for Air 2 mixed reality glasses.
Finally, Honor received the special “Best of Show” award, for which only products presented during MWC were eligible. In their case, the winner was the Porsche Design Magic V2, the foldable created in collaboration with the car manufacturer.
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