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This is the new cheapest price to date by about $200. Previous deal was $1149 + a trade in phone at JB Hi-Fi.
Some caveats:
1) Not Pink colour
Apparently the pink isn't that pronounced and actually looks good. Most people would probably be slapping a case on it anyways which makes it a moot point
2) 12 month US based warranty
B&H Photo Video is a super reliable retailer but you will need to ship it back and pay for shipping back to Australia in the unlikely event you need to claim a warranty issue
3) US Plug on the charger
Easily solved with a cheap $2 travel adaptor.
It has all the Australian bands (including B28!) + some extra US CDMA ones in case you go travelling.
The pros of the pixel are still relevant in 2019. Some brief points in comparison to a S10, which will probably be the most cross shopped alternative.
- Camera - Best point and shoot camera on a mobile device
In particular with low light and moving objects Eg. Pets/young children. Night sight is amazing. A class ahead of the S10 particularly in the aforementioned areas. The pictures are detailed and not a water colour blur when you zoom in unlike with the Samsung image processing.
I did a photo comparison with my Note 9 which is extremely similar to the S10. It all comes down to software processing unfortunately.
https://imgur.com/a/mZhdMuJ
The Night Sight shot used a very impressive: ƒ/1.8 ½s 4.44 mm ISO58 – total shutter time was about 3 seconds before it did its computational merged shots. Note 9 used a reasonable: ƒ/1.5 1/10s 4.3 mm ISO400
Note 9 looses a lot of detail and replaces it with an oil painting look – eg. The wooden floor. The mesh wire rack on the right is also difficult to make out vs. the Pixel 3. The note camera isn't a horrible dumpster fire, but if the Pixel is a 10, the note is probably ~7/10.
Updates - 3 years of Day 1 Android OS system updates and monthly security updates
Might not matter to everyone, but its a feature really only matched by the soon to die Essential phone and bugger else. Android is now mature so one could argue OS updates are not as important, but yearly incremental updates and features is definitely welcome. You're guaranteed to get Android Q, R and S in August every year. The S10 will probably get Q in Feb/March 2020 (6+ months later) and then R in June 2021 (10 months after launch) if we go off current trends. Monthly security updates are also nice. Samsung has picked up their game with the monthly updates, but even unlocked versions can be 1-3 months behind in the first year, moving to 3-6 months behind in year 2.Stock Android
Again, it might not matter to most people and some of Samsung's OneUI features are genuinely useful, but not having duplicate calendars, music players, calculators etc is nice.
If the above things don't really matter to you, then the S10 is an overall better phone undoubtedly. Newer processor, more RAM, expandable storage, dual sim and a headphone jack are all hardware features that the pixel can't match. It just depends on your priorities and what you value in a smartphone. For most people who are happy with the S10's camera and who aren't tech geeks, I'd recommend the S10 over the Pixel most days of the week.
YMMV :)
This is a much better deal for warranty and powerplugs