Bug discounts and giveaways: Is Google trying to trick people into buying new Pixel phones?

In case some of you missed it, Google has been… really generous lately.

The company offers some exceptional freebies and trade-in deals with your Pixel purchase, which is… awesome. Who doesn’t love a bargain? That’s the same question I asked myself before paying $900 for a Pixel 6 Pro about ten months ago. The irresistible offer, which I wish I had resisted, included my Pixel 6 Pro and a pair of Bose 700 headphones, which were worth around €350 at the time. My cousin bought a Pixel 6, and since Google ran out of Bose 700, he switched to Bose QC 35II, which was even more expensive at the time, and added a €75 Google Store voucher worth over €400 and pretty much selling the Pixel 6 for €200-250, lower than its original price of €650 at launch, in Europe. For the record, US buyers received a free pair of Pixel Buds A with the purchase of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. But even then I thought, “Why so generous, Google?” . The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro were already noticeably cheaper than Samsung’s flagship phones, and expensive giveaways from Apple and Google made it all too good to be true.

Because… it was too good to be true.

Google will pay you $200 and give you a Pixel 6A for your iPhone 13 Pro Max or $300 for an old iPhone 7, iPhone 8

Google will pay you to trade in your iPhone for a Pixel.

The original idea for this story had been in a document for many months and the reason I decided it was a good time to bring it up was another set of “too good to be true” offers that Google had available put.

This time, the incredible offers refer to the newly launched Google Pixel 6A. Let’s take a look at some swap deals in Europe and the US. From now on you can trade with Sundar Pichai & Co in your:

iPhone 7, iPhone 8 for up to $300 (US) Galaxy S10 for $300 (US) iPhone 4S for €90 (Europe) iPhone SE 2016 for €150 (Europe) Galaxy S9 for $175 (Europe) iPhone 8 for €250 (Europe )

This in itself is an incredible value, given that a phone like the iPhone 4S is worth next to nothing right now. However, the most impressive trade-in deals are for the old iPhone 7 and iPhone 8. These phones are currently over five years old, and Google is ready to give you up to $300 if you switch to the Pixel 6A. the price down. of the excellent mid-range phone for only $150. But that’s not all…

When the Pixel 6A went on presale in the US, UK and Europe, Google gave away a pair of Pixel Buds A worth $100. This offer is gone for now, but at the time, coupled with some of the trade-in deals for older iPhones, this should have gotten you a Pixel 6A for close to $100, which is:

1. Hilarious
2. Almost Suspiciously Incredible

Did Google always know that the Pixel 6 series was going to be problematic and that freebies are trying to buy you luck and patience?

Too good to be true or good enough to make up for mistakes?

All these suspiciously amazing offers lead me back to the original question I had. Are Google’s insanely generous deals and giveaways any way to make up for what the company knows are faulty devices, or is Google just ready to sell some phones at a loss along the way to establish itself as a serious player? Xiaomi is known to do the latter. Of course, we cannot know the answer to this question. However, I can give you two completely different perspectives on the fact that Google has given out so many freebies and good deals for the Pixel 6 series of flaws:

The first is my perspective as a Pixel 6 Pro owner who is also a tech enthusiast. I think the pair of Bose 700 headphones I received didn’t make up for at all the buggy phone I bought for €900, which was buggy for 10 months (it seems to be getting better with Android 13, but we’ll talk about that in a future story).

My cousin, on the other hand, who, as I mentioned, paid $650 at the time for a Pixel 6 and a pair of the latest Bose QC IIs, was more than willing to put up with the totally broken fingerprint reader on his Pixel 6, which Google had left for about a month. needed to repair. He loves his Bose headphones and wears them all the time, so whatever Google’s intentions are, the gifts seem to have brought him luck and patience. I told him he could return the phone, but he didn’t want to. Despite the Pixel 6’s inconsistent performance, it thought it was getting a good price.

Pixel 7 Series: Is it worth pre-ordering a potentially faulty phone in exchange for a pair of headphones and a good trade-in offer?

I wouldn’t risk ordering a phone from Google again.

I know it’s a very personal and even family-oriented story, but I like that I can work with practical examples here.

Look, my mom and aunt are now using a Galaxy S9 and an iPhone 8. They both want and frankly need a new phone now. My aunt says the iPhone 8’s poor battery life and low storage is getting harder and harder to ignore, and my mom’s Galaxy S9 (which, as you can imagine, I have to use sometimes) is a mess, no there’s a better one. way to say it. Of course, they are not up to date on the latest and greatest smartphones, which means that I had to make an important decision on their behalf: I recommend a Pixel 6A, which they indeed sell for only $200 (Galaxy Stock Exchange). S9 and free Pixel Buds A) and €120 (free iPhone 8 and Pixel Buds A trade-in), or do I make the wiser decision not to repeat a possible Pixel error?

I chose the latter.

Will Google now continue the trend of great gift packs, trade-ins, and flagship products with flaws? We won’t have to wait too long to find out, as The Pixel 7 series has already gone through the FFC, meaning its launch is near.

The good news for now and Google’s only hope remains Android 13. As suggested above, I installed the update on my Pixel 6 Pro, which now seems to be more stable than ever. I’ll give myself another week or so to make sure how solid the Pixel 6 Pro is and then I’ll tell you all about it in another story. Until then, I’d think twice about Google’s great deals.