With consumers considering how long a phone will be useful to them, the Pixel's seven-year window will be a crowd-pleaser. Google will be hoping that other manufacturers will take notice of the long-term view and extend support windows.
The second is perhaps more subtle, about offering consistency to consumers while retaining flexibility. Over the years, Google has pushed its various “Material UI” iterations across its devices and on stock Android. Depending on how much customisation manufacturers add to their flavours of Android, this can be seen in other handsets or stripped away entirely.Where Google will want to find more common ground is in third-party apps.
The use of hardware to improve AI and ML; a consistent approach across first- and second-party apps from Google and the individual manufacturers; and a long window of support and security updates. The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will be seen as consumer-focused machines, but the long-term value is in crystallising Google’s view of mobility across the Android ecosystem.