It launched at $549. So basically the same price after inflation. If the tier of the Pixel is lower, that's a problem not an excuse.

I'm talking about flagship HW, not price. Price can be whatever it has nothing to do with the HW.

I know. But it's all connected.

It not being a flagship gives them 2 forgiveness points for the lack of performance. But it not being a flagship also gives them 4 demerit points because they're charging as much as a flagship.

Unless the level of "flagship" is higher than it used to be, in which case it's okay that it's not a flagship, but then "not a flagship" stops being an excuse for mediocre performance.

They can't eat the "not a flagship" cake and have it too. Both interpretations are bad for them.

Have you checked recent flagship prices? Google isn't charging anywhere near that for the pixel 8. You're thinking about 2017 OnePlus prices but that ship has long sailed.

I'm not sure what you're arguing here. It sounds like you're saying that flagship tier is a higher tier than it used to be.

But in that case, Pixel 8 is one tier below flagship, so it should be on the same tier as a 2018 flagship. Especially since the price is so close. But if it met the same standard, then a model 6 years newer would be much faster, so it's failing pretty badly.

Unless you're saying I shouldn't expect performance improvements for phones that are only high tier? I don't see why that would be the case.

Or maybe you're saying that flagship tier is the same, but it got far more expensive for no benefit? That option makes Google look the worst of all, and definitely isn't a "to be fair" defense.