Search for iPhone 15 Pro Max appears to have hit an all-time high ahead of Apple’s big ‘It’s Glowtime’ iPhone 16 series launch event. More people searched for iPhone 15 Pro Max in this week compared to other premium smartphones in its class including the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, according to data from Google Trends.
Interestingly though, people seem to be equally intrigued with the prospects of the new Google Pixel 9 Pro too, if not more. One reason could be that Google has really upped its game with this year’s Pixel phones. Not only is the product worth your attention, but Google is also finally showing signs of change what with its much-improved availability and after sales support. If you’re wondering what other phones got Indians searching for more, fret not, because we have you covered.
Here are the top 5 premium smartphones that made waves on Google in this week:
iPhone 15 Pro Max
It’s easy to tell the reason behind the growing interest in the iPhone 15 Pro Max or for that matter, any other last-gen iPhone right now. New iPhones are coming, and people will be lining up to upgrade. Some might switch to the latest and greatest aka iPhone 16, set to arrive on September 9, others might be waiting for iPhone 15 prices to drop in the aftermath. Year after year, the song remains the same. Even though Apple is more likely to discontinue the iPhone 15 Pro Max after it launches the iPhone 16 Pro Max, you’ll still get it from third-party e-commerce and retail for a while before stocks run out. You’ll get it much cheaper too which makes it even more desirable.
Spec-check: The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a glass back and ceramic shield front, both sourced from Corning. The outer frame uses Titanium. The phone is IP68 rated for dust and water resistance. It has a 6.7-inch OLED screen with up to 120Hz refresh rate and 2,000 nits of peak brightness. Under the hood, it has Apple’s A17 Pro chip and a 4,422mAh battery with 27W wired and 15W MagSafe (Qi2) wireless charging. For photography, it has a 48-megapixel wide, 12-megapixel ultrawide, and another 12-megapixel 5x telephoto. The front camera is a 12-megapixel. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is currently priced at Rs 1,54,000 for 256GB, Rs 1,73,900 for 512GB, and Rs 1,93,500 for 1TB.
Google Pixel 9 Pro
Google has two new pro Pixel phones this year: a smaller Google Pixel 9 Pro and larger Google Pixel 9 Pro XL. Conceptually, they’re much like the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, which is to say that the major differences come by way of screen size and battery capacity. Everything else, including the camera hardware, stays the same. For some curious reason, more people have been searching for the Pixel 9 Pro which hasn’t even gone on sale yet. Queries for the Pixel 9 Pro XL which is available for buying at the time of writing are less in comparison at least as far as Google Trends data is concerned.
Spec-check: The Pixel 9 Pro XL has Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and back. The sides are made of metal. It has a 6.8-inch OLED display with a maximum of 120Hz refresh rate and up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. It is powered by Google’s Tensor G4 chip with 16GB of RAM by default. Under the hood, it has a 5,060mAh battery with 37W fast wired and 23W Qi wireless charging. For photography, it has a 50-megapixel wide, 48-megapixel ultrawide, and another 48-megapixel 5x telephoto. The front camera is a 42-megapixel. The Pixel 9 Pro XL is priced at Rs 1,24,999 for 16GB/256GB and Rs 1,39,999 for 16GB/512GB.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is Samsung’s latest and greatest slab-style phone in the market today. Though the company makes some compelling foldables too—case in point, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6—we reckon, the Galaxy s24 Ultra caters to a bigger audience. Data suggests likewise as much as it proves, it’s Android’s only viable alternative to the iPhone. Everything about it is top tier, from build to performance, to cameras and battery life. The S-pen is a bonus.
Spec-check: The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a 6.8-inch 2K LTPO AMOLED with 120Hz refresh rate. The panels can top 2,600 nits. Powering the phone is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor and a 5,000mAh battery with 45W wired, 15W wireless and 4.5W reverse charging. For photography, it has a 50-megapixel 5x periscope telephoto paired to a 200MP wide, 10MP 3x telephoto, and 12MP ultrawide camera. On the front, it has a 12-megapixel camera for selfies. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comes in a choice of 12GB/256GB, 12GB/512GB and 12GB/1TB for Rs 1,29,900, Rs 1,39,900 and Rs 1,59,900.
Vivo X100 Pro
The fact that the X100 Pro is on this list speaks volumes about how far Vivo has come from being just another mid-range player serving the masses. Now, it caters to everybody including the high-end premium. The company has even released a foldable phone—the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro—recently. Maybe it’s time it starts to bring its “ultra” flagships to India as well. People clearly are asking for it.
Spec-check: The X100 Pro has a glass and metal sandwich design with IP68 rating, a 6.78-inch 1.5K resolution, 120Hz LTPO AMOLED display with up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness and the Mediatek Dimensity under the hood. For photography, it has a triple camera setup with a 50-megapixel 1-inch-type IMX989 VCS bionic sensor paired to a 23mm f/1.75 aperture lens with optical image stabilization, a 50-megapixel 15mm ultrawide with autofocus and another 50-megapixel 100mm periscope telephoto certified by ZEISS APO for 4.3x optical zoom. Rounding off the package is a 5,400mAh battery with 120W fast wired and 50W wireless charging. The X100 Pro comes in sole 16GB/512GB variant for Rs 89,999.
Xiaomi 14 Ultra
Last but not the least, Xiaomi’s first ultra-level flagship phone with Leica optics, goes all-out on photography and leaves quite an impression. There’s lots more to like about this phone than just the capable cameras though. It stands out as an all-round premium package with all the bells and whistles its price could command. If only Xiaomi can build on it and continue the run in the coming years, we might have a strong contender against Samsung for all we know. Fingers crossed.
Spec-check: The Xiaomi 14 Ultra has a 6.73-inch 2K LTPO AMOLED display with up to 120Hz refresh rate, 3,000 nits of peak brightness and Dolby Vision playback support, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor and a 5,300mAh battery with 90W fast wired, 80W wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging. For photography, it has a 50-megapixel Sony Lyt-900 main sensor with a 23mm equivalent “stepless” variable aperture lens (f/1.63-f/4.0) with optical image stabilisation, a 50-megapixel Sony IMX898 behind a 75mm f/1.8 for 3.2x and another 50-megapixel Sony IMX898 behind a 120mm f/2.5 periscope for 5x zoom, and another 50-megapixel Sony IMX898 sensor behind a 12mm f/1.8 ultrawide. The front camera is a 32-megapixel. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra price in India is set at Rs 99,999 for a version with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
