The last smartphone I reviewed was the original Apple iPhone, which ushered in the mobile revolution back in 2007. At the time, I didn’t exactly give the device a rave. Two weeks after waiting in line for hours outside the San Francisco Apple Store and paying $540 for the iPhone, I even returned it and got my money back.

It was obvious to me that the iPhone was a powerful thing and everyone — from Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, right down to the people I passed on the street — kept telling me how great it was. But it was also an extravagance. The iPhone wouldn’t really justify its $500-plus cost for another year.

Ten years on, I’m now reviewing the Pixel 2, the new flagship phone from Google that goes on sale Thursday. And my take is pretty much the same: People who want the latest and greatest phones won’t be disappointed by the Pixel. But for most of us, this device, with a starting price of $649, is an extravagance.

Google has found tremendous success convincing the world that it should prefer smartphones that run Android, its mobile operating system, which dominates global market share over Apple. But Google has had much less success designing and selling its own phones.