Pixel 6 / Pixel 6 Pro / Pixel 6a

Still going to run it the rest of the week, and give it some more time, it's only been a little over a day since I've had this. Actually a dbrand skin might be a good idea.
 
I can't take any chances with using a phone without a case. I'll put up with a little extra bulk to keep my $1000-ish phone intact. I like, but don't love my 6 Pro because of the scanner. For $899, it should be better... a lot better.

Just out of curiosity, I looked up prices on Amazon for new 3XL and 4XL phones. The 64GB 3XL is $207, 128GB 3XL is $319, 128GB 4XL is $799. Can't say I haven't considered buying the cheaper 3XL and returning my 6 Pro. I'll give it through the weekend before making a decision.
 
Minimal setup;
 

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Zorachus said:
Just being totally honest here, not really digging this Pixel 6 Pro. It's over the borderline of too large a device for me, and for some strange reason my iPhone 12 Pro Max feels more compact and much smaller, even though it's the same size or in some cases even bigger.

Typing on the phone, it feels hollow or cheap if that makes any sense? My 12 Pro Max feels rock solid typing, meaning the feel of it, not the haptics, but like what's behind the phone feels solid, same with my Pixel 4 XL feels solid too, but not this Pixel 6 Pro.

My Pixel 4 XL just feels so much nicer to hold and grip on to, and the more compact size is darn near perfect to my liking. Man I love the 4 XL, except the mediocre battery life.

But also the iPhone Pro Max smartphones are so close to be nearing perfect if they opened up iOS more, allowed some customization, and made a few changes, I would love them.

So how I go about returning this new 6 Pro? Maybe try the regular flat Pixel 6.
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I told you this Pixel line is a beast. My regular P6 with a case is the same size as my wife's 13 Pro Max with a case. No kidding, the P6 is a monster. I kinda got used to the UI, but holding this thing still feels kinda clunky and uncomfortable. Without the case most likely will drop it sooner or later, very slippery grip. After all this is a $600 phone. I didn't even consider the Pro because of the curved screen..
 
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Just looked at a regular Pixel 6 at my local T-Mobile and comparing the size. Yeah the 6 Pro is definitely taller and larger but comparing on top of each other the width they are just a hair apart and with practically the same.

The salesperson there had one in his pocket, the regular 6. He let me play with it for a minute and a couple things jumped out at me. The screen definitely wasn't as bright or deep colors like the 6 Pro and it seemed just a ever so slightly laggy where my 6 Pro is super fluid smooth.

For me the 6 Pro was definitely the more premium device. It was noticeable to me.

It's funny. I also looked at the iPhone 13 Pro Max and That's a pretty sweet phone too. Stunning display extremely fast and smooth. Sales person also had a 13 Pro Max himself, said best phone ever for him.
 
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Mad Maxx said:
I can't take any chances with using a phone without a case. I'll put up with a little extra bulk to keep my $1000-ish phone intact. I like, but don't love my 6 Pro because of the scanner. For $899, it should be better... a lot better.

Just out of curiosity, I looked up prices on Amazon for new 3XL and 4XL phones. The 64GB 3XL is $207, 128GB 3XL is $319, 128GB 4XL is $799. Can't say I haven't considered buying the cheaper 3XL and returning my 6 Pro. I'll give it through the weekend before making a decision.
Click to expand...

Might as well get the Pixel 5a. That FP reader on the back.. Very tempting now.
 
hmz said:
Might as well get the Pixel 5a. That FP reader on the back.. Very tempting now.
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Tried it when it was released. It's pretty small. I prefer bigger phones, so the 6 Pro's size isn't a problem.
 
Zorachus said:
Just looked at a regular Pixel 6 at my local T-Mobile and comparing the size. Yeah the 6 Pro is definitely taller and larger but comparing on top of each other the width they are just a hair apart and with practically the same.

The salesperson there had one in his pocket, the regular 6. He let me play with it for a minute and a couple things jumped out at me. The screen definitely wasn't as bright or deep colors like the 6 Pro and it seemed just a ever so slightly laggy where my 6 Pro is super fluid smooth.

For me the 6 Pro was definitely the more premium device. It was noticeable to me.

It's funny. I also looked at the iPhone 13 Pro Max and That's a pretty sweet phone too. Stunning display extremely fast and smooth. Sales person also had a 13 Pro Max himself, said best phone ever for him.
Click to expand...
I just think you need to use the phone for a solid week and get acclimated to it. You've barely had it for what a couple days?

Also the normal 6 has an overall smaller footprint than the pixel 4XL so if the 4xl feels great to you size wise the regular 6 should also feel great. But yes I agree to my naked eye the screen on the regular 6 did not look as nice as the pro.


Even between the 6 pro and 4xl, they're pretty much identical in width. So gripping around the phone shouldnt feel too much different. Main difference is in height. I might suggest also trying some different cases. I bought a ton of cases and there a ton of subjective difference between how the phone is perceived in hand depending on which case it's in. Try some different cases and see how they feel.


Pro next to the pixel 4xl

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How come when I set light wallpapers, the At-a-glance and network indicators stay white? Thought those are supposed to go black on light wallpapers?
 
My homescreen, I thought when using light wallpapers the At a glance widget and network things are supposed to change from white to black?
 

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I'm a few days in on mine now, and I'm not really impressed. Keep in mind I'm switching from an LG v20 that's 5 years old, so I should not be hard to impress.

The biggest gripe for me is that the screen is complete garbage. It just adds a dingy yellow haze on everything. If you tilt the phone slightly the yellow turns to pink, then green if you get it at a certain angle.
See how the Pixel marketing images below have that dull matte look to them? This is how everything looks on this phone, but even worse. Anything that's supposed to be white looks about the color of a pit stain in an undershirt you forgot to wash. It's like browsing the web on a piece of notebook paper you left out in the sun for a few weeks.
I keep telling myself I'm just not used to it and try to recalibrate my eyes, but it just isn't taking. The second I look at something white in the real world, then look back, it looks like a "filmed in mexico" meme image. I even cheated and cranked it to vivid mode, but honestly couldn't tell if it even changed anything.

Not a fan of the curved edges either. I think it makes the screen look worse because the image darkens where it rolls off. It gives the impression of an LED screen with a failing backlight. It's functionally no better than having a narrower screen that's flat.

Fingerprint scanner is pretty marginal. The back scanner on my old relic never misses a beat. I think I could learn to cope with the Pixel reader, but it's sad to pay so much money for a downgrade.

The performance seems pretty good though. Apps open so quickly. My V20 only has 4GB ram, so it's been struggling as common apps become more and more bloated. Google maps takes about 15 seconds to open, which feels like an hour when you're trying to look up something quickly. Once things or open though it's only a marginal improvement over my existing phone. I mean webpages don't seem to load much faster and the scrolling isn't that much smoother.

I do really like the stock keyboard. It's the first android keyboard I've used that matches Apple where it's good at mapping the keys where you actually likely to touch instead of only where the letter is displayed on the screen.

If it wasn't for the horrible screen, I'd happily keep it, but I'm about 75% sure I'm sending it back. I'm considering trying the Xperia 1 III, but it's probably not going to be perfect either. Samsung can't be rooted, so that's not an option for me. Mi 11 Ultra looks like a solid choice, but it's questionable whether or not I can keep it off AT&Ts blacklist radar. It might just be back to the V20 for a while.


1636007969853.png
 
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Loving my Pro. I personally dont have an odd screen cast or I cant see it. Screen is beautiful to me, clear and bright. I actually like the fingerprint reader on the front and have not have one missed press.
Setup was super easy, copying all my Pixel 5 info over the included cable. Great phone, now if my Dbrand skin would actually ship.
 
Mad Maxx said:
I can't take any chances with using a phone without a case. I'll put up with a little extra bulk to keep my $1000-ish phone intact. I like, but don't love my 6 Pro because of the scanner. For $899, it should be better... a lot better.

Just out of curiosity, I looked up prices on Amazon for new 3XL and 4XL phones. The 64GB 3XL is $207, 128GB 3XL is $319, 128GB 4XL is $799. Can't say I haven't considered buying the cheaper 3XL and returning my 6 Pro. I'll give it through the weekend before making a decision.
Click to expand...

If you don't like the scanner, just buy the 5a. I wouldn't drop that kind of money on old phones at this point when the 5a is $449.
 
Zorachus said:
So how I go about returning this new 6 Pro? Maybe try the regular flat Pixel 6.
Click to expand...

If you bought it from Google, you can tell 'em you aren't happy with it and return it. I did that when the Pixel 2 XL came out. Mine had the janky screen with the poor viewing angle. I started the refund process after 3 days and It was quick and easy. I think my card was refunded and they had their phone back in 3 days.

I'm happy with normal P6. At least beyond the quirks with Android 12, which feels unfinished. I'm happy using this as a daily device until someone besides Samsung creates a good folding phone. I don't care if it's Apple, Google, or even someone else. I just know that I will NOT buy another Samsung device.
 
Domingo said:
If you bought it from Google, you can tell 'em you aren't happy with it and return it. I did that when the Pixel 2 XL came out. Mine had the janky screen with the poor viewing angle. I started the refund process after 3 days and It was quick and easy. I think my card was refunded and they had their phone back in 3 days.

I'm happy with normal P6. At least beyond the quirks with Android 12, which feels unfinished. I'm happy using this as a daily device until someone besides Samsung creates a good folding phone. I don't care if it's Apple, Google, or even someone else. I just know that I will NOT buy another Samsung device.
Click to expand...

I think there's a restock fee now. I did the same with my P2 XL. Send it back and got the regular P2. They didn't charge anything back then but I think since the P4 they have been charging restock fees.
 
Domingo said:
If you bought it from Google, you can tell 'em you aren't happy with it and return it. I did that when the Pixel 2 XL came out. Mine had the janky screen with the poor viewing angle. I started the refund process after 3 days and It was quick and easy. I think my card was refunded and they had their phone back in 3 days.

I'm happy with normal P6. At least beyond the quirks with Android 12, which feels unfinished. I'm happy using this as a daily device until someone besides Samsung creates a good folding phone. I don't care if it's Apple, Google, or even someone else. I just know that I will NOT buy another Samsung device.
Click to expand...

Amen. My S7 and S9 battery went to shit after about a year. My P6 is a chonky mofo, so I'll miss the smaller size a bit, but this thing feels like a daily driver for me. Fingers crossed the battery doesn't go to shit!
 
Right now I'd say we're at a weird point where there is no "ideal" device IMO. The P6 and P6 Pro have definite quirks. Both hardware and software. Apple's iPhone 13 devices are pretty slick, but you're heading into the Apple-verse where file management is their way or the highway. They're also not much different from the 12's. The S21 is a beast...but it's a Samsung. Hopefully you like OneUI or spending a lot of time fighting against it and Samsung's trash system apps. Their folding phones have the same issues and they feel like a beta for folding tech instead of something final. I see everything as a stop-gap until something better comes along.

I did read something interesting last night about the Pixels potentially getting facial recognition unlock via a "Feature Drop." Seems all of their initial literature mentioned it and it's something that can be added/removed via software. That might help the folks that hate the fingerprint scanner. I mainly just wish it was more consistent along with Smart Lock. It's annoying when my phone wants either a swipe, a fingerprint, or a passkey but it's a total crapshoot which one it wants and when. That's just Android, though. My Sammy had the same issue.
 
I turned off Smart Lock and recorded a few more thumb and forefinger scans. I've had to tap the scanner more than once only 2-3 times over the past 24 hours. If this keeps up, I can be satisfied enough to hang on to my 6 Pro.
 
After a few days with the pixel 6 pro (which was intended for my dad), I'm returning it. At $900, this isn't worth it. If the pixel 6 had mmWave radios for T-mobile, it would easily be the phone to get at $600. So if you're on Verizon or AT&T, get the carrier versions that may be $700. If you're on T-mobile stick with an iPhone or Galaxy S. The Pro at $900 is just not worth it.

Loved:
  • I can place icons and widgets anywhere on the screen. This is my only big gripe left about iOS itself.
  • Xbox GamePass fucking works. Fuck you, Apple.
  • Live translate is quick and pretty accurate. I tested English to Chinese and English to Russian and vice versa. But a 1.5 second delay on the iPhone isn't going to make that huge of a difference.
  • All this would be the same on the regular pixel 6.

Problems with this:
  • This is huge and heavy.
  • The UI looks cartoony. I would use my nova launcher, but I am giving this to dad and he doesn't have the license, and I don't want to provide support if he has issues with the phone.
  • The still camera dark mode, while good, isn't as good as the iPhone. Quite frankly every smartphone camera nowadays takes good photos with good lighting. It's the dark mode that truly differentiate them.
  • The video camera is absolute shit! Absolute shit!!!
  • Native mobile gaming on the phone is sluggish. Sure, my dad is probably not going to play games on this, but he would have hundreds of tabs open on the browser cause he doesn't ever close tabs.
  • Fingerprint reader is slow, bright, and frequently require multiple reads. This here killed my enthusiasm for the phone.

Unknowns:
  • While I did transfer my eSim to it for a day, it was just a day. Battery life for WFH seems fine for that day. The rest of the time the phone was just used as a gaming tablet essentially. Too little time really on the phone to make a determination on normal day to day battery life.
There are probably things I hadn't thought about, but I'm going to throw this to the FOMO category. I will return this phone (and hopefully the case) and try harder to convince dad to just get a $700 regular iPhone. I got mom and sister trying to convince dad to go Apple especially because he's tech illiterate.

P.S. Dad has been using the Essential phone since it was released. Previous phones were galaxy note 4, HTC One m2, galaxy s2.
 
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The Verizon and AT&T normal Pixel 6's come with mmWave...but it's $100 more for them. I thought about returning my unlocked one for the Verizon model until I saw the price difference. I've been in the Verizon ultra-wideband coverage areas around here and have still never experienced those crazy fast speed people show screenshots of.
 
CHANG3D said:
After a few days with the pixel 6 pro (which was intended for my dad), I'm returning it. At $900, this isn't worth it. If the pixel 6 had mmWave radios for T-mobile, it would easily be the phone to get at $600. So if you're on Verizon or AT&T, get the carrier versions. If you're on T-mobile stick with an iPhone or Galaxy S. The Pro at $900 is just not worth it.

Loved:
  • I can place icons and widgets anywhere on the screen. This is my only big gripe left about iOS itself.
  • Xbox GamePass fucking works. Fuck you, Apple.
  • Live translate is quick and pretty accurate. I tested English to Chinese and English to Russian and vice versa. But a 1.5 second delay on the iPhone isn't going to make that huge of a difference.

Problems with this:
  • This is huge and heavy.
  • The UI looks cartoony. I would use my nova launcher, but I am giving this to dad and he doesn't have the license, and I don't want to provide support if he has issues with the phone.
  • The still camera dark mode, while not terrible, isn't as good as the iPhone. Quite frankly every smartphone camera nowadays takes good photos with good lighting. It's the dark mode that truly differentiate them.
  • The video camera is absolute shit. Absolute shit!!!
  • Native mobile gaming on the phone is sluggish. Sure, my dad isn't probably not going to play games on this, but he would have hundreds of tabs open on the browser.
  • Fingerprint reader is slow, bright, and frequently require multiple reads. This here killed my enthusiasm for the phone.

Unknowns:
  • While I did transfer my eSim to it for a day, it was just a day. Battery life for WFH seems fine for that day. The rest of the time the phone was just used as a gaming tablet essentially. Too little time really on the phone to make a determination on normal day to day battery life.
There are probably things I hadn't thought about, but I'm going to throw this to the FOMO category. I will return this phone and try harder to convince dad to just get a $700 regular iPhone. I got mom and sister trying to convince dad to go apple especially because he's tech illiterate.

P.S. Dad has been using the Essential phone since it was released. Previous phones were galaxy note 4, HTC One m2, galaxy s2.
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Personally dont find it to heavy.
Honestly I could care less about the cartoony look as long as it works.
For the amount of time I use dark mode it's ok.
Fingerprint reader works great. Are you long pressing it? That works for me.
I'm on ATT unlocked phone, no problems.
 
harsaphes said:
Personally dont find it to heavy.
Honestly I could care less about the cartoony look as long as it works.
For the amount of time I use dark mode it's ok.
Fingerprint reader works great. Are you long pressing it? That works for me.
I'm on ATT unlocked phone, no problems.
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Which phone are you coming from? Face unlock on the iPhone works quickly and securely, and most of the time in a single quick step. The pixel unlock is so noticeably slower it made me frustrated every time I use the phone.

I think Google solved the "scrolling problem" that Tim Cook was talking about. Just make a shit phone.
 
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The FP reader on the P6 is pretty clearly slow and if not fixed in a subsequent update, will be considered the "Pixel flaw" of the generation.
 
The facial camera unlock on the Galaxy S10 and S20 phones is complete trash. Never played with a 21 model, but the iPhone is the only device I've seen where it works well.
 
Domingo said:
Right now I'd say we're at a weird point where there is no "ideal" device IMO. The P6 and P6 Pro have definite quirks. Both hardware and software. Apple's iPhone 13 devices are pretty slick, but you're heading into the Apple-verse where file management is their way or the highway. They're also not much different from the 12's. The S21 is a beast...but it's a Samsung. Hopefully you like OneUI or spending a lot of time fighting against it and Samsung's trash system apps. Their folding phones have the same issues and they feel like a beta for folding tech instead of something final. I see everything as a stop-gap until something better comes along.

I did read something interesting last night about the Pixels potentially getting facial recognition unlock via a "Feature Drop." Seems all of their initial literature mentioned it and it's something that can be added/removed via software. That might help the folks that hate the fingerprint scanner. I mainly just wish it was more consistent along with Smart Lock. It's annoying when my phone wants either a swipe, a fingerprint, or a passkey but it's a total crapshoot which one it wants and when. That's just Android, though. My Sammy had the same issue.
Click to expand...

This A12 is getting very close to the iOS.. This Pixel 6 is a definitely a weird device, seems like a half baked. Face ID isn't coming anytime soon I guess and looks like light years away from Apple. It is what it is.
 
Yes, this is the Pixel I wanted. Went to T-Mobile, looked at the regular Pixel 6, and fell in love. They offered me $450 off if trade-in my Pixel 4 XL, I said YEP.

This is what I wanted, a flat screen, better grip, and looks and feels more like a Google phone. Picked out the Seafoam Green color, super funky and cool :) So far only having it a brief period, it feels every bit as snappy as my 6 Pro, can't really notice any performance difference.

I just didn't care for the curved edge display on the 6 Pro, just not my cup of tea. Plus for me, it was just too large of a phone, awfully big. To me the perfect size phone is the Pixel 4 XL, the width and height is dang near ideal, for me. And this Pixel 6 is almost identical in size to 4 XL.
 
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If anything, the P6 regular should be very slightly (and completely indistinguishable by humans) faster since it's the same SoC driving fewer pixels (pun unintended). Anyone who claims otherwise is just falling to placebo effect.

How do you find the screen in comparison? I've seen many people say the Pro is brighter but I've seen a couple of sites that actually measure it giving practically the same brightness values, Tom's measures it at around 842 nits (it's possible because the screen is larger, it may seem brighter to the eye for equal actual brightness).
 
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Zorachus said:
Yes, this is the Pixel I wanted. Went to T-Mobile, looked at the regular Pixel 6, and fell in love. They offered me $450 off if trade-in my Pixel 4 XL, I said YEP.

This is what I wanted, a flat screen, better grip, and looks and feels more like a Google phone. Picked out the Seafoam Green color, super funky and cool :) So far only having it a brief period, it feels every bit as snappy as my 6 Pro, can't really notice any performance difference.

I just didn't care for the curved edge display on the 6 Pro, just not my cup of tea. Plus for me, it was just too large of a phone, awfully big. To me the perfect size phone is the Pixel 4 XL, the width and height is dang near ideal, for me. And this Pixel 6 is almost identical in size to 4 XL.
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Glad you found what you wanted. If the 4xl is your sweet spot size wise then yeah the 6 should be perfect.

Shouldn't be any difference in performance. Yeah the pro has 4 more gbs of ram but the use cases where those 4 gbs will be missed is probably extremely rare.

As far as the screen goes, yes to my naked eye the pro looked nicer (it does have a higher PPI 512 vs 411 so it should look sharper) but the regular pixel still looked good. If you like the form factor and flat screen a lot more it looks like a worthwhile trade off.

Glad it worked out for you.
 
Johnny78 said:
Glad you found what you wanted. If the 4xl is your sweet spot size wise then yeah the 6 should be perfect.

Shouldn't be any difference in performance. Yeah the pro has 4 more gbs of ram but the use cases where those 4 gbs will be missed is probably extremely rare.

As far as the screen goes, yes to my naked eye the pro looked nicer (it does have a higher PPI 512 vs 411 so it should look sharper) but the regular pixel still looked good. If you like the form factor and flat screen a lot more it looks like a worthwhile trade off.

Glad it worked out for you.
Click to expand...


Thanks, yeah the 6 Pro is a beast for sure, superb smartphone, and super smooth fast, zero lag. I did like it a lot. But the size FOR ME was just too much, felt uncomfortably large like I'd drop it easily one handed. But it certainly does feel and look and operate like a higher end phone than the Pixel 6.

But the biggest thing was the curved edge display, just not a fan, every time I looked at it, it screamed Samsung, and I do not like Samsung Galaxy phones at all. But not just that, the rounded sides really serve no purpose, certain websites show things on the corner edge and it's weird looking and tapping that on the rounded slant was annoying. And the grip, I like to squeeze or hold my phone tight, my Pixel 4 XL I could death grip that thing and hold it very well, the 6 Pro I felt I'd crack it holding like that, or unwanted touches on the rounded display.

Anyways, my quick review, the Pixel 6 is just more comfortable and easier device for me to operate. But the 6 Pro is a better higher end smartphone, no doubt.
 
My buddy that showed me his Pixel 6 ended up returning it. Said that the fingerprint scanner was a dealbreaker for him and a big downgrade compared to his previous 3 XL. Said he’s getting the 5a instead.
 
If you are annoyed by the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro fingerprint scanner - and want to deal with it less - here is something that you may not have considered. Extend the time your phone performs a Lock after screen timeout to something like 10 minutes. What that means is you will be having to use your fingerprint reader much less frequently than you do now because you will not have to unlock your phone as often - even if you have Smart Lock on.

Lock after screen timeout is not to be confused with Screen timeout. Go to your Settings and enter Lock after screen timeout in the search bar then continue the path to where you can adjust the amount of time.
Screenshots were taken on my Pixel 4 XL but it should look the same on a Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro.




1.jpg


2.jpg
 
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Yes, reduce the security of the phone because the fp sensor suck… that makes sense
 
CHANG3D said:
Yes, reduce the security of the phone because the fp sensor suck… that makes sense
Click to expand...
Considering it as a security concern if your phone is lost or stolen is a valid concern, in which case you can elect to not have the lock after screen timeout set longer. However, It makes perfect sense when using your phone at home.
 
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