Pixel 6 / Pixel 6 Pro / Pixel 6a

Case-wise, the Google one definitely doesn't feel like a ton of protection. It's not exactly the great at providing additional grip, either. I'm hoping Speck releases something soon. I recall those having specially designed corner protection and a larger lip around the screen/camera. I'm not seeing any other brands that have anything particularly compelling that isn't ugly or bulky. I kinda miss the hard "plastic tray" case that my Moto X had. That thing could take a beating and had a tiny footprint.
 
After having my Pixel 6 Pro for a week, and now Pixel 6 for several days, to me it's no question, I prefer the FLAT screen Pixel 6, and more portable size and better grip. Battery life between the two, it does seem like the smaller 6 has slightly better battery life, when using the phones with the same exact setup and usage. And screen brightness too, I brought both phones hiking with me this weekend, and the Pixel 6 seemed to just be a little brighter in the day.

But no question the 120hz display on the 6 Pro rocks, it's super fluid smooth. And watching content on the 6 Pro is superior. The Pixel 6 Pro is just a smoother faster feeling phone, but not by much over the Pixel 6.

Is the 6 Pro worth the $300 premium over the Pixel 6? No. But I also think Google under priced the Pixel 6, it should be like $699, and keep the 6 Pro at $899, so $200 difference wouldn't seem as bad. To me the $599 Pixel 6 is no budget phone, it's almost every bit as high end as a flagship, minus no 120hz screen, and higher res display, no telephoto lens ( which I never use ) and 12GB vs 8GB RAM, not sure how big a difference that really is?

But pricing aside, I just prefer the feel and usability of the Pixel 6 more than the 6 Pro. So I will be returning my Pixel 6 Pro this week, great phone, but too large, and curved edges not my liking.
 
ChronoReverse said:
A Pixel 4a or 5 would be a better direct replacement for a Pixel 2, especially with respect to size and weight.
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pixel 5 is pretty much a P2XL with double the battery. wife has had one for the last year as a P2XL replacement. i liked it, but not at the MSRP for double the battery, but otherwise the same years old phone.
 
Another tip I've found for the fp reader if you've got a screen protector on it is to just mash your finger as hard as you can. Not ideal, but cheaper than buying certified screen protectors.

ChronoReverse , Thanks for that link!

EDIT: Cheapest one is $20 for a single? wtf
 
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I didn't provide the link but I've heard that TPU film protectors (if you don't mind the softness) and PET film protectors (if you don't mind how hard it is to install without bubbles) have little-to-no trouble with optical fingerprint readers while being much cheaper.

https://www.androidpolice.com/googl...-but-were-not-satisfied-with-the-explanation/
According to Google it's slow because of "security" but some people are reporting that it's recognizing other people's fingerprints as their own. Not a good look and Google better sort this out quick.


I've gotten used to my Note10+'s ultrasonic reader. Slow and doesn't work with glass protectors but at least it doesn't blind me at night and is accurate (plus face unlock!). Gonna have to wait for Google to sort out their issues.
 
Mad Maxx said:
Delivery pushed back to mid-December. :mad:

Switched to the 256GB version and will get it Thursday. :D
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Jeez, that's crazy that they pushed things out 6 weeks. If nothing else, you'll never need to back-up anything short of uncompressed 4K video.
 
Mad Maxx said:
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For a long ass video, I appreciate what this guy has to say.

I'm surprised more people aren't complaining about Android 12. Other than the fingerprint scanner (which still doesn't really bother me), I think that's my biggest gripe. Those gripes carry over to the Pixel 5, too. It just flat out doesn't feel finished.
 
I went to my local Best Buy to see if I could play with the phones. They had them but the demo stand wasn't charging them so they were dead. I'd definitely be happy with the feel of the 6, it's all of 1/2" taller than my P2 and only slightly wider. The Pro looked 3/4" taller. Tomorrow I'll go to my carrier's store and see if they have them to play with. No carriers in Canada have the 256GB version, and I can buy the 256 direct from Google for less than what the carriers want for the 128. My P2 keeps complaining about being full (at 92% right now) and there's a bunch of work info I'd need to transfer over, so I'd rather not run out on 128 after another few years.

I was watching a bunch of reviews late last night. I was trying to find out of the fingerprint scanner works when the screen is fully off, as that's how I use my P2 and prefer the simplicity. One Youtuber showed that it worked from the always-on display mode, which is promising. Can you guys confirm if the fingerprint scanner works when the always-on display option is off and the screen is off?
 
If AOD is off, then you need to tap the screen first.

Domingo
I have A12 on my Pixel 3a and it's... alright. It was so information-sparse that I had to decrease the screen zoom. Luckily my eyes are still sharp.

I don't really "feel it" though in terms of being impressed. Although these days, even on a Samsung phone it's not that far off from plain Android. Unlike in the past, I don't feel any issues using my Note10+ whereas back on my GS4, I'd want to throw it out the window (but luckily back then installing custom ROMs was far simpler especially since my Canadian model was bootloader unlocked).
 
It's at most 1% per hour so generally it's not a big deal. I've been using it since the Pixel 2 XL because of that.
 
I definitely don't care for the look of the new AOD clock and its default behavior is weird. I don't want to have to actually think about what time it is. Yet the over/under clock makes me do that after seeing the time written horizontally for my whole life. Especially at night. Then all of a sudden the AOD display actually goes back to normal when you get a notification. I appreciate that people are finding ways around this stuff, but one reason I liked having a Pixel in the first place is not needing a bunch of other software to fix problems. The fact that I'm having to run Nova is telling.
 
Happy Maxx!!! :)

p6.png
 
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"According to multiple users on Reddit, a dead battery can permanently disable your phone’s fingerprint sensor.
In the thread, you can see many different people all telling the same story: their Pixel 6 died from an empty battery and, upon rebooting, the fingerprint sensor became non-operational. So far, it appears the only way to fix the problem once it occurs is a factory reset, which is not exactly convenient". https://6www.androidauthority.com/google-pixel-6-fingerprint-3055692/
 
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Interesting. I rand mine down to 0% on the first day sans issues. No clue if it's a tech myth or whatever, but I recall always being told to run phone batteries all the way down when they're new.
 
Domingo said:
Interesting. I rand mine down to 0% on the first day sans issues. No clue if it's a tech myth or whatever, but I recall always being told to run phone batteries all the way down when they're new.
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You mentioned that you ran your battery down on Day 01, did you have a fingerprint registered before you ran it down to 0%, or was your first fingerprint registration performed after you recharged your battery?
 
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Supersnake said:
Because you mentioned that you ran your battery down on Day 01, I have to ask did you have a fingerprint registered before you ran it down to 0% or was your first fingerprint registration after you recharged your battery?
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I setup a fingerprint prior. Several actually. I registered both index fingers and both thumbs almost immediately. That was the trick to making my previous phone's fingerprint scanner tolerable and it mostly works for this one, too.
 
Domingo said:
I setup a fingerprint prior. Several actually. I registered both index fingers and both thumbs almost immediately. That was the trick to making my previous phone's fingerprint scanner tolerable and it mostly works for this one, too.
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Thanks, I'm glad to learn that. Now for the next question. When you ran your phone down to 0%, did it automatically shut down before you started your recharging, or did you start your recharging from 0% before your phone automatically shut down?

Reason I am asking that is I read through the Reddit thread and all the users who were affected by the issue are saying that their phones had a depleted battery to the point where it shut down and when the phone was rebooted they were affected by the issue.
 
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Supersnake said:
Thanks, I'm glad to learn that. Now for the next question. When you ran your phone down to 0%, did it automatically shut down before you started your recharging, or did you start your recharging from 0% before your phone automatically shut down?

Reason I am asking that is I read through the Reddit thread and all the users who were affected by the issue are saying that their phones had a depleted battery to the point where it shut down and when the phone was rebooted they were affected by the issue.
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Mine automatically powered down after hanging out at 0% for longer than expected. I plugged it in and fired it up normally the next morning.
I absolutely believe this is happening (Google has gotten to be a sloppy as Microsoft), I just don't think it happens to everybody.
 
Walked into Best Buy the other day and grabbed a 6. Loving it so far, upgraded from a PIzel 3a/Iphone11. I'm on verizon so wasn't getting the Nov. 1 update, had to sideload but other than that great phone.

One thing man this thing is sliiiiick, it likes to slip around so easily, my case comes today I've been trying to baby it a bit so I didn't drop it.
 
lightsout said:
One thing man this thing is sliiiiick, it likes to slip around so easily, my case comes today I've been trying to baby it a bit so I didn't drop it.
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Yeah, it really is. Not sure why Google thought it was a good choice, unless they actually wanted to drive case sales (which would contradict the effort they put into the other design aspects). Surely they could have added some texture to the glass back.

I got mine a few nights ago, but won't switch over until the case I ordered arrives. Damn thing actually nearly slid off the edge of the bed without any effort.
 
BlueLineSwinger said:
Yeah, it really is. Not sure why Google thought it was a good choice, unless they actually wanted to drive case sales (which would contradict the effort they put into the other design aspects). Surely they could have added some texture to the glass back.

I got mine a few nights ago, but won't switch over until the case I ordered arrives. Damn thing actually nearly slid off the edge of the bed without any effort.
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It's because they've been burnt several times when experimenting with non-glass backs. They were burnt by reviewers going "oh it just doesn't feel that premium". They were also burnt by the PIxel 5's resin coating starting to flake for some users.
 
I like Lawnchair. It has some pretty cool features. I'm still a Nova guy, though.
 
Went with Material You pastel theme. And with Lawnchair launcher I can hide the status bar, looks very clean;
 

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Zorachus said:
After having my Pixel 6 Pro for a week, and now Pixel 6 for several days, to me it's no question, I prefer the FLAT screen Pixel 6, and more portable size and better grip. Battery life between the two, it does seem like the smaller 6 has slightly better battery life, when using the phones with the same exact setup and usage. And screen brightness too, I brought both phones hiking with me this weekend, and the Pixel 6 seemed to just be a little brighter in the day.

But no question the 120hz display on the 6 Pro rocks, it's super fluid smooth. And watching content on the 6 Pro is superior. The Pixel 6 Pro is just a smoother faster feeling phone, but not by much over the Pixel 6.

Is the 6 Pro worth the $300 premium over the Pixel 6? No. But I also think Google under priced the Pixel 6, it should be like $699, and keep the 6 Pro at $899, so $200 difference wouldn't seem as bad. To me the $599 Pixel 6 is no budget phone, it's almost every bit as high end as a flagship, minus no 120hz screen, and higher res display, no telephoto lens ( which I never use ) and 12GB vs 8GB RAM, not sure how big a difference that really is?

But pricing aside, I just prefer the feel and usability of the Pixel 6 more than the 6 Pro. So I will be returning my Pixel 6 Pro this week, great phone, but too large, and curved edges not my liking.
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Hell no. Based on the hardware in the pixel 6 ($599) compared to the hardware in the iPhone 13 ($699), the Pixel 6 should not be any more expensive than $599. Much superior SoC and 5G mmWave radios compared to that underperforming tensor chip with no mmWave (the carrier models with mmWave are $699 and no one here is buying them)? Pretty much the top smartphone battery life vs middling if not shitty battery life? Better ram management vs gotta use a bunch more RAM and burn more battery power to have similar performance? The Pixel must stay cheaper than an iPhone in order to compete. Don't give Google any ideas about raising their prices
 
I've been rocking more or less the same home screen for the last 5'ish years. I pile everything into folders so that everything I use even somewhat often is on one screen. Back in the Pixel 2 days, it was a pretty stock layout but I have to use Nova to get it like this now. As they update the Google app, I keep trying to go back to the stock launcher and re-create it, but those damned widgets (and "At a Glance") are still busted.

Homescreen.png
 
https://www.androidpolice.com/google-needs-to-give-its-android-skin-a-public-name/

Google Nexus and now Pixel, aren't they running "Stock Android"? Maybe that's not 100% AOSP, but aren't the Pixel's OS extremely close to AOSP? Certainly not what's running on Samsung Galaxy phones, or LG's UI, or HTC's, and all the other Asian market phones. I thought the Google Pixel phone was super close to AOSP?

Like if the Pixel isn't a stock Android, then what phone is? Android One phones? Where are those at? Just some budget limited quantity phones not sold in the U.S.?

Was the old Cyanogenmod ROM's now Lineage ROM true AOSP? Those don't seem much different than Android run on the Pixel's.
 
I don’t think stock/vanilla Android even really exists anymore. For me, I don’t necessarily dislike having custom hardware features or even a unique launcher. What I dislike are the forced OEM system apps like clock, calendar, contacts, dialer, email, messages, etc. Google’s own versions of those apps are great and on par with what Apple. Some are eve better. Yet most Android users would never know because they’re using Samsung’s (or LG’s or whoever’s) versions of those apps. Of course they all look and run like Android 5 or 6, try to orce you to use a separate OEM account, and only get updated with OS upgrades. They also love to keep making themselves your defaults and battle with apps you try to replace them with. Let’s not forget their own apps stores, too. I wouldn’t mind other OEM’s if they dropped all of that nonsense. I can always rock another launcher, but fully getting rid of that stuff is challenging at best and in many cases impossible.
 
On the other hand, sometimes Google's exclusive features are things I just don't want like At-a-Glance in Android 12 or the gigantic lockscreen clock. In the end, it's customization that keeps me on Android and I don't really appreciate Google paring away choice all the time. There's no reason to have tied swipe navigation to the Pixel Launcher except to make a hurdle for 3rd-party launchers like Nova (which still is somewhat buggy when in swipe navigation mode).

Google is also the ones making Pixel-exclusive features and apps that don't rely on the hardware. Is there a reason why the Pixel phone app's anti-spam features can't be used on a Sony phone? The only reason is Pixel-exclusivity, which is fair to do but is an example of how Pixels aren't exactly AOSP.
 
I've been seeing the face unlock stuff a lot over the last few days. I can't tell if that's just wishful thinking or not. Especially with the fingerprint scanner being a bugaboo for a lot of folks. Plus, my only experiences with that tech have been less than impressive, too. No clue if the iPhones are good at it now, but they weren't initially. Samsung phones definitely still struggle with it. I'm all for adding it, but it better work if they bother.
 
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