Our Google Pixel 6 Review is separate from that of the 6 Pro because they are two very different devices. Different not in their presentation of Android - there they're quite similar. Different in some of the most essential game-changing points of the smartphone experience. The Google Pixel 6 represents the strong bones of ideal Android 12 smartphone as envisioned by Google - it's more than just essential, and less than extravagant.
The Google Pixel 6 Pro is the best Android phone in the world today - but is it right for you? This is really the first time Google has created a smartphone that's meant to battle the top-tier handsets in the industry, and it shows. But do you need the features that make this device cost more than its non-Pro companion?
The freshly announced Pixel 6 series is a considerable leap when we talk of performance, features and design. If you have recently bought the Google Pixel 5, you could have second thoughts; but how far ahead are the new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro? Is it worth the upgrade if you own an older Pixel device or any other smartphone for that matter?
Google's ousting of Qualcomm from its Pixel 6 smartphones doesn't just cover the main chipset, with news that the new Google Tensor SoC is paired with an unexpected modem supplier, too. Having relied on Qualcomm's Snapdragon series of mobile chipsets for previous generations of Pixel phone - and the Nexus range before that - Google opted to develop its own chip for 2021's handsets instead.
Google just recently unveiled what may be its most notable Pixel phone since the first one in 2016, and, save for a few relatively minor kinks, it turned out to be just as good as we had hoped for. Sure, availability isn't immediate, and that strip of plastic at the top definitely looks out of place, but, all in all, the Pixel 6 is almost the perfect Android phone. Almost. Unfortunately, it fell short in one rather important aspect that's almost taken for granted, failing to take that one small crucial step towards becoming the first true Android iPhone.
We're in the process of a pair of reviews of the Google Pixel 6 and the Google Pixel 6 Pro here, and it's rough! It's difficult not being able to go in-depth on every tiny detail and difference between the two devices before the Google review embargo - but here we are. At the moment, I'm able to tell you a lot about the hardware.
Google often launches Pixel phones with exclusive features unavailable to other Android phones or even to some of its older Pixels. Of course, most of those were developed by Google itself or involved Google's apps and services. With the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, however, Google has partnered with social media giant Snapchat for a number of exclusives, starting with the ability to quickly take a Snap right from the lock screen without having to authenticate to unlock the phone first.
Many consumers, especially in the US, prefer to buy their phones from their mobile carriers, not really out of loyalty to the network. More often than not, it's the subsidies and financing options that soften the blow when buying a new and more expensive smartphone. Manufacturers have, of course, started offering such options to convince people to buy phones directly for them, and Google's new Pixel Pass takes that idea a bit further by putting Pixel 6 buyers knee-deep in its services for a long time.
A few years ago, Google teased the almost magical ability that would allow people to remove "distracting objects" from photos, whether they be a fence or innocent bystanders. While that functionality has been available on some photo editing software like Photoshop, it was far from automatic nor convenient for mere mortals. It took more than four years for that moment to finally come, and Pixel 6 owners can now confidently take photos even when they know there are people or things lurking in the background.
This shouldn't really come as much of a surprise. Google is arguably one of the kings of machine learning (ML) and AI, technologies that it relies on to make sense of all the data it collects through the Internet. So when it revealed that it was making its own System-on-Chip (SoC) named Tensor, it was expected that the chip would have ML at its forefront. That's what Google is now confirming about the Tensor chip and its abilities while still playing a bit coy on the technical details.
Google released the Pixel 6 on pre-order today, and with it, some rapid confusion. If you were looking to purchase the Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro from the Google Store or through Google Fi, here, on pre-release day, you were out of luck - both stores crashed. If you were attempting to buy an mmWave-UW-capable Pixel 6 off-contract, you were in for another surprise.
This morning Google and Snap announced a set of features that'll launch on Google Pixel 6 exclusively. Or exclusively for a period of time, at least. This will be the first time the Snapchat Camera will be "accessible directly from a phone lock screen."