Pixel 6 review: Google’s flagship phone at a reduced price | Smartphone

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The Pixel 6 is Google’s affordable flagship phone for 2021 and proves to be an industry leader with a first-class camera and advanced new chip inside it, while reducing most of the price competition.

The phone costs £ 599 ($ ​​599 / A $ 999), which is £ 250 cheaper than the Pixel 6 Pro, while still offering 90% of what you get with Google’s flagship model.

It has a 6.4-inch 90Hz OLED screen that is flat, not curved at the sides. The display is slightly less sharp, slower and smaller than that of the 6 Pro, but it is still very good with excellent brightness and viewing angles.

The Pixel 6 (right) is slightly shorter but is otherwise similar in size to the Pixel 6 Pro (left). Director of photography: Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian

The sides are black painted aluminum, the back is glass and there is a large camera bar design similar to the 6 Pro. Despite the small screen size, the Pixel 6 is not a small phone and is only 1.1mm narrower and 3g lighter than its big brother. Those with smaller hands will struggle to hold it in one hand without an attachment.

Specifications

Screen: 6.4 inch 90Hz FHD + OLED (411ppi)

Processor: Google Tensor

RAM: 8 GB of RAM

Memory: 128 or 256 GB

Operating system: Android 12

Camera: 50MP + 12MP ultrawide, 8MP selfie

Connectivity: 5G, eSIM, wifi 5, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2 and GNSS

Waterproof: IP68 (1.5m for 30 minutes)

Dimensions: 158.6 x 74.8 x 8.9mm

Weight: 207 g

Tensor Chip The Pixel 6 takes just under two hours to fully charge, reaching 50% in 33 minutes using a 30W USB-C adapter (not included). Director of photography: Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian

Along with the Pixel 6 Pro, the Pixel 6 is the first phone to feature Google’s custom Tensor processor. It matches the rivals of Qualcomm and Samsung in terms of speed, but is better optimized for Google’s various AI systems.

Battery life is good but not great, lasting around 34 hours between charges, on par with rivals from Samsung and but somewhat behind the iPhone 13’s 46 hours. That was with the screen. turned on for about five hours in various messages, taking notes and utilities, the browser and taking about 20 photos, spending about two hours on 5G and the rest on wifi.

Sustainability The two-tone back looks quite dull in the “stormy black” variant, but impresses in bolder color options. Director of photography: Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian

Google does not provide an expected battery life. Those in similar devices typically retain at least 80% of their original capacity after 500 full charge cycles. The Pixel 6 is generally repairable by Google and third party repair shops. Screen repairs cost £ 129, rear glass repairs cost £ 139, and battery replacement costs £ 89 out of warranty.

The Pixel 6 contains 100% recycled aluminum in its bezel, which is about 14% of the phone by weight. The company publishes environmental impact reports for some of its products. Google will recycle all Pixel devices for free.

Android 12 Super-fast simultaneous voice and finger typing is one of the new Pixel-only additions to Android 12 enabled by the Tensor chip. Director of photography: Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian

The Pixel 6 comes with Google’s latest Android 12, which includes a ton of customization options and refinements. For more information, see the Pixel 6 Pro review.

Google will provide at least three years of major Android updates and security fixes monthly. It will then provide an additional two years of updates with the “frequency and categories of updates depending on the capabilities and needs of the hardware”. Samsung supports its best phones for four years, while Fairphone is aiming for six years, and Apple supports its iPhone for up to seven years.

Camera The camera app is excellent, with simple but useful photography aids, although it lacks a dedicated macro photography mode. Director of photography: Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian

The Pixel 6 has the same 50-megapixel main and 12MP ultrawide camera as the 6 Pro and produces very similar results. That makes it one of the best cameras you can get on a smartphone, particularly at under £ 600. It lacks an optical zoom camera, and while Google’s up to 7x digital zoom is one of the best, it doesn’t replace optical magnification. .

The 8MP selfie camera is good, producing detailed shots with a lot of drama, but at times the images were a little soft, particularly in low light levels.

Remarks The fingerprint scanner is less reliable than the 6 Pro, and while not terrible, it’s not as good as that used by Samsung or OnePlus. Registering my fingerprint twice helped. Director of photography: Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian

Call quality and 5G reception were good, as was Bluetooth performance on several sets of headphones.

The bottom corners were noticeably hard, digging more than other devices into my palm when holding it with one hand.

The volume and power buttons work fine but are a little loose, allowing them to vibrate a bit.

Price

The Google Pixel 6 costs £ 599 ($ ​​599 / A $ 999) with 128GB of storage.

For comparison, Pixel 6 Pro costs £ 849, Pixel 4a costs £ 349, OnePlus 9 costs £ 629, Samsung Galaxy S21 + costs £ 949, Xiaomi 11T Pro costs £ 599, iPhone 13 costs £ 779 and Fairphone 4 costs £ 499.

Verdict

Where the Pixel 6 Pro is all about competing on an equal footing with the best smartphones on the market, the Pixel 6 offers everything that makes Google phones stand out while significantly reducing price competition.

You get snappy performance, decent battery life, the new Google chip, and a brilliant experience filled with all the software bells and whistles you can’t find anywhere else. Google’s AI-powered local keyboard and voice typing is pretty cool, and you’ll get at least five years of security updates from the release. Additionally, the phone has the main and ultrawide lenses of Google’s next-generation class-leading camera system.

The lack of an optical zoom and slightly fussy fingerprint scanner can be forgiven for the price. Costing just £ 599, the Pixel 6 is priced more in line with Chinese competing brands than the top Samsung and Apple devices it competes favorably with.

That makes the Pixel 6 a steal for a top-tier phone. You have to spend a lot more to get a better Android phone than this.

Pros: Class-leading camera, great screen, excellent performance, good battery life, recycled aluminum, five years of security updates, Android 12, impressive local AI features, very competitive price.

Cons: Fairly slow charging, no optical zoom, fingerprint scanner can be picky, no face unlock option, only three years of Android version updates despite five years of security support.

Unlike most rivals, the Pixel 6 doesn’t wobble when placed on a table due to the camera’s horizontal bar. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian Other reviews

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