Google has been behind on their phone game the last couple of years, making phones that are good and affordable but not outright innovative. The Pixel 6 Pro changes that by taking that big step phone fanatics have been waiting for by diving into the flagship world.
Before we dive into the specifics, let’s talk about what makes this phone different from the others. Whether you’re finding a new career at 30 or just simply looking to upgrade to something different, the new Pixel 6 Pro may prove itself to be your best choice for a multitude of reasons.
The phone is cheaper than most flagship phones on the market, costing you about $900 instead of $1000 or more. The Pixel 6 Pro uses a Tensor CPU which is what makes it stand out, we’ll dive into that later.
Price and quality ratio
The price is lower than average for a flagship phone, as mentioned above, but the quality of the hardware and software takes a firm stance in making this phone worth your money.
The Pixel 6 Pro runs Android 12 and has software that is very well optimized in regards to the hardware they used to manufacture it. There is no doubt that this phone is a Google phone since it has features that truly highlight its origins.
Some of the models come with 5G capabilities, so the price may go up a bit for those, but overall this phone is quite up there, which is exactly what Google wanted to achieve. The Pixel 6 Pro is meant to be a competitor for other flagships, and it isn’t solely its price that makes it so.
If you end up finding this model series as your ideal, then there is a program Google has made called the Pixel Pass, which allows you to upgrade your Pixel to a newer one every two years if you pay a monthly fee of $45.
The phone upgrade isn’t the only thing you would be paying for though because you also get Youtube Premium, Youtube Music Premium, a Google Play Pass, device protection, and 200Gb One Cloud subscription. We were not joking around when we said this is the Google phone.
This phone is so well equipped, it could even be your virtual job coach.
Body and design
The first thing you will notice about this phone is the polarizing camera on its back. The company could have made this look like any other phone since the camera specs are also up to par with other phones, but the camera rectangle is to create an iconic and stylistic pitch in this case.
It may seem jarring, but you must admit that you immediately recognize it when looking at it. The camera rectangle also has some function when resting your fingers on the back of your phone while holding it since it ends up being like a nice stabilizing ledge during use.
My one critique on it would be that Google didn’t blend the camera into the aluminum side (something we saw Samsung do with the S21 Ultra), making it aesthetically stick out more than it should.
The Pixel 6 Pro is beautiful indeed. It has a curved-edge display and a glass back, giving it a very prime and modern feel alongside that rectangular camera.
You can buy the phone in Stormy Black, Cloudy White, or Sorta Sunny, which has a back that is this pastel citrusy beige and a strip above the camera that is a pastel peach. This color option is for those looking for a little pizazz on their device.
The fingerprint sensor was moved from the back to the front of the phone, making it an in-display sensor, which led to it being choosy on where you place your finger when trying to unlock the phone. This issue isn’t as prominent in other flagship phones.
The Pixel Pro 6 is also water-resistant, has clicky buttons that are expected from expensive phones, and has great haptics.
Now let’s talk about the Tensor chip. This chip was designed by Google specifically for this phone, giving them more freedom regarding better machine learning, AI, computational photography, and so on. The on-device speech recognition was also given a great boost thanks to this chip.
The most important thing to mention about the AI thanks to the Tensor chip is that it now has an amazing “Magic Eraser” that removes any unwanted things from the background of photos. You can even use it on old photos found in your Google Photos.
The speech-to-text in this phone is almost mind-blowing thanks to the chip. It can withstand 200 words per minute, meaning even if you rapped at the phone it would be able to correctly type out every word and it corrects grammar by itself.
Display
The display is 6.7-inches and is a struggle to use one-handed, but that doesn’t stop it from being convenient and comfortable nonetheless. As good a quality as the color saturation and contrast are in the Pixel 6 Pro are also how bad the brightness is, but it still doesn’t fall too behind other flagships.
The display also has an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, which has now become standard in present-day flagship phones. The adaptive part means it can go down to 10Hz to save on battery life. Its screen resolution is 1440p.
Cameras
The selfie camera can be found as a hole-punch cutout on the screen and is an 11MP almost ultra-wide camera that has been receiving much praise from those who like taking selfies. It especially merits praise for being able to shoot 4k selfie videos on top of it all.
The rear cameras house a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide, and 48MP telephoto that has 4x optical zoom. The rear camera can also shoot in 4k for up to 60fps.
Charging and battery life
This is the factor where this almost perfect phone falls short. Though it has a 5000mAh battery, the biggest of any Pixel phone so far, yet it falls short compared to other flagships.
The phone lasts about seven to eight hours and gives a screen-on time of 3.5 to 4.5 hours. Not great. It will probably be dead by the end of a long day, but it is average length, except not for a flagship.
The Pixel 6 Pro has 30W charging, a positive increase from past Pixels. It also supports wireless charging, but it will take a little longer.
Verdict
The software and hardware of the Pixel 6 Pro make it a great phone, especially for a lesser price, but the battery life and brightness might be a deal-breaker for some customers.