So i have been using the Google Pixel 6 for two weeks now and I wanted to share my thoughts on this Phone with you. So in this blog I will cover off:
- What I like about the Pixel 6
- What I don’t like about the Pixel 6
- What I miss about my iPhone 13 Pro
Lets dive straight in with what I like about the Google Pixel 6. The first thing that I want to cover off is the screen. I have really enjoyed the screen quality, its crisp and clear and it seems to be a brighter than my iPhone 13 Pro. I also like that you can get the display size and text size really small which I really like, not a big thing for most people but something that I personally like.
The design of the phone itself is really nice and the camera bar on the back really makes it stand out and you know that its a google phone. I really like the size although it is quite big at 6.4” it doesn’t feel big in the hand and I actually find it easier to handle than the small iPhone. It doesn’t have as quick a refresh rate (90 Hz) but I can’t say that I have really noticed it all that much.
Staying on the screen there are a couple of things that it does that the iPhone doesn’t.
1) Always on display.
I really like this feature, when my phone is locked I can still see the time, date and weather. It also shows the app icons that have notification waiting to be read. It’s nice to be able to just glance at the phone and be able to see key information without having to touch or pick up the phone.
2) Split screen.
This is a cool feature that means that for supported apps I can have two open at the same time. You can do split screen on the iPad but not on the iPhone which would be useful especially if you have IPhone Pro Max as you would really be able to use the screen size to its full potential.
In terms of usability the Pixel 6 is easy to use with a lot of the gestures very similar to ISO. You can swipe up to navigate through you open apps. I do like the apps tray as when you open it up all you apps are easy to see and navigate to. I wish that the apps library in IOS was a bit like this as I think its a bit easier to find the apps you are looking for. You get the google stock apps pre-loaded which is useful and I found signing into them easy so setting up the phone itself was straight forward, but then again I was not transferring anything across as I was still using my iPhone as well.
The camera is good and you has some good tools such as the magic eraser. Night sight is also very good and takes great photos in low light. I am still torn as to whether the iPhone has a better camera and I think this will come down to your own personal preference. Charging is via USB-C which is great as it means that I don’t need multiple different cables on my desk to charge my gadgets. I wish apple would really move away from the lighting charging port.
I think the biggest thing that I like about this phone is the Price. £599 for a flagship phone is a great price and I think that you get all the flagship features that you would expect, so if you are on a budget or not wanting to spend upwards of £1000 then this is a phone that is well worth looking at.
Ok so moving on the things that I don’t like so much.
It doesn’t have Face ID so you have the fingerprint scanner which is a bit hit and miss. It can be a bit slow to open the phone and sometime it can take a few attempts. It’s not the end of the world but coming from the iPhone were the Face ID is quick and reliable it is annoying.
The keyboard for me is not as good as the iPhone and I found that I have made more typing errors on the Pixel. I do like that you can change the size of the keyboard but I still find its not consistent as the iPhone. I would also say that the haptics are not as good (clicking when you type), this is not something that I had paid much attention to but it is noticeable when making the switch.
I do like the design of the Pixel 6 but I am not keen on the glossy back it makes the phone very slippy. I was finding that before I had a case on it that it would slip off surfaces like my sofa. It also means that you get a lot of finger prints on the back which again not the end of the world but not something that you will get with the Matte finish on the iPhone 13 Pro. So my recommendation would be to have a case or a skin on this phone.
I also found that some apps are just better in IOS which I believe is due the fact that there are less models of the iPhone. Some of the apps don’t seem scale quite right or are just not as well optimised but again not a massive issue but you will notice a difference if you are moving from an iPhone. Not sure if this is a good or a bad thing but there seems to be less accessories available for android phones.
So onto the things that I miss from the iPhone:
1) Apple Watch
So this is the biggy for me and the biggest barrier to switching full time to this phone. If you have an Apple watch you will not be able to get notifications or use your watch fully. I have still been able to use mine because I have still been using my iPhone. So if you wanted to make the switch you would need to switch to another smart watch such as the galaxy or wait for the Pixel watch to come out.
2) AirPods
So the Airpods will work fine with the Pixel 6 but you will have to manually connect them when you want to use them. With my iPhone they just connect automatically which is just a great user experience and one of the great things about the apple ecosystem. Now I haven’t tried this with other headphones so I am not sure if this is the same for those.
3) Facetime
This is another potential blocker for switching for me. Most of my family have iPhones so we use facetime quite a bit. Now this is not a massive issue if you have an iPad as you can still use that but for ease and convenience having it on the iPhone is so useful.
4) Apple carplay
I love the fact that I can get my message etc. In my car read out to me and just makes for a good experience. Now you can still connect via Bluetooth for listening to music and receiving call but you won’t have the touchscreen which means you don’t need to have you phone in your hand to access message, audiobooks etc.
5) Magsafe and Accessories
I have a Magsafe wallet so this mean I can’t use this accessory unless I am carrying both my phone’s which is annoying. I also have Magsafe charger which is just so easy to use, now you get wireless charging with the Pixel so it’s not a big issue but again it’s the user experience that you will miss
So in conclusion I think that this is a great phone and if you are looking to make the switch to Android then for the price I dont think that you can go far wrong. Now will I make the switch permanently I am not sure I will. I have enjoyed the experience to date and will continue to use the phone but whether it will be my daily (personal) is to be seen. For me I think that there are just maybe a couple of big blockers that will stop me and I am pretty embedded into the Apple ecosystem although I am not sure that should really matter in some case (I have blog planned on this).
Hopefully this review will help if you are looking to make the switch from iPhone to Android or just looking for something different.