The Pixel 6 Pro is the first Google phone in years to tempt me away from Samsung

Am I switching back to the dark side?

Back in 2019, I switched from a Pixel to a Samsung phone. In the three years since, I haven't been tempted to go back — I've just really enjoyed what Samsung has offered. But that changed as we got closer to the launch of the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, as the rumors and leaks had me wondering if I'd be able to return to Google. I spent the last week using a Pixel 6 Pro as my main phone and the results surprised me.

The reason I chose Samsung, not just to replace my Pixel but over all of the other OEMs, came down to top-of-the-line hardware that was well built and reliable, with equally well-designed software to go with it.

Since I made that decision, I've re-evaluated it each year to see if I'd be tempted to swap back and haven't been — until now. The Pixel 4 had poor battery life, lacked an ultra-wide camera, and swapped a fingerprint scanner for face unlock. The Pixel 5 was a solid phone for the price, but it didn't hold up to the hardware of my S20 Ultra. But the Pixel 6 Pro achieved what those others couldn't, so it's unsurprising to see it win our readers' choice vote for the best phone of 2021.

Hardware

Google called the Pixel 6 Pro its first flagship phone, and it had a good reason to do so. Every Pixel has always made some sort of compromise, whether that be the dated design of original Pixel (that I still love), the inconsistent screen quality of the Pixel 2 XL, the bathtub notch and insufficient RAM of the Pixel 3 XL, the weak battery life of Pixel 4, and overall midrange-ness of the Pixel 5. The Pixel 6 Pro doesn't have any of these issues.

The display doesn't pull any punches. I know many people find the size a problem, but 6.7" is the sweet spot I've grown to enjoy over the last two years. 90Hz was pretty good on the Pixel 4 and 5, but it can't compare to the 120Hz that's become standard in the rest of the market, and it's good to see Google finally catch up and offer it at 1440p.

It's nice to see Google's catching up to Samsung phones in the display department.

Like the Galaxy S21 Ultra, it's an LTPO panel, so where other displays can only switch between 60Hz or 120Hz, this phone can vary the refresh rate anywhere between 10Hz and 120Hz depending on the task at hand. Smooth scrolling and battery efficiency. Win-win.

The only downside to this screen is how curved it is. In recent years, Samsung has been reigning in the radius of its curved displays, culminating in the subtle curve of the S21 Ultra. Google has gone in the opposite direction, and while it's not a dealbreaker, I still wish it was flatter.

The battery life on the 6 Pro has been incredible in my testing, easily getting me around seven hours of screen time during a recent trip to London. It was a punishing day for the Pixel, with me spamming the camera at every opportunity and constant GPS usage from Google Maps all over 5G. Based on previous experience, I'd have been lucky to get five hours of screen-on-time from my S21 Ultra under similar circumstances.

The real star of this show is Tensor, the beating heart at the center of both Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. Everything good about this phone comes down to this chip, which has been exceptional so far, especially for a first-gen product.

The 6 Pro stayed smooth throughout my testing and never dropped a frame. Pixel phones have always felt smooth thanks to the barebones, optimized nature of Google's Android skin, but nothing comes close to this. Every swipe of the app drawer, tap of the keyboard, scroll through Facebook, and Minecraft session was accomplished without a hitch. Tensor does far more than make the phone feel fast, but we'll discuss that in the relevant sections.

Sadly, the hardware experience hasn't been perfect, and I was disappointed by the speakers. The earpiece isn't loud enough to generate a proper stereo image, and everything you listen to always sounds like it's shifted to the bottom of the phone. All of the Samsung phones I've owned, from S10+ to S21 Ultra, have excelled in this department, so the weak speakers on the Pixel let me down.

The cameras

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You can't talk about a Pixel phone without mentioning the cameras. It's been the standout feature of Google phones since the Nexus 6P, and that continues into what I view as its spiritual successor. Unlike previous Pixels, which all use very similar hardware, everything about the 6 Pro's camera suite is brand new. The 50MP main sensor takes incredibly detailed images, and it's good to finally have proper zoom on a Pixel.

What impressed me most about these cameras was the low-light performance, which you can see above. The first image is a four-minute exposure taken on a tripod using Astrophotography mode. The conditions were far from perfect, with street lamps as close as ten meters away and plenty of ambient light from the nearby houses, but I got an incredible photo of the night sky and an even better gif.

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In the gallery above, you'll see comparison photos taken on the Pixel 6 Pro and my S21 Ultra at London's Victoria and Albert Museum. The first photo in each comparison is the Pixel, and the second is the S21 Ultra.

I was expecting the Pixel to thrash my S21, but it didn't. Both phones took good pictures for the most part, with the Pixel looking more natural and the Galaxy going with more obvious HDR. Which of those you prefer will come down to personal preference, but the Pixel's photos could easily be edited to match the S21, something that would be harder to do the other way around.

I was expecting the Pixel to thrash my S21's camera, but it didn't.

The only place where my S21 was better was the ultra-wide camera. Thanks to the poor lighting, neither phone took particularly impressive images here, but the photos illustrate one clear difference: the Samsung is much wider than the Pixel. I love taking photos with an ultra-wide lens, but it didn't feel wide enough whenever I tried to on the Pixel. When you consider that the S21 Ultra also manages to bundle in a pretty great macro mode, and there's a clear winner there.

As for zoom capabilities, they were on par most of the time. Thanks to Google's super-res zoom, digitally cropping to 10x on the Pixel 6 Pro looked as good as the optical 10x on the S21U. Anything past 10x helped the Samsung phone come out on top, but I typically avoid that because the images aren't good. The only area the Pixel misses out on here is video capture. Filming in 4K, you can't zoom any further than 4X, while the S21U can do 4K up to 10x thanks to that dedicated sensor.

Overall, I preferred the shooting experience on the Pixel 6. Shutter lag isn't an issue on this phone like it is on the S21 Ultra, and things like Night Sight and Astrophotography are so far ahead of anything Samsung has to offer.

The software

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I love One UI, especially One UI 4. It's been my favorite flavor of Android since I first set eyes on it, so if I were ever going to be tempted back by Google, it would need to make changes. Google delivered, making Android 12 the best version of Android yet. Material You is beautiful, the new animations are slick, and the performance overall has been great.

But using a Pixel is about more than the stock Android experience. Unlike the old Nexus phones, Pixels get exclusive features no other phone will ever see. I'll always remember when MKBHD called a Pixel (I forget which one) "the smartest smartphone." It's the perfect description, even more so for the Pixel 6 Pro. Thanks to Tensor, I've never seen Assistant respond so fast, and the new voice typing in Gboard is unrivaled. During my week using it, I went from never using voice typing to using it constantly.

Some of Google's exclusive features, like Call Screen, are reasons enough to want this phone.

The software feature I enjoyed most, though, was Call Screen. I know it's old news for those of you in the US, but here on the other side of the pond, it's only been available for a few months. It's not the full-fat version found in the US, either, as you can't ask it to sit on hold or make a reservation for you just yet, but the basic functionality of screening incoming calls had me excited. Spam is a big issue here, and watching those callers interact with the Assistant brought a smile to my face.

So, is that case closed? I love the hardware, and the software experience is good, too. When you take the £850 price tag (which is significantly cheaper than my S21) into consideration, it looks like a no-brainer. Sadly, there are still some sticking points, and I'm not about to sell my Galaxy for a Pixel.

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The software experience, as good as it is, still isn't enough to make me switch. Android 12's Quick Settings redesign has been controversial with users, and for good reason. Adding an extra step to toggle Wi-Fi or mobile data is annoying, and the design of the buttons themselves wastes so much space. The whole point of Quick Settings is, as the name implies, to easily access important system functions.

Another prime example is the battery stats screen, which no longer shows a proper screen on time reading. To assess how good the battery life was on my Pixel 6, I had to tap each segment on that chart, write down the screen time for that period, and then add it up.

Then we have all of the features you'll only find on a Samsung phone, especially in the Good Lock app. With Good Lock, I can perform many of the tweaks that used to be exclusive to custom ROMs and rooted phones, all from an official app. Hiding status bar icons, modifying Android's gesture navigation, and using custom icon packs are just some of the wonderful things possible on a Samsung phone.

Timely updates aren't a real benefit of the Pixel anymore, either. Samsung is consistently releasing security patches before or at the same time as Google, and my S21 Ultra received a stable Android 12 update less than a month after Google updated the Pixels. One UI 4 has all of the big Android 12 features — without most of the annoyances.

Now if I'd tried the Pixel 6 at launch and compared it to just my S21, I might have been tempted to switch, despite the software issues I just mentioned. But between the release of the Pixel 6 and getting my hands on one, I got to try something else.

The Z Fold3 has completely changed my priorities when buying a phone. Battery life and cameras were two of the biggest deciding factors, but now they rank much lower. The battery isn't great on the Fold3, but it charges fast, and I always carry a power bank anyway, even when testing the Pixel 6. The cameras aren't as spectacular as the 6 Pro or S21 Ultra, but they're good enough. Now that I work from home, I only go out to take pictures once or twice a month, and even with the S21 Ultra in my pocket, I'd rather use my Sony A6300 instead. The Fold3 has almost ruined other smartphones for me, and I'll be incredibly disappointed when I have to send it back.

Before the Pixel had a chance to win me over, the Galaxy Fold3 had already stolen my heart.

What happens when it does go back? I could sell the S21 Ultra and get a Pixel 6 Pro. I could upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy S22 that's due next spring. Instead, I'm going to keep my current phone until the next generation of foldable arrives. If Google surprises us with a Pixel Fold next year, maybe that's what I'll buy, but for that to happen, it'll need to knock my socks off. Before the Pixel had a chance to win me over, the Fold3 had already stolen my heart.

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About The Author

Zachary Kew-Denniss (237 Articles Published)

UK-based Android aficionado specializing in everything Samsung and Android. There's a 90% chance my articles will contain Spongebob or Transformers references.

Current devices:

Galaxy S21 Ultra Galaxy Watch4 Galaxy Buds/Buds+/Buds Pro Pixelbook iPad Pro 2020

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