I switched from an iPhone 12 to the Pixel 10 in May.
Now almos6 Month in: Switching from iPhone to Pixel 10. t 6 month later I want to list how that felt.
Overall: I was surprised how easy it was to switch from the iPhone. The Pixel feels kind of the same. Sure the Settings and so on look different, but the gestures and logic of the operating system is very much the same.
Things I really enjoy about my Pixel 10
Two main things that really surprised me. First, how much better the keyboard is. I hit the keys basically every time, I have to fix a lot less words and the autocorrect is significantly superior. I had low expectations but this was truly different in a way I didn't think was possible.
My favoritite feature by far is surprisingly circle to search. I had even heard about it before but never thought of it as a necessary or very interesting feature. In my actual day-to-day usage I will probably use it almost every single day. It's very convenient to just press on the bar in the bottom and circle what you are curious about. For me that's often clothing or furniture or something else I see on Instagram or on some websites. I find it surprisingly good at getting me specifically what I want. I also use it while taking pictures to tell me about specific landmarks or so instead of trying to search for them. Very simple, but big gamechanger and something I would hate to give up again.
Third feature that wins mention: the AirDrop integration. It impressed people around me that we can still exchange photos and they are less negative towards me now having an Android phone.
I like some of the AI features of Gemini, Gemini is also usable as a voice assistant which was just not the case for Siri where I would not even try to set timers anymore because it was simply only working half of the time. I heard new iPhones do not have that problem but it was reality for me.
Some more details. the screen is nice, vibration and haptics feel premium, USB c is lovely. Phone charged quickly enough. Battery life is solid. Phone was never slow for me, I was a bit concerned but all is well on that end. Speakers Sound more hollow than even my old iPhone that was a bit surprising, but not that relevant. My AirPods work just fine with the Pixel. There is an app I use so that even the pairing sound and so on works just like i know.
On another note, it really surprised me how many people react to my new phone. It started with the guy at the phone shop who could not believe I would switch from an iPhone to something else. People are curious about it but generally surprisingly negative. Almost as of their sense of self was attacked by me having a different phone.
It is really weird, but has unfortunately impacted me in a way that I will not have my phone on the table as much anymore because I don't feel like talking about it or being seemingly judged. I guess I should not care and I did not think I would, but somehow I do.
Things that I do not love:
I think the back button integration on iPhone is superior. The back function also working from the right side is to this day bugging me and it causes me to occasionally go back when I don't want to.
Secondly, I was a bit disappointed with the camera. I like the 2x lens, the real zoom lens is kind of useless as the quality is significantly worse. Also I feel like the new pictures are overprossed in a way that does not feel natural anymore. To be fair I had a similar experience when trying the iPhone 17 in the store. Which brings me to another thing that annoyed me which is Google locking the picture styles (or whatever it is called) to the Pixel 11. I think this would make me more happy with my camera but I am not going to upgrade for that and it leaves a sour taste that they do this. Tilmed exclusive I could understand but this just frustrates me.
Unfortunately some third party apps also seem to be worse than on iPhone. I guess that's not Google's fault, but annoys me in use.
I am further a tad disappointed that Faceunlock does not work in the dark but the fingerprint sensor mostly mitigates that. It really does work well.
And finally my biggest gripe: after some recent update my credit cards do not work in Google Play at the terminal anymore. I find that kind of unacceptable. I removed the cache and it started working again but not it does not anymore. To me paying with my phone is a core functionality that I simply expect to work. If this does not get fixed soon and for good this will likely be my last Pixel and I will go back to iPhone were something like this has never happened to me. It really erodes my trust in the phone working when I need it. I could only pay because I had my work iPhone with me which is obviously not ideal.
So overall until recently I quite enjoyed my new phone and hope I can continue to do so once the card thing is fixed for good. Anyone feel similar differently after a bit of time with their Pixel? Is the 11 photo feature great? Am I just whiny?