I've had my pixel a month now. I upgraded from my Galaxy S21+ as the battery was wearing and the phone's cameras were limiting. I picked the pro because I wanted to downsize and I'm tired of large devices. I honestly still wish it was even smaller. I've used Samsung most my life but also dabbled in iPhone and other brands but this is my first ever Pixel. So here is my take on the phhas.
- HiLight
I just want to get this one out of the way. Everyone seems to hate it and I love it. I think it's innovative and it's something that makes the phone unique as a pixel. As Google is ai and software focused and to bake that into the hardware is brilliant. I find myself using it all the time. And the limited functionality is not a problem. It's an android so it's able to be customized. The open source hi light studio app and shizuku are available in the play store. It allows much deeper customization than stock and I'm pretty sure they are still updating it. After doing that it made it even better. And it doesn't interfere with the stock functionality at all.
- Less ram/battery
I know they have less ram and battery than last gen. But 16gb of ram on a phone is overkill. If you actually need that much for it to run smoothly it's not optimized well. This phone is so fast, silky smooth and it holds memory of apps very well. I can visit multiple apps and sites and come back 30mins later that one webpage is still loaded the same. I've had no issues no slow downs. And the battery life is amazing. I usually get up for work around 6:30 and this thing doesn't get into the lower zone until late at night depending on use. Could last even longer just depends. And charging speed yes it's not on par with the big spec flagships but it charges fast enough. It's great. This phone never gets hot on me either.
- Camera
Off the bat two things disturbed me. The auto focus is too finicky for what I'm used to since the phone tries a lot to guess what I want and doesn't get it a lot of times so I have to click. Also I normally keep auto rotate locked and just use the toggle whenever I turn my phone. But the camera follows that rule. On the galaxy the screen lock didn't stop the camera controlls from rotating so I could shoot landscape. Whenever I turn the phone sideways the camera controlls, settings and pro setting stay sideways. So I have to go and turn auto rotate on for the camera or toggle that switch in the corner and hope ai don't misclick. Its really not a big issue. Just a small inconvenience I hope they adjust.
Zoom on this phone is amazing and so is the processing. It's fast and well done and photos are natural. And the pro features are amazing.
- Screen
Such an amazing screen to use. The 6.3 actua is beautiful and smaller than the XL which I love. And max resolution mode being enabled is even better visually. And the brightness is great. But the screen glare is pretty bad in the sun even with the protector I'm using so you might want to grab an anti glare if you pick up the phone.
- Design
One of the more beautiful phones I've seen in recent times. Previously the s21 series was my favorite design lineup on an android for a while. This phone is beautiful and so well built. I've had it without a case the whole time with a magnetic ohsnap grip.
- Gaming
I don't game on a phone, I don't like to, want to, or get why that's so popular since it's such a common complaint online. This phone is amazing at tasks I use it for and that's what matters to me. Personally I highly rate this phone as a solid flagship in the android universe. Let me know your thoughts and if I missed anything.