Tech Train

I picked up the Pixel 6 Pro in the yellowish Sorta Sunny color back in January, and after some time with the phone I’ve come to one conclusion: its software is a bit glitchy. Some of this will undoubtedly be fixed over time, as was the case with the fingerprint sensor. It stopped working after I ran the phone’s battery down and plugged it in again. A software update fixed the problem. Repairing a phone after I’ve already paid for it, however, (while better than not doing it) is disappointing. I would have preferred that it simply worked well in the first place. Make no mistake, even when it’s working the optical fingerprint reader they went with is slower and less accurate than the ultrasonic type used by other manufacturers.

The Pixel 6 Pro comes with a brand new, much trumpeted Google Tensor chip inside, and in benchmarks as previously mentioned it leaves past chips from Qualcomm in the dust. I really want to believe that the app crash problems I’ve encountered, with both Nebula and Google’s own Youtube app, were the fault of the software; I would hate for this new hardware to be a letdown. In addition, the Maps app shows some troubling lag. When the phone is in landscape mode I can’t access the quick toggle settings above my notifications, which is annoying. It’s strange to say, but the Pixel 4A felt more responsive while flicking though menus. It also didn’t crash.

Any discussion of the Pixel series as a whole must eventually include an evaluation of the camera, which this year upgraded from the sensor they used in 2013’s original Pixel to three new sensors: a 50 megapixel wide, a 48 megapixel telephoto, and a 12 megapixel ultra wide. The selfie shooter is 11.1 MP. Overall I consider this a good camera system. It offers plenty of versatility, and the results are usually sharp with great dynamic range.

I was also pleased with the Pixel’s video output. The optical image stabilization makes my camera movements look much more graceful than they have any right to. Click here for my test video.

The fact of the matter is, Google overhauled their flagship phone in a major way in 2021. Whether they continue to focus in order to work out the kinks? That remains to be seen. Watch the reviews on the 6a, and hopefully this time next year I’ll be happier about the 7 Pro. I’m not going to buy it, but I hope it gets good reviews.