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Pixel 6 / Pixel 6 Pro / Pixel 6a
- Thread starter Supersnake
- Start date
Does anyone regret buying the Pixel 6 pro when the S22 ultra is right around the corner? I had an S21 Ultra and slightly regret selling it. The battery life on the Pixel 6 Pro has been disappointing for a 5000mah battery. The Optical finger scanner on the Pixel is annoying the way it lights up scanning your finger. Android 12 on pixel is nice, but still doesn't have the features and customization that Samsung has in One UI. Pixel used to have the new Android update 3-6 months ahead of Samsung, but not anymore. Samsung now has the new Android version with extra features with OneUi within 1-2 months only.
I'm very satisfied with my Pixel 6 Pro, it's extremely smooth and fluid, and I love stock Android. Battery life has been good for me, but I'm around wireless chargers often so it's getting charged on my Office desk when I'm not using it.
I have zero interest for the Galaxy S22. Absolutely no way would I trade my 6 Pro for a S22. For what? TouchWiz and bloatware? No thanks.
I have zero interest for the Galaxy S22. Absolutely no way would I trade my 6 Pro for a S22. For what? TouchWiz and bloatware? No thanks.
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There is always something better around the corner. You'd be constantly waiting if you followed that mentality.
I know no phone is perfect, but the Pixel 6 pro only getting 6 hours SOT with the battery drained to almost 0% while on 5G with 120hz is pretty bad. Especially for having a 5000mah battery. The battery charging is slow AF also. By the time the battery degrades, most people will have a new phone anyway. At least I will. I generally upgrade between 1 and 2 years. I guess the Pixel 6 pro hype caused me to dump the s21 ultra that I should of kept.
My opinion if battery life is a major concern, the best phone for that is the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
I thought that Samsung Galaxy s21 ultra was known to be mediocre and battery life too? Yeah better than the Pixel 6 Pro but nowhere near 13 Pro Max battery?
And I thought I read a few months ago. Samsung is trying to make the S22 phones a little bit thinner with a little bit smaller batteries? Yeah the new processors would be more efficient but I don't think the S22 line will come close to the 13 Pro line as far as battery goes.
Unfortunately, most Android phones are just mediocre on battery life compared to an iPhone lately, except for some strange reason the budget Android phones seem to get incredible battery life with a lower end processors.
I thought that Samsung Galaxy s21 ultra was known to be mediocre and battery life too? Yeah better than the Pixel 6 Pro but nowhere near 13 Pro Max battery?
And I thought I read a few months ago. Samsung is trying to make the S22 phones a little bit thinner with a little bit smaller batteries? Yeah the new processors would be more efficient but I don't think the S22 line will come close to the 13 Pro line as far as battery goes.
Unfortunately, most Android phones are just mediocre on battery life compared to an iPhone lately, except for some strange reason the budget Android phones seem to get incredible battery life with a lower end processors.
The iphone 13 this year must be an exception because iphones have never gotten insane battery life until this year. Apple just got the optimization perfect with more time to get things right with their own chip. They get double the battery life out of a battery that is 3/4 the size of android flagships. No android phone can compare to that right now. Its very frustrating because I hate Apple and iOS and would not get Iphone 13 Pro Max just for its battery life. Its just that if Apple can perfectly optimize, then why can't google with all their resources?
The iPhone 11 Pro Max was known to be a battery champ, topping all Android phones for that time. The 12 Pro Max had good not amazing battery life, but the 13 PM has INCREDIBLE battery life, the best of 2021.
I agree why can't Google's own in house Pixel phone be a battery champ too? People say it's just a revised Samsung chipset known for poor efficiency.
Android would also required a much bigger and weightier battery to match what an iPhone could with a smaller battery until Google stop doing "true multi-tasking." They need to do save app-states and only allow a few media apps (like music) to run in the background like iOS or Windows Phone does. Microsoft proved that with the same hardware that they could squeeze out much better battery life simply by employing app state saves a long time ago; too bad Balmer completely missed the mark on it.
In order for Android phones you have good battery right now, you'll have to use the lesser capable but more efficient mobile chips. Like using an Intel Atom compared to full Intel flagship Core processor. Sure, the atoms are more than adequate in some tasks, but it's terrible in others. But the question here is are you willing to pay the same price or nearly the same price with an atom chip compared to the flagship especially when changing the OS gives that flagship Core the same efficiency as that Atom chip with the OS being arguably more polished or at least having more polished apps in it?
In order for Android phones you have good battery right now, you'll have to use the lesser capable but more efficient mobile chips. Like using an Intel Atom compared to full Intel flagship Core processor. Sure, the atoms are more than adequate in some tasks, but it's terrible in others. But the question here is are you willing to pay the same price or nearly the same price with an atom chip compared to the flagship especially when changing the OS gives that flagship Core the same efficiency as that Atom chip with the OS being arguably more polished or at least having more polished apps in it?
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I'd add that there's a certain lowest-common-denominator element to optimizing Android. Google can't usually fine-tune Android for specific hardware, as it has to support everything from someone's $80 Tecno to an $1,800 Samsung foldable, from entry-level chips that barely run Android's Go Edition to the latest Qualcomm flagship part. Any battery optimizations really come down to the SoC vendors and the phone brands, and all they can do is write drivers or modify things after the fact. It's great for affordability and diversity in hardware, but not for the performance of that hardware.
Domingo
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Supposedly the first major feature drop (and a boatload of fixes/updates) are inbound for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro today.
As far as phone envy goes, there's always something bigger and better just around the corner. Since the S22 is a Samsung, I feel confident that the hardware will be top notch and the software will range from "almost as good as Google" to "was this designed by a blind person in 2009?" You can jump through a bunch of hoops to make it look and run like vanilla Android, but you'll have to do it again and again. You'll also end up losing around 10GB in space due to all of Samsung's forced nonsense. OneUI isn't too bad these days, so at least there's that. I'll never covet any Samsung devices until their software catches up with their hardware. It has been 12 years and they're only barely narrowing that gap a little.
As far as phone envy goes, there's always something bigger and better just around the corner. Since the S22 is a Samsung, I feel confident that the hardware will be top notch and the software will range from "almost as good as Google" to "was this designed by a blind person in 2009?" You can jump through a bunch of hoops to make it look and run like vanilla Android, but you'll have to do it again and again. You'll also end up losing around 10GB in space due to all of Samsung's forced nonsense. OneUI isn't too bad these days, so at least there's that. I'll never covet any Samsung devices until their software catches up with their hardware. It has been 12 years and they're only barely narrowing that gap a little.
Domingo
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https://developers.google.com/android/ota
OTA's are up
Updated mine without issue. I went with the first file that didn't have a geographic description. Seemed to work fine even if I'm on Verizon.
Can't say any of the new features really affect me, but I've encountered a couple of the random bugs. I actually had some quirks with airplane mode yesterday causing the nav to freeze.
OTA's are up
Updated mine without issue. I went with the first file that didn't have a geographic description. Seemed to work fine even if I'm on Verizon.
Can't say any of the new features really affect me, but I've encountered a couple of the random bugs. I actually had some quirks with airplane mode yesterday causing the nav to freeze.
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BlueLineSwinger
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- To prevent every updating device from hitting the server simultaneously.
- In case there is some issue with the update that wasn't found in QA, it'll hopefully be caught before everyone's device is possibly hosed.
Domingo
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I hate that, too. Every other device I've had (Samsung included) gets an update immediately upon release. If it doesn't happen automatically, checking manually always does the trick. Yet Google's flagships, which pride themselves on timely updates, don't. Even if you hammer the "Update" button, it does nothing. When I first got my P6, I didn't get the "launch day" update. After a week I finally sideloaded it. At this point I've just assumed I'm going to have to keep doing that. Apparently something in my demographic makes them think I don't need immediate updates.
Back when I had a Pixel 2, I recall a monthly update that actually made the "check for updates" button actually do something from that point forward. After that, I'd always be able to get updates immediately if I checked manually. I'm assuming at some point they pulled that functionality.
Apple does it best, I'm not an iPhone fan, but when there's an update available, it's ready for every iPhone from the past 5 years, across all carriers, immediately ready at the same time.
Never seen any Android phone handle updates that well.
Never seen any Android phone handle updates that well.
That's part of why I still prefer iPhones. If a phone update is available and has been reasonably tested, I want it now; I don't want it five days from now after my vendor gauges the results of a limited rollout in Luxembourg. You can do phased launches without denying early adopters the chance to install upgrades right away (iOS will periodically check for updates and offer to install them overnight, if you don't manually install them).
If it happens, I'd be curious to know how Google would pull it off. Facial recognition that checks for signs of life? One-camera face unlock is notorious for being easy to fool with photos or videos, which is why companies like Apple went to the trouble of using depth sensors.
Mad Maxx
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Domingo
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At this point I don't even notice the fingerprint reader. The only times it doesn't work is when I'm jogging and my fingers are a little sweaty. My wish list is still to overhaul "At a Glance" + all of those oddly shaped widgets and to allow for immediate updates when you check manually. That's basically it outside of some Android 12 aesthetic stuff. Nova alleviates a lot of that, but it's a bit stupid that I'm having to use Nova on a Pixel IMO. Everything else has been working as advertised. I had my first travel experience with the phone over the weekend and it worked great. That was the first real test for my needs, and it passed with flying colors.
Vengance_01
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What carrier do you have?
DWolvin
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Anyone know if the 5g band / carrier aggregation is coming to all companies, or just T-Mobile? It sounds like it might be a killer app, even if many will not even notice anything other than a network speedup.
Mad Maxx
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I haven't gotten it, either. Been checking manually every few hours. I'm on Google Fi.
After trying several glass screen shields, I've concluded that they all pretty much suck.
They seem to work well with the FPS at first, but after a few days the FPS becomes damn near unusable until I remove the screen shield. I've got the device protection option, so have to hope it's relatively painless to get the screen fixed should my clumsiness lead to a disaster.
Domingo
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That's the Pixel dilemma. Who knows when you might get it? There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the rollouts and they're among the worst for major OEMs. I waited more than a week last time and I never did get anything using an unlocked phone on Verizon. You can sideload it using one of Google's OTA images. It's a bit of a hassle, but at least it doesn't take more than 15 minutes.
Mad Maxx
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I gotta feeling that the update was pulled by Google. No evidence or inside info. Just strikes me as very odd that they'd announce a big update that hardly anyone can download.
Domingo
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https://9to5google.com/2021/12/15/pixel-6-december-update-network-issues/
If they pulled it, this would probably be why. That said, based on my experience with the October update, I think they're just rolling things out really, really slowly.
If they pulled it, this would probably be why. That said, based on my experience with the October update, I think they're just rolling things out really, really slowly.
Domingo
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I installed the normal A1 on my normal P6 on Verizon and it works fine. You can install either the A1, which is for general use, or the "US Carriers" one.
Wrecked Em
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I'm about a month in on my 6 pro, and it's definitely grown on me. I was originally planning on dumping it for the next thing to come along, but I think I'll keep it for the long haul now.
The software integration and ease of rooting have won me over against the dullish screen and poor finger print reader.
The phone Google assistant screener in particular is probably what sealed the deal. Yeah, I know that can be ported other phones with enough effort, but I don't have time to go balls deep in mods anymore.
The software integration and ease of rooting have won me over against the dullish screen and poor finger print reader.
The phone Google assistant screener in particular is probably what sealed the deal. Yeah, I know that can be ported other phones with enough effort, but I don't have time to go balls deep in mods anymore.
Wrecked Em
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I have the unlocked version on AT&T. For the Nov update I used the global version. For the Dec update today, I used the US carrier version. Both worked great, so I'm not really sure what the difference is.
The US version did include a radio flash, so I'd be inclined to use that.
Domingo
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Anyone else have issues with connecting to a PC via USB? For some reason selecting "File Transfer/Android Auto" never works on the first try. I'll select it and then it'll just go back to "no data transfer." Sometimes it'll work on the 2nd or 3rd try...sometimes it takes 3-4 minutes of unplugging and re-plugging and trying to select that option. That's across multiple cables and 5 different USB ports.
Mad Maxx
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Domingo
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Mine will eventually work and show up like that, but never right away. The phone un-selects "File Transfer/Android Auto" repeatedly. Never had anything like this before with any other Androids. Although I *am* on Windows 11, which is the one major difference.