How does everyone feel about Google Pixel phones?

I've had Pixels 2, 3, 4, 5a, and 7. I really like them and haven't had a serious problem. Sure do hate Google but goodness sakes can they make a phone, and I run custom ROMs anyway.

I really liked the Nexus Line of Google phones and from what I've seen the Pixels are great phones, but the price puts them outside of what I want to pay.

The 3a, and the 6a might be the only ones I considered, but the rest are just "Flagship priced phones" and yeah they may have the hardware to back them up, but paying 600+ dollars for a phone is ridiculous. With them reaching for a thousand dollars is a hard no.

You basically hit on it. They're trying to make them into iPhones... people are on Android specifically because they don't want Apple prices, or that type of enviroment.

I like it because it's quick and doesn't have any bloatware.

Quite happy user of Pixel 6a. The only few annoying things are:

• Under-the-screen fingerprint sensor works less than half of the time. At night and in bed, it blinds me.
• Battery, despite adaptive battery, still feels surprisingly draining fast from time to time. The battery merely just hold for the day whereas I don't even have that much screen time or background running apps.

The only phones that ever made me warm and fuzzy inside were Google made phones (Nexus 5 was brilliant) and it's unlikely I'll try a different phone anytime soon.

iPhones stress me out due to the height of the walled garden and other android phones are usually a cluttered mess.

Anyway, I recommend pixel phones and most of my family have pixel phones these days.

I've got a 4a (bought on release) and it has been my favorite phone. Not a huge power user so it's a good small device that has the features I want (fingerprint, 3.5 Jack). My biggest gripe is something I think Google changed sometime before the 4a, and that's their is no HDMI over USB possible with Pixel devices. From what I can tell the only reason they did this was to sell Chromecasts. The main issue is I watch horror movies on a projector with some friends while camping(no Wi-Fi or data so Chromecast doesn't work). The software on the projector has poor support for different codecs so ideally I'd use VLC on my phone and have no issue, but I cant. Pretty niche scenario there but I think it's a sign of how modern phones have slowly been taking away useful features for seemingly no reason. Makes me not want to get a Google phone again.

After a decade of Samsung and other third party phones, I'm super keen on the Pixel 7 pro. Even with Samsung boosting huge MP counts for their phones, they always come across either blurry or low quality to me (especially selfies where it feels like they've cheaped out)

In comparison the software processing on the Pixel is amazing, things seems to always be in focus and correctly lit.

I use a 5a with GrapheneOS and I'm very happy with it

7 pro is my favorite phone ove ever owned, finally unseating the v30 which was criminally underrated at the time. I wish there was something better that wasn't made by Google, but I have always been disappointed with my Samsung devices (Galaxy Note OG, Galaxy s7edge, S9). I felt trapped by them and they always had SO MUCH BLOAT. The s7 was the best of the bunch. I've had about as many pixels (2pro, 3pro, 6, 7 pro). They've all gotten better with each iteration, but I saw no reason to even consider a pixel 4 or 5. 6 was a huge step up but had some build quality issues. Overall I liked the design choices. I would still have my six but I was having a battery issue that couldn't be fixed so they let me trade it in and shaved $100 off the 7pro for me in lieu of doing an RMA that late into the life cycle. 7 pro is excellent. I won't be getting a new phone until this one is dead.

Been using Pixel phones since the Pixel 2XL.

It simply comes down to simplicity and updates.

It always seems like with other manufacturers (especially Samsung) they try to throw everything they can at you to see what people might use. Whether that be 3 different apps for taking notes or 19 camera modes depending on what kind of food I'm taking a picture of.

When it comes to updates, I know manufacturers have definitely stepped up their game, but I'm still burned out on updates from before I had a Pixel. I used Moto phones before then and would often wait a year after a major version release to get the update.

Getting day 1 updates and being able to participate in betas is a big plus for me

In the process of deGoogling, but the phone is something that I'm saving for another year or three. My 6 Pro is doing just fine.

Still on a pixel 2, it's really starting to show it's age. It's been a solid phone. I think I will upgrade to the Pixel 8 this fall... But I will miss the rear finger print scanner.

I got a Pixel 6 Pro second hand from the US recently for GrapheneOS.

Here's what I like:

• Fingerprint sensor is fast and reliable
• Phone is buttery smooth, no weird slowdowns, I've been very satisfied
• Excellent hardware: beautiful, premium, unqiue. It feels heavy but in a well - balanced, premium way .The curved back, screen and sides makes it so comfortable to hold. And I love the camera bar because the phone doesn't rock back and forth on the table.
• No parallel for customization, well maintained custom ROMs (I came from a Xiaomi, I swear Google Pixels are way better in this regard.), and GrapheneOS is awesome.
• Good photo quality, can't comment on video
• Actually reliable raise to wake, tap to wake and Always On Display.

What I don't like:

• Phone gets hot on cellular when outside, probably an inefficient Exynos modem + the brutal sun here
• Battery is just okay. Charging is not an issue, takes about an hour to reach 80%, which is what I usually keep my phone at anyway for better battery health.
• Screen not quite bright enough on brutal summer days.

So yeah overall I'm a happy camper. This was honestly a steal at 330 USD renewed from Amazon. When this one loses support for GrapheneOS, I'll be upgrading to another second - hand Pixel.

I'm writing this on a Pixel 7 Pro

So my android journey started with the moto G4 plus when I decided I was tired of giving my iphones to my mom every time she broke hers.

I loved that device because it was really simple and bear bones. Stock android if you will, with just a few extra features that were really nice Quality of Life features. That's what set me on the path towards a pixel after a handful of different brands.

Pixel 4 XL was my first pixel. The big draw for me was the face unlock and the stock experience. At the time, the new spam blocking features from Google assistant were important to me as well. I switched to that after the essential phone brand was officially dead.

Absolutely loved it, so much so that I got my dad a 4a when it released. It was dead simple for him to learn at 60 coming from an iPhone 5. So much that when COVID happened and we switched to masks, I was petty enough to pick up the pixel 5 for the fingerprint scanner (which my dad now has).

I strayed for about a year. I picked up the Galaxy Fold 3 at launch and it was mostly nice. I had so many bad experiences with Samsung, but this was pleasant if not a bit bloated. But I missed the simplicity, I missed the themeing, I missed the Google features.

So around the 10 month mark, my fold inner screen popped off and after having it replaced I put it for sale and bought a Pixel 6 pro second hand. I was skeptical at first because of the bad reviews, but it was a fantastic device in the end. I gifted that to my girlfriend and switched her from iPhone and picked up the Pixel 7 pro.

I always come back to the simpler android, but the pixel flavor is just something special. I've never witnessed any of the issues that people suggest that they have in their reviews. It just flows so well in my experience. I'll be looking forward to trying out a pixel fold when they get to a 3rd generation or so.

I love the simplicity, I love the extra features that Google assistant packs in, most of them are now bundled into the apps as opposed to just being locked to a pixel phone. My favorite part is that they're affordable (Comparatively). I'm glad to see that in Android 14 the best of the Samsung features are being implemented.

Get the a series. Almost half the price for not many features missing. Same camera.

After a long line of Samsung phones, I decided to try a pixel at my last change, so got the 6. I've been really happy with it. Performance is good, camera and camera software are great, features are nice. The Samsungs were getting pretty bloated in comparison.

Google Pixels are the absolute best phones for custom roms and ones I feel best about when it comes to software support outlasting the hardware because of that. All the other phones might have better internals, but it's the growing animosity towards unlocking bootloaders and rise in prices of phones hitting laptop prices without the long term software support to match that makes it seem less appealing than pixels to me.

I've had a Pixel 5a and currently have a Pixel 7. Have enjoyed them greatly. The 5a was a bit mediocre overall, camera performance wasn't that great & it got a bit slow over time. That being said, the clean OS experience and integration was always nice and it was perfectly suitable for my needs at a good price.

Now that I'm using my Pixel 7 as a daily, the Pixel 5a is holding up pretty well with GrapheneOS as a backup phone / media player.

Pixel 7 has been really nice to me. Interface is smooth, camera is nice, everything just works essentially. And getting the latest Android pretty quickly is a nice feeling. My only gripe is that Google's SoC is still a bit lacking and battery life isn't the best, but I hear the current Android beta has some promising battery life improvements.

Overall I've been having a good time with them. Still kinda miss my Nexus 5x tho, that thing was sweet...

I have one with grapheneos for privacy, and it's good.

I have a pixel 7 running CalyxOS, which has been great. Custom ROMs have come so far since I was first getting interested in them in 2017. Installing Calyx on the pixel 7 was totally seamless, compared to multiple days of frustration installing LineageOS back in the day

Loved my Pixel 5, but they've gotten too big from there.

I'm on my 3rd Pixel (2,3A XL, 6). They're good phones. Updates are pretty regular and support is fairly long lived. The cameras are fantastic. The software and interface is barebones. No bloat.

The only downside I would put out there is that they sometimes run hot. Like hotter than any other phone I've ever had. Suddenly and uncomfortably hot in your pocket.

I have zero interest in a foldable screen and it's going to be years before I'd ever trust one.

Since LG left making phones, I'm buying Pixels since I really don't like what Samsung is doing and I don't trust my Google account to the different Chinese companies.

I've got a Pixel 7 Pro and it is ok, but battery issues are worse than other phones and I've had issues with overheating that I've never had with other phones.

I used the 2 and currently use the 4a (coming up to 3 years this Oct) but I think that's the end of the line for me on pixels cause they're just getting too big for someone with really small hands.

My three wants (in order or priority) for phones are: 1) reasonably small enough (pixel 4a just about fits into this criteria); 2) fingerprint scanner; 3) headphone jack

I've got a tiny jelly star from unihertz coming and if that doesn't work out I'll probably have to go zenphone cause they're just about the size of the 4a.

Pity as I do like the pixel line

Good but overhyped.

I've been using a Pixel 3 for about 5 years and I love it. I actually got a pixel 7 for work earlier this year and honestly prefer the pixel 3 lol. I've had some charging issues because lint gets stuck in the charge port, but I've been able to mostly solve those by cleaning out the port with a toothpick.

I recently bought a pixel 6 pro (went from an LG G7). Its a nice upgrade. I'm slowly replacing (and deactivating) the google apps with open source ones. I may install a custom ROM at some point.

The launcher forces the at a glance widget on the homescreen first 2 rows. That wouldn‘t be a problem in itself, but this version of at a glance is super broken and only works 3/10 times as intended. You can the put the original widget underneath it and test it and the original version will work 10/10 Times.

Not working means weather or events are not shown and there is no shortcut to them if you click there if if they are shown you alway go to your calendar. Also the days are written in short in that version so Thu. instead of Thursday in the original widget.

I have a 6a and have been emulating games with it and playing remote play with my backbone. Super enjoying it

They used to be fantastic, but for various reasons Google have been reducing the quality of their products for some time.

The android 12 update really hurt the UI/UX by limiting customization, adding big obnoxious qs tiles that obstruct notifications for no reason (that I am constantly activating by accident), removing the wifi toggle and wasting home screen real estate with an 'at a glance' widget that isn't useful (it's like a wish.com version of Google now), you need a custom default program manager to let it open search results in browser without pushing shit apps (like reddit official). Also wasn't the point of pure android to avoid bloatware? Why am I carrying google TV, YouTube, wallet, Google money, fit, Google one, gpay, spy assistant, lens, meet etc?

As bad as the recent software direction is, the hardware is worse. My pixel 7 pro new has worse battery life than my pixel 5 had after 2 years of constant use, it overheats and throttles doing basic tasks (like maps), the glass back is among the most slippery things I've ever touched, the curved screen has an infuriating glare persistent no matter how you hold it, the fingerprint sensor is unreliable and in an awkward place, there's no capacitive gesture to drop notifications shade and "double tap" gesture meant to replace it flat out doesn't work. The charging is super slow, the curved screen follows the curved screen trend of breaking easily, all phones in the current line up are too large to use comfortably with one hand, they deleted the headphone jack to sell shit earbuds (yes that was ages ago but it's still stupid).

All in, I'd trade my pixel 7 pro in for a gen 5 model or earlier in a heartbeat. Been a long time Google/nexus user but however good the old phones were, my next phone won't have a tensor!

I've got the 6 Pro. I cracked the screen which sucked, but for the price they should probably come with a cover.

The fingerprint scanner on the screen works less than half the time. The only thing I've really been impressed with is the camera, other than that I'd go any other phone.

I used to have a Xiaomi Rednote 9 Pro and loved it. Not sure how secure Xiaomi stuff is but was very happy with it, plus the fingerprint scanner was on the side and worked much better.

I'm on my first non Google phone, starting with the Nexus 5. I currently have the Z Fold 3, bought used for about half MSRP. It has so many good things that Google failed to do, while also missing a lot of things I loved about the Google phones. The Pixel folder may bring me back if it gets cheap enough.

Had a Pixel 3 where the screen died exactly two days after the warranty ends.

Loved the picture it took (even compared to my S23 now) and the fluidity.

Hate the Google quality control. Seeing pixel 6 modem issues and pixel 7 camera glasses, it never improves.

I sold my Pixel 6 pro to get a Samsung S23. Unfortunately the main issues I had with the pixel were hardware-related and recurring, and while samsung isn't ideal, most of their issues could be solved with a one-time fix.

Main issues I had with the Pixel:

• Fingerprint sensor doesn't work with privacy screens. Period. It's not a question of buying cheap privacy screens, the Pixel fingerprint reader is optical and is just not compatible with privacy screens. Samsung uses an ultrasonic reader which is compatible with privacy screens.
• The 6 Pro was unwieldy and ridiculously large, the smaller 6 doesn't have the triple camera setup. Samsung is one of the few that doesn't sacrifice phototaking ability in a smaller form factor.
• That godawful new quick toggles UI is horrible. The quick toggles are ridiculously large, and who decided it would be a good idea to merge the wifi and internet toggles?! I managed to use adb commands to split the toggles in 12, but that broke with 13.

Issues I had with the Samsung:

• Bloat - this was mainly in the form of some preinstalled software, but unlike in the early days of Samsung, I could uninstall most of the bloat easily without resorting to root, adb, etc. No bloat (pixel) is still better than bloat that can be uninstalled (samsung), but this problem was permanently solved after about 10 minutes.
• Some Samsung native apps have horrible permission settings - eg Samsung Pay requires access to your contacts, and if you deny it any one permission, the app just force closes. I got around this by uninstalling the offending apps and using alternatives (e.g. google pay) - again, a one-time issue. fuck the intrusive permissions.

I've had a Pixel 4a and now have a Pixel 7. I also had a Nexus 5 a long time ago, and a OnePlus 5T for a while after the Nexus 5's camera broke.

Pixel 4a was great aside from the lack of waterproofing. I loved the size of it, it was fast enough, the camera was good enough, and I didn't think I'd need another phone until I went hiking in the rain with it and couldn't be bothered to go 100m back to the car to get a ziplock bag at the start of the hike :/

Pixel 7 is good, but I preferred the smaller size of the 4a, and some of the 7's features just feel unnecessary to me, such as the higher refresh screen, as I don't care about gaming on it. The in-screen fingerprint reader is definitely waaaaay worse than the one on the 4a (and especially the OnePlus 5T), and I have to enter my code a lot, but it's not as bad as when I first got the phone. The insanely bright glow of the fingerprint reader when you use it at night is a bit annoying, as others have mentioned.

It also seems to get very hot sometimes, the official case isn't quite as nice as that of the 4a, despite being more expensive, and the battery life is meh. Lack of a headphone jack is also less than ideal, but I guess I should just buy some bluetooth earphones. Actually, I got it at launch and used the Google Store points to buy Google Buds Pro and the case, but then I sold the buds to effectively get a nice discount instead.

The camera on both phones has been great, with the 7 being quite a bit better than the 4a, though honestly the 4a was good already and I didn't really care about any camera upgrades aside from the wide angle lens, which is awesome.

Software wise, I like stock Android, but I miss the long screenshot function of OnePlus' Oxygen OS. Other than that, it's nice. Google apps are mostly awesome, though I think you can get the same features such such as voice assistant, navigation etc. on other Android phones just by installing the Google apps.

After staying loyal to Samsung for about a decade, always with flagship models, I had a terrible experience with the Fold3. It was so bad that, when I finally pushed hard enough for Samsung Support to admit I'd been sold a lemon, I was ready to give up.

I sold the replacement Fold4 they sent me and got a Pixel 7. Honestlty, I now wish I hadn't waited this long to make the jump.

Things I like the most:

• The speed with which updates are released, directly: I'm accustomed to having to wait for my provider to release Samsung updates
• The way the updates are applied: no more 30 minute reboots waiting for the Samsung firmware to install
• The lack of bloatware: 'nuff said
• The speed of the device itself: see above point

I guess the thing that nags at me the most is I still dislike Google as a company.

I haven't explored custom ROMs yet - still unsure where that leaves me with access to my company's resources (we have very stringent security policies, actively enforced), plus I need to do a heap of research to understand what (if any) features of the stock Pixel I'd lose. There may or may not be some deal breakers in that list.

I have a pixel 6 and generally like it. Googles stock rom is where my issues with the pixel come up. Generally its not spookier than any other googled android phone. The rom looks good when the device is knew but from what I've seen online it tends to get slower after 2 years. This is nor an issue for me however since I moved over the graphineOS.

I love my Pixel 6 Pro! I run a De-Googled ROM (CalyxOS) on mine, but even with that, basically every Pixel feature still works as expected. Google Camera is fantastic (doubly so on CalyxOS since I can firewall it from the internet), the AI features in the photos app works exactly as expected (and firewalled too), the camera itself is fantastic as well. Beautiful screen, great speakers, absolutely wonderful and beautiful form factor for a phone.

Only real complaint is battery life isn't the best it could be, compared to the top-tier iphones or Samsung Galaxy devices, but it's hardly "terrible" either, as some have made it out to seem. It does seem like running a De-Googled ROM may help that some (and I've had fewer bug issues than it seems stock Pixel Android users have dealt with, which is weird given CalyxOS is built on AOSP).

Overall though, I love my Pixel 6 Pro and absolutely intend to stick with it well into the future, and likely consider another Pixel when the time comes.

I moved from HTC to Nexus, and stuck with Nexus until it died, then picked up a pixel and never looked back. Pixel is what I buy/use, and it's not been an issue for me, which is why I keep going back.

From Nexus: I owned the Nexus 4, 5, 6 (I still have this one), 7 LTE tablet, and 5X. On the pixel line, the pixel "1", 4, and now 7. Haven't owned a pixel "a" series. I skipped the pixel 5, since the processor was significantly less powerful than the 4, despite being a newer chip, and I skipped the 6, because it was the first gen tensor, and I wanted it to prove itself. Early pixel days didn't see a lot of improvement IMO between pixel 1/2/3, so I stuck with the 1, mainly because of the RAM: pixel 4 was the first pixel to have more than 4GB RAM.... (It had 6). I would have jumped from the P4 about a year after getting it, simply due to it not having a fingerprint reader, and the pandemic (specifically masks) making it impossible to use the face id or whatever they called it, but I didn't want to lose performance with the lower powered chip in the 5, and my 4 was good enough to not wager on whether the first tensor had any major hardware defects... So I'm on the 7 now, and I'm pretty happy.

I miss the fingerprint reader being on the back. I've found ways around the headphone jack problem: I have two devices for this.... A combo headphone jack/changing cable dongle, and a fiio BTR 5 (though other BTR units from fiio will work similarly), which allows me to use wired headphones over bt, while charging my phone and Bluetooth device (fiio), allowing for a near infinite amount of time where I can use my phone with headphones if I choose.

I'm not big on the optical fingerprint reader, but it's better than the face id stuff on the 4, so I guess I'm happier overall.

My key factors for using and keeping with pixel are pretty basic: prior to me going Nexus/pixel, to remove the bs added to my phone (like it shipping with FB apps), I would need to load custom ROMs which was a massive pita. I enjoyed the custom ROMs, mainly the AOSP versions. I wanted clean, no frills android with Google services (which I use extensively). Everything else I could obtain from the Android app store, aka the play store. For the most part, the Nexus/pixel was the only device I could get that kind of thing going right out of the box, pretty much everything else would require a custom ROM. That's the root of why I switched and what keeps me on pixel. I know others have stepped up in this regard, but not many. I've already had success with pixel and to me, the historical experience with pixel keeps me coming back because so far, they've had what I want and nothing that I don't want. If that changes, I'll probably start considering other options.

As long as Google is using the pixel as a dev platform, bringing new features to pixel first, and eventually allowing third parties to use those features, I'm ok with what they're doing. Some get abandoned long before they get that far, and I understand that, but there's now a short list of features that the pixel has that other phones may never get where those features seem to be pixel exclusive, which is where my support of Google on this, starts to waiver.

Tensor had proven itself to be a decent platform, and the features of tensor, which are above and beyond the base RISC instructions, should be made available in some way to other manufacturing partners. Like having a tensor specific processing core that can be paired with a different ARM CPU to provide similar functionality to the full tensor CPU.... Like a coprocessor. The AI benefits to the Google camera, et al, being made available to third parties.

Instead of going with the Microsoft model, offering first party devices, but continuing to support all features on all devices, they're trending more towards the Apple model, where you use our hardware, or get fucked. Which, I'm not a fan of.... Many industries are taking that page from Apple and honestly IMO, it's anti-consumer activity. John Deere comes to mind....

I don't think Google is too far gone in this respect, not yet, they can choose to open things up for third parties as time goes on.

Build quality, at least on the devices I've owned has been good. Not excellent but good. Few, if any issues, and support is generally good. I'm happy for the most part. I don't subscribe to the brand wars, and I'll happily jump ship if that changes. For now, I don't have significant cause for concern.

I'll continue with pixel for a while and see how it goes. I'm constantly evaluating my stance to see if there's sufficient reason to consider other options. I almost got to that point over the headphone jack, but everyone else seemingly followed suit, and once I found a workable solution, I didn't really care anymore. Bluntly, with the headphone issue, unless a device can charge, and allow the phone to charge, while you're actively using it, it's not a solution; having to stop listening/enjoying content while waiting for your pixel buds (or airpods, or whatever) to charge in their case.... that's not a replacement for a headphone jack, since you can enjoy content with a headphone jack indefinitely while charging your phone. So unless it can satisfy the original use case, it's not a good solution. I have the wired charge/listen dongle for any situation where bt isn't viable (like a high RF noise environment, or any time bt needs to be off, like a plane, though many allow bt to be on now), and the fiio for everything else. If I have to choose either headphones or charging, I'm going to find another way.

I have bt headphones that won't play and charge, but I almost always have either the fiio or dongle with a set of IEMs as a backup. I use my phone for entertainment often enough that this can be a deal breaker for me.

That's just me POV. I like the line, for now, and if things change, that may change. I don't have any negative feelings towards new features being pixel only while they're still being tested and proven, as long as they eventually end up in everyone's hands in whatever form that takes.

I've had my 4a 5g for 2 years now and have no issues with it. Uninstalled some of the G stuff I don't need, and with Greenify it lasts two full days with moderate usage. Would probably be even better with a custom ROM, but I go the other way and keep it stock android 11 with updates turned off. Rock stable with no frustrating unexpected changes, I went like 180 days without needing a reboot

Has a headphone jack and a decent camera, which are must-haves for me. I'm probably going to be keeping it for another 2-4 years like I did my last phone (LG G5) until it starts falling apart or becoming unreliable

Still using the 3A and it's still OK. I'm a fan of Pixel phones (used Nexus phones before that), and I usually use them until they stop working, then I buy the latest model. I think I still have a year with this one.

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I spent quite a while in the Nexus/Pixel line, mostly on the "a" series once they started with those, and I was always very happy with them. I didn't encounter any significant issues over the years, so I can't speak to any of the troubles others have had; if I hadn't decided to try a foldable when the Galaxy Fold 4 came out, I'd probably still be on the Pixel train.

• Stock Android missing so many apps because Google killed them for no reason

• Google gets to shove gapps directly into your throat making you forget what android used to be

• Partially responsible for ruining the android market and causing companies like HTC to drop out

• Partially responsible for getting rid of android version names

• Early models kinda sucked

Pretty much summed up all of my core issues already in your post lol.

Modern android sucks because of google

The camera in the 7 Pro was unmatched but the battery life is just shit in my opinion. Everything else worked fine, not the most powerful device though, didn't run games very well.

I absolutely loved the Nexus line, but I'm on my third Pixel and they've been mostly excellent aside from a couple of nitpicks. I had the 2XL, 4a5g & 6 Pro so far. I will likely get the Pixel 8 Pro after that's released. Aside from the name (why!?!?!!?), the 4a5g was just about perfect.

My 6 Pro has been mostly great, but a little sensitive to overheating in direct sunlight and it chews through battery on 5g. Hopefully the 8 improves on those two things. And has a flat screen, as is rumored.

I had Nexus and Pixel phones.and absolutely adored them through my Pixel 4a. Then one day, I was using my 4a, the screen turned off and never turned on again, ever. It just stopped working on its own suddenly, for no reason. Reached out to Google Support and had zero recourse because I had had it for a bit over a year. Now I'm never trusting Google devices again.

Bootloader unlocked, while persevering access to hardware security features by 3rd party operating systems like GrapheneOS.

They also provide 5 years of security updates for new devices.

Nothing else competes.

I have a P7P. I really like it, my only issue is the SoC being a little slow! But for most usage you don't really notice.

I've always been a Stock Android fanboy, so I loved the Pixel phones. However, for reasons, I got myself a Galaxy Fold 4 last year, which I fell in love with. I can't see myself going back to a regular phone now, and for me to get a Pixel Fold, Google would really have to improve Android's multitasking capabilities. On my Galaxy Fold for instance, I can have three tiled windows in a split-screen layout, or can have several floating windows of regular apps, which can be minimized into floating chatheads. With these floating windows, I can freely resize them, hide the header and even change their transparency levels. Which is great if you want to keep an eye out on some chat or Uber Eats or something whilst you are reading a book in full-screen. Having gotten used to these multitasking features, I can't see myself going back to stock Android, until these are implemented.

Great idea, meh execution

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My recent upgrade path was Pixel 2 -> OnePlus 7 Pro -> Pixel 7. Previously I used Nexus phones as well.

All of Google's phones seem to have at least one glaring issue. In the case of the Pixel 2, it was the skimpy RAM and low max brightness.

With the Pixel 7, it's the crappy fingerprint scanner, poor GPU/CPU performance, and surprisingly, the UI. I used to favor Google phones specifically because they had clean UIs with no bullshit, but holy moly, Google went off the deep end with Android 13. The wasted space everywhere is absurd. You can't even read text in the quick settings because they have such enormous empty borders on all sides. They literally use marquee scrolling, like it's a 1990s GeoCities page. I had to change my screen DIP settings in developer options to make it tolerable.

The nav bar is stupidly large. Even the gesture bar is stupidly large, sitting permanently at the bottom of my screen while doing absolutely nothing.

The performance is noticeably worse than my last phone. I was not expecting a speed demon, but I was certainly expecting an upgrade over a 3-year-old phone. Gaming performance is bad, and made even worse by the fact that Google only allows 90fps on specific hard-coded games, with no way for the user to override it. Games that run smoothly at 90fps on my old OnePlus 7 Pro stutter at 60fps on the Pixel 7.

Aside from that, it's a great phone. Battery life is fine. Screen brightness is good. GPS and 5G performance is good. I can still recommend it as a phone for casual use — you can't beat the price for what you get. But it's definitely not a phone for power users.

My next phone will likely not be a Pixel. It's been a while, so I might give Samsung another shot next time. If I catch a good sale on an S23 Ultra I might even upgrade this year.

I've had the original Pixel, the Pixel 4a 5G, and the Pixel 7a.

The only reason I ditched my 4a 5G was because my cell service seemed to be degrading (which was odd, because it was 5g).

Now that I have the 7a, I can honestly say I'm disappointed in its battery life. My 4a 5G could last 36 hours on a charge, even 3 years into ownership. My 7a seems to get down to 15% consistently by the time I get to bed each day.

I was SO happy with my OnePlus 5T but AT&T network changes forced my phone to be obsolete. Otherwise I'd still be rocking that phone. I currently have this ultra crappy Samsung Galaxy A32 that was given to me by AT&T as a consolation prize.

Now I'm torn between a Google Pixel or a newer OnePlus.

Love them!! I'm still on pixel 4a and been a fan since the nexus era and I have decided to make it my main flagship forever. unless something changed. the only company piquing my eye right now is the "nothing" company but not switching

The only Android phone I'll buy tbh.

I tried HTC and Samsung in the past and hated them. I started with the Nexus 5 and never looked back. I've had a few cheap Android phones through work and they have all been crap.

Not to say Pixles don't have flaws. They often have annoying bugs that Google seems to take their time fixing.

My OP3 was dying and I needed a new poo phone, I can't afford buying things whenever I want so that's extra incentive to hold on to my devices, so after 5 years of use (the OP3 was second hand) I finally got the opportunity to switch phones and I got the pixel 6a (second hand as well)

Honestly I love it, it's basically the same size and almost the same dimensions as my previous phone but with a bigger screen, the OS has some very cool and intuitive options here and there, the camera is better back and front, the battery is great for my use case, I appreciate having a new phone again that will still have decent software support.

And all of this for around 200€, the same price I got my OP3 5 years ago, I'm really glad I could find such a good phone for this price.

I used to mod a lot back in the day, installing custom roms, custom kernels, all kinds of apps, but that changed and I just use a DNS and ublock on Firefox, I'm not even planning to unlock the bootloader and root this one, I'm happy with stock, it has everything I need at this point in life.

I pre-ordered the first Pixel and loved it. I then had the Pixel 2xl and 3xl and absolutely loved them. I didn't like what I saw with the 4 and 5 and went to Samsung. I tried the 6a and 7xl as both had terrible battery life and call reception issues. Staying with Samsung and I am done it looks like with Pixel . I love my Samsung S23 Ultra.

I've been using Android phones for a decade now. My Pixel 6 is the best experience I've had with Android in those 10 years. I've had an OG Moto X, a Galaxy S9, a Pixel 3a, and now this 6. (I also had a brief stint with an iPhone in 2016)

The 6 and 3a have been the only ones that I've had without a manufacturer skin or carrier bloatware and it's been pretty great. The Pixel 6 is the only phone I've had matches that iPhone I had in terms of polish and reliability.

Curious what device are you using right now op?

Permanently Deleted

Recently upgraded to a Pixel Fold from Microsoft Surface Duo 2. There is no way I am ever going back to a single screen phone

I would very much like to own one because of the form factor and the ironic fact that they're one of the few phones that you can still run a proper custom rom and de-google.

Unfortunately the specs and battery life are not even in the ballpark of what I find to be acceptable. Pixels are a giant compromise.

I like the timely updates and I very much like the UI. Not just the Material You color scheme (which I initially thought was a useless gimmick but have come to really like) but the look in general. Everything is just so pleasantly designed. I know that people around here hate too much padding but I think that's what makes the Pixel UI look so good. On other phones I always have the feeling that the padding isn't right; for example, on many phones (especially Samsung) the text in the status bar isn't center-aligned vertically and it drives me nuts. Or the text is squeezed into the corners.

On top of that there are useful features like Call Screening or Live Transcribe. And the voice typing is phenomenal.

3rd pixel, and each one has had persistent problems. Not ready for primetime. Currently have the 6P and with the heat issues it has just been OK.

They still have yet to make a fully fleshed out product.

I had the original pixel XL then switch to samsung s21 and now im on a pixel 7 and I can say with out doubt the the pixel 7 is way more responsive and feels so much faster then any samsung phone I have ever used. Samsung puts a lot of spyware bloatware crap on there phones. if you hook a samsung up to adb and have a look at the list of apps that are spying on you its insane, all the apps listed in the settings on the phone are not all the apps installed. lots of hidden apps running in the background. Something that would piss me off was every update installed a bunch of apps i never wanted and had removed previously. I have recently installed grapheneos and its amazing and seem less, I could install it on my moms phone and it would not be a problem. works just like any other android phone except google play is locked in a cage and can only do what you allow it to. I have google play services installed but basically took all its permissions away, so that the camera app and the few other apps that look for it are not bothering me about it. google play services never connects to the internet on my phone.

I will never go back to a samsung phone, I love the stock android experience its simple and no fluff.

I can't speak about the hardware because I have never had one, but I can about the software because I am a custom ROM user and I come from MIUI, I won't say MIUI sucks, although it does in some aspects when I first got my first AOSP based ROM I was amazed with how fast it was, but it only got better for me because of the introduction of Monet icons and Material You since A12, since that moment I barely ever got back to MIUI.

For me AOSP is a true beauty and works pretty well, although it can be lacking features (which A14 seems aiming to "fix") I enjoy using it a lot, and if I ever get a Google Pixel I would feel at home no doubt about it.

Galaxy Nexus to Pixel 6a (current) user. I did not have a pixel 1 or 2, but have had the rest. That Nexus 5x hung on for a while, as it should, being one of the best phones of all time, helping me skip right into pixel 3.

Side note: Nexus 7 was the greatest tablet of all time.

Out of any android, I preferred the nexus (now pixel) for it's simplicity. It's the way android was meant to be. Every other OEM is just someone copying the smart kids homework and making up random bullshit to call it their own.

Custom ROMs are great though.

I had every Nexus except for the 5, and every Pixel except for the 5. I've had really good luck with them all. Only problem I had was after about a year the wireless charging stopped working on my Pixel 4 XL. I've handed down almost every single phone to either my parents or my kids after at least a year of use and they continue to last a few more years. I can't recall one ever dying. I swear by them.

I've owned various Pixels since the first one.

Pixel XL > Pixel 3XL > Pixel 6 Pro

One could say I've had 3 of the worst Pixels.

They would be right in a sense. But I've used each of these for about 2-3 years (The 6 Pro will be 2 soon).

Really like the user experience and the software but the hardware really starts to show their age after about a year and a half in. With slowdowns and stuttering

The 6 Pro is the only one I haven't had any problems with.

I love the cameras on all of them and I can only say good things about them. The unlimited storage of the Pixel 3 lasting only until recently was a bummer. But now I've been backing them up on my local server at home.

I've been happy with the Pixel 6 Pro, which is still going strong with good battery life and continuing software updates after almost two years. Much nicer UI than the Samsungs I have had. The only thing I don't like is that it's Google spying on my entire life.

Made the switch from a series of galaxies to the 6 pro. And boy do I regret it. It's given me nothing but problems. Most recently the backlight partially failed and low light settings cause it to flash or be completely unreadable at night. I'll be going back to Galaxy asap

Typing this on my CalyxOS pixel 3. I like this phone just fine, camera works great, apps I don't trust get installed in my "work" profile which I just got a toggle on and all those apps are forcibly paused. Battery life is basically all day based on how much I turn the screen on.

Life's good when your phone works the way you want without advertising at you, and operates reliably.

They’re awesome! But kinda unusable when you’re outside and connected to mobile data. Phone heats up quicker than usual, battery doesn’t last as long. I’m on a Pixel 6A, for context.

Got a Pixel 6. Still loving the design, software and (reasonably) quick updates.

If they had Samsung's hardware reliability and breadth of customization, they'd be perfect.

Initially i bought nexus/pixel phones for clean android experience and no bloat.

Staying with pixel mainly for camera quality and free storage on Google Photos.

Its not ideal, but I'm used to it. They never try to do something too gimmicky and it feels like phone made by Google will work best with the os made by google so my experience will be most consistent, but i haven't tried other phones in a while.

If not nothing i would choose pixel and install lineage os on it

I've had Google phones since the Nexus line and all the odd numbered Pixels to include the 7 Pro. My wife has used the Samsung Note (I forget which versions) and is using the Samsung Fold now. I definitely like the Pixel line better than the Samsung phones she's used primarily because of the monthly updates and a few features like call screening (you can even hear the person on the line while the Google message is playing to hear what they may be saying before you pick up or send them to VM) and call holding (the phone will monitor the call when I'm on hold and alert me when a person gets on the line.). The Pixel camera is pretty good, but I have to admit I like the Samsung Fold camera a little better.

I've had a positive experience overall. I have had the Pixel 2 and now 5 on Google Fi. It's nice to have a phone that is close to stock Android. My bone to pick until the Pixel 6 was a short support life at just three years. Now it has security updates until five years, which is less than I would like but much more acceptable. When my phone's security support life ends in October, I am planning on a new Pixel. I'll still take a look at my other options, though.

Overall, I've been very impressed with the camera, including some very challenging lighting scenes. I have a few photos up on Wikipedia that are just me popping out my cell phone and taking a well framed shot.

Dont care for them. My Fairphone is made from fair components and 100% ungoogled.

been a pixel user since they were called nexus. about as minimal bloat as you can get without going FOSS.

currently still on a 3a as it still gets the job done. I use my old nexus6 with FOSS as a basic handheld around the house. smart thermostat, sprinkler controller, throw YouTube up on the TV, etc.

I love Pixels, they're easily my favorite option. I'm currently on a Pixel Fold (yes I'm an idiot, but that's beside the point), and I also enjoy my Pixel Watch and Buds Pro and A series.

I carried an iPhone for work for 3 years and just don't care for iOS in a personal daily carry capacity. It's fine for a work phone though, but I also enjoy the way that Android handles work profiles. I do own an iPad though, and that's fine. I would consider replacing it with a Pixel tablet someday when it's time though, especially if there's a 120hz display option by then.

I'm not a big fan of Samsung's design choices or bloatware tendencies. The kitchen sink approach isn't for me when the majority of it is stuff that I won't use, and it feels sloppy to me switching between apps and one uses Samsung's design language, and then the other uses Material You. I like the consistency you get on a Pixel.

I use my camera a ton, so Pixel is an obvious choice there. Software features like call screening are indispensable for me too. I have been seeing daily spam calls again recently, and watching my phone silently discard them is always enjoyable. I also enjoy getting updates as soon as they are released, which is something that always bothered me with other manufacturers. I have made quite a few people happy by recommending the A-series to them. Wonderful budget-midrange value options.

Where would I go if Pixel went away? Tough question. The Nothing phone seems alright, I could see that working. The Zenphone 10 looks nice as well. I think I would explore one of those options before considering Samsung or Apple again.

Tbh stop buying phones if you dont really need it. My Redmi phone hasn't given me a signal issue in the past 6 years. Still going strong.

They are awesome because you can get graphene or calyx on them!

The number one thing for me with a phone is specs, and the pixel phones just don’t have the top tier benchmarks so I’ll never even consider them. They’re not competing heavily enough with Samsung and Apple. Look at their pixel watch and how absolute trash that thing is (huge bezel, too small screen, bad battery life, bad fitness integration). I’ve said this to death here too btw: I hate that their software is so flat looking.

I feel like I have no other option. iPhones are better in principle, but the interface is awful. No back button alone is already a complete deal breaker for me. Samsung is bloatware, OnePlus is foreign spyware on top of Google's spyware.

My last 3 phones have been a Pixel 2 XL, a Samsung Note Ultra, and a Pixel 7. I may just be lucky, but I have never had a single problem with any of my Pixel/Nexus phones.

I decided to try the Note for the s pen a few years ago and found it to be a much, much worse experience. Software on the Pixel is head and shoulders above all of Samsung's bloatware, and the Note's screen died for no reason after a year and a half. Meanwhile, the Pixel 2 XL is still going strong (I had to use it for a bit after the Note died), and the Pixel 7 is a great phone.

calyx os

A family member has one, nobody else does. Something we all notice is that a lot of our text messages fail to deliver to that one specific family member. Are they unreliable for texting?

Theres gcam so 0 reasons to buy

Downvotes lol thanks for keeping competition alive pixel pals 😜😜😜

I like pixel from a price to hardware performance ratio, but fuck the software side. Need a custom launcher coz the official one forces google calender to cover a whole line in your homescreen, and google search takes up a whole line on EVERY PAGE ON YOUR APPS HOME (why the bloody hell do i need this google search icon? It opens up some weird browser that is even worse than chrome). A million and one google product "suggestions" are being thrown at you for the first month of usage, official music app is youtube music, so literally everytime you open ot you need to tell it "yes im sure i want to use my offline music and not subscribe to youtube music", the customizable shortcuts are basically "this can either activate google assistent or do nothing", the worst 3 button navigation bar i have ever seen - You cant even swap the back button from left to right and jt hides itself at random occasions, evetytime you open your SMS you need to tell it you dont want to use google's weird internet based sms feature (yes, it never stops suggesting it until you agree, 6 months already). The automatic adjustable brightness is terrible and already blinded me randomly when i tried to browse the internet before going to bed, the automatic screen wqkeup is junky at best, it has a weird feature that every time you.lay your phone over the screen it locks with no way to turn that off. Call recording apps barely work, closing all open apps it purposely innefficient (you have to scroll all the way left instead of it being immediatly available), the permission option of "ask every time" is broken because every third time it stops asking you to enable it and you have to enable the permission constantly and later remove it again.

Fuck google's OSes.