Google Pixel 6 Pro review

3 November 2021


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As for the camera performance.. During the day, it's better than Pixel 5 and even keeps up with the Snapdragon variant of S21 Ultra really well in terms of detail rendition, which is a good sign. Sharpening is a bit strong (though to be fair, this is my criticism for most phone cameras), but the main problem I have with Pixel 6 Pro's camera is the way it handles the noise - the noise reduction algorithms seem to treat shadows and areas with darker colours (like browns and deep greens) more harshly in general, and leave a lot of weird patchy artifacts as a result.

I found the zoom performance also pretty lackluster. Why even bother using a Tetracell sensor if you're just going to stretch out an image taken at the binned resolution? Sure, Google's approach is still better than *just* upscaling and interpolating because of super res stacking, but some other companies have already combined a similar technique to Quad Bayer/Tetracell's full resolution output to yield significantly better sharpness. This is especially baffling when there's literally a GCam port for Mi 10 Ultra that does exactly that (combine frames in 48MP mode) and the results are absolutely commendable. The same goes for low light shooting, it's not bad by any means but definitely could've been better (less fuzziness, shorter shooting duration etc) than this, in some scenes Pixel 5 is very close and this shouldn't be happening considering the massive light intake advantage that 6 Pro has.

DxOMark has put up some samples from Pixel 6 Pro on their website along with iPhone 13 Pro and P50 Pro, and I prefer P50 Pro's shots in all but one scene, which is disappointing given that P50 Pro is quite handicapped in terms of pure hardware specs. Google really needs to develop a better way to post-process the images, as their current way of doing it.. just doesn't feel right.

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    • Lancewood
    • bJb
    • 04 Nov 2021

    And how many units Google expect to sell? 10mil? 20mil? LOL

      AnonD-492870, 04 Nov 2021It is like anything in this world. Far from perfect. Even i... more+1000 google reward points!

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • m62
        • 04 Nov 2021

        I might have cared if they brought a headphone jack back. They didn't, so I'll stick to the Zenfone 8, despite the scary ramdump issue a few people are experiencing. To bad, but they forgot that Pixels should really be a good allrounder, which includes hasslefree audio

          • H
          • Haplo
          • MIn
          • 04 Nov 2021

          rizki1, 04 Nov 2021worse than I thought before the review.. dark screen only 8... moreWho cares about performance benchmarks if the software is great and phone has better responsiveness then any android competition?
          And battery life - according to many reviews it should improve with time after the first couple of days. Some are claiming its on par with S21 Ultra - or maybe a little worse.
          Camera... that really sets it apart. Sure for landscapes, architecture other flagships might occasionally be better. Also for selfies. But if you actually make photos of humans with the rear cameras, I think only iphone 13 max comes close (plus maybe some chinese phones with extremely limited availability). Same deal with low-light photography (unless you're very lucky and could get your hands on a Mi 11 Ultra).

            A GOD, 04 Nov 2021800nits is beyond anything else the SoC is nr2 after SD bu... moreM1? What are you smoking bro?

              • T
              • Teampixel
              • Nue
              • 04 Nov 2021

              Anonymous, 04 Nov 2021If I may complain on the otherwise accurate review of the P... moreI use the 6 pro. It's really awesome and the battery lasts over a day for me. Regular usage (not a gamer). It's really fluid and smooth. Reviews will highlight more of the nitpicking than anything else. Not trying to be biased but coming from pixel 5 and 4, this one is really a stunner.

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                • AnonD-492870
                • 4Ib
                • 04 Nov 2021

                Nick Tegrataker, 04 Nov 2021So only ok-ish battery life despite using the custom SoC, v... moreIt is like anything in this world. Far from perfect. Even if it had diamond coated glass and titanium frame someone would find something wrong or mediocre about it...just be grateful they don't want you to sell your car to get one...

                  So only ok-ish battery life despite using the custom SoC, very middling performance and severe thermal throttling, and the camera that fails to distinguish itself from those on other phones.. A good phone for sure, but far from good *enough* in the world where Samsung, BBK, Apple and Xiaomi exist.

                    • s
                    • sumdumguy
                    • m51
                    • 04 Nov 2021

                    Are aptX headphones supported? Also, how is audio, especially speech, when shooting with rear camera?

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • AJq
                      • 04 Nov 2021

                      If I may complain on the otherwise accurate review of the Pixel 6 pro :
                      -It misses the charging time, I know it doesn't have it in the box but it seems the Pixel 6 pro it also charger very slowly, I'm not talking about the peak power, it seems that to 100% it takes almost 2h.
                      -A lot of words are spent on raw performances ,number, thermals and the exclusive features but not much on how the OS behaves on P6, like, is it really fluid , any lags or hiccups ?

                        January 25th is the delivery date for mines. Better be worth the wait lol

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • TL%
                          • 04 Nov 2021

                          This is actually a good phone. Good job, Google.

                            • A
                            • A GOD
                            • mEA
                            • 04 Nov 2021

                            rizki1, 04 Nov 2021worse than I thought before the review.. dark screen only 8... more800nits is beyond anything else
                            the SoC is nr2 after SD but better than Apples A15 and M1

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • 8Kf
                              • 04 Nov 2021

                              Anonymous, 04 Nov 2021"We have to admit that portraits don't look as go... more99% of devices with periscope have PDAF for it, not dual pixel.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • KgZ
                                • 04 Nov 2021

                                AnonD-994853, 04 Nov 2021U really think that an Samsung made chip can be powrr effic... moreWhat you don't seem to understand is that all Samsung and TSMC is produce the chips what matters is the how Qualcomm, Mediatek and Samsung Exynos engineer their architectures.

                                  • J
                                  • Josh
                                  • fjU
                                  • 04 Nov 2021

                                  The Pixel 6 pro resembles my S10+ from the front, google definitely took inspiration from it.

                                    Puppy , 03 Nov 202165 celsius CPU with AC on? This is worse than SD810 phone... moreWhat do you expect, it's using 2z A78 x1 cores.

                                      Anonymous, 03 Nov 2021I think battery life is the hardest to fix with software up... moreS888 uses 12watt, that's a very powerful CPU,

                                        Anonymous, 04 Nov 20213 years of updates has never been exclusive to Google phone... moreThose final update caused lags stuttering battery drain
                                        Don't fix something which isn't broken

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