PIXEL PERFECT

It’s taken a while, but Google have now gone back to back with good reviews on the hardware.

Google pares down the Pixel 6 to perfection… The Pixel 6a is a flagship-class device for $449, and that’s hard to beat.

Someone really likes this design language.

Looking back at the reviews on arstechnica at the time I probably disagreed hugely with the focus and tone, but it’s obvious now that here’s an angry reviewer that just doesn’t think Google aren’t producing the kind of hardware they are looking for.

Let’s start with the Pixel 3 XL review.

Google software deserves better than this hardware… The best camera ever, really great performance, and dated, greasy hardware.

This is a phone I owned and I couldn’t have disagreed more at the time, and still do. The hardware was possibly the best thing about this phone. It was big. But for me, that was great. And it felt lovely. The glass back, the smooth rounded edges and the two tone which disappeared in the next two generations but revived in the 6. The notch got some stick, but it was really no different to the iPhone XR and it disappeared from view once you used the phone. Much like the Mac notch apparently does. Though you won’t hear the Apple mouthpieces spouting nonsense loudly about the ridiculousness of a laptop screen with a notch.

The Pixel 4 review back in 2019 fared worse.

Overpriced, uncompetitive, and out of touch… It’s the fourth generation now, yet we’ve got to ask—what’s the point of the Pixel line?

My wife owned this phone up until very recently. In hardware terms, the thing that let this phone down was the battery. Long term battery health did not age well though it lasted the 2 years that the majority of UK contracts are. I thought it looked good, and it was a great size for her and stood the test of time. Google also has a decent trade in value for this phone.

The next generation, the Pixel 5, didn’t fare much better.

Google spends its bill-of-materials budget unwisely… Wasting money on things like mmWave means the Pixel 5 offers little over the Pixel 4a.

A phone I currently own. This is great little phone. It’s fast, good screen, good battery life. It works for me and like all those that have gone before, takes great pictures. But I will be upgrading to the Pixel 7 Pro once that is released.

Pixel 6 is where it started coming together.

Google Hardware finally lives up to its potential… Google finally built a great flagship smartphone.

Both my son and wife now own a Pixel 6. It’s a big phone. It is distinctive and you can see how the previous Pixels have moved in various ways, sometimes forwards, sometimes sideways to get to this point.
It’s good to hear Google getting good press from their hardware. Particularly from a site that is normally so critical. Long may it continue.