Nexus 6p vs pixel phones

[LeoRex]

Those may not be be a big deal to you but lack of dual speakers and smaller screen size are frequently mentioned criticisms in these comparison threads and I completely agree with them.

To each, their own of course... and counter to that, the 6P received its fair share of criticism from people who would have preferred the phone in a slightly smaller package. Everyone needs different stuff... and the best phone for you may not be the best phone and vice versa. So I try my best to just look at the situation in as objective a manner as possible.

 

[syspry]

I love my 6P, but I would upgrade to the Pixel XL in a second if it wasn't for the price. I am one of many, many 6P owners who has had non-stop bluetooth issues with this phone (and yes, I have tried everything including a factory reset). Some days I want to throw it out the car window (after it loses its connection, again), despite being excellent in most other respects. Also the battery life has been just ok, but has already degraded materially since I got it a year ago.

That's definitely one criticism I've had with a few Android phones actually. My daily drivers have been Android for years now but someone is always buying the latest iPhone in our home so I tinker with them quite often and I've always found it irksome that their cellular reception has always been quite a bit better than mine. One of these days I'm going to have to try and find out from some breakdown site if Apple uses better radio hardware for cellular, WiFi, BT etc

 

[Johnnyboy5]

As luck would have it, I needed to go to a Best Buy today, and I got to hold and play with the Pixels (both sizes) for a bit. I honestly think its a beautiful piece of hardware with a very premium feel. Also, it seemed lightning fast (limited connectivity in the store though) and the camera was fantastic. I came away so impressed that I came home and went onto the Pixel forum. Lo and behold, one of the most active threads is a bluetooth issues thread. Honestly can't believe Google can produce such an otherwise gorgeous phone, but can't get the bluetooth to work with my cars. That is definitiely a deal breaker for me, as I'm in a hands free jurisdiction. Really too bad!

 

[neo905]

As luck would have it, I needed to go to a Best Buy today, and I got to hold and play with the Pixels (both sizes) for a bit. I honestly think its a beautiful piece of hardware with a very premium feel. Also, it seemed lightning fast (limited connectivity in the store though) and the camera was fantastic. I came away so impressed that I came home and went onto the Pixel forum. Lo and behold, one of the most active threads is a bluetooth issues thread. Honestly can't believe Google can produce such an otherwise gorgeous phone, but can't get the bluetooth to work with my cars. That is definitiely a deal breaker for me, as I'm in a hands free jurisdiction. Really too bad!

I have a buddy who only buys iPhones now. He has a 6 right now. Before that he had an Android phone that he got rid of because it never connected properly with his BMW over Bluetooth. Lo and behold he doesn't want the iPhone 7 because apparently it has the same issue. I guess I have been lucky with my 6P. I have never had Bluetooth issues for any car or device I wanted to connect to. It seems hit and miss with Google though. Apparently iPhone too.

 

[jam4775]

OK so I have read all about the pixel phones and have determined that there's one difference that's substantial enough for me At least . The 6p has dual first speakers which sound amazing , and the pixel phones just have 1 singleton speaker just like every other phone out there. That sucks!

While I do really like the dual front facing speakers on the 6P... I do also think they are a little on the quiet side, I expected them to be much louder. Far to often I have to have the volume cranked all the way to hear something like watching something on Netflix or youtube. If the room is quite I can leave it down a couple notches but if there's any background noise at all I have to have it maxed out. Even with pretty good hearing that is my experience.

There's one thing to keep in mind about the Pixel speaker... the Pixel phones where also designed to work with the Daydream View headset... how well would front facing speakers work when the phone is sitting inside the Daydream headset? Regardless though, it would have been nice to at lease to see stereo speakers on the bottom.

 

[eric002]

While I do really like the dual front facing speakers on the 6P... I do also think they are a little on the quiet side, I expected them to be much louder. Far to often I have to have the volume cranked all the way to hear something like watching something on Netflix or youtube. If the room is quite I can leave it down a couple notches but if there's any background noise at all I have to have it maxed out. Even with pretty good hearing that is my experience.

There's one thing to keep in mind about the Pixel speaker... the Pixel phones where also designed to work with the Daydream View headset... how well would front facing speakers work when the phone is sitting inside the Daydream headset? Regardless though, it would have been nice to at lease to see stereo speakers on the bottom.

All I know is that my dual stereo speakers are amazing for music. Plain and simple. I don't own a separate Bluetooth speaker for music and multimedia, and it is awesome to listen to honestly.

 

[DJ Sandman]

FWIW - the Pixel XL got smoked by the iPhone 7, speed-wise. Just search it on YouTube.

Price-wise, Google and the Pixel line failed. Luckily, my 6p from last year is still working but if I had to get a new phone today, I would consider the cheaper Moto Z Play. It does the job and prolly has the best battery life of all smartphones right now! It's around $400 as a Verizon exclusive and $450 unlocked through Motorola...

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=iRg_BybOnqc

 

[Johnnyboy5]

FWIW - the Pixel XL got smoked by the iPhone 7, speed-wise. Just search it on YouTube.

Price-wise, Google and the Pixel line failed. Luckily, my 6p from last year is still working but if I had to get a new phone today, I would consider the cheaper Moto Z Play. It does the job and prolly has the best battery life of all smartphones right now! It's around $400 as a Verizon exclusive and $450 unlocked through Motorola...

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=iRg_BybOnqc

Those tests don't impress me, as I focus on my real world use. The Pixel was lightning fast (and smooth) when I played with it, and honestly, double the speed of light is irrelevant to me in everyday use. Having said that, you may still be right that the Moto Z Play may be the smarter choice at the moment.

 

[LeoRex]

FWIW - the Pixel XL got smoked by the iPhone 7, speed-wise. Just search it on YouTube.

Those 'speed tests' that are all the rage are a farce.. there is are zero real world applications to them, unless you are the type to rapidly launch 10 apps then cycle back through them constantly. No one does that. Go read the user reviews... nearly every single one praises the Pixel's speed and responsiveness up and down and that there isn't a single Android phone that can match it, some even include the Iphone 7 in that as well.

Look, Pixel's a great phone, better than the 6P. But that doesn't mean that the 6P's a piece of junk. I have one, and I plan to keep it, but I am not going to dump on the Pixel to help me justify that decision.

 

[Dconn1975]

Those 'speed tests' that are all the rage are a farce.. there is are zero real world applications to them, unless you are the type to rapidly launch 10 apps then cycle back through them constantly. No one does that. Go read the user reviews... nearly every single one praises the Pixel's speed and responsiveness up and down and that there isn't a single Android phone that can match it, some even include the Iphone 7 in that as well.

Look, Pixel's a great phone, better than the 6P. But that doesn't mean that the 6P's a piece of junk. I have one, and I plan to keep it, but I am not going to dump on the Pixel to help me justify that decision.

I'd like to give the smaller pixel a try and replace my Sony Xperia with it. Keep the 6p as my larger phone.

 

[syspry]

Those 'speed tests' that are all the rage are a farce.. there is are zero real world applications to them, unless you are the type to rapidly launch 10 apps then cycle back through them constantly. No one does that. Go read the user reviews... nearly every single one praises the Pixel's speed and responsiveness up and down and that there isn't a single Android phone that can match it, some even include the Iphone 7 in that as well.

Look, Pixel's a great phone, better than the 6P. But that doesn't mean that the 6P's a piece of junk. I have one, and I plan to keep it, but I am not going to dump on the Pixel to help me justify that decision.

Better how?

 

[LeoRex]

Better how?

Faster, more efficient, supports newer technologies coming with 7.1, etc... Again, it's a year newer with the improvements that come with advancement. But that doesn't take away from the 6P... which is still an excellent phone. It was great the day before the Pixel released, it's still great a day after.

 

[ansextra]

FWIW - the Pixel XL got smoked by the iPhone 7, speed-wise. Just search it on YouTube.

Price-wise, Google and the Pixel line failed. Luckily, my 6p from last year is still working but if I had to get a new phone today, I would consider the cheaper Moto Z Play. It does the job and prolly has the best battery life of all smartphones right now! It's around $400 as a Verizon exclusive and $450 unlocked through Motorola...

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=iRg_BybOnqc

At this point I would never purchase a phone limited to one carrier. I switched to Project Fi a while back and have been extremely happy. Fi capability is only on Nexus or Pixel so that's the way I'm staying. Dropping a major carrier was as big decision for me but it works as I had hoped.

 

[GSDer]

At this point I would never purchase a phone limited to one carrier. I switched to Project Fi

It's better to purchase phone service limited to one (now two) phones?

 

[ansextra]

It's better to purchase phone service limited to one (now two) phones?

Absolutely if the service fits your needs and is much less expensive in my opinion. I can use my Nexus on any other service if I decide to switch.

 

[bespinct]

I have both the 6P and the Pixel in my house. Doing the same actions side by side, I do not see a huge speed difference in many uses. There were some actions that were a slower to respond on the 6P, but not necessarily noticeable unless looking at them side by side. I've also found OK Google to be responded to more quickly from the Pixel. However, for me, the biggest performance improvement is not in typical speed metrics, but in fluidity of the interface. I'd try to compare them, but it's something that has to be experienced.

I'm also liking the smaller screen, I don't notice the change in Pixel density at all.

Speakers are a concern for some. The way I naturally hold my phone in one hand has my pinky cover the speaker on the Pixel when holding in portrait. Not a typical use case for me, but I could see others having a problem.

 

[MDMcAtee]

As much as some love the new pixels, I am still blown away by the 6p.

I'm running with the beta on Nova and have almost everything that the pixels have and it looks like what I want it to.

The size of the phone is good so I don't want a smaller version of it, the front facing speakers are great, being unlocked and getting fast updates is a huge part of it too.

My issue is why change the design to partially mimic Apple or Samsung? The glass portion on the back is just stupid and completely useless and is a deterrent for going without a case if a person wants to.

Even though I know Google will never put a SD card back in since they are pushing everything to the cloud, they actually need to follow Samsung on this and bring it back..

For me, finding a phone to replace the 6p with all of it's strengths is going to be very difficult because the choices are few.

5 things added, 1 removed, and never add 1 thing to the pixels would change this and I don't think that I am alone...

1..add a SD card
2..add front facing speakers
3..add the IR blaster
4..add a removable battery
5..ADD THE DAMN FM RADIO

Remove the glass back

Never add a curved screen

Someone will want waterproofing but waterproofing screws up the sound from the speakers too much so water resistant is OK by me.

Sure I know my list stands a snowballs chance in hades of happening with Google.. and that's a real shame because if they actually did this and keep it in a body that wasn't prone to scratches and breaking easily people would buy them out..

I know that my 6p doesn't have all of these things, and neither does the pixels but until I can get these in 1 package I'm not going to even consider buying another phone from anyone.. I'm tired of having to settle for something that I have to make tradeoffs on.. I'm not holding my breath either because I know the manufacturers aren't willing to chance folks holding on to 1 phone and not buying a new phone every year..

I don't have any negatives about my 6p for the way it works and am happy with it's performance, but there are these things that I want in my next phone..

 

[bespinct]

Sure I know my list stands a snowballs chance in hades of happening with Google.. and that's a real shame because if they actually did this and keep it in a body that wasn't prone to scratches and breaking easily people would buy them out..

They are being sold out...

I'm tired of having to settle for something that I have to make tradeoffs on..

That's why we have choices. Hopefully, a company out there can build your "No Tradeoff" phone without introducing another tradeoff not already considered.

 

[MDMcAtee]

They are being sold out...



That's why we have choices. Hopefully, a company out there can build your "No Tradeoff" phone without introducing another tradeoff not already considered.

6months see how many are still selling.. These phones are new and with the note 7 fiasco is why they are doing so well.

I honestly don't believe that I will ever be able to get all the things that I really want. Not with planned obsolescence.

As long as my 6p functions properly, I'll be holding out for a device that has what I want on it.

There's nothing compelling enough about this year's pixels or anything else for me.. It's just not.. I used to switch phones often, but over the years I have come up with a list of things that I really want my phone to do, I mean if I am willing to pay 1k for a phone I see no reason to have to keep switching to find a all in 1 solution..

I'll give it till next year at this time and see what is offered.. Perhaps some oem will actually build one.