Google has ruined their Pixel line, but the alternatives also suck.

I've owned nearly every Nexus and Pixel phone (and tablet) Google has made, so I feel extra qualified to make this post.

I'm going to go over a brief history so that it's easier to understand why the Pixel line is "ruined".

Nexus Era

Google launched their Nexus line as a way for developers to get access to cheap "pure" Android phones with unlockable bootloaders and no bloat, and quickly the Nexus line became popular outside of the developer community for that reason.

Nexus 4

I purchased the Nexus 4 16GB on day 1 in 2012 for $298.36. When I received the phone, I quickly fell in love, as it was a SUPER cheap Android phone that ran the latest version of Android, didn't have any bloat, and performed great.

The Nexus 4 was definitely not fault free, as it had plenty of quirks and downsides. Notably the cameras were quite trash. Photos were okay, but definitely behind the iPhone 5 at the time, and videos were straight up garbage. Not only when it came to bitrate, but also mic quality. But these were things we forgave the Nexus 4 for as it was cheap, bloat free, and the OS ran really well compared to other Android phones at the time (cough Samsung with TouchWiz cough).

Nexus 5

Then 2013 came around, Google released the Nexus 5, and just like the previous year, I purchased the 32GB model on day 1 for $467.86.

Google put a bit more effort into the Nexus 5, gave it even better specs, including doubling the base storage amount. Overall it was a great upgrade from the Nexus 4 in every aspect, and still came in at an affordable competitive price.

Like the Nexus 4, the Nexus 5 had it's quirks and downsides, but was easily forgivable because of the price tag and pure Android experience. My main complaint was still the photo/video quality, and the mic quality during video recording being garbage.

A year and a half later my Nexus 5 died when the screen turned static. Looking online now, it seems like it was a semi-common issue with the Nexus 5, and the issue was either a faulty display cable or the "GPU" part of the SoC dying.

Nexus 6

Released in 2014 was the Nexus 6. I never owned a Nexus 6 as I was in a position where I couldn't order it online from the Google Store, and no local stores carried it. With my Nexus 5 dead, I had to grab whatever I could, and that was an LG G3.

From what I've heard, the Nexus 6 was well received. It was again a pretty large upgrade from the Nexus 5, increasing the display resolution, going AMOLED, and doubling the base storage once again from 16GB to 32GB. The only big negative at the time was the price tag, coming in at $863.36.

Nexus 5X / Nexus 6P

2015 was a huge year for Google with the Nexus 5X and 6P. This was the first time they released two phones at the same time, which were essentially the "non-pro" and "pro" versions.

Google was finally starting to make a name for themselves with their Nexus phones. More people started buying them and more stores started stocking them. Google went all out with the cameras on these phones, beating out every other phone on the market, including iPhone.

The price definitely reflected this, as I paid $846.37 for my Nexus 6P 64GB model on day 1. The Nexus 5X and 6P were way better received than the 6, as they were an upgrade in most ways, but also cheaper.

While the cameras were ranking #1 worldwide, the video side of things still sucked, and Google still couldn't get the mics right. While they did make the mics a bit better through updates, at the end of the day they still weren't great, and for $846.37, there's really no excuse. Also with this being their 7th attempt at making phones, it's quite pathetic.

That wasn't the worst part, though..

The Nightmare

Despite great initial reviews of the Nexus 5X and 6P, Google had a problem with the Nexus line. See, Google doesn't actually make the phones. All of the Nexus phones up to this point were made by other OEMs and contracted by Google.

• Nexus One was manufactured by HTC
• Nexus S was manufactured by Samsung
• Galaxy Nexus was manufactured by Samsung
• Nexus 4 was manufactured by LG
• Nexus 5 was manufactured by LG
• Nexus 6 was manufactured by Motorola
• Nexus 5X was manufactured by LG
• Nexus 6P was manufactured by Huawei

Google tells these companies what kind of phone they want, these companies make them, and Google creates the ROM for it along with the support.

The problem is that a lot of these companies have their own issues with their own phones, which trickled down into the Nexus phones as well, and LG + Huawei were known for some issues, which made the Nexus 5X and 6P one of the worst years for Google.

LG was (RIP LG mobile department, you aren't missed) known for bootlooping, and bootlooping the Nexus 5X did. The bootlooping issues were so bad that it turned into a large lawsuit where LG extended the warranty to 30 months and repaired the issue for free. The downside was that the replacement phones also bootlooped, too, as it was a manufacturing defect.

The Nexus 6P was also no stranger to issues. Along with a few bootlooping issues, the Nexus 6P had a widespread battery issue where they would suddenly drop to 0%, causing the phone to turn off, even if you still had plenty of battery left. This caused another lawsuit.

Clearly issues like this are never good no matter how much someone pays, but given the fact this was one of the most expensive Nexus phones ever made, and the Nexus brand was finally getting recognition which resulted in more sales, people were clearly pissed.

Google's amazing year turned into a nightmare.

Pixel Snapdragon Era

It's now 2016, after the nightmare that was the Nexus 5X/6P, Google fired up their cameras, started a #MadeByGoogle event, and announced the Nex..il.. Pixel? The Google Pixel?

Google Pixel

New year, new time to drop the Nexus name and rebrand to Pixel.

Google announced the Pixel and Pixel XL. Sticking with the theme of releasing two phones per year like last year, the "XL" was a larger phone, which also had more premium features. It essentially meant the "pro" model.

The Google Pixel was met with extreme backlash. Mostly because it looked worse than the Nexus 5X/6P, but also because it cost a LOT of money. I paid $1,185.37 for my base model 32GB Pixel XL. Yup. You read that correctly. I paid $339 MORE for my Pixel XL but got only half the storage of my Nexus 6P.

Overall the Pixel XL was a sidegrade over the previous phones, with a hefty price tag.

Personally I didn't have any issues with the Pixel XL other than it feeling overpriced. Photos were once again king, beating out all other manufacturers, and video quality was below average. Mic quality was okay, but not amazing.

Pixel 2

Hold onto your shorts, because in 2017 I purchased the Pixel 2 XL 64GB for $1,309.67.

Great. 2 years later I finally have the same amount of storage I did on my Nexus 6P, and it only cost me $463.30 extra!

As you can see, Google is trying to enter the premium smart phone market, and overall I would say they are doing a decent job at it. Their competitors like Samsung and LG are also creating premium phones, but still fall flat when it comes to support and updates.

Just like what made the Nexus line so special, the Pixel line continues it. Fast updates, no bloat, and fully unlocked phones straight from the OEM.

Outside of a few issues with the Pixel 2 XL P-OLED display being worse than the Pixel 2 (non-XL) AMOLED display, overall I had no issues with the phone. Still the best photo camera in a phone, fast, and premium specs.

Pixel 3

I paid $1,152.60 for the Pixel 3 XL 64GB in 2018, but that's only because I had a discount. The price without a discount would've been $1,275.77.

Did you notice that? The price was LESS than the previous year. Things were looking up! Apple decided to release a phone with this thing called a notch, and of course every other manufacturer had to copy it. While the notch didn't bother me, as it technically does offer more screen real estate, a lot of people online hated it.

The Pixel 3 XL was the first Pixel with dual selfie cameras, and wow, they were GOOD. Still some of the best selfie cameras to date.

My experience with the 3 XL okay. It was essentially a slightly upgraded Pixel 2 XL that was slightly cheaper. The 3 XL was released with 4GB of RAM, which is the same amount of RAM all of the previous Pixel phones had, but it wasn't enough in 2018.

The lack of RAM, mixed with the changes in Android, and technology changes developers were implementing into their apps, the Pixel 3 XL was horrible with RAM management. If you were listening to Spotify while using Google Maps and a notification came in, there was a high chance Spotify or Google Maps would get killed. If you attempted to open any other app, there was a guarantee another app would be killed.

This made road tripping in general extremely difficult. I took a couple road trips that year, totalling over 8,000KM, and I wanted to pull my hair out. Nothing worse than being in a different country and maps + music is too much for your $1,275.77 phone to handle.

The cameras were still the best in a smartphone. Video quality was still average but mic quality was finally decent. Overall a decent phone with horrible RAM issues.

Pixel 4

This is where it gets fun. I bought my Pixel 4 XL 128GB on launch day in 2017 for $1,422.67.

Google learned from their RAM issue on the Pixel 3 series, and gave the 4 series 6GB of RAM. This fixed all of my issues, as I could finally do multiple "intensive" tasks on my phone without apps being killed.

I honestly don't have anything negative to say about the 4 XL. It was fast, the specs were great, the cameras were still the best in a phone, the face unlock was incredible, and it came in a super nice looking orange colour!

Face unlock was incredible. It was a proper face unlock, like the iPhone, with an array of sensors that allowed it to take a full 3D model of your face, and work in any lighting conditions, including the pitch dark.

The Pixel 4 XL also had an awesome technology called Motion Sense. This allowed for some really neat features that I've never seen on a phone since. One of the features was for your phone to be able to sense when you're nearby. If you were nearby, and you got a notification, your phone screen would light up like normal. If you weren't nearby, it would know, and NOT light up your phone screen, to allow your phone to save battery. This allowed for other cool tricks, like playing your alarm quieter. If it detected you were nearby, it wouldn't blast your alarm at full volume, as it knew you were near and could hear it. If it detected you weren't nearby, it would play the alarm at full volume to get your attention. It was really awesome, and it's something I miss to this day.

It also allowed for some cool gesture navigation, like swiping your hand in front of the screen to go to the previous/next song, pausing, etc. This was cool if you were in a car and wanted to keep your eyes on the road, or if you were working in the kitchen and your hands were dirty, you could control the phone without touching it. It also allowed you to answer/decline calls.

Like I said, the cameras were still the best in the game, video quality was average, and mic quality was still decent. Well.. it became decent. For some reason at launch the mic had a weird ticking sound that ruined all videos you took. It took them 3 months to push a patch that fixed the issue, but eventually it was fixed.

Pixel 5

This is where it gets weird.

So.. 2020. Pixel 5 and 5 XL, right? Nope.

COVID messed with things and Google announced the Pixel 5.

Just the Pixel 5.

It was pretty much a rebranded Pixel 4a 5G.

I kept my Pixel 4 XL as the Pixel 5 was a sidegrade, and in some aspects a downgrade.

Pixel Tensor Era

Such an exciting moment! Google announced their own SoC named Google Tensor, and ditched that crappy old Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC! The rise of Google is amoung us while all of those crappy Androids running Snapdragon are going to crumble beneath the performance and tight intergration of Tensor! Right!?.. right?

Pixel 6

It's here. The first Pixel with a Tensor SoC! aaaaand..

Disappointment.

I preordered the Pixel 6 Pro 128GB in 2021 for $1,343.27. Since it was a preorder, I got a discount. Without the discount it would've been $1,489.34.

First thing which is obvious, Google dropped their XL branding and went with "Pro". Now you have the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. The pricing went up a bit, but honestly it wasn't much considering the price of the 4 XL. Normally this would be a great thing if the Pixel 6 Pro wasn't such a pile of steaming garbage.

It was slower than the Snapdragon SoC, Google used an in screen optical finger print sensor of the lowest quality, they removed face unlock completely, switched to using a curved display so screen protectors are expensive, and they used the worlds crappiest Samsung modem.

I don't even know where to start. The phone being slower is a kick in the teeth, but unless you're a gamer you probably wont notice this too much. Previous Pixel phones only got 3 years of updates, and Google blamed this on Qualcomm, but now that Google is creating their own SoC, they will provide longer support, right? Nope. 3 years still. The Pixel 6 was launched in 2021 and OS upgrades are finished this year.

The removal of face unlock sucks, but then Google went ahead and used optical finger print sensors instead of ultra sonic, so they straight up don't work most of the time. With the removal of the face unlock sensor array, you'd think they'd have plenty of space for a good selfie camera, but in fact they put the worse selfie camera ever created in the Pixel 6 series. A HUGE downgrade from the Pixel 3 XL camera back in 2018.

The curved display is not only ugly, but cases are less protective because of it, and screen protectors are super expensive, too.

The Tensor G1 SoC is based on Exynos by Samsung, which is infamous for being garbage. The G1 runs super hot, which means it is prone to over heating, as well as chewing through battery like no tomorrow. Being Exynos based, it has a Samsung modem inside, which is also garbage, and plagues the Pixel 6 series with signal issues.

Google essentially released a phone that is worse than the Pixel 4 XL in a lot of ways, uses cheaper parts like the optical finger print sensor, overheats so badly people can't use it in hotter climates, burns through battery so fast it can't last the day, and drops signal so much it's unreliable as a phone. All for $1.5K.

The cameras were good, though. Video quality is actually ABOVE average now, and mics are good.

Pixel 7

I mean first gens are always rough, right? My Pixel 7 Pro 256GB I paid $1,140.17 for in 2022 would like a word. Keep in mind I got a heavy discount as I did NOT buy this phone on launch day, and got some black friday deal on it. Normally I would've paid $1,479.17.

Honestly the fact it was $10 cheaper than the 6 Pro, and I got double the storage has to tell you something. That something is how Google lost a lot of reputation with the garbage they call the Pixel 6 series.

So what's new? Nothing really.

Google added the Tensor G2 chip to it, which is essentially the same with the same issues. It sucks, it overheats, and it has poor receiption.

The screen is essentially the same, Same RAM, same storage, pretty much the same cameras but it now has a macro lens.

Google added "face unlock" using the worlds worst front facing camera, so not only is it incredibly insecure, but it only works in perfect lighting. Nothing like the Pixel 4 XL with the sensor array.

Oh ya, and still only 3 years of updates.

I felt like a clown buying this phone. It fixed nothing.

Pixel Fold

Google released a foldable Pixel phone in 2023. It is pretty much a Pixel 7 Pro with more RAM, more screens, and more or less the same issues.

It ran like shit, overheated, signal issues, and the poor battery life was made worse by the extra screens this thing had.

It wasn't launched in Canada, but the US price is $1,799 USD. Which would've been $2778.41 when converted to CAD and tax added. Even though we all know Google NEVER does a correct conversion, and all Pixels sold in Canada are an extra couple hundred dollars, putting the price closer to $3,000.

Imagine paying $3,000 for a worse Pixel 7 Pro. Oh ya, and only 3 years of updates.

Pixel 8

2023 baby. Catch me holding my Pixel 8 Pro 256GB that I paid $1,614.77 for. We are chillin', though, because Google absolutely fixed all of those issues by now, right?

Tensor G3. Still far behind Snapdragon, still overheating, still having receiption issues, and still causing battery drain.

The Pixel 8 Pro has a flat screen, which is nice. Screen protectors are finally cheap again, and cases protect the phone a lot better now. The screen is also brighter than before, which is cool.

The finger print sensor is still the same garbage optical sensor. They "upgraded" the face unlock to be "more secure", but it's still just using the selfie camera, and lacks proper face unlock and an array of sensors.

The cameras are essentially the same as the 6 Pro and 7 Pro, except the wide angle camera on the 8 Pro is slightly better. The front facing camera on the 8 Pro also has auto focus now, which is something that the Pixel 3 XL had back in the day (remember when I said that phone had the best selfie cameras ever?). The video quality is improved a bit over the 6 Pro and 7 Pro, but marginally. The mic is good.

The biggest win of the Pixel 8 series is that Google has promised 7 years of updates. Finally. Looks like Tensor is finally paying off.. oh.. what? Samsung is also promising 7 years of updates on their Qualcomm Snapdragon phones? Google isn't offering more than 3 years on the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 series, despite them being essentially the same chip? My brain hurts. 🤕

Conclusion

My thoughts on Pixel

So I am typing this from my Pixel 8 Pro, right? I wish. My Pixel 8 Pro had 4 faulty displays, that after months of repair, dozens of factory resets, and a bunch of time setting up multiple RMAs, I asked Google for a full refund.

The process wasn't easy. Every time I would get matched with a new agent over chat, phone, or email, the process would reset. It took me threatening my loyalty (as you can see, I have been pretty damn loyal), for them to take me seriously, and proceed with the refund.

I am back to using my Pixel 7 Pro. Honestly, I don't mind. It's essentially a Pixel 8 Pro but with a curved display, anyway.

Am I buying the Pixel 9? Probably not. Burn me 3 times (joke about Tensor being hot here), shame on you, burn me 4 times and I am the super 🤡.

Rumours say the Pixel 9 is still using Tensor, and will likely be the Tensor G4. Other rumours say that Google is shifting to TSMC for their Pixel 10, which could be interesting, but am I brave enough to try a first gen Pixel TSMC Era phone? Who knows.

Google peaked at the Pixel 4 XL. Everything from there has been downhill. It's wild that Google ruined their reputation with the Pixel 6 series, but then not only double or triple downed, but quadtruple downed (Pixel Fold) with their garbage Tensor era phones.

Why not Samsung?

I tried the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra when it came out. I was ready to ditch Tensor Pixels, and Samsung has shown to be pretty good these days with great specs and semi-fast updates.

I owned the S23U for less than 24 hours before returning it. The reason I returned it? Bloatware and ads. Even though I paid for the unlocked model, which cost me $2,000, the phone has a ton of borderline malware preinstalled and not easily removed. I'm talking Facebook, Amazon, OneDrive, etc.

The other thing I mentioned was ads. Despite me paying the most I've ever paid for a phone, the damn thing had ads. Here's a recent post from Reddit user Jedi_Dropbear showing his Samsung Fold 5 displaying ads.

Why not iPhone?

While this list could be 500 paragraphs long, I am going to leave you with two examples.

iOS just got the ability to set more than 1 timer in iOS 17, and in iOS 17.2 Apple finally added the ability to change your default notification tone, even though it's still extremely limited compared to Android.

iOS is too far behind in terms of basic features. It's that simple. While iOS does have some pretty cool futuristic features, those feel like gimmicks when I can't even do basic tasks on my phone that every other OS ever created allows me to do.

For that reason iPhone is out. I will say that I did own an iPhone 5, but I ended up going back to my Nexus 4 back then.