Home » Google Pixel 6, 6 Pro main station evaluation: value flagship

Google Pixel 6, 6 Pro main station evaluation: value flagship

by admin

David Imel for Engadget

The mobile phones made by Google in the past few years are relatively… Ordinary, this has finally changed in the newly released Pixel 6 series not long ago. The new phone uses the design that the flagship phone should have, the color combination is eye-catching, and it also has a screen with a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz. What’s more powerful is that Google has also enabled the first self-developed mobile processor Tensor this time. With its blessing, the AI ​​performance of the device has been enhanced compared to the past.

In addition, the biggest selling point of the Pixel series, the camera, has also changed significantly this time. While upgrading the algorithm as in the past, the hardware of the Pixel 6 series has finally kept up with the times. Of course, there is also the first Android 12 system, which allows users to experience the many improvements in Material You design and privacy, search, and shooting. Adding all these together, the lowest price you have to pay is only NT$18,990 (US$599 for the US version). It is indeed very attractive from the book, but how does it actually work? May wish to listen to the evaluation of our main station colleagues first.

design

Compared with the recent generations of Pixel phones, the styling of Pixel 6 and 6 Pro is really very innovative. The color matching design is very beautiful, especially the Pixel 6 which has a more interesting color combination. At the same time, this small phone also has a flat screen and a matte side. In contrast, the Pro model with a slightly curved front and a larger size and a higher screen-to-body ratio will be more reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20. Ultra some.

The Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro held in mid-air with their screens facing the camera.

David Imel for Engadget

Regarding the horizontal and thick design of the new camera’s rear camera, public comments are currently quite polarized. The editor of the main site doesn’t mind, but some people find it unsightly. From Google’s point of view, the advantage of doing this is that on the one hand, it can hide a larger-sized photoreceptor, and on the other hand, it can ensure the symmetry of the device. Unlike many mainstream products, the Pixel 6 series only protrudes in the upper left corner of the back. The camera area directly penetrates the left and right, which also prevents the phone from shaking when placed horizontally.

Aesthetics is subjective, but the body measurements are real numbers. The Pixel 6 weighs 207g, which is heavier than the Galaxy S21 and iPhone 13, but its 6.4-inch screen is a bit bigger. The Pixel 6 Pro will be lighter than the Galaxy S21 Ultra and iPhone 13 Pro Max. Looking at the entire flagship market, the weight should be considered acceptable.

Screen, speaker, fingerprint recognition

Both new Pixels are equipped with OLED screens. The smaller Pixel 6 uses a 90Hz 6.4-inch 1080p panel, while the Pro model uses a 6.7-inch 1440p LTPO panel. The update rate can be adjusted from 10Hz to 120Hz. The latter has good fluency and is basically as smooth as the iPhone 13 Pro and Galaxy S21 Ultra in use. If put together, the 90Hz display of Pixel 6 is indeed a bit slower. But those who have not been “spoiled” by 120Hz may not be able to see the big difference (the more expensive iPhone 13 only has 60Hz).

The Google Pixel 6 Pro held in mid-air with its screen facing the camera.

David Imel for Engadget

As for the speakers, colleagues at the main station think the performance is acceptable. When listening to Steve Aoki and Jolin’s “Equal in the Darkness” (Equal in the Darkness), the vocals are basically clear, some are a little messy when mixed together, and the bass part is a little lacking. The situation will improve when playing Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby”.

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The Pixel 6 series uses an under-screen fingerprint module. Compared with many flagship phones, its speed and stability are not excellent, and it can’t be unlocked when the screen is turned off. You need to light up the screen before you can scan your fingerprints. This process can be quite tedious in 2021. When talking about why the fingerprint module was moved from the back to the screen, Google said before that it was to keep the biometric authentication function and not to break the integrity of the back cover design. However, at present, the price seems to be a bit higher than expected.

A focus shot of the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro's camera bars.

Android 12 and assistant features

The native system is also one of the core competitiveness of the Pixel 6 series. With the newly launched Material You UI in Android 12, the internals of Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are as unforgettable as their appearances. The gameplay based on the overall tone of the wallpaper generation system further improves the visual harmony of the software. In addition, improvements such as gadgets, cameras, privacy, etc. are very practical, but these things will be open to third-party vendors in the future. What really makes the Pixel 6 series stand out is its system’s more efficient voice recognition capabilities under the blessing of the Tensor processor. The new machine will recognize the sound more accurately, and the translation function will be more deeply integrated into all aspects of the system.

The colleague at the main site is a user who doesn’t like typing on a mobile phone. When using the Pixel 6 series for voice input, he found that the device can better understand her meaning and add punctuation to the transcribed text when appropriate. Make it look more natural. When you speak, the system will even add punctuation to your previous words. Of course, the specific performance of the assistant has a lot to do with the user’s speaking habits. In addition, in the new version of the system, you can also command the assistant to perform input operations such as “Send”, “Clear”, “Delete”, and “Undo”. Even emoji can be sent by words, which greatly reduces the need for manual input.

Android 12

Engadget

The previous Quick Phrases have also become more useful in Android 12. The “stop” (alarm) and answer (call) commands that were only available on smart speakers and screens in the past can now also be accompanied by “naps”. “And “Rejected” are used together. On the Pixel 6 series, the translation engine is also more deeply integrated into the system. In addition to real-time transcription (Live Transcribe), it can now also translate text as you type and directly translate the unfamiliar text sent by the other party into you The language of is displayed on the screen. This feature currently supports English, Chinese (Simplified), German, Japanese, French, Hindi, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and Russian. Applicable apps also include Android messaging, WhatsApp, Line, Twitter, Google Chat , Snapchat, Signal, etc.

As mentioned earlier, the existence of Tensor makes these voice-related functions easier to implement. And because all processing is done on the machine, users will not be limited by the network situation, and privacy is more secure. In terms of security, when you receive suspicious messages in WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and other software, Android 12 will automatically pop up a Chrome page to display an alert, reminding you not to share sensitive information with others.

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camera

In the past few generations of Pixel phones, Google has chosen to “squeeze” the potential of the old photoreceptors (mainly Sony IMX363) with refined algorithms. This time in the Pixel 6 generation, the main camera has finally been replaced with a more “modern” 50MP component (Samsung ISOCELL GN1), and there is also a 12MP ultra-wide-angle assistant. The Pro model will add another 48MP capable of 4x optical zoom. Telephoto camera. In addition, on the selfie side, the photosensitive elements of the two mobile phones are 8MP and 11.1MP respectively, and the latter can directly shoot 4K videos.

According to the editor of the main website, in almost all scenes, the photos taken by Pixel 6 Pro can basically be equal to the iPhone 13 Pro, which is better based on personal preference. Both can maintain clear images and beautiful colors for most of the time. Relatively speaking, Apple’s photos are brighter and have a little yellow-green tone, while Google’s orientation will be more natural. iPhone will have certain purple fringing and ghosting problems when facing the light source, but it will be more ruddy and better-looking than Pixel when dealing with skin tones.

Pixel 6 camera sample showing a cyclist in focus with the park in the background blurred.

Cherylnn Low / Engadget

This point disappointed the main station colleagues, because the Pixel 6 series is pre-loaded with Real Tone, a new feature that cannot be turned off. Google launched it to make the Android system camera more racially inclusive, but if the algorithm can’t adjust the white balance and auto exposure to show the best side of different skin tones, it’s a bit of abandonment to force users to use it. Bar?

Pixel 6

Engadget

In addition to Real Tone, Google has also added functions such as Magic Eraser, Motion Mode, Face Unblur, Speech Enhancement, etc. to the Pixel 6 series. Most of them actually have certain conditions of use, and the effects are mixed. The better way to use is to de-blur the face. The method of superimposing the two photos of the main camera and the super wide-angle to enhance the clarity of the face, in actual use, can indeed ensure that the face in each photo is clear.

Performance and endurance

Although Tensor is only Google’s first mobile chip, its performance is surprisingly good. The editor of the main site believes that in daily use, the Pixel 6 series and the latest flagships of Apple and Samsung cannot be too different. Just look at the running scores, using Geekbench 5 to run multi-core, the Pixel 6 clocked at 2.8GHz scored 2,802 points, and the 3.2GHz iPhone 13 Pro scored 4,809 points. For reference, the Surface Duo 2 equipped with Snapdragon 888 can run to 3,485 points.

Side view of the Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro standing face to face, focusing on their camera bars.

David Imel for Engadget

In other words, with two ARM X1 “main” cores, two large cores and four high-efficiency cores, the design of Tensor is quite similar to Qualcomm Snapdragon 888. What makes it really special is that the TPU is also the Tensor computing unit. This is a condensed version of the processor used in Google’s data center. Its main function is to speed up AI. Of course, Apple and Qualcomm’s chips are not without such parts, but Google’s strength in the AI ​​field is much stronger than its competitors, which gives Tensor a foothold in the world of mobile chips. . For some of the voice applications mentioned earlier, there is basically no delay when running on Pixel 6. In addition, in low-light shooting scenarios, you can see the effect of the algorithm’s noise reduction through the viewfinder, without waiting for the processing after the shooting.

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However, it is estimated that because the software is still relatively new, the main site colleagues will still encounter some small problems from time to time during the use process. With the push of new firmware in the future, it should be possible to solve it a little bit. As for the endurance, the performance of the two new machines is very good. Through the video loop playback test of the main site, Pixel 6 and 6 Pro can last for 20 hours and more than 17 hours respectively, and their results are among the best in this year’s mobile phones. The Pixel 6 Pro used by my colleagues can last more than a day on weekdays, but the fast charging speed is average.

The Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro held up in mid-air with their camera bars facing out.

David Imel for Engadget

Pixel 6 or 6 Pro?

How to choose between these two machines? The editor of the main website thinks that it mainly depends on your budget. In the past, when Google released Pixel and XL products, most of them had obvious differences in size. But this time the Pixel 6 is smaller than the 6 Pro, but the degree of smallness is quite limited. Some core selling points and features are actually not much different on both sides. So if you can accept the price, you can directly charge the Pro with a 120Hz screen, 4x telephoto and ultra-wideband chip. If you are relatively tight, Pixel 6 is also a good choice.

Concluding remarks

But no matter which one you choose, as mentioned at the beginning, the Pixel 6 series can indeed be regarded as a value-for-money product at its price. Shooting and software are still their strengths, and the display and endurance are not disappointing. Although there are flaws such as fingerprints that are not easy to use, the flaws are not concealed in general. The next sales performance of the Pixel generation returning to the flagship market should be optimistic.

Specification

Specification

Pixel 6

Pixel 6 Pro

Screen

6.4-inch 2,400 x 1,080 (20:9) OLED, 411ppi, up to 90Hz

6.7-inch 3,120 x 1,440 LTPO OLED, 512ppi, up to 120Hz

Measurements, weight

158.6 x 74.8 x 8.9mm,207g

163.9 x 75.9 x 8.9mm,210g

Processor, RAM, storage

Google Tensor with Titan M2 secure co-processor, 8GB LDDR5 RAM, 128GB / 256GB UFS 3.1

Google Tensor with Titan M2 secure co-processor, 8GB LDDR5 RAM, 128GB / 256GB UFS 3.1

Rear camera

50MP octa PD Quad Bayer (1.2μm pixels, 1/1.31″ sensor, f/1.85 aperture), 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera (1.25μm pixels, 114-degree field of view, f/2.2 aperture)

50MP octa PD Quad Bayer (1.2μm pixels, 1/1.31″ sensor, f/1.85 aperture), 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera (1.25μm pixels, 114 degree field of view, f/2.2 aperture), 48MP telephoto camera (4x Optical zoom, 0.8μm pixels, f/3.5 aperture)

Selfie camera

8MP, 1.12μm pixels, f/2.0 aperture, 84-degree field of view

11.1MP, 1.22μm pixels, f/2.2 aperture, 94-degree field of view

Battery

4,614mAh, 30W USB-C wired charging, Qi wireless charging, reverse charging

5,003mAh, 30W USB-C wired charging, Qi wireless charging, reverse charging

Sensors and connectivity

Under-screen fingerprint, dual SIM (nano SIM plus eSIM), NFC, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2

Under-screen fingerprint, dual SIM (nano SIM plus eSIM), NFC, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, ultra-wideband chip

water proof

IP68

IP68

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