If anyone can create the ultimate Android, it’s Google. It is he who is in charge of the development of the operating system, and in Google Pixel the aesthetics of the user interface and the functionalities are completely exclusive. Since 2016 we see the different generations of Google Pixel, mobiles that made us fall in love to make us forget the layers of customization and show us the Google experience as designed by the creator of Android.
However, it is curious that all Pixel generations have had bugs, glitches, or issues whose common denominator has always been clear: everything could have been avoided. We’ll review them for hard-to-explain errors that have kept Pixels away from that finger-rubbing crown year after year.
Google Pixel XL from 2016, the beginning of an era
The original Google Pixel, oddly enough, was one of the Pixels with the fewest issues. Its design has been heavily criticized., although the aesthetic section is still something subjective. It came to take the first steps that laid the foundation for the Pixel ROM, like a Google Assistant that only came in English. Other than that, there weren’t too many software issues and overall it was a great device with high-end hardware.
The distribution of the Google Pixel has been marked from the first model: Europe has never been a priority country
The water resistance of rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S7 and iPhone 7 was lacking, and its distribution was very limited. You could buy in Europe through websites like Amazon, but from the first generation Google made it clear that our country was not a priority market.
Google Pixel 2 XL, the famous cursed screen
With the second generation of the Google Pixel, these issues started happening which, with tougher quality control, would have saved the wave of criticism. In 2018 we titled our analysis with a “Pixel 2 XL, the best camera of the moment deserved a better screen”. Although it is a 2K panel with OLED technology, the Pixel 2 XL had one of the worst (if not the worst) high-end displays.
It turned blue without tilting it, the colors were weird and unnatural. There were so many complaints Google has released specific updates to try to improve calibration, but the panel quality was what it was. Mobile cost 959 dollarsa price for which a slab at the height of rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S8 or the iPhone X was essential.
Here’s just one example of what I described as “a devastating and embarrassing lag” on my Pixel 2 XL.
And it happens all the time and not just on camera (camera is just one example).@MKBHDThe examples with animations were very tame compared to the crap I’m dealing with. pic.twitter.com/qhShInB4YS
– Artem Russakovskii (@ArtemR) August 9, 2018
In addition to the panel issue, with the Google Pixel 2 XL, a long history of fairly user-reported random bugs began, in this case, the gap after a few months of use. Some units of the Pixel 2 XL had noticeable lag. From Google support, they assured that it could be caused by an “app not optimized for Android 10” and encouraged to perform a factory reset if it continued to malfunction, an unorthodox solution.
Two mistakes that overshadowed one of the pixels with better battery lifeenviable performance on drives without lag issues, and a camera that marked a before and after. With the Pixel 2 XL, Google made it clear that it had the best camera on the market, and they managed to maintain their position for a few years.
Google Pixel 3 XL, what does this notch do?
You may like the notch, you may not like the notch, but if the mobile has a 3D face recognition system, it is understood that it is there. Now well, if the mobile does not even have facial recognition, what is it doing there? Similarly, the competition was already starting to cut bezels (even Apple, the slowest to move with designs), while the Pixel continued with almost the same bezels as the Pixel 2 XL, but with a notch.
It was another one of those weird Google moves, because they never put the notch back. The Google Pixel 3 XL had it for some reason and was never heard from again. Save the design problem, the inexplicable notch and an autonomy that was also not up to par of such great motive.
Despite the huge notch without facial recognition and poor battery life, the Google Pixel 3 XL was one of the best phones of its generation
Despite these points that did not go beyond the aesthetics and the autonomy lost compared to the previous model, the Google Pixel 3 XL it was one of the best phones of its generationwith good performance and a camera that continued to teach the competition.
Google Pixel 4 XL: mediocre battery life and resources in a biometric system that came to nothing
“It’s not just photography that lives high end” was the title of our analysis of the Google Pixel 4 XL. This generation, we saw yet another strange move from Google: the development of a facial recognition system that was never heard of again. To compete with Apple’s Face ID, Google has implemented a front camera system plus a “radar” that captures movement.
The Pixel 4 XL came out with a serious security issue: it unlocked with its eyes closed and it took months to fix the issue
This unlocked the phone even with closed eyes, a serious security flaw through which anyone who brought the mobile to our face, even while sleeping, could access it. Months later, they fixed this bug with the April 2020 patch. If that was the only issue with the device, everything would be fixed, but it wasn’t.
Although this is the XL model, again, autonomy was very fair. In full swing of UFS 3.0 memory Google was still using UFS 2.1 memory and the price started up again around 1,000 dollars, despite the problems.
Google Pixel 5: Pixels are now mid-range
The Google Pixel 5 was my personal phone for a while. A round mobile to which I did not find many faults, but the concept was a bit difficult to justify. The Pixel had always cost around 1,000 dollars and their flaws prevented them from competing with the top of the range in this price range, so Google decided to reduce and make them a mid-range to adjust the price.
The Pixel 5 has not arrived in Europe, again with this strategy of models arriving and models not arriving, but it could be imported from Germany for around 650 dollars. While the hardware set may be “good enough” for most users, the demote it was remarkable. The panel lacked shine in the sunthe processor suffers if you demand what you expect from a top of the range and the sound is not of high quality.
Despite this, the Google Pixel 5 is positioned as one of the best pixels ever, the first and only one with completely symmetrical frames, a restricted size and good autonomy. An imperfect mobile, but level.
Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro: touch the sky with your fingers
And we come to the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, the best Pixel generation in history, with its corresponding reason for small errors that are difficult to explain. The first is auto-brightness, which does not work progressively and does not save user data. In other words, as much as we train it to go up to the maximum in direct sunlight or to go down to the minimum in the dark, it does not work well.
This Pixel’s fingerprint reader is also a small drawback. It doesn’t work as badly as one might think, but a mobile at almost 900 dollars deserved a fast and precise reader. The error rate is higher than usual, and unlocking is a bit slow.
The third are small bugs in the operating system itself. For the first time in years, I had crasheos of the user interface. The most curious and “funny” bug was to open the battery settings and then open the wallpaper settings and data from both menus are merged into a single screen.
Autonomy is also low, a point that has been dragging on since the Pixel 3 XL (and which, curiously, improves on the Google Pixel 6). In addition to a set of “buts” that make a mobile that, as a whole, is exceptional, it is not perfect simply for not having mounted a good reader and having further optimized the system.
Close to perfect Android
Google has everything to create the ultimate Pixel. Indeed, if the Google Pixel 6 had a better fingerprint reader and fixed bugs, it would be a practically perfect mobile for the 649 dollars it costs. But for some reason, in every generation of Pixel there is a little bug that spoils the experience.
A separate case is distribution. In Europe the Pixels will arrive in a limited way, in a single color and storage version, a complicated launch for the high end of Google. Step by step, Google is getting closer to that 100% round Android that we expect from the company, hoping that in a generation nothing will be left behind.
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