Badge Design The Google Pixel 6 Pro (beginning at $899) is the company’s most ambitious smartphone ever, and a significant upgrade over the Pixel 5 from last year. The Pixel 5 was a good phone with a good camera, strong performance, and a lot of value for the money, but it was also a little dull. Google has completely redesigned the Pixel 6 Pro from the inside out. The phone features a new Tensor chip with excellent performance, a vibrant OLED display, and a long-lasting battery. It’s the priciest phone in Google’s range, which also includes the Pixel 6 (beginning at $599) and the Pixel 5a (starting at $499). With 5G ($449), it stands out as the greatest high-end Android available today, receiving our Editors’ Choice award for Android flagships.

Unconventional Design

You won’t be able to confuse the Pixel 6 Pro with any other phone. It’s wonderful to see Google break away from the basic glass sandwich we’ve come to expect with a design that walks the line between elegant and eccentric.

The phone is 7.4 ounces and measures 6.5 by 3.0 by 0.4 inches (HWD). These measurements are standard for a flagship, however they may be a bit large for those with small hands. Cloudy White, Sorta Sunny, and Stormy Black are the three colors available. Cloudy White is an all-gray variation with chrome rails and trim. Sorta Sunny is a subtle combination of peach and sand with gold accents. Stormy Black is a two-tone back panel with glossy rails that is understated.

The front of the phone is dominated by a 6.7-inch LTPO OLED display. The bezel-less display has an adjustable refresh rate of 10 to 120 Hz. It has a resolution of 3,120 by 1,440 pixels, which translates to 512 pixels per inch. With deep, inky blacks, the colors are vivid but true. The viewing angles are good, and the phone is easy to see in direct sunlight.

The fingerprint sensor in the display is comparable to that found on the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. It’s quick and accurate, with a 95% accuracy rate. It’s also one of the simplest to set up that we’ve come across.

A hefty camera bar on the phone’s glossy back establishes a border between the phone’s complimentary color blocks. While the protruding camera bar is noticeable, it has no bearing on the phone’s usage. When we placed the phone on a flat surface, we couldn’t get it to wobble or teeter.

Between the display and the curved back lies a gleaming aluminum chassis. The right side has a power button, a SIM card slot, and a volume rocker, while the left and top borders are blank. Instead of the textured buttons present on most other phones, Google opts for a matte finish; the buttons are more appealing to the eye and have a pleasing click when pressed. A USB-C charging port and dual speaker grilles are located on the bottom.

The Pixel 6 Pro should be able to endure small drops and dents thanks to its Gorilla Glass Victus display and back. You won’t have to worry about a splash or a drop in the tub thanks to the IP68 rating.

A 5,003mAh battery powers the Pixel 6 Pro. The phone lasted an astonishing 22 hours and 18 minutes in our battery drain test, in which we stream HD movies over Wi-Fi at full brightness. You may easily go two days between charges if you use it moderately every day.

Google does not include a power adaptor in the box, as it does with other flagships. The Pixel 6 Pro, on the other hand, enables USB-PD 3.0 fast charging at 30W and is compatible with third-party adapters. The current limit for Qi wireless charging is 12 watts, while the Pixel Stand 2 will offer rapid charging up to 23 watts. Reverse charging is also a possibility.

Smooth, Fluid Performance

It comes with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage, in addition to Google’s Tensor processor. Although there is no option for external storage, the Pixel automatically backs up 15GB of your data to Google One; Pixel Pass subscribers get 200GB of storage, and if you opt for the paid Google One subscription, you may choose from a variety of cloud storage settings.

The phone boots up in a matter of seconds, apps open instantly, and Google Assistant responds quickly. The gaming performance is very great. Both Genshin Impact and Alto’s Odyssey launched instantly, and we saw no lag or frame skips during our several hours of gameplay.

New Cameras, New Possibilities

Google is firmly placed at the top of the smartphone photography game thanks to the Pixel 6 Pro’s combination of new sensors, lenses, software changes, and Tensor processor.

Three sensors are located on the back camera bar. With an f/1.85 aperture, 1.2m pixel width, and a huge 1/1.31-inch sensor format, the primary camera has a resolution of 50MP. For precise 12.5MP photos, it employs an Octa PD Quad Bayer technique with all-pixel autofocus.

In any light, the main and ultra-wide lenses capture a solid image. The foregrounds in our daytime test images are sharp, and the depth of field is great. In images taken in direct light, we saw some loss of fine clarity, and the metering system overall leans toward slight underexposure.

Next to it is a 12MP ultra-wide sensor with a 1.25m pixel width and f/2.2 aperture. The lens has a field of vision of 114 degrees. The lens elements reduce the distortion that small-format ultra-wide sensors are prone to.

The camera stack is completed by a 48MP telephoto camera. Its sensor is half-inch in size and has a 23.5-degree field of vision. The angle of view is narrower than the main lens, giving it a 4x optical zoom, and it works in tandem with the primary camera to give you 20x Super Res Zoom.