Google has never been successful with them, but they are used by successful Google managers: Pixel smartphones from in-house production occupy a very small niche in the Android world.
The market share is negligibly small, you wouldn't say a word about it if it weren't for another special feature besides the manufacturer Google: The Pixel models have always been the flagship devices of the American group, they get new Android versions particularly early and they are not tinkered with installed, so pure Android, as Google imagines it.
Michael Spehr
Editor in the “Technology and Engine” section.
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A year ago we bought the Google Pixel 5, which at the time was called an upper mid-range device for a moderate 600 euros.
Although it looks like an ugly duckling, it has done a good job in daily use since then: 5G is on board, the camera is better than you initially think and the non-slip back makes it advisable to do without a protective cover.
The Pixel 5's battery life of around one and a half days is still pleasing.
What bothers the most: There is no unlocking with biometric face recognition, only a fingerprint scanner.
Now everything will be different with two new Google smartphones.
The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are beauties in a noble guise, this time they draw on the full and want to play in the upper class, although the prices of 650 euros for the Pixel 6 and 900 euros for the Pixel 6 Pro with 128 gigabytes of memory are well below those of the Competition lie.
Google donates high-quality materials, the front and back are coated with glass.
Google calls the frame an "alloy", while the Pixel 6 has a matt finish and the 6 Pro looks like stainless steel.
Both devices are protected against dust and water in accordance with IP 68 and look much more elegant than their predecessors.
Noble appearance and high quality materials
For the first time both bring a Google processor with them, the Tensor Processing Unit, which is supplemented by a Titan M2 security chip. The bonds with Apple's system architecture are unmistakable. Here, too, the self-developed processor should shine in applications around artificial intelligence and machine learning. For example, it is possible to start an interpreter mode that translates English, Japanese and German in real time, and many other languages when you are online.
It is interesting that the Android recorder app transcribes an audio recording in real time and that a live translation of YouTube videos, for example, can be displayed.
Both translation and transcription are far from perfect, but rather a makeshift.
If you want to see something similar in the Apple world, take a look at the “Just press Record” app.
The automatic translation and transcribing of telephone calls should be legally in the gray area.
It works, but the translation performance is poor.
Three cameras in the top-of-the-range Pixel 6 Pro
Some of the functions of the new Pixel models advertised during the presentation do not work in Germany, including call screening, with which you can keep annoying advertising calls off your neck.