To Pixel 6 or to Pixel 6 Pro? That is the query.By now, you have little doubt heard loads about Google’s newest and biggest Pixels. So reasonably than repeat what you have already seen in a number of dozen different locations, I believed we might deal with a purely sensible, real-world comparability for anybody torn between the 2 Pixel 6 fashions. I’ve been carrying round each the common Pixel 6 and the Pixel 6 Pro and dwelling with ’em for practically two weeks now, and I’ve collected some fairly telling observations that may be a bit completely different from the extra spec-oriented comparisons you have pored over elsewhere.First and foremost, I’d say this: Lots of conventional tech opinions are inclined to deal with measurement minutia and place the best emphasis on numerically pushed, goal variables. It’s comprehensible, as that is a part of the job of the standard tech reviewer — and arising with an authoritative evaluation is actually simpler when you’ve got constant variables so as to add up and examine.But I’d additionally say this: That sort of pondering continuously misses the forest for the timber. As an precise tech-totin’ human, the quantity of RAM in a telephone or the variety of pixels in its show will not imply a lot for you. All that actually issues is what the telephone is like to make use of in your day-to-day life. In distinction to all these goal measures, determining which telephone is price carrying is an inherently subjective, experience-based judgment.And that type of pondering is 100% what we’re gonna get into right here.Pixel 6 vs. Pixel 6 Pro: The foundationBefore we get going, I wish to step again for a second and rapidly run over the technical variations between the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro — simply to verify we’re all on the identical web page and to offer us a place to begin for this dialog. Then, we’ll break down how a lot all of those measurements do or do not matter and what you may truly discover when utilizing the telephones in actual life.On paper, the first variations between the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are:The screens: The common Pixel 6 has a 6.4″ FHD+ display with a refresh rate that goes up to 90Hz, while the Pixel 6 Pro has a 6.7″ QHD show with a refresh charge that goes as much as 120Hz.
The measurement: Along with the Pro’s bigger display comes a bigger physique, at 6.5″ tall by 3″ huge and 0.4″ thick compared to 6.2″ by 2.9″ by 0.4″ on the common Pixel 6.
The RAM: The Pixel 6 has 8GB of RAM whereas the Pro has 12GB.
The cameras: The Pro has a higher-quality front-facing digicam together with an additional telephoto lens on its again facet.
The storage: The Pro goes as much as 512GB as an possibility for native space for storing, whereas the common 6 tops out at 256GB. (Both telephones begin at 128GB.)
The battery: The Pro has a 5003 mAh battery inside it, whereas the common Pixel 6 has a 4614 mAh energy heart.
Other than that, the telephones are kind of the identical — identical Google-made processor, identical distinctive Android expertise, identical considerate and genuinely sensible characteristic additions, identical unmatched degree of ongoing software program assist, and identical lack of added nonsense that you simply see in most different Android units (y’know, the always-fun stuff that compromises your privateness and makes for a messy, disagreeable, and infrequently unprofessional digital atmosphere).Got it? Good. Now, with all of that in thoughts, let’s dive into how the telephones truly differ.Pixel 6 vs. Pixel 6 Pro: The display and the physiqueWe’ll begin with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro shows and total sizes, as a result of that is the place you may be essentially the most shocked by a few of these units’ real-world variations. First issues first, the Pro’s show is certainly noticeably bigger than the common Pixel 6’s, although not by any type of large, experience-changing margin. It’s additionally extra pixel-dense, however we’re speaking a degree of distinction that nobody with out Superman-level imaginative and prescient might discover.I’ll take that very same pondering a step additional: In basic, I do not assume any regular particular person would give any of the quality-related variations between the units’ shows an oz of thought. Even when wanting on the two telephones facet by facet, I believe most people would say, “Okay. The Pro’s screen is a little bit bigger. Cool?”JR
Does measurement matter? The bigger Pixel 6 Pro, at left, and the common Pixel 6, at proper.
The identical holds true for these attention-demanding refresh charges. The Pixel 6 Pro’s 120Hz determine could sound spectacular on paper, however you are nearly actually not gonna discover the distinction between that and the Pixel 6’s 90Hz refresh charge in real-world use.As for the thought of the Pixel 6 Pro providing you with extra display house, here is an sudden actuality: The Pixel 6 Pro’s display truly tends to be much less information dense than the common Pixel 6’s. In different phrases, if you happen to’re wanting on the identical actual internet web page, electronic mail, or doc on each telephones, you may typically see barely extra of the content material on the common 6’s display than you’ll on the Pro’s (though the person characters and components are a bit bigger on the Pro).JR
Paradoxically, you find yourself seeing extra textual content on-screen on the identical time with the common Pixel 6, at left, than you do with the Pixel 6 Pro, at proper.
That apart, one factor you may completely discover is the form of every telephone’s show. More particularly, the Pro’s display curves over on the edges — and that makes a really noticeable and significant distinction in what the machine is like to make use of.First issues first, credit score the place credit score’s due: The curved smartphone display actually appears to be like futuristic, cool, and becoming for a “premium” product. Heck, it is sort of a technological surprise! The drawback is that from a sensible perspective, it truly makes the telephone significantly much less pleasant to each your palms and your eyes.JR
Livin’ on the sting: The Pixel 6 Pro’s curved display, at left, subsequent to the common Pixel 6’s flat show.
Visually talking, the curved show continuously causes textual content to be tougher to learn and pictures, movies, and different content material to be awkwardly sloped over at their edges. This impact is not distinctive to the Pixel 6 Pro, both. It’s simply the character of the know-how. It’s a putting instance of prioritizing kind over operate, and it is nearly a reduction to return to a flat show after spending time with a curved one.The different impact the Pixel 6 Pro’s curved display causes is an especially noticeable distinction in what the telephone is like to carry in your sweaty meat-hooks in comparison with its smaller sibling. As a results of that curved display, y’see, the Pixel 6 Pro has a a lot smaller straight-edged space of its body on the telephone’s sides. Since the display is curved, the machine’s perimeter has extra of a slope to it and finally ends up feeling nearly uncomfortably sharp towards your palm while you maintain it.Here’s a photograph displaying the Pro on prime and the common Pixel 6 on backside. See how the realm you truly maintain towards your hand is a lot smaller and extra angled on the Pro in comparison with the common Pixel 6?JR
Side view: The Pixel 6 Pro, on prime, and the common Pixel 6, on backside.
On the common Pixel 6, your complete perimeter is mainly flat, and that’s what rests in your palm while you’re holding it. On the Pro, it’s only a tiny strip of flat perimeter with sloped edges main into it.JR
The a part of the telephone that rests towards your palm on the Pixel 6 Pro (prime) vs. common Pixel 6 (backside).
Combined with the Pro’s additional peak and width in comparison with the common Pixel 6, I’ve truly discovered that my hand begins to cramp after holding that telephone for some time — with one-handed use particularly however even when I’m hanging onto the factor in a single hand and actively swiping or tapping with the opposite.And yet another factor on this identical topic: On the Pro, the floor of that body on the telephone’s sides is shiny and shiny, which makes the fabric noticeably extra slippery than the common Pixel 6’s grippy, matte-finished different. If you are planning to place the Pro in a case, that’d masks most of that (except for the curved show’s look, in fact). But if you happen to’re planning to make use of the telephone with out something round it, you may wish to give it some thought.Pixel 6 vs. Pixel 6 Pro: The digicam, the battery, and pastSo that is the place the Pro looks like a little bit of a step down in comparison with the common Pixel 6. Where the Pro comes out forward is completely within the realm of the digicam.Both telephones take phenomenal photographs, following within the custom of Google’s Pixel line — with some refined however significant enhancements over Pixels previous, each within the core high quality of the pictures the units seize and within the instruments they supply you for fine-tuning and enhancing these pictures after the actual fact.When you wish to zoom into one thing distant, although, the Pixel 6 has an enormous benefit.I imply, simply look: Here’s the identical shot from the common Pixel 6: JR
An everyday shot taken from the Pixel 6. (Click picture to enlarge.)
…and from the Pixel 6 Pro: JR
An everyday shot taken from the Pixel 6 Pro. (Click picture to enlarge.)
Pretty a lot equivalent, except for the ever-so-slightly completely different positioning of my hand — proper? But then you definitely zoom into Mr. Turtle, and — nicely, here is what you get while you zoom all the best way in with the common Pixel 6: JR
A totally zoomed-in shot taken from the Pixel 6. (Click picture to enlarge.)
…after which with the Pro: JR
A totally zoomed-in shot taken from the Pixel 6 Pro. (Click picture to enlarge.)
So, yeah: a particular, important distinction in the case of longer-range zooming. No query about it.As for the remainder of the contrasts between the 2 units, the RAM is nearly actually not gonna be one thing you may discover in common day-to-day use. I actually have not. When I requested Google for context on what distinction the Pixel 6 Pro’s additional 4GB of RAM may make for anybody in sensible phrases, a Pixel staff member advised me that 8GB is usually loads for on a regular basis use and that the Pro’s further reminiscence is usually there to assist energy the bigger, high-resolution show, which requires extra graphical sources. They did say there may be some impact with with the ability to preserve extra issues in energetic reminiscence and thus swap between apps extra rapidly when you’ve got lots of stuff open without delay, however any such distinction has been pretty refined and tough to detect for me.That identical caveat is price protecting in thoughts in the case of the battery measurement as nicely. Yes, the Pro has a bigger battery — nevertheless it additionally has bigger energy necessities. I’ve seen some assessments, the truth is, that give the common Pixel 6 the stamina edge. In real-world phrases, there are tons of variables concerned, and it actually comes all the way down to how, precisely, you are utilizing the telephones on any given day. In my nonscientific real-life observations, I’ve discovered the Pro to have a slight edge over the common Pixel 6, however they’ve typically been in the identical fundamental ballpark. And each telephones have achieved nicely; even with heavy use and a number of other hours of energetic display time, I’ve but to expire of juice on both mannequin earlier than the top of the day.Pixel 6 vs. Pixel 6 Pro: Putting all of it togetherWhew! That’s lots of information to chew over, I do know.Let’s put all of it collectively as merely as attainable: The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are each beautiful units, and Google is well positioning the bigger, higher-priced possibility not simply as the larger model however because the “pro-level” expertise — the “fully loaded,” most “premium” telephone obtainable for the “ultra technophile,” as the corporate has put it.That branding is sweet. It actually made me wish to get the Pixel 6 Pro — up till I truly frolicked utilizing each fashions for prolonged intervals in the actual world.Based on my experiences with the common 6 and the Pixel 6 Pro, I would not say that the Pro is any extra suited to skilled use than the common Pixel 6 mannequin. In reality, I feel it comes with some significant productiveness disadvantages in comparison with the common 6 — specifically round what its display is like to take a look at and the impact its curved-edge, glossy-framed development has on the consolation of its use. What the display appears to be like like and what the telephone is like to carry are fairly consequential elements, if you happen to ask me, they usually deserve an terrible lot of weight.So all thought of, I’d say this: If the Pixel 6 Pro’s distinctive photo-zooming functionality is necessary to you — and/or if you happen to completely want the highest-level 512GB storage possibility that it alone gives — then think twice about whether or not that outweighs all the things else and makes the Pro worthwhile in your wants.Otherwise, I’d strongly counsel going with the common Pixel 6 as an alternative. You’ll save your self 300 bucks — a 150% value distinction! — and you will get the higher all-around expertise, even when you aren’t getting that spectacular super-zooming energy. The actual query to ask your self is how typically you’d use that telephoto zooming and the way a lot it truly issues to you, particularly with all the things else within the image.For most individuals and particularly professionals, the common Pixel 6 is the very best all-around expertise yow will discover on Android (and arguably past) proper now. Once you consider its value and its precise per-year worth, nothing else even comes near evaluating — and that features each the Pixel 6 Pro and the lower-priced Pixel 5a.See? We weren’t kidding after we stated these telephones may change all the things. And what we’re seeing now continues to be solely the beginning.Don’t let your self miss an oz of Pixel magic. Sign up for my free Pixel Academy e-course and uncover tons of hidden options and time-saving tips in your favourite Pixel telephone.

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