Google’s Pixel 6 is suffering from bad PR — and the stakes are higher than ever.
Google’s Pixel 6 is an excellent smartphone, one of the best Google has ever made. It fixes up issues we’ve seen in older Pixels, from outdated and weak hardware to boring designs. All things considered, it’s great — and our reviews say so. At the same time, the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have come under fire from both critics and fans alike since its release. Over on the r/GooglePixel subreddit, there are many who would chafe at the idea of someone having a good experience with the Pixel 6, while prominent reviewers like Marques Brownlee ( MKBHD) back them up. From where I sit, it’s not that the Pixel 6 is a bad phone — reviews say as much, my personal experience aligns, and my colleague Andy Boxall offers a more measured take on the issue from a user perspective. It’s a very good phone, and it does what it says it is supposed to do, with little complaint on my end. “It’s certainly possible that Google is having widespread quality control problems, but it isn’t something I have seen directly (anecdotally, my Pixel 6 review units have been fine),” Avi Greengart, from Techsponential, told Digital Trends over email. “However, even if the Pixel 6 is bulletproof, it still must contend with a market that leans heavily Apple and Samsung, and, in Europe, is inundated with low-cost competition from Chinese brands.” But it’s also the case that these bugs — network issues and battery drainage most prominently — do exist and have been documented by a growing number of reviewers and users. That is going to work against Google if not addressed soon. It’s not just Pixel phones that are having a rough time, but Android 12 phones in general.
