Google was a reader favorite this year, by producing a flagship smartphone and pricing it as a mid-ranger.
This year, the Google Pixel 6 won both Smartphone of the Year from Android Headlines and the Reader’s Choice Award for Smartphone of the Year. That’s pretty impressive. It also shows that our readers agreed with us. It won overwhelmingly with 76% of the vote this year. Blowing away the competition.
The Pixel 6 hasn’t been out very long, having been announced in late October, but has gotten many rave reviews, including our own. If you’ve spent time on Twitter, you will have most likely seen many people praising their new Pixel 6 for a number of reasons. So it’s no surprise that it is the AH Reader’s Choice award for Best Smartphone of 2021.
Google hyped the Pixel 6 and delivered
Pixel smartphones always get a ton of hype before they are announced. They get leaked left and right, but this year, Google played into that. They showed off the design for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro months before they were going to be released. Which helped to put the hype train in full gear.
However, unlike in previous years, Google delivered on the Pixel 6 hype. Google debuted a new design on the Pixel 6, which took some getting used too. But the camera bar on the back shows everyone that it is a Pixel, while also being more useful for the dual-camera setup on the Pixel 6.
Google also upgraded the main camera sensor in the Pixel 6, making it a 50-megapixel sensor this time around. Which is a huge upgrade from the four-year-old 12-megapixel sensor it had been using. Allowing the Pixel 6 to regain its camera smartphone king status. It didn’t just rest on its laurels and its camera upgrade, Google did add in some new features this year. Like Magic Eraser, allowing you to get rid of those annoying photo bombers once and for all.
Other internals were upgraded this year too. Like the display. Which is now a 6.4-inch FHD+ 90Hz display. The battery got a nice boost to 4614mAh. Which help to make the overall experience of the Pixel 6 all that much better.
But the real story here is Tensor. That is Google’s first smartphone chip that they built for the Pixel. So instead of using the latest Snapdragon processor, Google is using their own. This is likely how they were able to keep the Pixel 6’s price around $599 (or $699 if you got the mmWave model). That’s the same price as the Snapdragon 765-powered Pixel 5 from last year. With Tensor involved, it means that Google now controls the entire Pixel experience, from hardware through software.
Tensor proved to be almost on the same level as the Snapdragon 888 5G chip from Qualcomm. While focusing more on AI and machine learning, which Google leans on a lot with its software. It’s also really good for gaming.
All that in a phone that is priced under $600, it’s clear to see why our readers chose it as the Best Smartphone of 2021. So join us in congratulating the Google Pixel 6 in being the AH Reader’s Choice for Best Smartphone of 2021!
2021-12-15 15:04:46