Pixel 6 or s22

[JPec]

What would you say? Buy a pixel 6 or a Galaxy s22? Any experience on both phones? what are the pros and cons of each one?

 

Are there any other options in this range you can recommend?

 

 

[Kc7vwc]

Earlier this year I spent about a week with the basic P6. 

It was a nice device, but the fingerprint reader on it's wasn't reliable. 

The March Android update was supposed to fix this, but it didn't improve mine at all. (Not sure if it's gotten any better since then. Others have said theirs worked better afterwards.) 

I didn't have any of the connectivity problems that others had talked about. WiFi and at&t cellular worker great for me. 

Physically, I thought it's a smidge bulky & heavy, and I don't enjoy having all-glass devices, but that is purely personal preference. 

 

 

As for Samsung, the closest I got there was another week with the S21 FE. The hardware in that device is perfect, IMO, and feels amazing in the hand. 

I just hate Samsung's skin of Android, with their bloatware & links to their stuff everywhere in the menus. 

Also, it's a (small) extra step to run a full Google ecosystem on a Samsung, with them having many of their own versions of apps & services. 

So depending on how heavy you are into each software ecosystem might away your decision. 

 

Personally, if I could run Pixel experience on the Samsung hardware, that would be my ideal device. 

 

[Lurking]

6 hours ago, Kc7vwc said:

Earlier this year I spent about a week with the basic P6. 

It was a nice device, but the fingerprint reader on it's wasn't reliable. 

The March Android update was supposed to fix this, but it didn't improve mine at all. (Not sure if it's gotten any better since then. Others have said theirs worked better afterwards.) 

I didn't have any of the connectivity problems that others had talked about. WiFi and at&t cellular worker great for me. 

Physically, I thought it's a smidge bulky & heavy, and I don't enjoy having all-glass devices, but that is purely personal preference. 

 

 

As for Samsung, the closest I got there was another week with the S21 FE. The hardware in that device is perfect, IMO, and feels amazing in the hand. 

I just hate Samsung's skin of Android, with their bloatware & links to their stuff everywhere in the menus. 

Also, it's a (small) extra step to run a full Google ecosystem on a Samsung, with them having many of their own versions of apps & services. 

So depending on how heavy you are into each software ecosystem might away your decision. 

 

Personally, if I could run Pixel experience on the Samsung hardware, that would be my ideal device. 

 

This. So much this. If I could get an S22 without Samsung OS and bloatware, it would be the easiest choice ever. You can remove some bloatware, but there is a risk and you likely can't make it all just "cleaner". If Samsung would offer a Samsung and a clean android version of the S-phones, they would own the market. 

 

OP: I never used it, but one killer Pixel feature I would look forward to is the Call screening, which should help getting rid of scam calls. I don't know how well it actually works, or if that is a problem for you. So it may be extremely useful, or useless to YOU. 

 

Technically the S22 gives you longer software support (4 years updates + 1 year security patches from beginning of 2022) vs. the Pixel (3 years updates + 2 years of security patches from October 2021). But this is no guarantee the updates are actually good. I have an S9+, which is totally useless now due to bugs. I don't need new updated features in 4 years, I just need it to work. I have no Pixel experience, but IMHO Samsung doesn't have a good track record. I also think the Pixel should work better after support ends since less is installed and it is less complex. That should help keep it running better long term. But you won't know which will actually work better in 4 years before 2026...... 

[Kazooduck]

3 hours ago, Lurking said:

This. So much this. If I could get an S22 without Samsung OS and bloatware, it would be the easiest choice ever. You can remove some bloatware, but there is a risk and you likely can't make it all just "cleaner". If Samsung would offer a Samsung and a clean android version of the S-phones, they would own the market. 

 

OP: I never used it, but one killer Pixel feature I would look forward to is the Call screening, which should help getting rid of scam calls. I don't know how well it actually works, or if that is a problem for you. So it may be extremely useful, or useless to YOU. 

 

Technically the S22 gives you longer software support (4 years updates + 1 year security patches from beginning of 2022) vs. the Pixel (3 years updates + 2 years of security patches from October 2021). But this is no guarantee the updates are actually good. I have an S9+, which is totally useless now due to bugs. I don't need new updated features in 4 years, I just need it to work. I have no Pixel experience, but IMHO Samsung doesn't have a good track record. I also think the Pixel should work better after support ends since less is installed and it is less complex. That should help keep it running better long term. But you won't know which will actually work better in 4 years before 2026...... 

just root it and get pixel experience. No warranty but a, well, pixel experience.

[Lurking]

1 hour ago, kamonanban said:

just root it and get pixel experience. No warranty but a, well, pixel experience.

Wait, aren't you the same person who advised to not even remove bloatware? Am I misunderstanding you? These seem to be contradicting advices. Both types of advice on their own are very valid, though. Edit: I'm not criticizing your advice, just surprised. 

 

And losing warranty on a brand new premium phone also isn't something many people will like. Nothing wrong if one wants to risk it, but many people will see that as a deal breaker. My personal fear would be every time there is an issue, I wouldn't know if it is a problem with the hardware, or with my messing with it. Nice to play with phones like that, but if you only have 1 phone and need it, I decided for MYSELF to not do that to a daily driver. And once Android 13 comes, you do that again. 

 

I just ordered my P6 Pro for the reason it has the cleaner OS without messing with it and will have call screening. I was thinking to manipulate the S22+.. but ultimately decided against it. If it wasn't for these 2 reasons, the S22 likely is a great choice as well. Maybe even better depending on what you want to do with it. Which suits you better, really depends...... 

[Kazooduck]

2 hours ago, Lurking said:

Wait, aren't you the same person who advised to not even remove bloatware? Am I misunderstanding you? These seem to be contradicting advices. Both types of advice on their own are very valid, though. Edit: I'm not criticizing your advice, just surprised. 

All good, I advise against uninstalling system apps even on rooted roms, you don’t have to depend on them if you’re on a whole new OS. I am very into phone customization, but to the level that I can be confident it won’t hurt me.

[Lurking]

10 minutes ago, kamonanban said:

All good, I advise against uninstalling system apps even on rooted roms, you don’t have to depend on them if you’re on a whole new OS. I am very into phone customization, but to the level that I can be confident it won’t hurt me.

I didn't know those Samsung or Carrier -specific apps still will be on rooted phones. This just proves that someone like me should not mess with a daily-driver phone

 

Obviously one should really know their stuff and have more than 1 phone. Before I decided on what phone to buy I watched lot of YT reviews. One common theme is, all the YT people have tons of phones laying around. Easy to mess around if you have multiple phones (especially if sponsored ones). 

[Kazooduck]

8 minutes ago, Lurking said:

I didn't know those Samsung or Carrier -specific apps still will be on rooted phones. 

They won’t, I’m talking about system apps.

[Lurking]

After a few days with the P6 Pro I wanted to give an update. I'm still figuring out 1-2 new things every day. but overall I'm very happy with it and the UI now works for me at least as good, and often better, than my s9+. There is a useful Pixel community 

 

The only downside is the fingerprint scanner that works 50% of the time flawlessly, and 50% of the time I need to use the pattern. Rumor says Android 13 will bring an improvement and an update may bring face recognition. But as of now, if fingerprint unlocking is a killer feature to you, this isn't the phone for you. Screen protector doesn't make a difference. Even without protector it is 50/50. I ended up to set it that the phone doesn't lock before 2 minutes after I close the screen (I'm a habitual screen disabler and never leave my phone laying around in public). TBH, the S9+ fingerprint didn't work 100% of the time, but more often than 50%. and i tried all the tricks. Relearned each thumb twice (it only saves 5 fingers!), learned it with screen protector, only use the thumb since index finger seems worse.... nothing really makes it better. 

 

Camera:

- takes extremely good videos and pictures and is always focused even on the most tele setting with shaky hand. The AI eliminates all my shaking. Also picture editing is great (magic eraser + other intuitive settings). I took some surprisingly good pictures of the Moon eclipse (red moon) and it had a little focusing dot that always kept the Moon in focus. There is no way my S9+ would have produced somewhat acceptable pics. The AI really is great. It also seems to work well at low light, at least compared to the S9. 

- I'm really happy I got the Pro with the 4x tele lens. I taped my daughter's performance and even at only 20' away I sometimes used zoom (about 2x-3x) and it was good to not have to use the digital zoom already. I did not expect to need to use zoom indoors.  I took an outside telephoto above 4x (with digital zoom to maximum) very far away and it was OK. but it sure wouldn't have been great with digital zoom only. 

 

Setup:

- I was able to de-install or disable what I didn't need (YT app, AT&T...). This is the cleanest phone ever. 

- I installed "smart launcher 6", which allows a grid finer than 5x5. Also fixes the weather app bug that doesn't show the current weather on the OEM launcher. 

- I also set the power button to work like on Samsung (to power off instead of using power and volume button)

- there are quite some other settings i had to do to set it up like the S9+ worked, but it is possible

- I got used to use gestures. In developer options you can bring back the home/back button. But I ended up liking the swipe gestures more. 

- I got this case with screen protector. this is the same type i had with my S9+ and really like it. 

 

Performance: 

- In developer options you can see average RAM usage (not peak, which is higher). Like most newer OS, it speeds up by using all available RAM. It uses over 6GB on average. So I'm happy the Pro has 12 GB. 8GB probably isn't bad, but I would be concerned with the 6A with 6 GB. 

- CPU seems fast. After taking pictures it processes for 0.5 seconds. But this is expected to process my poor photo skills. 

- Overall really fast. 

- Never gets hot from processing (But I don't do long endurance high-power stuff)

 

Connection:

- WifI is much better. At one place where my S9+ barely worked this one works really great. Also doesn't disconnect when I jump between different routers 

- Bluetooth has a much wider range. My S9+ barely gave me 10-15m, which mirrors the official BT specs. this one goes much further. I forgot my phone in the house and walked in the yard with my BT headset. With my old phone BT would stop, but with this one I didn't even notice I forgot to bring my phone since the music never stopped. (same headset)

- The BT volume can be set per device (developer option). My car BT has it to 100%, while my headphones to a lower %. With the S9+, i had to change the volume when I switched between car and headphones or when I used the speaker. 

 

Screen: 

- bright enough to read map or my app outside in the sun. I'm sure more is always better (S22!), but this is better than the S9+ 

- i read an in-depth article about someone who tested refresh rate. it seems when set to smooth, it goes from 10-120Hz. If not, it is static at 60Hz. So the smooth should not really use more energy unless you doom-scroll all the time. i jsut leave it at smooth. 

- the auto-rotate with face-angle recognition actually works well. On the S9+ it was annoying and i only turned it on when i watched a YT video sideways. 

- when watching YT videos (in Adblock browser) the video will automatically goes the right way (landscape mode) regardless of if auto-rotate is on or not. With the S9+ I had to switch to auto-rotate to watch videos in landscape. 

- Auto-brightness works OK. Sometimes i have to up the brightness. Rumor has it the AI learns my needs and i don't have to adjust often. I also had to adjust my S9+ every once a while. So I call that equal. Really not the way some reviewers make it sound (I'm sure having it 7 months after release and all updates helps!). If i hadn't seen reviews complaining about it, i would not notice an issue. 

- Display is fast. When I set it to 60Hz, i can see the difference only when fast-scrolling (i don't game). In developer mode it doesn't show the actual frequency, it only shows 60 or 120, even if it is at 10Hz. 

 

Battery: 

- I used it one day while biking 5+ hours and had the Geo tracking app and podcast on. Took some pics, looked at the map etc. worked really well and had much more % left than with the S9+. 

- Takes some time to charge, but all my wireless chargers are 15W only, and I also use slower chargers over night. it has a setting to slow charge based on your alarm to save the battery. So far really great. I don't have a faster charger to test maximum speed. But when at home, work or my car it is plugged in or on wireless charger often anyway. On off-grid trips I don't use the screen often and always have a powerbank (I'm a belt+ suspender guy)

 

Great Features:

- Call screening is really great. I missed many spam calls already. Intuitive setup. 

- Do not disturb is great and automatically starts when I connect to my car BT, or based on speed. 

- Google assistant: I only use it to make calls in the car (and usually don't do that). but works fine and if a contact has multiple numbers, it asks which one to use. It only seems to work with Google apps. Like it doesn't work with my podcast or music player, it seems to work with YT or other Google players (i don't use any of those)

- Bedtime feature will make the screen more in grayscale at a specific time. i use it to try, not sure yet how useful it is. 

 

It has quite more features I still need to explore, or may not need. But it doesn't have all the (to me) useless Samsung features like Bixby and stuff. 

 

General note: they could get rid of the rounded edge screen and the glass back. I use a case anyway and those $ could be applied to a better finger scanner or something else. and without case, this phone is slippery and you probably break it when it slides away. This is a problem with most premium phones these days. 

 

[Kazooduck]

46 minutes ago, Lurking said:

 

- I installed "smart launcher 6", which allows a grid finer than 5x5. Also fixes the weather app bug that doesn't show the current weather on the OEM launcher. 

 

 

General note: they could get rid of the rounded edge screen and the glass back. I use a case anyway and those $ could be applied to a better finger scanner or something else. and without case, this phone is slippery and you probably break it when it slides away. This is a problem with most premium phones these days. 

 

I would try “lawnchair 12” (make sure its 12, the one on the play store is 2) for the most authentic experience. Rounded edges as in corners?(definitly not) but yeah i agree with removing the curved screen glass. Glass backs are very much a “pro” feature, and removing them detracts from the value.

[Lurking]

24 minutes ago, kamonanban said:

I would try “lawnchair 12” (make sure its 12, the one on the play store is 2) for the most authentic experience. Rounded edges as in corners?(definitly not) but yeah i agree with removing the curved screen glass. Glass backs are very much a “pro” feature, and removing them detracts from the value.

I meant the curved edge left and right. i don't really care about the corners, but assume little rounded corner will not break off...

 

In real life, every person I see uses a case. Some use rugged cases (like mine) or fashionable colorful cases. surprisingly many peole use a case without screen protector. IMHO the screen is in most need of protection. But I so far haven't seen a phone in the wild without case. 

But every YT review spends half the time talking about case color options, material, camera bump etc. All those features are meaningless with a case. I realize the YT reviewers get the phone for free, and are supposed to say all that. 

 

My P6 Pro in the case looks exactly like my S9+ looked in the case, just a few mm larger. 

 

I only found the Lawnchair 2, not the 12. i wasn't brave enough to wander outside the playstore. Before I spend lot of time on it, what does it better than the Smart Launcher? I'm happy with my current setup. But I don't miss what I don't know. I tried the Nova, but it lacked some features. 

 

I don't need to make colorful changes. The only things Smartlauncher did for me was to show the ambient temp, allow 7x7 etc. grid and the time links to the clock, shows weather, and the the next calendar date is displayed. the Nova Launcher only resolved the grid. 

[Kazooduck]

11 minutes ago, Lurking said:

I meant the curved edge left and right. i don't really care about the corners, but assume little rounded corner will not break off...

 

In real life, every person I see uses a case. Some use rugged cases (like mine) or fashionable colorful cases. surprisingly many peole use a case without screen protector. IMHO the screen is in most need of protection. But I so far haven't seen a phone in the wild without case. 

But every YT review spends half the time talking about case color options, material, camera bump etc. All those features are meaningless with a case. I realize the YT reviewers get the phone for free, and are supposed to say all that. 

 

My P6 Pro in the case looks exactly like my S9+ looked in the case, just a few mm larger. 

 

I only found the Lawnchair 2, not the 12. i wasn't brave enough to wander outside the playstore. Before I spend lot of time on it, what does it better than the Smart Launcher? I'm happy with my current setup. But I don't miss what I don't know. I tried the Nova, but it lacked some features. 

 

I don't need to make colorful changes. The only things Smartlauncher did for me was to show the ambient temp, allow 7x7 etc. grid and the time links to the clock, shows weather, and the the next calendar date is displayed. the Nova Launcher only resolved the grid. 

Ive seen maybe 3 phones without a case in the wild.

lawnchair mimics the pixel launcher really well. It’s not on the play store right now because of the wierd beta program system that’s in play. The telegram channel is t.me/lawnchairci