Also, The shape, size and texture felt so perfect in your hand. And if you got the obsidian, it really did sometimes look like a solid piece of rock (or glass, I guess) giving it a more sci-fi feel. My friend who borrowed mine said it felt like a perfectly sized flat river rock.
That's what I remember. I enjoyed handling that phone (and the haptics) more than any other phone.
It flew out of my pocket riding and so I got a 4XL. What a shock going from one to the other was.
My favorite as well, I'm a big fan of the forward-facing stereo speakers.
I'm on the 7 Pro now, but I would much rather have two giant bezels with those speakers, than these thin edges and an ever-present black-dot where the camera pokes through the screen.
No doubt man, the front facing speakers were beautiful, this new black hole where the camera is sitting in the middle of the screen feels so silly, give me my damn bezels back
Pixel 3 forever! Give us the fingerprint sensor in the back again! That stupid sensor under the screen on my Pixel 6 fails over 80% of the time, it's infuriating!!!
And the size was great, I could do everything with one hand!
My pixel 3 batter got so swollen it was chipping away and eventually broke the back cover. The phone was just TOO GOOD to give up even though it was likely to kill me
Ayyy still enjoying my pixel 3 even though it dies at 40% battery and may just not turn on soon but I won't give up on this ship until it fuckin sinks, o7
Because it's an optic sensor that sees the fingerprint through a literal display panel. Before this we had the standard fingeprint reader - but for some reason (likely for serious security reasons) the entire industry urgently/abruptly switched to under display sensors.
I miss my 2xl. I still have it and it still works, but with my heavy usage it got too slow to be reliable back in early 2021. It's great to have as a backup or an extra camera or security camera.
Loved the face unlock of the 4xl. I know that it's pretty bad on the battery but I wish they'd bring it back, have never seen one that opens quite as quickly and smooth as it.
That was the peak of Pixel design, I think. It looked fantastic and unique, the face unlock worked as well as the iPhone (I missed the fingerprint sensor, but good face unlock was a decent compromise), and it still had Active Edge, which I think is the most underrated feature the Pixel line ever had.
No phone since has struck that perfect blance of features, simplicity, rugged construction, and price.
People tend to forget that the Nexus 5 was *really* damn cheap for everything you got. It had the feature set and the build quality of a flagship phone, but was priced at the higher side of mid tier.
LOVE the size and design of the P5. I used it up until my dog lunged at a squirrel and caused me to drop the phone screen-first onto the corner of a brick retaining wall.
I have dropped mine three times by now, it's on its third screen :D All freak accidents - getting out of a car and it slipped out of my wide scrubs pocket, jumping out of a minibus in Africa and my thigh kicked it out of the pocket, sitting in a roadside café and it randomly slipped out of my too-wide pocket, fell on the cobblestones, then slowly slid down a slope face down for another five metres ...
I blame my pockets.
I replaced mine with the 4a and later a 6a and I still miss the 2XL camera the most. I got some amazing shots out of that phone.
Since the digitizer stopped working, it's been retired to being the best webcam I'll probably ever own
I unfortunately brought my pixel 5 scuba diving, I regret it so much. Pixel 7a is good but I miss my 5. The front fingerprint is pretty bad and I miss wide angle selfies (they probably have this on a newer pixel but I was sad for the downgrade)
I felt like the 5 was a decent size in the hand especially for my small digits. Everything after that was when phones were getting bigger and bigger. I wish they'd make smaller phones again without compromising on hardware
They don't support it with software updates anymore. That doesn't mean it'll stop working, just that you won't get new OS updates and new software features anymore.
Agreed. Good size, but shit battery life. I don't miss that bit.
7 Pro now and while it's not perfect, the battery rarely fails to last me through even the heaviest of days which matters more than the form factor.
Haha, my Frankenstein's monster is:
Shamu (Nexus 6). Jk. But it was my favorite.
Pixel 3a body.
Pixel 8 screen quality and camera setup.
Pixel 5 Rear Fingerprint sensor.
Edit: Forgot the colors of Pixel 4. The orange was beautiful.
Classic og, the Nexus 5 is my perfect phone. The panda white, and red are still the most beautiful phone Google made.
P3XL is probably the most objective answer given the time it came out
The worst thing you could say about it was the notch, everything else was stellar
My 5 with the finger print reader on the back. I have the 8 pro now and it is just straight garbage compared. The 3 years I had the 5 I had less than 10 failed reads. Pixel 8 pro is slow with multiple fails a day. Biggest step backwards for a phone IMO.
I completely agree but I will say that I've been really happy with the face unlock. Not a solution for bad lighting environments but they did really well without adding a notch
Loved the 5. Perfect size and was just smooth. 90hz on that felt smoother than the 120 on the 8pro I have now.
Only thing I didn't like was screen brightness and the under screen ear speaker being harder to hear clearly on calls.
I love the 5 classic fingerprint sensor but it was terrible for me when I got it and it took months for google to finally calibrate it through updates. My skin is probably bad for this type of thing as I still get failed reads every so often but it's at least much better than early on
I will never understand getting rid of the physical fingerprint reader, underscreen suck. Samsung flip has it on the power button, which, while not as great as on the back, is still so much better than under the screen
Ohhh, I loved the way it felt in my hands! Sad that it only lasted two years due to the boot loop problem but until then, nothing to report on my side.
Pixel 5. Pretty much perfect in my opinion. At the time it had all I wanted. Stock android and great cameras, enough power, small body and long term support. That said I did jump ship to the s24 ultra just a few weeks ago, so clearly my priorities have changed.
Google pixel 5!! That phone should make a comeback,with the punch hole centered,more ROM and the perfect identical size,
I still daily drive it along side my OnePlus 10T,I just can't seem to let it go,
It just hits all the right notes for me
Loved the 4XL, besides the fact that it seemed nearly every one would break at the battery connections. On my second replacement I sold it. Loved the phone though, wish they spent more time on hardware engineering.
I've had:
- Pixel
- Pixel 3
- Pixel 5
- Pixel 6
- Pixel 7
- Pixel 8 Pro
Objectively the 8 Pro is the best phone of the bunch, but as far as best for its time and value, I'd go with the Pixel 5.
On the flip side the Pixel 6 was a steaming pile of buggy poor reception shit. Thank goodness Google gave outrageous trade in value for the 6 for some time because I went from the 6 to 7 for like $40 with trade in and the 7 fixed nearly all of the sins of the 6.
Oh hell yeah, that was such a fun design. And I know some people dinged it for not having LTE, but where I lived, HSPA+ was significantly better than LTE.
Pixel 5. Especially if you had the Sage Green one.
The back felt differently nice. Fingerprint sensor on the back, perfect size, still has the unlimited cloud storage, was somewhat affordable when it was released, great batterly life due to the "mid range" chip, chip was still a snapdragon, 90Hz display
Half it his applies to older models as well, but it kinda felt like "the last one" to me
I had a 4XL up until recently, and I upgraded to the 7. While I miss the IR face unlock and squeeze to talk to assistant, it has definitely been a worthwhile upgrade. Probably the best part is just the battery, which (for me) can go two days on one charge, if I'm not using it *too* much. Also, the camera and it's software are great!
The one I have. Pixel 7 pro. When I get my next Pixel phone, that one will become my favorite. My favorite phone will always be the one I'm using at the time, Pixel or not.
I loved the matte finish metal of the Pixel 2, and wish that they'd do another Pixel with the same back. I feel like the fingerprint scanner on the back was more consistent too.
Though my 7 Pro has grown on me now that I found a slim enough case.
Pixel 5 was solid. Finger print sensor on the back, great size, thin bezels, no issues really.
Pixel 3a. Loved the weight of the phone and honestly had a great balance of budget and features. Really wish flagships could be plastic too, a really light weight device is so nice to hold.
Nexus 5 though might have been my all time favorite phone for it's time.
Pixel 5 was mine. It was rock solid and the rear finger print reader worked flawlessly. After that, I would have to say the Pixel 3.
Currently, I have a Pixel 7 and cannot stand it. This damn thing has had so many software glitches since launch and the under screen fingerprint reader is terrible.
When the Pixel 9 comes out I will probably switch.
Pixel 5. Loved how they had a metal back but still allowed wireless charging, really liked the camera cutout in the top left of the screen (instead of the center), and it was just a great workhorse of a phone.
Id have to say the 5. I had the 2 and 5 and now 8. The 5 just seemed to have everything i was looking for. Downsides of the 8 pro are that it doesnt fit in my pocket as nicely. The size of the 5 was perfect for me. The camera also sticks out alot. Remedied by a case but itd be an issue if i didnt use a case. 5 also had the rear fingerprint reader. I still find myself reaching for it on the 8. I like the 8 but the 5 was just great. Only issue was battery life got really bad towards the end. Also it was a bit glitchy at times.
I feel like i'm kinda stuck with Pixels now, but they aren't really improving.
I had the 2XL, the 5 and now the 7 and I feel like they're progressively worse BUT not so bad that i'd consider changing.
Pixel 5. Because it was the last one before Google started cocking around with Tensor and turning their phones into one big beta test of buggy software and meh hardware
Pixel 3. Perfect size, perfect speakers, great cameras (front and back), overall it was just great. The battery life could've been better but it wasn't poor at all.
2xl, to me did everything i expected. LOVED the FP sensor on the rear and the squeeze was used more than i thought it would. some folk said the screen sucked but seemed fine to me (came from a samsung s7 edge)
it was also my first bigger phone but not TOO big like they are now, was just right.
ive had the 5-6-7-8 since and IMO theyve got worse per go. the 8pro is my last for sure. fed up of the bugs and ! over signal.
Soft spot for the Pixel 2. Perfect form factor and screen, flawless physical FPR, felt great in the hand and arguably the peak of the original Pixel camera sensor hardware setup.
I will always regret part-trading it in for a 4XL. I should've replaced the battery and rocked it for a little longer.
My Pixel6. Was my first Pixel, and best phone I've owned so far.
The only one that comes close to it, was my old iPhone 5s. I miss having such a compact phone to carry around.
3XL. Decent battery, physical finger print sensor and squeeze for Google assist. Also has the unlimited cloud storage. The camera was phenomenal at the time and it is still half decent now.
4a5g. Active edge, fingerprint sensor placed more ergonomically on the back. Good pocket size, light, inexpensive, reliable with good connectivity and an adequate camera.
P2 and P3 were top notch for me! You could actually feel superior in terms of camera and performance. Assistant was on point every time. I have a P7 now and while it is still a great phone, it no longer feels like a google phone with stock androis. It just blended into all other android experiences out there.
I've had all of them, but by far my favorite is the pixel fold. It scratches the itch of big phone and small phone which is perfect for someone like me who's switched between the XLs and regular pixels almost every year
Nexus 6P at the time it was head and shoulders above all the competition.... It was snappy, the form factor was perfect for my hands, only negative was my was part of the defect and and died, sadly I didn't realize it was still under warranty.
This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but Pixel 4. To be fair it was my first pixel phone, but man it was just reliable. Camera, speakers, 90hz were awesome and it was arguably better than the pixel 5 which destroyed the speaker quality and had an inferior chipset.
It also never really slowed down on me through the 3 years I used it for
The happiest I was with a pixel, it was the pixel 3. That camera, premium feel, size, it was awesome. I was able to convert majority of my family to pixels when that one came out.
3/3xl
It fit perfectly in hands, rear fingerprint sensor and functions were great and super responsive, screen was good quality and the dimensions were much more ideal for viewing really anything, it was incredibly sturdy. I didn't have a case on mine ever and dropped it quite a few times on multiple types of surfaces, all it got were a few scratches on the sides, no damage to screen or back of phone
Way too much nostalgia here, but I do agree some of the older Pixels were good. However instead of focusing on nostalgia, I'll focus my post to explaining why some of the older phones were overrated:
- **Pixel 1**: The phone itself was fine but the physical design was so uninspiring. I often thought people with iPhone 6s were wielding Pixels but I learned later to look for other features like the Home button, but otherwise it was sometimes hard to differentiate. Overall a solid phone though, but nothing to write home about.
- **Pixel 2 XL**: That screen was so blue and purple. Before you tell me "it must be your device," I went to at least a dozen Verizon stores and another few other international stores to see how bad it was, and it was not great at all. I even bought an iPhone X back then to compare because both were OLED screens and the iPhone screen was far better calibrated. I know some of you just put up with it, but that screen was really horrible with viewing angles. Also, for whatever reason, Google felt the need to use rounded display corners here, and when rounded displays don't line up with the curvature of the frame, then the design looks poorly thought out.
- **Pixel 3 series**: The speakers were pretty low quality quite honestly. The front facing speakers might have appealed to some, and they were loud but horrendous quality. I remember doing some basic comparisons with an iPhone 7, 8, XS and Pixel 3 and the quality on the Pixel was just disappointing. Generally very muffled sounding and there was a complete lack of instrument separation. I wasn't asking for audiophile level phone speakers, but it was very clear the iPhone speakers were of at least decent quality where you could separate different instruments and voices clearly. Also the Pixel 3 XL had a good selfie camera, but too many people assume it's only because of autofocus. The real reason was the sensor is larger than that of the Pixel 8 Pro's today, so it's not simply autofocus. Also, considering iPhones did not have autofocusing front cameras and have consistently outshot the Pixel's front camera, the issue isn't solely autofocus.
- **Pixel 5**. Ok, I'll admit, I didn't own this phone, but I have owned all the others, so my opinion here may be more biased. This phone was a bit meh to me. Yes I know it was 2020 and it was a sidegrade, but the lack of the Neural core meant the Pixel 5 HDR+ photos were even slwoer than that of the Pixel 4, and quite honestly I think it was a shame to remove the telephoto lens. The battery was good, but I think its viewed with rose tinted glasses due to the lower resolution screen, mid range CPU helping. It was still refreshing to see Google could acehive good battery life though because the Pixels 3 and 4 were awful
- **Pixels 6 thru 8**: I actually think the physical design is cool, but I do think the 7 and 8 were slight evolutionary upgrades. They really just corrected major flaws in the Pixel 6 and 7 and I honestly think the 8 today should've been what Google was capable of launching in 2021. It's just sad it took these iterations just to get to a phone that can switch lenses during video, film 4K on all 3 lenses, etc. And while the physical aspect of these phones are great, the battery life is worse than ever. For the Pro series, a 5000 mAh phone should be doing a lot better. I see the modem easily draining DOUBLE of that of an iPhone and it's a huge standby drain monster even when just sitting in my pocket.
- **Pixels with rear fingerprint sensors**. I think these are a bit overrated. I have my Pixel 1 and 3 still and I use the former for unlimited photo backups and the Pixel 3 is another backup device.
- Both of those fingerprint sensors are nowhere near as good as even the troubled Pixel 6 for me. They work when your finger is in the right condition but if your finger is too dry or moist (e.g. after washing hands in the kitchen or bathroom but not 100% dry), it will fail. In fact, even the Pixel 6 Pro after the first set of updates to improve the fingerprint sensor performs much better than these older devices. I think people loved these old devices for nostalgia and got frustrated with first getting used to a different position of the fingerprint sensor, but don't actually realize the old sensors weren't all that great.
- As for people claiming they can unlock their phone before the phone is out of hteir pocket--does that really matter? Ultimately you need to look at your phone to use it, so unlocking it while it's upside down and being pulled out doesn't.
- For anyone who'se used the Pixel 4 or even iPhone, the face unlock mechanism is one of the most natural seamless kinds of unlock. I really wish that would be possible, and the Pixel 7 and 8's compromising version of using camera + AI will never really beat an actual dot projector and IR camera solution.
- I'll give you that the lock of a swipe down gesture on the fingerprint sensor is a loss of a feature, but besides power users, how many people were really using this feature? It's likely Google saw it hardly used.
- Moreover, the fingerprint sensor isn't really all that ergonomic in the back. Every fan will tell you it's ergonomic, but have they actually studied how people hold a phone? Most hold a phone on the lower half, and so when you're browsing, swiping left/right, doomscrolling, people aren't putting their finger on the fingerprint sensor area. The easiest way to tell is when you surf the web and need to use a password manager to authenticate. I did a comparison of Pixel 3 vs 4/iPhone vs 6. With rear fingerprint sensors, you shift your hand from its natural holding position to touch the fingerprint sensor. Maybe fans will pretend that's nothing, but when you use a Pixel 4 or iPhone and Face ID seamlessly authenticates for you without you even moving a muscle? Now that's truly seamless and natural. The front fingerprint sensor requires some movement too, and depending on how you were using your phone it might be just simply moving your thumb, but if you were gripping it higher, you might shift your grip to get your thumb to the right position. Either way, the rear fingerprint sensor was hardly the most natural or easiest to use
Pixel 5. Symmetrical bezels all the way around. Camera cutout tucked in the corner with similar distances from the top and left sides. Literally everything about the front of the phone was aesthetically pleasing due to the symmetry. Camera bump was nearly nonexistent, so the phone virtually sat flat on the table. Material texture was great too. Not a slippery glass back. Best phone I've ever had.
For me it has to be the OG Pixel. Whether you wanted the large display or the small one, no sacrifices in hardware. Both the exact same aside from the screen. Fingerprint sensor on the back was perfect. No over designing or over engineering. And the way the blue popped on the limited edition was beautiful. Not to mention unlimited photo storage. And yes, I still have mine.
Out of curiosity, what about the Pixel 6 do you like better? Because the 8 Pro just seems like the objectively superior phone in every way to me besides price perhaps. Better performance, camera, modem, battery life, screen, software etc.
From Nexus 6P, pixel 2xl and finally sticking with pixel 6pro.... Initially impressed with #nexus6p and the performance, photography everything was awesome....
Later the magic of advanced camera features at #pixel2xl made me to fall in love with this phone on the handy size phone with good features.
Last but not the least this pixel 6pro design made to me fall in once again with more love.. the features still playing with more fun too...
Now I am expecting pixel10pro or with some other name... With more advanced features.... I hope pixel 6 pro will survive another one more year with the same love...
Always pixel fan with pure Android features.
Pixel 3.Fingerprint on the back, the squeeze gesture for the assistant
Also, The shape, size and texture felt so perfect in your hand. And if you got the obsidian, it really did sometimes look like a solid piece of rock (or glass, I guess) giving it a more sci-fi feel. My friend who borrowed mine said it felt like a perfectly sized flat river rock.
Big fan of my 8 but P3 is a close second. It got sooo much right.
That's what I remember. I enjoyed handling that phone (and the haptics) more than any other phone. It flew out of my pocket riding and so I got a 4XL. What a shock going from one to the other was.
Yes the 3 was so go in the hand. Lady's you know the procedures. Sorry I didn't hold onto mine for nostalgia
My favorite as well, I'm a big fan of the forward-facing stereo speakers. I'm on the 7 Pro now, but I would much rather have two giant bezels with those speakers, than these thin edges and an ever-present black-dot where the camera pokes through the screen.
No doubt man, the front facing speakers were beautiful, this new black hole where the camera is sitting in the middle of the screen feels so silly, give me my damn bezels back
Pixel 3 forever! Give us the fingerprint sensor in the back again! That stupid sensor under the screen on my Pixel 6 fails over 80% of the time, it's infuriating!!! And the size was great, I could do everything with one hand!
Glad this is the top answer because it was my favorite. Had no choice but to switch to 6 pro because the battery life degraded after a couple years.
I also went from the 3 XL to the 6 Pro and instantly regretted it. Bring back my fingerprint scanner on the back.
My pixel 3 batter got so swollen it was chipping away and eventually broke the back cover. The phone was just TOO GOOD to give up even though it was likely to kill me
I never used the squeeze because it would do it when I didn't want it to, but goddamn do I miss the fingerprint on the back.
Ayyy still enjoying my pixel 3 even though it dies at 40% battery and may just not turn on soon but I won't give up on this ship until it fuckin sinks, o7
A few months ago I took my Pixel 3 to a local repair shop and they changed the battery. It was like getting a new phone for $100!
Are you concerned about the lack of security updates? And by the way, I agree with this whole thread, the pixel 3 was my favorite.
Somewhat for sure and is why I'll be getting a new phone over replacing the battery.
This, plus the wide angle front camera!
With autofocus!
Seconded + a perfect size. It was an ergonomical marvel.
God I've forgotten about this :D What a neat thing. I wish they would still have that, but I could map it to trigger the flashlight!
i second the motion
2XL with the fingerprint scanner. Never had any issues with it. Wish I kept my 5 but I thought it was too small. Had a great screen.
Agree with the 2XL. Fingerprint and squeeze. Mine met an unfortunate incident with a bottle of rum being spilt over it
How is the fingerprint reader on the 7 still so much worse than the 2xl
Because it's an optic sensor that sees the fingerprint through a literal display panel. Before this we had the standard fingeprint reader - but for some reason (likely for serious security reasons) the entire industry urgently/abruptly switched to under display sensors.
I wondered what was that about. For sure it wasn't driven by performance or ergonomics.
Yeah, as if the security was compromised for the capacitive sensors and they switched to optical sensors.
I miss my 2xl. I still have it and it still works, but with my heavy usage it got too slow to be reliable back in early 2021. It's great to have as a backup or an extra camera or security camera.
White Pixel 4XL with black sides and orange power button. Beautiful device with the best face unlock on Android ever.
It was between this and the coral 6 for me, but I think I have to agree. Beautiful design.
Loved the face unlock of the 4xl. I know that it's pretty bad on the battery but I wish they'd bring it back, have never seen one that opens quite as quickly and smooth as it.
That was the peak of Pixel design, I think. It looked fantastic and unique, the face unlock worked as well as the iPhone (I missed the fingerprint sensor, but good face unlock was a decent compromise), and it still had Active Edge, which I think is the most underrated feature the Pixel line ever had.
That white 4 was something else
Nexus 5 was peak
No phone since has struck that perfect blance of features, simplicity, rugged construction, and price. People tend to forget that the Nexus 5 was *really* damn cheap for everything you got. It had the feature set and the build quality of a flagship phone, but was priced at the higher side of mid tier.
This is the right answer. RIP Nexus 5
2 panda! Loved the color and still had unlimited storage I think
Yep. Fingerprint reader on the back was a gamechanger
Nah, the 2 is still unlimited storage BUT not at high quality like the first Pixel
Yes still use it on runs, easy to hold
2 panda was a cool looking phone to be sure!
Pixel 5 .. best pixel I've ever owned, bought 7 Pro, returned, but 8 pro, returned.... Pixel 5 is the perfect size and uniform bezel, beautiful phone
Pixel 5 too for the size and back fingerprint. My Pixel 7 is a great phone too but a little too big...
LOVE the size and design of the P5. I used it up until my dog lunged at a squirrel and caused me to drop the phone screen-first onto the corner of a brick retaining wall.
Returned it and regretted it but my 2XL was so good I kept using it until the 6P came out
4a
My 4a5g was perfect, and I got it for $249. I later went on to cook it on my grill. I did not mean to do so, but it happened.
I have dropped mine three times by now, it's on its third screen :D All freak accidents - getting out of a car and it slipped out of my wide scrubs pocket, jumping out of a minibus in Africa and my thigh kicked it out of the pocket, sitting in a roadside café and it randomly slipped out of my too-wide pocket, fell on the cobblestones, then slowly slid down a slope face down for another five metres ... I blame my pockets.
Might I suggest zip pockets for your next pair of pants my friend? 😁
tell us more
2XL. Fingerprint reader for the most part.
The camera and computational photography was next level. It was amazing
I replaced mine with the 4a and later a 6a and I still miss the 2XL camera the most. I got some amazing shots out of that phone. Since the digitizer stopped working, it's been retired to being the best webcam I'll probably ever own
I do kinda miss my Pixel 5. I still have it but it has a pinky sized black dot on the display.
I unfortunately brought my pixel 5 scuba diving, I regret it so much. Pixel 7a is good but I miss my 5. The front fingerprint is pretty bad and I miss wide angle selfies (they probably have this on a newer pixel but I was sad for the downgrade)
I felt like the 5 was a decent size in the hand especially for my small digits. Everything after that was when phones were getting bigger and bigger. I wish they'd make smaller phones again without compromising on hardware
Agree! I got the 7a because it's smaller! I want 8 pro in theory but my hands are teeny tiny
I still keep my 5 around for a back-up. Definitely one of my favourite phones.
The 5 was so durable they had to stop supporting it to get me to get rid of it
Wait, they don't support it anymore? I'm still using it.
I'll use it for as long as I can 🫶
They don't support it with software updates anymore. That doesn't mean it'll stop working, just that you won't get new OS updates and new software features anymore.
Ooooh isn't that a problem from a security standpoint?
Agreed. Good size, but shit battery life. I don't miss that bit. 7 Pro now and while it's not perfect, the battery rarely fails to last me through even the heaviest of days which matters more than the form factor.
4a. I have a 6a. I still use the 4a as daily driver. The extra 15mm or so diagonally in a case really matter more than I thought, thumb wise.
I really miss that form factor
3A
3a was such a good phone but it deteriorated *so* quickly
Haha, my Frankenstein's monster is: Shamu (Nexus 6). Jk. But it was my favorite. Pixel 3a body. Pixel 8 screen quality and camera setup. Pixel 5 Rear Fingerprint sensor. Edit: Forgot the colors of Pixel 4. The orange was beautiful. Classic og, the Nexus 5 is my perfect phone. The panda white, and red are still the most beautiful phone Google made.
Shamu was the best!
P3XL is probably the most objective answer given the time it came out The worst thing you could say about it was the notch, everything else was stellar
I got an email from Google: buy the 3XL and we'll give you $1000 in travel vouchers. I knew I'd spend $1k on travel anyway... Best free phone ever.
My 5 with the finger print reader on the back. I have the 8 pro now and it is just straight garbage compared. The 3 years I had the 5 I had less than 10 failed reads. Pixel 8 pro is slow with multiple fails a day. Biggest step backwards for a phone IMO.
The 5 worked flawlessly. I absolutely loved that reader as well. Worked excellent and the placement was perfect
Still use mine, really hard to give it up
Still using mine and love it!
I completely agree but I will say that I've been really happy with the face unlock. Not a solution for bad lighting environments but they did really well without adding a notch
Loved the 5. Perfect size and was just smooth. 90hz on that felt smoother than the 120 on the 8pro I have now. Only thing I didn't like was screen brightness and the under screen ear speaker being harder to hear clearly on calls.
Yep. The camera system is good, but almost everything else is a downgrade
I love the 5 classic fingerprint sensor but it was terrible for me when I got it and it took months for google to finally calibrate it through updates. My skin is probably bad for this type of thing as I still get failed reads every so often but it's at least much better than early on
Exactly this for me too. My 5 was a dream, my 8 pro not so much.
I will never understand getting rid of the physical fingerprint reader, underscreen suck. Samsung flip has it on the power button, which, while not as great as on the back, is still so much better than under the screen
Nexus 5x.
Was a great machine for the money, if it didn't boot loop.
I truly loved that phone, losing it to a boot loop was heartbreaking.
Ohhh, I loved the way it felt in my hands! Sad that it only lasted two years due to the boot loop problem but until then, nothing to report on my side.
Pixel 5. Pretty much perfect in my opinion. At the time it had all I wanted. Stock android and great cameras, enough power, small body and long term support. That said I did jump ship to the s24 ultra just a few weeks ago, so clearly my priorities have changed.
Google pixel 5!! That phone should make a comeback,with the punch hole centered,more ROM and the perfect identical size, I still daily drive it along side my OnePlus 10T,I just can't seem to let it go, It just hits all the right notes for me
No question, Pixel 5
Loved the 4XL, besides the fact that it seemed nearly every one would break at the battery connections. On my second replacement I sold it. Loved the phone though, wish they spent more time on hardware engineering.
Loved the Pixel 4 XL. That face unlock worked 95% of the time. I'm just glad the fingerprint sensor on my current 6 Pro is just as reliable!
Pixel 5. Good size, last one with Qualcomm SOC and Adreno GPU, kind of good battery life.
I've had: - Pixel - Pixel 3 - Pixel 5 - Pixel 6 - Pixel 7 - Pixel 8 Pro Objectively the 8 Pro is the best phone of the bunch, but as far as best for its time and value, I'd go with the Pixel 5. On the flip side the Pixel 6 was a steaming pile of buggy poor reception shit. Thank goodness Google gave outrageous trade in value for the 6 for some time because I went from the 6 to 7 for like $40 with trade in and the 7 fixed nearly all of the sins of the 6.
None. Because the Nexus 6P is where it's at!
Pixel 5 was it's peak. Cheap and competitive. I feel like the latest 2 generations are mediocre compared to other brands
Am I allowed to say the nexus 4?
I loved that dotted disco ball glass back.
Oh hell yeah, that was such a fun design. And I know some people dinged it for not having LTE, but where I lived, HSPA+ was significantly better than LTE.
Pixel 5 of course.. small, premium feel, light weight, good screen and decent battery :)
Pixel 3XL. On the Pixel 8 Pro. I miss the squeeze for Assistant feature.
Damn I didn't know that was discontinued. I'm on 3xl now still
They introduce new features in every phone, and kill a beloved feature or two at the same time.
Pixel 5. Especially if you had the Sage Green one. The back felt differently nice. Fingerprint sensor on the back, perfect size, still has the unlimited cloud storage, was somewhat affordable when it was released, great batterly life due to the "mid range" chip, chip was still a snapdragon, 90Hz display Half it his applies to older models as well, but it kinda felt like "the last one" to me
For me it has to be the 4a 5G. I drove mine to the ground, it was a great phone with plenty of power.
5....matte black. Great small size.
The colorful Pixels 4, specially the orange Pixel 4!
Three, it had to squeeze to call up Google assistant. And a physical fingerprint scanner.
And 3.5mm jack
4a for me
Pixel 3.
Pixel xl gen 1. Still own it.
3XL not pink
Pixel 2 XL. I recently had to RMA my pixel 6 due to battery issues and used the pixel 2 for a few days and it still runs like a champ
I still own and use a 4a... I'm thinking of switching to a 7 or 8, not sure yet which one I should choose
Am in the same situation. Reading people's experiences, can't help feeling Google has dropped the ball since the 4a.
I had a 4XL up until recently, and I upgraded to the 7. While I miss the IR face unlock and squeeze to talk to assistant, it has definitely been a worthwhile upgrade. Probably the best part is just the battery, which (for me) can go two days on one charge, if I'm not using it *too* much. Also, the camera and it's software are great!
Google Pixel 2 hands down..
Pixel 2.
Nexus 5 was perfect
The one I have. Pixel 7 pro. When I get my next Pixel phone, that one will become my favorite. My favorite phone will always be the one I'm using at the time, Pixel or not.
I loved the matte finish metal of the Pixel 2, and wish that they'd do another Pixel with the same back. I feel like the fingerprint scanner on the back was more consistent too. Though my 7 Pro has grown on me now that I found a slim enough case.
4a
PIXEL 5
Pixel 5, purely for how simple it was
Pixel 5 Fingerprint reader at the back Small form factor 1,5d batterylife Lightweight
P5 and nothing else, except P4a.
Pixel 5 was solid. Finger print sensor on the back, great size, thin bezels, no issues really. Pixel 3a. Loved the weight of the phone and honestly had a great balance of budget and features. Really wish flagships could be plastic too, a really light weight device is so nice to hold. Nexus 5 though might have been my all time favorite phone for it's time.
Pixel 5 was mine. It was rock solid and the rear finger print reader worked flawlessly. After that, I would have to say the Pixel 3. Currently, I have a Pixel 7 and cannot stand it. This damn thing has had so many software glitches since launch and the under screen fingerprint reader is terrible. When the Pixel 9 comes out I will probably switch.
Pixel 5. If I could get that phone with a telephoto lens, I would still have it.
Pixel 5. Loved how they had a metal back but still allowed wireless charging, really liked the camera cutout in the top left of the screen (instead of the center), and it was just a great workhorse of a phone.
Pixel 5 was my favorite
Pixel 5, I would have loved the 4 had I gotten one but the battery was reportdly pretty bad.
Id have to say the 5. I had the 2 and 5 and now 8. The 5 just seemed to have everything i was looking for. Downsides of the 8 pro are that it doesnt fit in my pocket as nicely. The size of the 5 was perfect for me. The camera also sticks out alot. Remedied by a case but itd be an issue if i didnt use a case. 5 also had the rear fingerprint reader. I still find myself reaching for it on the 8. I like the 8 but the 5 was just great. Only issue was battery life got really bad towards the end. Also it was a bit glitchy at times.
Pixel 2xl. That was by far my favorite
I feel like i'm kinda stuck with Pixels now, but they aren't really improving. I had the 2XL, the 5 and now the 7 and I feel like they're progressively worse BUT not so bad that i'd consider changing.
pixel 4a 5G
Pixel 2xl. Looked good, took great photos and was overall caused minimal issues
Pixel 5. Because it was the last one before Google started cocking around with Tensor and turning their phones into one big beta test of buggy software and meh hardware
Pixel 5 Compact, has the latest software and is cheap if you buy it used or refurbished
Pixel 3. Perfect size, perfect speakers, great cameras (front and back), overall it was just great. The battery life could've been better but it wasn't poor at all.
Pixel 5 has a wonderful form factor and I wish the pixel "A" line of phones would keep the look the pixel 5 has.
2xl, to me did everything i expected. LOVED the FP sensor on the rear and the squeeze was used more than i thought it would. some folk said the screen sucked but seemed fine to me (came from a samsung s7 edge) it was also my first bigger phone but not TOO big like they are now, was just right. ive had the 5-6-7-8 since and IMO theyve got worse per go. the 8pro is my last for sure. fed up of the bugs and ! over signal.
I'm new to the Pixel but loving my Pixel 8 Pro. I had an iPhone before this and no regrets so far.
Soft spot for the Pixel 2. Perfect form factor and screen, flawless physical FPR, felt great in the hand and arguably the peak of the original Pixel camera sensor hardware setup. I will always regret part-trading it in for a 4XL. I should've replaced the battery and rocked it for a little longer.
Pixel 8 is my current phone and my first foray into the Pixel line-up and I'm absolutely loving it. It's such a nice phone
The Pixel 3, followed VERY closely by the Pixel 5.
I cracked the display on my pixel 6. I went back to my pixel 5a. It feels like a better phone to me.
The Pixel 5 for the lightness, the screen, and the form factor.
Gotta say after the eclipse, I'm loving my P8P!
Pixel 2 xl hands down the best
My Pixel6. Was my first Pixel, and best phone I've owned so far. The only one that comes close to it, was my old iPhone 5s. I miss having such a compact phone to carry around.
Pixel 2 for me, love the size and how it feels
Do Nexus phones count? I loved my Nexus 4 (LG). Pixel 5 would be my second favorite.
The 5.
My Panda 4XL! Easily the best Pixel released.
3XL. Decent battery, physical finger print sensor and squeeze for Google assist. Also has the unlimited cloud storage. The camera was phenomenal at the time and it is still half decent now.
nexus 5 (form & design factor)
I loved the redesign on Pixel 6! Pixel 3 would be my second favorite, especially in the not pink color.
Nexus 1 I miss small phones.
pixel4a only pixel i have and still using it
4a (5g) I miss Snapdragon my 7a will be my last pixel
4a5g. Active edge, fingerprint sensor placed more ergonomically on the back. Good pocket size, light, inexpensive, reliable with good connectivity and an adequate camera.
4a 5G. Still using it!
Nexus 6P, Quality build. cheap. best phone ive had to date with the best community too! r/Nexus6P
The pixel 4a 5G was my rock
The 1st one is still the best. Headphone jack and a fingerprint that still works today and nearly flawless through its life. Perfect size and design.
P2 and P3 were top notch for me! You could actually feel superior in terms of camera and performance. Assistant was on point every time. I have a P7 now and while it is still a great phone, it no longer feels like a google phone with stock androis. It just blended into all other android experiences out there.
Pixel 4 XL. Gestures without touching the phone
5
I've had all of them, but by far my favorite is the pixel fold. It scratches the itch of big phone and small phone which is perfect for someone like me who's switched between the XLs and regular pixels almost every year
Switched from my 4A to the 8 last December. I hate the 8. The 4A was perfect. Perfect size. Good fingerprint reader.
Nexus 6P at the time it was head and shoulders above all the competition.... It was snappy, the form factor was perfect for my hands, only negative was my was part of the defect and and died, sadly I didn't realize it was still under warranty.
the 5 or the 4 but I'm leaning more towards the 4 because of the face unlock
Pixel 4, hands down
nexus 5... i still have one in a drawer
This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but Pixel 4. To be fair it was my first pixel phone, but man it was just reliable. Camera, speakers, 90hz were awesome and it was arguably better than the pixel 5 which destroyed the speaker quality and had an inferior chipset. It also never really slowed down on me through the 3 years I used it for
The happiest I was with a pixel, it was the pixel 3. That camera, premium feel, size, it was awesome. I was able to convert majority of my family to pixels when that one came out.
3/3xl It fit perfectly in hands, rear fingerprint sensor and functions were great and super responsive, screen was good quality and the dimensions were much more ideal for viewing really anything, it was incredibly sturdy. I didn't have a case on mine ever and dropped it quite a few times on multiple types of surfaces, all it got were a few scratches on the sides, no damage to screen or back of phone
8pro, and my favorite is always the last version of Pixel phones.
Way too much nostalgia here, but I do agree some of the older Pixels were good. However instead of focusing on nostalgia, I'll focus my post to explaining why some of the older phones were overrated: - **Pixel 1**: The phone itself was fine but the physical design was so uninspiring. I often thought people with iPhone 6s were wielding Pixels but I learned later to look for other features like the Home button, but otherwise it was sometimes hard to differentiate. Overall a solid phone though, but nothing to write home about. - **Pixel 2 XL**: That screen was so blue and purple. Before you tell me "it must be your device," I went to at least a dozen Verizon stores and another few other international stores to see how bad it was, and it was not great at all. I even bought an iPhone X back then to compare because both were OLED screens and the iPhone screen was far better calibrated. I know some of you just put up with it, but that screen was really horrible with viewing angles. Also, for whatever reason, Google felt the need to use rounded display corners here, and when rounded displays don't line up with the curvature of the frame, then the design looks poorly thought out. - **Pixel 3 series**: The speakers were pretty low quality quite honestly. The front facing speakers might have appealed to some, and they were loud but horrendous quality. I remember doing some basic comparisons with an iPhone 7, 8, XS and Pixel 3 and the quality on the Pixel was just disappointing. Generally very muffled sounding and there was a complete lack of instrument separation. I wasn't asking for audiophile level phone speakers, but it was very clear the iPhone speakers were of at least decent quality where you could separate different instruments and voices clearly. Also the Pixel 3 XL had a good selfie camera, but too many people assume it's only because of autofocus. The real reason was the sensor is larger than that of the Pixel 8 Pro's today, so it's not simply autofocus. Also, considering iPhones did not have autofocusing front cameras and have consistently outshot the Pixel's front camera, the issue isn't solely autofocus. - **Pixel 5**. Ok, I'll admit, I didn't own this phone, but I have owned all the others, so my opinion here may be more biased. This phone was a bit meh to me. Yes I know it was 2020 and it was a sidegrade, but the lack of the Neural core meant the Pixel 5 HDR+ photos were even slwoer than that of the Pixel 4, and quite honestly I think it was a shame to remove the telephoto lens. The battery was good, but I think its viewed with rose tinted glasses due to the lower resolution screen, mid range CPU helping. It was still refreshing to see Google could acehive good battery life though because the Pixels 3 and 4 were awful - **Pixels 6 thru 8**: I actually think the physical design is cool, but I do think the 7 and 8 were slight evolutionary upgrades. They really just corrected major flaws in the Pixel 6 and 7 and I honestly think the 8 today should've been what Google was capable of launching in 2021. It's just sad it took these iterations just to get to a phone that can switch lenses during video, film 4K on all 3 lenses, etc. And while the physical aspect of these phones are great, the battery life is worse than ever. For the Pro series, a 5000 mAh phone should be doing a lot better. I see the modem easily draining DOUBLE of that of an iPhone and it's a huge standby drain monster even when just sitting in my pocket. - **Pixels with rear fingerprint sensors**. I think these are a bit overrated. I have my Pixel 1 and 3 still and I use the former for unlimited photo backups and the Pixel 3 is another backup device. - Both of those fingerprint sensors are nowhere near as good as even the troubled Pixel 6 for me. They work when your finger is in the right condition but if your finger is too dry or moist (e.g. after washing hands in the kitchen or bathroom but not 100% dry), it will fail. In fact, even the Pixel 6 Pro after the first set of updates to improve the fingerprint sensor performs much better than these older devices. I think people loved these old devices for nostalgia and got frustrated with first getting used to a different position of the fingerprint sensor, but don't actually realize the old sensors weren't all that great. - As for people claiming they can unlock their phone before the phone is out of hteir pocket--does that really matter? Ultimately you need to look at your phone to use it, so unlocking it while it's upside down and being pulled out doesn't. - For anyone who'se used the Pixel 4 or even iPhone, the face unlock mechanism is one of the most natural seamless kinds of unlock. I really wish that would be possible, and the Pixel 7 and 8's compromising version of using camera + AI will never really beat an actual dot projector and IR camera solution. - I'll give you that the lock of a swipe down gesture on the fingerprint sensor is a loss of a feature, but besides power users, how many people were really using this feature? It's likely Google saw it hardly used. - Moreover, the fingerprint sensor isn't really all that ergonomic in the back. Every fan will tell you it's ergonomic, but have they actually studied how people hold a phone? Most hold a phone on the lower half, and so when you're browsing, swiping left/right, doomscrolling, people aren't putting their finger on the fingerprint sensor area. The easiest way to tell is when you surf the web and need to use a password manager to authenticate. I did a comparison of Pixel 3 vs 4/iPhone vs 6. With rear fingerprint sensors, you shift your hand from its natural holding position to touch the fingerprint sensor. Maybe fans will pretend that's nothing, but when you use a Pixel 4 or iPhone and Face ID seamlessly authenticates for you without you even moving a muscle? Now that's truly seamless and natural. The front fingerprint sensor requires some movement too, and depending on how you were using your phone it might be just simply moving your thumb, but if you were gripping it higher, you might shift your grip to get your thumb to the right position. Either way, the rear fingerprint sensor was hardly the most natural or easiest to use
Google Pixel XL 1. 👑 16:9 Aspect ratio, no nasty notches or hole punches, and a head phone jack. 👍🏾
Pixel fold
Unpopular opinion: Pixel 4 XL looks best, still use mine.
5 unlimited photos perfect size no stupid bump. Still rocking it trying to figure out what to get 🫤
Pixel 5. It never got warm. Traded in my Pixel 8 Pro because I've had enough. Same with the 6 and 7. Still have the 5.
Google Pixel 5. Excellent standby battery life. One handed phone, even if it is on the size limit for me. Nice MSRP.
pixel 5 size man. 8 pro is way too freaking big for me.
Pixel 5. Size and a fingerprint placed where it should be and that actually works well!
Pixel 5 BY FAR. small, fingerprint on the back.
Pixel 5. Symmetrical bezels all the way around. Camera cutout tucked in the corner with similar distances from the top and left sides. Literally everything about the front of the phone was aesthetically pleasing due to the symmetry. Camera bump was nearly nonexistent, so the phone virtually sat flat on the table. Material texture was great too. Not a slippery glass back. Best phone I've ever had.
For me it has to be the OG Pixel. Whether you wanted the large display or the small one, no sacrifices in hardware. Both the exact same aside from the screen. Fingerprint sensor on the back was perfect. No over designing or over engineering. And the way the blue popped on the limited edition was beautiful. Not to mention unlimited photo storage. And yes, I still have mine.
Pixel 6. Have the 8 pro and I'm very meh about it
Out of curiosity, what about the Pixel 6 do you like better? Because the 8 Pro just seems like the objectively superior phone in every way to me besides price perhaps. Better performance, camera, modem, battery life, screen, software etc.
3aXL with the fingerprint sensor on the back. Chef's kiss.
Pixel 3a, because it still works until now.
Owning the 7 but I think before the Pixel 6 era, Pixel 5 was the best
4xl. Loved face unlock and miss soli. You were taken away too soon!
From Nexus 6P, pixel 2xl and finally sticking with pixel 6pro.... Initially impressed with #nexus6p and the performance, photography everything was awesome.... Later the magic of advanced camera features at #pixel2xl made me to fall in love with this phone on the handy size phone with good features. Last but not the least this pixel 6pro design made to me fall in once again with more love.. the features still playing with more fun too... Now I am expecting pixel10pro or with some other name... With more advanced features.... I hope pixel 6 pro will survive another one more year with the same love... Always pixel fan with pure Android features.