Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro

In the end this will probably come down to impulse buy more than anything for me. And I say that because I feel like I will pull the trigger on the Pro rather than the normal 6 despite not feeling that it is really worth the rumored price difference.

As for why, we really need only look at prior generations of Pixel phones.

I've mentioned in the past that older phones don't cease being in circulation just because a new device is released. And, in fact, they make up the majority of active phones for multiple generations of releases. Best guesstimate is that somewhere between 2-3 years after release of a new flagship phone, the average phone in the market catches up.

I have a Pixel 3 right now. Aside from features specific to newer Pixel models there is nothing my phone can't do. It is slower and has less RAM than the Pixel 5. But it is still supported (even if not for much longer). Both Google and App/Game developers are interested in ensuring that their software will run well on hardware at least as old as mine. 

With the Pixel 6, even the lower end model will sport more RAM than any Pixel phone prior and it starts getting up closer to 3rd party flagships. This phone will be as fast as the Pro in day to day use and will stay relevant for years. After all, at 8GB of RAM even the lower model phone is still sporting as much RAM as many consumer laptops and desktops. 

And that leaves the max storage, larger battery, difference display, camera and unlock options as differentiators.

Storage capacity I don't care about. Some people do, and that is fine. For me though, I've never gone over 50% of my Pixel 3's capacity. And that is for the simple reason that I back up my photos remotely and then wipe them from the device. I don't really have anything else which takes up substantial storage on my phone. 

Next is the larger battery life. While the battery is larger, it is basically just proportionately larger to the increased display size. It might actually be smaller in that respect. Where the Pro is likely to pick up gains on battery is actually the variable refresh rate of the display. And, that could result in decent gains. But, it will depend on how you use your phone. 

For instance, if you play movies or games for hours straight, then the panel will be running at or near the full refresh rate. And I suspect that in these cases the Pro will actually have lower battery life than the normal 6. For me, I'm coming from the Pixel 3 which has ABYSMAL battery life, so I'll be happy regardless. Especially since I'm not particularly peeved about the 3's battery life.

As for display size. Well, as I said, I'm on a Pixel 3. The Pixel 6 will already have a larger display area than I have. So long as the battery life is good, I won't really care much about the rest of the display specs. My phone's battery has never died because I'm pretty much always near a charger. 

Then we get to the camera. Honestly. I don't get it any more. The quality of the pictures my Pixel 3 is already far beyond what I can really differentiate. And that phone is way behind the latest offerings from Apple, Google and others. Sure, we all take pictures, but the vast majority of us wouldn't even qualify as amateur photographers. If we REALLY cared about photo quality, we could likely squeeze MUCH better images out of phones that were years older. So, I'm not sure that I care that much about a telephoto lens. I'm not going to spend any more time becoming an expert photographer with this phone than I did with the last one.

And then we reach the final argument; unlocking phones. I hate face unlock. But, I suspect I'll hate under the screen fingerprint scanners as well. But I don't know for sure. I love the back mounted fingerprint scanner. I can unlock my phone AS I'm pulling it out. You CAN NOT do that with face unlock, and it would be much harder to do so reliably with the scanner under the screen. I'm pissed off the Apple fan boys have controlled the narrative and pushed the industry away from the more reliable, convenient methods.

Face unlock is cool. Nothing more. It introduced notches which are still the worst feature of any display, ever. They are less reliable, less secure and "slower". I know all of these points are debatable. And I know that Apple's system is pretty quick and in some situations faster than fingerprint readers. BUT, that is ONLY because it started out SO bad that Apple invested tons of time and money into the problem. So, it isn't for practical reasons IF and when this technology is winning the argument could be made that the same level of investment in fingerprint sensors would yield enough to easily keep it in the lead.

But, I don't want to make this post a rant about face unlocking. So I'll leave it there.

Ultimately, I'll probably choose the Pro for 2 reasons. Having the choice of inferior unlock options, and because while the color I want is only available in the normal 6, here in Canada for some reason we never seem to get the exciting color options until months after launch day.