How do we not have an Android phone thread yet?

[Tom Servo]

Also of note, Android 12 is out today for Pixels 3 and up. Just installed it on my 3 XL.

[dodint]

I put it on my Pixel 3a, Ash's Pixel 4, and my Pixel 5a. I've been complaining about it to Keith in chat all morning.

Really just don't like the non-removable non-customizable two-line clock on the lock screen. And the fact you can't have the widget on the lock screen but not on the home screen. The rest seems to be an improvement.

[TheBenior]

My wife and I preordered Pixel 6 phones in base 128 GB model form, and should have them Wednesday or Thursday next week. Our pre-order bonus Pixel Buds already showed up. I'm not sure what I'll do with mine as I already have 2 sets of wireless earbuds. Wife says that they seem to have less bass than the Anker Liberty Air 2 earbuds she's had for a while.

She's only had her Pixel 4 for a year and a half and loves the camera and general features of the phone, but battery life has always been poor. Really, if you see a good deal on a Pixel 4, I don't recommend the non XL model unless you plan to use a battery case.

My OnePlus6T is coming up on 3 years old, and has started having Bluetooth connectivity slowness/failures with multiple devices along with the unidirectional charging port weirdness. The battery, OTOH, is holding up pretty well compared to other phones I've had. The Pixel 6 is almost identical in exterior dimensions other than being 3/4ths of an ounce heavier. I presume most of that difference is the Pixel 6's 800 mAh bigger battery, and maybe the camera. I would've liked the 4x optical zoom of the Pixel 6 Pro (I like the 2x optical zoom on the OP6T), but not for an extra $300, nor do I really want a phone bigger than the one I have now. The Pixel 6 is supposed to have software trickery to reduce noise from using non-optical zoom, so I'm sure the camera will be a step up from my OP6T anyway. I probably won't miss or even notice the higher pixel density of the Pro, or the 120Hz refresh rate. The 90Hz of the base Pixel 6 is still a step up from the 60Hz that I'm used to.

[Tom Servo]

I am very curious to hear how you like it. I decided against pulling the trigger because I am annoyed at how big the Pixel 6 Pro is, but also annoyed that it's as different as it is compared to the normal Pixel 6.

[TheBenior]

After seeing some early reviews and benchmarks, I'm feeling pretty good about passing up spending the extra $300 on the Pro. I could also care less about edge wrap around screens.

The Pro may offer less performance than the base model under certain circumstances, which I initially thought was weird given the extra 4GB of RAM. Then I realized that it has the same processor pushing a 120Hz 1440p display instead of a 90Hz 1080p display. Looks like the bigger battery is also needed to cope with that display, resulting in almost identical battery life.

Right now, the tracking is showing that our phones are supposed to show up tomorrow, which will be nice if it happens since I'm off the next two nights.

[TheBenior]

I must have jinxed the initial Wednesday the 27th delivery estimate, because shortly after that, the 27th became the 28th, which became the 29th after hanging out at the shipping company (TForce Logistics) since the evening of the 26th.

While the Pixel 6 is a mere 0.7mm thicker than the OP6T, the P6 feels noticeably thicker, probably because back isn't beveled towards the edges like on the OP6T, and a slightly thicker backed case (choices are somewhat limited right now). The extra oz of weight is also noticeable. This is definitely the heaviest phone I've ever owned, though I've never owned any of the recent Note/iPhone XR/whatever XL format phones.

Transferring my data from my OnePlus 6T went pretty easily via USB-C (I've had mixed results with NFC in the past), though I was surprised how it blew through about 60% of the OP6T's battery. With that in mind, one would really want a fully charged battery on whatever phone is getting data transferred from. Setting this up and transferring information was probably the smoothest new phone setup experience I've ever had.

Other observations:
-Fingerprint reader didn't work after I set it up. I think it's because I did so with no case on it, then put the case on. I deleted the prints, then did them again, and it's working pretty well, probably a bit better than my OP6T's in-screen fingerprint reader (though probably not as fast as the old Oneplus 3T's dedicated sensor).
-I had to reset the data on my Samsung Galaxy Active 2 to get it to connect, as the adding new phone option on the watch didn't work. My wife had the same experience with her Galaxy Watch 4.
-I haven't gotten to play with the camera at all; if it's slow at work I may try some low light photography of the night squirrels that are all over the Chicago streets.
-T-Mobile 5G has pretty fast download speeds by my house. Speedtest got 429 Mbps down. Uploads were 5 Mbps, same as 4G.
-Overall performance is smoother than my OP6T, but eh, the OP6T is running a now 4 year old processor, so that's not a big surprise.
-The most system taxing game I still play (Mow Zombies) doesn't seem to work, so I'm not sure how game performance is yet.
-Pinhole front camera seems more noticeable than the teardrop that I'm used to, but that's probably a familiarity thing.

[Tom Servo]

Got my Pixel 6 on order, so should have it in a week and a half or so.

[TheBenior]

The fingerprint reader has been faster since the new update.

[Tom Servo]

Still waitin' on the Pixel 6, but I did get the Pixel Buds Series A I ordered along with them. I like them a lot so far, they sound pretty good and seem to hold connection pretty well. They're not the most comfortable things I've ever worn, but they do well for if I'm taking a walk or something. I still haven't tried changing out the little rubber "goes-in-your-ear" part though, so maybe I can get them to be a little more comfortable with some practice.

I also like that it doesn't make me look like I have something drooping out of my air like airpods do.

[TheBenior]

I've been impressed with the range on the Pixel Buds that came with my preorder Pixel 6. While in the house, I can definitely get further from my phone than with my cheap Anker wireless earbuds.

Downside of the update: I had some Bluetooth weirdness with my CX-5's ancient infotainment system the other day. Phone wouldn't connect until I restarted the Bluetooth. The car also no longer displays audio track titles.