General First impressions - not great

[Davey Dual Sim]

It's big, but not the brick like feel I go from an S20, which was so heavy I sold within weeks.

Has a premium feel, the screen is lovely, and the phone very fast.

Finger print scanner is average, which doesn't bother me , the curved edges add to the premium feel and the camera so far is very good.

For the price it's a 9/10 from me and of course you have lovely Android 12 and none of the awful bloat in Samsungs

 

[buschris]

Not sure what OP is talking about, the screen brightness goes blindingly bright. No gripes as of yet on regular 6 or the Pro

 

[darbylonia]

Don't forget that the majority of users that do not experience problems never voice that. The silent majority usually stays silent. Some of the voiced problems here are questions of taste, like a fingerprint scanner not being fast enough (we can talk about hundreds of a second here, depending on the specific need of the person that has a direct point of reference that you might not have), or people hating on a phone that has a power button over the volume buttons (never bothered me for example), or people calling this was cheaply made, which I would call a joke. I've held IPhones, Galaxys, Pixels and other phones in my hand and - by comparison - this is the first Pixel with decent gap sizes (chassie - display). The exterior finish on the aluminium is without flaw. The display fits nicely into the chassie. That's what I call high quality. But that's just my opinion and taste.

If I had to make a comparison, I'd call the Pixel 6 Pro on par with Samsungs build quality, even though it falls behind Apples (flagship), like every non-Apple phone does. Their gap sizes between their stainless steel chassie and display still reigns supreme. Every edge there, well, just fits perfectly. It's that finish that is sorta present on the Pixel 6 Pro, but only sorta - which is still more than most other flagship phones can offer.

There is one hardware quality critic point that was voiced more than once and that is a gap between chassie/display and the top speaker. For some strange reason, I can't replicate that. I have no visible gap there. Maybe I am not looking the right way, maybe it is indeed a QA problem. Be sure to check that.

I'd say the only few serious problems as of now are

1. Random reboots
2. Yellowish tint (reported by several people, even though I personally e.g. do not have that problem)
3. Network connection
4. Throttle/heat after prolonged usage

At least three of those should be easily fixable by software, maybe even all of them. But be sure to check your phone, Google is afterall known for making phones with more than one hardware based problem.

Thanks for your assessment. I am trying to disregard the reviews for now until I get my hands on the device (tomorrow!). I am picky about things too, certain things, but I'm not sure if I'll notice these specific problems. I'll see soon enough!

 

[smallfish82]

Can on Sky mobile, I've switched to LTE

Argh, so it's crappy EE UK not knowing how to operate a mobile network then. Imposing stupid unnecessary restrictions. I still dislike that Google enable network operators the option to be so annoying.

Given that 5G in the UK outside of city centres is a bit crap, I need to be able to opt out and force 4G....

I guess it's stalemate when a significant proportion of the population think that 5G is something that is injectable and allows Government to track us... I wonder how many mobile masts will be set alight tonight.

 

[Seany72]

Got my 6 Pro today on Vodafone UK and it's going back. Firstly I love the cameras they are great clarity in daylight and zoom is crisp and sharp. Night images are good but not as wow as expected. Night images close to light sources or sunlight has dreadful purple lens flare similar to S21 Ultra i had before & I find it can ruin images. Phone feels fast and smooth most of the time but am finding the adaptive refresh rate often goes back to 60hz alot especially after opening lockscreen and using app drawer. My screen is fine no yellowing but I agree it isn't as bright as some but bright enough. But the one thing that is driving me nuts more than anything is the awful signal. Using other phones on same network in my area always great but this keeps dropping down to one bar then back up again like a yoyo. Have tried everything to no avail and I cannot live with 114dBm signal. No battery percentage on always on display cannot find that anywhere. Battery seems ok so far. Also has anyone else notice if you tap the screen glass it sound hollow?? It sounds cheap compared to back glass

 

[Batfink33]

Got my 6 Pro today on Vodafone UK and it's going back. Firstly I love the cameras they are great clarity in daylight and zoom is crisp and sharp. Night images are good but not as wow as expected. Night images close to light sources or sunlight has dreadful purple lens flare similar to S21 Ultra i had before & I find it can ruin images. Phone feels fast and smooth most of the time but am finding the adaptive refresh rate often goes back to 60hz alot especially after opening lockscreen and using app drawer. My screen is fine no yellowing but I agree it isn't as bright as some but bright enough. But the one thing that is driving me nuts more than anything is the awful signal. Using other phones on same network in my area always great but this keeps dropping down to one bar then back up again like a yoyo. Have tried everything to no avail and I cannot live with 114dBm signal. No battery percentage on always on display cannot find that anywhere. Battery seems ok so far. Also has anyone else notice if you tap the screen glass it sound hollow?? It sounds cheap compared to back glass

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1453025239537967105

 

[Morgrain]

Argh, so it's crappy EE UK not knowing how to operate a mobile network then. Imposing stupid unnecessary restrictions. I still dislike that Google enable network operators the option to be so annoying.

Given that 5G in the UK outside of city centres is a bit crap, I need to be able to opt out and force 4G....

I guess it's stalemate when a significant proportion of the population think that 5G is something that is injectable and allows Government to track us... I wonder how many mobile masts will be set alight tonight.

Mate, you are talking about a population that chose to throw away the dream of a unified Europe - after hundreds of years of our ancestors killing each other - because "muh costs money" - what do you expect?

 

[skimminstones]

Got my 6 Pro today on Vodafone UK and it's going back. Firstly I love the cameras they are great clarity in daylight and zoom is crisp and sharp. Night images are good but not as wow as expected. Night images close to light sources or sunlight has dreadful purple lens flare similar to S21 Ultra i had before & I find it can ruin images. Phone feels fast and smooth most of the time but am finding the adaptive refresh rate often goes back to 60hz alot especially after opening lockscreen and using app drawer. My screen is fine no yellowing but I agree it isn't as bright as some but bright enough. But the one thing that is driving me nuts more than anything is the awful signal. Using other phones on same network in my area always great but this keeps dropping down to one bar then back up again like a yoyo. Have tried everything to no avail and I cannot live with 114dBm signal. No battery percentage on always on display cannot find that anywhere. Battery seems ok so far. Also has anyone else notice if you tap the screen glass it sound hollow?? It sounds cheap compared to back glass

mine has the battery percentage on the bottom of the screen when off and the AOD is on. Have you had the update yet?

 

[Seany72]

mine has the battery percentage on the bottom of the screen when off and the AOD is on. Have you had the update yet?

Yes got a 73mb update is that the latest one??

 

[skimminstones]

Yes got a 73mb update is that the latest one??

yea think there has only been the one. I cant say whether my battery percentage was showing on the lock screen before that or not because it updated as i was setting it all up. Mine is definitely showing a battery percentage on the AOD display though right at the bottom under the fingerprint sensor

 

[Seany72]

yea think there has only been the one. I cant say whether my battery percentage was showing on the lock screen before that or not because it updated as i was setting it all up. Mine is definitely showing a battery percentage on the AOD display though right at the bottom under the fingerprint sensor

What setting do you turn on for it?? What's your signal like?? Mine is awful

 

[skimminstones]

What setting do you turn on for it?? What's your signal like?? Mine is awful

not sure, mines just there. The only setting i can see is for the battery percentage in status bar but ive just turned that off to test and the AOD still has a battery percentage showing on it so cant be that one.

SIgnal is fine for me though i dont have a 5g plan or 5g coverage where i live so only had it on 4g. Signal is strong though and the speedtest was not far off double what i was getting on my oppo reno 2 or pixel 2xl when i was at work earlier.

 

[Seany72]

not sure, mines just there. The only setting i can see is for the battery percentage in status bar but ive just turned that off to test and the AOD still has a battery percentage showing on it so cant be that one.

SIgnal is fine for me though i dont have a 5g plan or 5g coverage where i live so only had it on 4g. Signal is strong though and the speedtest was not far off double what i was getting on my oppo reno 2 or pixel 2xl when i was at work earlier.

Hmm weird & I turned off 5G

 

[smallfish82]

But the one thing that is driving me nuts more than anything is the awful signal. Using other phones on same network in my area always great but this keeps dropping down to one bar then back up again like a yoyo. Have tried everything to no avail and I cannot live with 114dBm signal.

Yup. Sadly I think this is down to the Samsung modem. Basically, I knew my S21U modem is terrible and seems Google decided to go with it..! Unfortunately Samsung deny any issue... I don't think its software related.

Symptoms are uploads freezing completely when signal present. Presents as inconsistent download speeds too. Solution: move home to near a good mast. Sadly, the issue presents with 4G too. 2021 modem isn't stable. Many Samsung users complaining about this. Had hoped my S21U was just faulty but now I really believe its a design issue.

s21 poor signal strength

I've just upgraded to the s21 from the s10. Problem is that I now only get 1 bar showing on the signal strength most of the time (including home). On the s10 it was on 3 bars most of the time using the same network and SIM. If I swap the SIM card back to the s10 I get 3 bars showing again I...

eu.community.samsung.com

4G Performance on Exynos S21 Ultra is waaayyy slower than an S10+ or S20+

Hi Has anybody else noticed that the S21 Ultra doesn't seem to deliver consistent and reliable 4G speeds, particularly in terms of 4G uploading. I've done a comparison between my S21 Ultra and a S10+ both on the same network (EE) and the results are shocking. The S21 Ultra simply doesn't...

eu.community.samsung.com

 

[blackhawk]

Argh, so it's crappy EE UK not knowing how to operate a mobile network then. Imposing stupid unnecessary restrictions. I still dislike that Google enable network operators the option to be so annoying.

Given that 5G in the UK outside of city centres is a bit crap, I need to be able to opt out and force 4G....

I guess it's stalemate when a significant proportion of the population think that 5G is something that is injectable and allows Government to track us... I wonder how many mobile masts will be set alight tonight.

5G will be at the best be dependent on 4G for the foreseeable future. It's has less range and more obstacle limitations than 4G.
An average speed improvement of 20%, many times greater battery consumption. I can stream vids with 4G without issues. Reliable service and good battery life are more important than the fastest download speeds to me.

I wasn't satisfied with 5G, issues with the displays, the OS and so on. My work around was to buy another new older 4G flagship phone with mature technologies that I knew ran well.
I'll see where the pieces ended up falling 2-3 years from now then decide what to use next.

 

[johninsf]

Interesting. This is definitely subjective and I have not experienced these issues.

The one issue I hope they resolve in an update: auto brightness. It goes way too dim and then doesn't respond quickly when you move into a brighter location.

Also, I'm in San Francisco right on the cusp of TMo 5G and 4G signal. My Pixel 4a5G will not let go of a bad 5G connection effectively anywhere and I hate this. Unsure if P6P uses the same antenna and I hope not.

Build quality is excellent. This phone is so much like the Galaxy Note 9 in shape and feel - minus the camera visor on back. I'm glad the curved screen edges are not as sensitive as the Samsung's.

I really feared bad fingerprints on this dark color but honestly haven't seen it too bad yet. Disclaimer: I've not eaten fried chicken while watching YouTube yet so that may change things later.

I await the Google case

 

[smallfish82]

I really feared bad fingerprints on this dark color but honestly haven't seen it too bad yet. Disclaimer: I've not eaten fried chicken while watching YouTube yet so that may change things later.

I await the Google case

I have weirdly dry but oily fingers and this phone felt like wet soap sometimes... it was a magnet for prints.

The case made it feel so much better though. Highly recommend but its way overpriced, again.

 

[johninsf]

A case indeed.. very slippery phone. I regret getting the smoke colored case. I've never really leaned toward smoke colored cases and actually thought it was more opaque gray. $30 mistake unless Google will let me exchange or return it without a restocking fee.

 

[smallfish82]

A case indeed.. very phone. I regret getting the smoke colored case. I've never really leaned toward smoke colored cases and actually thought it was more opaque gray. $30 mistake unless Google will let me exchange or return it without a restocking fee.

Sadly, I think restock may apply in the US..

 

[kboya]

First impressions?
Great! Very happy in general. Really only upset by the comically difficult approach to scaling on the screen. It's a horrible mixture of huge icons. Tiny text or super over scaled.
Otherwise, battery life seems great. Everything seems to work very very quickly but I have to say that the only thing I've yet to do is really take this out and about and use the mobile networks because I work from home and you know spend most of my time working from home. this weekend will do more.
To be clear, this was all typed using the voice thing with very, very minor edits from my end