Google Pixel 6

At Rs. 115,999, the Google Pixel 6 is the cheapest of the recent Pixels in our listings, and it still offers one of the most capable cameras at its price.

• Strengths: excellent photo processing and natural skin tones, stabilised 4K video, clean stock Android, IP68 protection, wireless and reverse wireless charging, and Gorilla Glass Victus on the front.
• Weaknesses: slow wired charging with no charger in the box, average battery endurance, a slow optical fingerprint reader, weaker sustained gaming, and Google's update support is ending.

The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7a cost more but bring a newer chip and more years of updates. Choose the Pixel 6 if you want the biggest Pixel screen and battery for the money and mainly care about photos; skip it if you game heavily or want a phone that stays supported for several more years.

The flat 6.4-inch AMOLED panel has a 1080 x 2400 resolution, HDR10+ support and Gorilla Glass Victus. Colours are good and brightness is sufficient for most situations; GSMArena found it gets much brighter in auto mode than with the manual slider, which helps outdoors.

The 90Hz refresh rate keeps scrolling smooth, but anyone coming from a 120Hz phone will notice the difference, and most apps drop to a lower rate after a couple of seconds without touch. The bezels are thicker than on many rivals, and some units have been reported with flicker or a greenish tint, so check the screen before buying. HD streaming support is in place for Netflix-style apps.

The Google Tensor chip with 8GB RAM keeps everyday use quick and smooth: apps open fast, memory management is good and there are no micro-stutters in normal tasks. Some units got slightly warm during first setup, which a later software update fixed.

Gaming is the weak spot for a phone in this class:

• Demanding titles such as Genshin Impact stutter at the highest settings, and dropping to 30fps gives a steadier experience.
• PUBG Mobile cannot run its top graphics with its highest frame-rate mode; HDR graphics hold a stable 40 fps, while smooth graphics run a stable 60 fps.
• Lighter games built for 90 fps, such as Mech Arena and Critical Ops, reach 90 fps.

The phone gets warm while gaming but not to the point of serious heating.

The 50 MP main camera combines pixels for every shot (there is no full-resolution mode), and Google's processing is strong: skies rarely blow out and shadows keep detail, so shots into the sun and night scenes with bright lights look impressive. The flip side is that ordinary scenes can look over-processed, white balance sometimes leans cool, and night photos can come out brighter than the real scene; the exposure slider fixes this.

• Portraits and skin tones: colours stay natural across skin tones, though edge detection can need adjusting against busy backgrounds.
• Ultrawide: the 12 MP ultrawide is decent with a narrower view than some rivals, and there is no macro mode.
• Zoom: no telephoto lens; 2x is digital.
• Selfies: the 8 MP front camera gives good exposure and consistent skin tones, but video is limited to 1080p at 30fps.
• Video: 4K at up to 60fps with great dynamic range and stabilisation; low-light video gets noisy.

The Pixel 6 has a 4614 mAh battery. Reports differ on endurance: heavy users find it average and can run flat before a busy day is over, while lighter use lasts about a full day. Standby drain is noticeable. GSMArena measured an 86-hour endurance rating, with about 12.5 hours of web browsing at the maximum refresh rate and over 20 hours of offline video.

Charging is the bigger compromise. There is no charger in the box, and even Google's 30W adapter, sold separately, only delivers around 21W to 23W at peak. GSMArena reached 48% in 30 minutes with a fast third-party charger and a full charge in about 1 hour 50 minutes; other tests took over two hours. The phone also supports wireless charging and reverse wireless charging for earbuds.

The Pixel 6 launched with Android 12 and our listed specs show it upgraded to Android 16. Google's support page gives the Pixel 6 five years of updates from its first US availability, and it went on sale in October 2021, so official support is ending in late 2026.

The software is clean stock Android with Material You colour theming and no bloatware. Useful extras include:

• Voice typing that is fast, accurate, adds punctuation and works offline.
• Magic Eraser, which removes unwanted objects well on simple backgrounds but struggles with large objects in front of busy scenes.
• Now Playing song recognition and Live Caption.

Some features, such as call screening, car crash detection and live translation, are limited to certain countries. The Pixel dialer has no automatic call recording, so that needs a third-party app.