Buying brand-new smartphones was always something I have done ever since I used my first smartphone.

According to my husband, it was the HTC Incredible S. That was in 2011. And the rest followed suit:

2012 — Samsung Galaxy S3
2013 — Samsung Galaxy S4
2014 — Huawei Honor 6
2016 — Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro
2017 — Huawei P10
2018 — Apple iPhone 7
2019 — Pocophone F1 128GB

The years prior to the pandemic captured the purchases of my mobile journey. It was easier to head over to the nearest IT mall and parlay with the phone sellers. Then the pandemic hit and going out became an issue. Finding the next phone upgrade became a little challenging.

That’s when my husband brought up the idea of tapping into the market for refurbished units. Naturally, I left the matter to him. If buying brand-new units was not something I’m good at, imagine buying a refurbished unit!

Pic by 9to5Google

Enter 2020. The year that began my dalliance with Google’s Pixel series. It began with the Pixel 3a XL in 2020, followed by the Pixel 5 in 2022. And now I have with me the Pixel 6. Today is 2023.

A Pixelated Love Affair

Why Pixel? Why not Samsung? Or Apple? Or one of the other brands, like Oppo, Xiaomi, or Vivo?

According to one comment on Quora,

  1. The Pixel phones have the cleanest and smoothest Android experience. No gimmicks, no bloatware. There is the least amount of bugs and crashes of any Android phone.
  2. The Pixel phones receive the quickest Android updates. They are also the first to receive these updates.
  3. The Pixel phones have identical specs regardless of model, and that includes enjoying a spectacular camera experience. Whether you’re a fan of the Pixel 3 or Pixel 7 Pro, you will still get the same camera quality and computational software.

And I agree. Those are the three main reasons but here are my own three reasons.

The Camera Software

The Google Pixel series is by far the best line of smartphones I would buy, thanks in part to their killer camera. But its photographic intelligence goes beyond the specs.

Like many of Google’s greatest hits, the magic is in its algorithms.

The three Pixels that I own today — both the Pixel 3a XL and the Pixel 5 are still with me — as well as my current Pixel 6, offer compelling evidence that they didn’t just replace point-and-shoot cameras. They perfected it.

Smartphone cameras may be smarter, and faster, and they’re always in my pocket. But with Google’s computational camera software, my photos can further be improved even after I’ve taken them.

Have you ever tried using Google’s Night Sight? It’s unbelievable!

The Colours

This might be based on individual preference but to me, their colours and the names given to them are what caught my eye in the first place.

My Pixel 3a XL was barely purple. It looks purplish with a yellow accented lock button. It’s purple but not really. Lavender? We can do this all day.

My Pixel 5 was sorta sage. It looks green but not the ‘green, green grass of home’. Do herbs look like this? Mossy green? Your guess is as good as mine.

My Pixel 6 is sorta seafoam. Seafoam? I thought the sea was a darker shade of turquoise or some sort of blue. And here I thought that foam was white.

While the colours might not spark any imagination for anyone, the names tickled my fancy and made me even more curious about them. And buying them was the only way to find out. Rest assured, I don’t regret getting them at all. If any, it has made me more enamoured with the Pixel brand.

Because It’s Google!

I said it once but I’ll say it again. Hey, it’s Google!

One thing I appreciated about using Google’s ecosystem is its software. The software takes the same approach as its hardware — it stays out of your way and provides just what you need. The Pixel isn’t filled with duplicate system apps or random apps that you don’t want.

The always-on display provides information at a glance. And let’s not forget the neat feature of automatically identifying any music playing around you and displaying it on the lock screen. No more sleepless nights of wondering about the song that you heard at dinnertime.

Of course, there is the other thing about having Google everywhere. If you’re not used to having Google hovering around your thinking, breathing, and living space, you might feel a little claustrophobic. But it’s hard to complain when the apps and services are so good!

No matter how you have your phone set up, you can always appreciate the simple interface, slick animations, clean design, smart features, and consistent imaging performance. The phones also get new Pixel Feature Drops every few months to increase the devices’ usability.

Not to mention, a solid track record of keeping old phones running as best as they can over the course of three years of guaranteed software updates.

Having said all that, feel free to get a Pixel — or not. Remember that these are my reasons to use one and for the next few releases that Google has to offer. If you do get one, I hope it’s as fun and exciting to use as it is for me.