Google Pixel 6/Pixel 6 Pro

From as far back as I remember, the benefits of stock (or close to stock) Android were only ever lack of bloat (resulting in more free space/memory and possibly improved performance) and the lack of such customisation meant that getting upgrades out the door was a quicker experience as the customisations didn't need to redone for new firmwares.

The firmware on the Pixel 6 should get some more spit and polish over time so hopefully principle gripes will be taken care of. Face unlock and other goodies would be nice so we'll see.

Fwiw I'm coming from a OnePlus 5 to the standard Pixel 6. I probably would have initially bought the Pro for the telephoto lens had it been available when I went to preorder (but I was away with family and missed launch by a couple of days). In hindsight, I'm not actually that put out that I just went for the non-pro - I'm just not 100% sure that the price premium would be worth it for my use case.

Coming from the OP5, that fingerprint reader is slower for sure but tbh I'm used to it now and it doesn't bother me.

The camera in the Pixel 6 is a huge improvement and that was the main motivation for upgrade.

Performance wise in the day-to-day, I can't say that there's night and day there. Pixel 6 probably a bit snappier but the OP5 was no slouch even 4 years on from launch.

Charging-wise, they're fairly neck and neck for the first 50% of charging but the Pixel would be a bit slower for remainder up to 100% but, again, it doesn't really bother me and I seem to get 2 days out of a full charge on the Pixel 6, which I find impressive (note that I'm on WiFi and 4G so not using 5G) so I'm not charging every day anyway.

The OP5 speakers seemed louder but the sound was harsher and the Pixel 6 definitely sounds more pleasant while perhaps being slightly behind in ultimate oomph.

I do miss the OnePlus sound/notification slider on the side for rapid mute/vibrate and the OP5 was certainly more svelte in every way than the hefty P6 although, once again, I'm now used to the latter so it's moot really.

The free headphones made the deal as a whole fairly worthwhile though and were a crucial tipping point in taking a punt on the Google handset along with the quick access to future Android version upgrades for a number of years. If I'm honest, had the headphones not been there then I probably would have held back to see what Black Friday deals came up or even waited for next gen in '22.

Im still waiting for confirmation of my claim for the Bose headphones, I sent them an email last week looking for an update and today I got this reply:

We are so sorry for the delay and we can confirm that this is still being looked into.

Due to the demand of this promotion there are slight delays but we can assure you that our teams are working as quick as they can.

Please keep an eye on your email inbox / spam for any updates.

ya, I called them last Friday and the guy i spoke with said they are very busy, he can see my order and everything looks fine, just waiting for the guy in approvals to tick the box and should be soon....that was last Friday and still nothing....the only reason I bought hte Pixel was that I need a new phone and the Bose offer was great but wihtout the offer I would not have gone for it I think.....

Nope

Did you get a dispatched email etc to say they on way?

Is anybody having issues where the double tap gesture on the back of the phone is stopped working mine is completely stopped in the last few days.

and what are they like?

While it seems that people in Ireland have not received their headphones yet, has anyone even been able to validate the status of their order? I entered my ref number and it returned a "Not found" error

Edit: Nevermind. Had incorrect email address. All good

Works ok for me. Approved on 4th and no update since then though.

Working for me at the moment (just tried it now for first time) but wasn't using it up to now so maybe that's why it's still working 🤷‍♂️

Proceeds to basket for me. Try clearing browser cache and cookies and then try again

Are the 45's much of a step down from the 700's?

i think they are a step up?

Still waiting here for headphones. Already have Bose 700's, so I'd imagine I'll sell or gift whatever I get. They're great headphones, I'd be interested in trying the qc45 for comfort.

It's not just a straight screen swap, as the fingerprint sensor is behind the screen. Good news is though it looks like a fairly straight forward job if the iFixit teardown of the 6 Pro is anything to go by.

Worth a look so you understand whats involved, particularly in relation to the calibration of the fingerprint sensor. You should consider this in Googles quote as it probably would include this.

Also I'd be keen to preserve the bulk of the 2 year warranty with a google repair.

I assume you are with VF (if you have an Irish eSim). This is from their support pages:

i may be wrong but my understanding is that only vodafone have wifi calling on pixels in ireland.. something to do with phone / network both having to do something.. there's a mention of it somewhere on the thread

As above.

Wifi calling is a network dependant feature. Don't expect WiFi calling from Eir/GoMo anytime soon as they don't sell Pixel phones.

Just looking at the website FAQs there you appear correct.

Might be worth asking the question directly in chat or by email about Wifi calling.

If you signed up within the last 2 weeks, you are within your 2 week cooling off period. Technically I think the clock starts from the day when you received your sim card (AFAIK).