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Google officially announced the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro (for the second time) during the Pixel Fall Launch event back in 2021, and we got all the details we need to make a detailed comparison with its older sibling. The Pixel 6 turned out to be one pretty exciting device, especially if we compare it to the Pixel 5. With so many new things onboard, the Pixel 6 looks like a clear win over its older sibling but let's dive in deep and find all the differences.
UPDATE: And while the Pixel 6 series is slowly barrel ageing, the next generation is already live - the Google Pixel 7 series landed to take the crown from its predecessor, polishing the design and ironing out minor bugs and imperfections. You can check out our Pixel 6 vs Pixel 7 comparison if your want to take a look one generation ahead, but if you're okay to shop a generation or two behind the current flagship, strap your seatbelts and let's go.
Snatch the Pixel 6 with a sweet discount at Amazon and enjoy! The phone comes with 128GB of storage in the color Stormy Black, but other colors and storage options are available as well.
Pre-paid Google Pixel 6: get it from Best Buy and save $100!
$299
76
$599
$299 off (50%)
The Pixel 6 is currently being sold at Best Buy. The device is locked to T-Mobile and comes with a carrier plan. Get it and save $300 in the process. The device costs $12.49/mo and is paid for in 24 installments.
Tri-tone glass sandwich vs solid color bioresin/metal design
(image credit PhoneArena) Pixel 6 vs Pixel 5 design comparison
From the get-go, the Pixel 6 design is radically different compared to the Pixel 5. The previous generation Google flagship featured a hybrid aluminum body with a thin bio resin plastic skin on top, giving it a very distinct look and feel.
(image credit PhoneArena) Pixel 6 vs Pixel 5 design comparison
The Pixel 6, on the other hand, is using the more traditional glass sandwich design, with Gorilla Glass Victus over the screen and Gorilla Glass 6 covering the back. The Camera Bar stretches through the whole width of the phone’s body. The color scheme is a three-tone one, as opposed to the solid color design from the last generation, and there’s an eye-catching colorful element above the camera system, accentuating the pastel nuance of the bigger element below the camera system.
The frame of the Pixel 6 is made of matte aluminum for a cool and soft touch when handling it. In comparison, the Pixel 5 is a bit warmer, but also feels quite... unique to the touch. It's very grippy and reassuring.
Another design change concerns the fingerprint reader. While the Pixel 5 relies on a capacitive sensor on its back, the Pixel 6 steps into the modern "under display" era with its biometry solution.
Google Pixel 6 vs Pixel 5: Display
6.4-inch flat Full-HD+ 90Hz vs 6-inch flat Full-HD+ 90Hz
411ppi vs 432ppi
(image credit PhoneArena) Pixel 6 vs Pixel 5 display comparison
The Pixel 6 features a 6.4-inch OLED panel with a 90Hz display refresh rate and Full HD+ resolution (1080 x 2400 at 411 ppi). For comparison, the Pixel 5 comes equipped with a 6.0-inch OLED panel with the same 90Hz display refresh rate. The resolution is the same once again - Full HD+ (1080x2340) but the smaller diagonal translates in a higher pixel density of 432ppi.
Just like the Pixel 5, the Pixel 6 features a flat display but the bezels look thinner in the new model. Fans of curved displays and 120 Hz refresh rates should shift their attention toward the Pixel 6 Pro, as this model comes with the aforementioned specs.
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set(area)of colors that a display can reproduce,with the sRGB colorspace(the highlighted triangle)serving as reference.The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x:CIE31' and 'y:CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display's measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance(balance between red,green and blue)across different levels of grey(from dark to bright).The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones,the better.
Google Pixel 6 vs Pixel 5: Hardware and performance
Custom made Tensor chipset vs Snapdragon 765G
The hardware side of things brings another twist to the story. Google decided to divorce Qualcomm and develop its own silicon named Tensor. It uses two Arm Cortex-X1 CPUs at 2.8 GHz to handle processing-heavy tasks, two 2.25 GHz A76 CPUs, and four efficiency cores - ARM Cortex A55.
The Pixel 5, on the other hand, has been criticized for using a midrange chipset - the Snapdragon 765G to be exact. And while this SoC offers decent performance, it’s not on par with top-tier silicon found in “real” flagships.
And (drumroll) here are the official test results. Behold the Tensor chip. The results are a mixed bag - in some tests the Tensor manages to hang with the big boys but in others the performance clearly isn't there. Synthetic benchmarks can only tell you so much, and we need to spend some time with the Pixel 6 to evaluate its real-life performance. Nevertheless, here are some numbers for you geeks out there.
AnTuTu is a multi-layered,comprehensive mobile benchmark app that assesses various aspects of a device,including CPU,GPU,RAM,I/O,and UX performance.A higher score means an overall faster device.
If the T-Rex HD component of GFXBench is demanding,then the Manhattan test is downright gruelling.It's a GPU-centric test that simulates an extremely graphically intensive gaming environment that is meant to push the GPU to the max. that simulates a graphically-intensive gaming environment on the screen. The results achieved are measured in frames per second, with more frames being better.
But, with Google phones, it's not always about performance. The Google Tensor allows the Pixel 6 and the AI Assistant on board to perform more tasks, entirely on-device. This means they are faster, much faster in fact, but also more secure... presumably.
The Pixel 6 has just insane speech recognition — it gets grammar, intent, and intonation. So, you can really dictate your messages or even notes to the phone. Also, the new implementation of Live Translate is just next class with its speed and accuracy.
In other words — if you are buying a Pixel to get that "Google experience", a Pixel 6 makes much more sense than a Pixel 5 purchase.
(image credit PhoneArena) Pixel 6 vs Pixel 5 camera comparison
The Pixel 5 comes equipped with two main cameras - a 12.2 MP main shooter (1/2.55″ sensor, 27 mm-equivalent (standard-wide) f/1.7-aperture lens, dual pixel PDAF, OIS), and a 16 MP ultrawide camera (1.0µm sensor, 107-degree field of view f/2.2-aperture lens). The main camera uses the IMX363 sensor from Sony, and it’s pretty outdated hardware. Thankfully, Google image processing software algorithms are pure magic, and image samples taken with the Pixel 5 look amazing.
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The Pixel 6 sports the same dual-camera setup on the back but the main camera has been upgraded with a 50 MP 1/1.31 sensor with 1.2-micron pixel size, and f/1.85 aperture. According to Google, this new sensor now gathers 150% more light than the main camera found in the Pixel 5. The ultra-wide camera in the Pixel 6 has been upgraded as well - it's a 12 MP shooter with 1.25 μm pixel width, ƒ/2.2 aperture and 114° field of view, quite a bit wider than the ultra-wide camera on the Pixel 5.
That's a lot of words. Let's look at some pictures!
At first glance, the photos seem very similar. It is when we begin pixel-peeping that we see small differences — the Pixel 5 is sharpening pictures digitally and details just seem a bit more jagged. The Pixel 6's sensor retains sharpness, but it looks more natural. Also, depending on scene, the Pixel 6 handles dynamics a bit better, with more natural midtones, where the Pixel 5 seems to make colors a bit colder.
The Portrait Mode seems to be the same hit-and-miss performance on both phones. It's worth noting that the Pixel 6 can go in to 2x crop for Portrait Mode, the Pixel 5 is limited to 1.3x, which is barely a zoom.
< Pixel 6Pixel 5 >
Neither phone is a zoom monster. They both tap out at 7x zoom — and none give us outstanding results. But, it's fair to say, with the massive software sharpening that's going on in the background, both give you a useable picture at 7x. We'd just avoid it unless absolutely necessary.
On the selfie side, we have 8 MP sensor on both these phones. They can both take wide selfies and crop in for a more of a closeup. They look pretty identical, though we do notice some more fringing around the edges with the Pixel 6 — just look at the tree leaves and the light coming through.
Moving on to night shots — and yeah, Pixels are popular for their Night Sight. The Pixel 6 does improve on an already working formula with less noise, better colors, and a lot more exposure. It does take a while for a Night Sight photo to develop, so take a breath and don't move. Also, for some scenes, I kind of preferred Night Sight off — the Pixel 6's massive sensor can handle it.
Zooming in at night time with the Pixel 6 also provides much, much clearer results. The Pixel 5 allows you to try it... but kind of tabs out — check out the samples below.
The same can be observed with portraits at night — the Pixel 6 held it together better and the faux bokeh is still passable. The Pixel 5's Portrait Mode picture here came out... ruff!
< Pixel 6Pixel 5 >
The selfie cameras, again, perform very similar on both phones:
Google emphasised that it worked to improve the video capture on its new Pixels. And yeah, even from a quick test, we can see that the Pixel 6 is better than the Pixel 5 — dynamics are handled better, the video is brighter but with no burnouts, colors are more accurate and the overall picture is a bit warmer and livelier. Stabilization seems to perform similarly on both phones and details seem to be pretty close, too.
The Pixel 6 microphone is also doing a better job at capturing a fuller range of audio, while the Pixel 5 is on the tinny side.
Google Pixel 6 vs Pixel 5: Battery
4,614mAh vs 4,000mAh
The Pixel 5 comes with an ample 4,000 mAh battery on board, a significant step-up, compared to the Pixel 4. It's worth mentioning however that the Snapdragon 765G chipset is not exactly power hungry and contributes to the good battery life seen throughout benchmarks.
The battery inside the Pixel 6 has been upgraded to a capacity of 4,614mAh, which is a substantial upgrade compared to the Pixel 5. We did our homework and performed all the necessary battery testing on the new Pixels, and here are the results.
On the charging front, the new Pixel 6 is supposed to be able to fast charge with up to 30 W of power, but seems to cap out at 22 W. The Pixel 5 on the other hand charges at 18W wired, so charging times should be reduced in the new model. Oh, also, the Pixel 6 doesn't come with a charger in the box, while the Pixel 5 did, but that's neither here nor there.
Google Pixel 6 vs Pixel 5: Price
$599 vs $699
The Pixel 5 price at launch was $699, making the phone kind of affordable, especially compared to other flagship phones, but still a bit on the pricey considering the hardware.
The Pixel 6, on the other hand, launched at $599 with already better specs than Pixel 5 — I mean even by equivalent 2020 vs 2021 standards. You can check out our Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro: price, deals, and where to buy article for mode details.
Conclusion
So, which one should you buy? The big question that never gets old. This one is a no-brainer, really. The Pixel 6 is better in almost every imaginable way, and it is also cheaper (at launch). Of course, the price of the Pixel 5 is now much lower, if you can find one — Google doesn't officially sell it anymore, but you can probably find new old stock somewhere at retailers.
There's only one argument for the Pixel 5 and it's the size and weight. It's a much more compact device, lighter and made from different materials. If you want a somewhat compact flagship, then the Pixel 5 might be the on, especially if you score a good deal. There's a third option - to get the newest Google Pixel 7 phone, but there's a separate comparison you should check out should you decide to go that route.
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Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.
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