People are leaving Google Pixel and I finally understand why

Published Aug 9, 2026, 9:45 AM EDT Ismar is a Senior Author at How-To Geek. He previously worked as a writer, editor, and general manager at a content agency before joining the team in 2023. He began his writing career in 2021 after completing a BA in English Language and Literature. Beyond How-To Geek, Ismar has contributed to Red Stag Fulfillment and Authority Hacker. He has also worked on various SEO projects to help clients improve their search visibility. Ismar has been around Windows PCs since the age of three, so friends and family naturally chose him as the resident tech support. His projects often involve tinkering, such as disassembling mechanical keyboards and gaming mice to mod his beloved gear. He also enjoys pushing hardware to the max through overclocking while staying on a reasonable budget. An avid gamer, Ismar has logged thousands of hours across various genres, including first-person shooters, RPGs, racing games, and roguelites. When he is not at his desk, he is probably exploring other people’s phones to discover their quirks and features or experimenting with the latest AI tools. In his free time, Ismar enjoys spending time with his wife, working out at the gym, playing guitar and bass, cooking gourmet meals, and traveling. Above all else, he’s a proud cat owner. It's hard to believe it, but the Google Pixel series has been around for nearly 10 years now. The Pixel 11 is just around the corner—and unfortunately for Google, early impressions aren't looking great. If you haven't owned a Pixel in a while, this might come as a surprise, but online discourse surrounding Google’s phones has become increasingly negative, with more people than ever looking toward other brands. So why have enthusiasts grown tired of Pixel, and does Google still have a chance at redemption? The Pixel’s biggest weakness has always been the hardware Google just can't seem to nail the hardware design Back when Google still co-developed the Nexus lineup with other manufacturers, the phones offered quite competitive hardware for the money. Today, though, it's a whole other story. The focus with Pixel phones has shifted almost entirely toward software and camera processing. It's gotten to the point where Google Pixel offers worse hardware than the competition, despite commanding high prices for the flagship Pixel lineup. For instance, both the Samsung Galaxy S25+ and Pixel 10 Pro had a starting price of $999. For the same money, Samsung offered twice the storage (256GB), a larger and sharper 1440p 6.7-inch display versus the Pixel 10 Pro's 6.3-inch 1280p panel, faster charging, and, most important of all, a much more powerful flagship Snapdragon processor that could wipe the floor with the Pixel's Tensor chip. Admittedly, the Pixel offered a more impressive camera array with significantly sharper ultrawide and telephoto lenses, as well as 16GB of RAM instead of Samsung's 12GB. But the processor problem is where things get complicated. Google started shipping Pixel phones with its in-house-designed Tensor chips starting with the Pixel 6, and it was a surprisingly solid start. It showed to the tech world that Google could compete against Apple's custom silicon. There wasn't a massive performance gap between the flagship Snapdragon 888 used in Android phones and the Pixel 6's original Tensor chip. However, as the years went on and Google's focus shifted heavily toward optimizing Tensor chips for machine learning rather than pure performance, that gap widened significantly. Qualcomm's current flagship processor, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, wipes the floor with the Google Tensor G5, with AnTuTu benchmark scores showing a roughly 2.5x performance gap between the two. Even MediaTek's latest SoCs, like the Dimensity 9500, easily beat Tensor processors by a massive margin. Connectivity is another recurring complaint among Pixel users, and it once again ties back to the Tensor chips. Google uses Samsung's Exynos-derived modems, which are notorious for causing random Wi-Fi and cellular issues, call dropouts, and battery drain. Funnily enough, even Samsung's own flagship devices don't use Exynos modems, instead opting for Qualcomm's modems in the US market. Still, the processors are just one part of the wider hardware issues that Pixel users experience. A particularly notorious example was the dreaded pink line that appeared on Pixel 8 screens. This was a widespread defect that apparently happened after repeated stress on the flex cable, which prompted Google to launch an Extended Repair Program that covered affected devices up to three years from the purchase date. Google’s obsession with AI and quick updates has destroyed the software experience Pixel’s greatest strength has become its biggest headache Credit: Justin Duino / How-To Geek The early Google Nexus phones were praised for their ultra-clean software. They represented a benchmark of what Android could offer if it wasn't being weighed down by manufacturer skins that often slowed phones down. The early Pixel phones were pretty much the same. For better or worse, Google has always treated its own devices as an experimental playground for new features, apps, and services. Over time, the company's focus shifted heavily toward AI. On-device AI processing was a big part of the reason why the Tensor chips were designed in the first place. As things progressed, Google's once-clean software experience slowly became bloated. Pixel owners are constantly being introduced to a growing number of unsolicited AI features with each new update. Over the past few years, the Pixel experience became far less about offering a hyper-clean Android experience and more about being a Gemini-powered device that just happens to also be a modern smartphone. A massive part of what made Pixel and the Nexus devices before them popular among enthusiasts was Google's commitment to long-term software support. Unfortunately, even this advantage started to lose some of its appeal when every update meant a potential new wave of AI-powered features and services. Remember when Pixel Studio was making waves? Worse still, as Google continues pushing half-baked updates to users, there's no shortage of frustrating bugs that can break major functionality. Each time a new update drops, the Google Pixel subreddit gets filled with complaints. It’s almost as if Google is treating Pixel owners as a massive pool of Android beta testers. Put simply, by turning experimental Gemini features into the focal point of the Pixel experience instead of keeping them as helpful additions, Google is alienating fans of clean Android who helped build the brand in the first place. Pixel owners have plenty of strong alternatives to pick from Pixel needs to catch up fast Credit: Cory Gunther / How-To Geek In the early days of Pixel, Google offered competitively priced phones with clean software, decent hardware, and some of the best camera processing the world had ever seen. Photos taken on a Pixel often looked like they came from a professional camera, with minimal editing required. It was the reason so many people flocked to Google Pixel phones. Much of that camera magic eventually trickled down to the mid-range Pixel A-series, helping Google solidify its reputation as the leader in mobile photography. However, that gap has shrunk significantly over the years. Other brands have caught up, and Pixel no longer holds the undisputed crown. Samsung and Apple can now capture incredible photos in a wide range of scenarios. Brands like OnePlus and Motorola have made major improvements to their camera systems as well. At the same time, Pixel's performance gap has become harder to ignore. Google's Tensor chips continue to lag behind other flagship processors, making it difficult to justify Pixel's premium pricing, particularly to users who prioritize hardware. When the time came for me to upgrade my phone, I didn't even bother looking in Pixel's direction, purely because I was aware of just how far behind the Tensor chips are. But Google's shift toward AI instead of refining the core Android experience hasn't helped either. While Google has increasingly focused on experimental AI features, Samsung has taken a more cautious approach, rolling out smaller updates that are optimized and tested before reaching older devices. Ironically, Samsung, which was once criticized for heavy software skins, now offers one of the most polished Android experiences on the market with One UI. It might not be everyone's preferred interface, but its level of polish is hard to deny. Samsung has long been the default Android choice, with a 26% US smartphone market share compared to Google's 3%. Even Google seems to recognize that, as it has been using Samsung devices to showcase Android features in recent years. For users chasing value or simply looking for something different, there is also no shortage of alternatives. Many Android brands now offer a stronger value proposition than Pixel, whether through better hardware, better pricing, or both. Things aren't looking great for the Pixel In my opinion, things aren't looking too hot for Pixel right now. The Pixel 10a that launched earlier this year was little more than a rebadged Pixel 9a, and if the rumors surrounding the Pixel 11 turn out to be true, Google's next flagship device could end up being more of the same. While it will ship with a new Tensor chip, we've seen time and time again that Google remains committed to optimizing its silicon for on-device AI rather than focusing on the raw performance and efficiency that many flagship phone buyers expect.