Can you believe it’s been six years since Google released its first Pixel phone? At this point, we are only a few months away from the Pixel 7 series, and to date, Google has released 16 smartphones. But in recent years, some features have come and gone on Pixel phones. What is your favorite feature that has been left behind?
There have been a few key elements of the Pixel line that have survived through each of Google’s phones. Software-backed cameras that still amaze with their photography even when the competition has moved on. Awesome plugins like Google’s “Now Playing” feature. And let’s not forget clean software and timely updates.
But on almost every Pixel phone, Google has introduced one or two new features and over time left some features behind. The elephant in the room, of course, is Face Unlock, which arrived with the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, but only survived that single, mostly unsuccessful generation. Face Unlock worked brilliantly on Google phones, providing an iPhone-like experience.
Beyond that though, there have been plenty of other features that Google ended up scrapping.
“Active Edge” first debuted on the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, but started with the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G in 2020. The feature used special sensors on the sides of the phone, in combination with its haptic motors, to let you ” squeeze” the sides of the device to summon the Google Assistant. It was a good idea, but somewhat polarizing for some users. While I’ve personally always been a big fan of the gesture, others didn’t like how easily it could be triggered by accident, as well as how difficult it was to use when set to less sensitive levels.
Ultimately, it was probably for the best that Google brought out this feature. Active Edge was inherently cool, since the edge noted in recent retrospective, and possibly quite worthwhile given how annoying it is they can be to enable the software gesture to open the Assistant on newer versions of Android. But actually, the removal made sense considering the feature was not so popular and required special fittings to really work.
Next in line is Soli, the special chip in the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL that helped bolster Face Unlock but also enabled a few other features. As mentioned, this only lived for a single generation, and it doesn’t look like it’s coming back anytime soon.
Soli uses a miniaturized form of radar to detect movement and nearby objects. You can do amazing things, but on a smartphone, you were limited to a few gestures near the device and that was it. You can allow a swipe gesture to skip tracks in a music app or pause playback. A swipe could also answer or reject a phone call. My favorite option was a wave that could postpone an alarm clock, something that certainly abused during my time with the Pixel 4 XL in 2019.
While Soli was only around for a year on Pixel phones, the technology lives on in other Google products. The Nest thermostat uses the chip to detect passers-by to illuminate the screen and the Nest Hub 2nd generation uses the chip to track your sleep, which is absurdly cool. It also retains the snooze gesture, which, yes, I still use way too often.
Another feature of previous Pixel phones that Google has since scrapped is the dual selfie camera. Both the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL shipped with two cameras on the front of the phone. One was a standard selfie shooter, but the other was a wide-angle lens that could capture larger groups in one shot. It was a really useful feature that made taking selfies on a Pixel better than other phones. I distinctly remember offering up my phone for a group photo because my friends couldn’t fit everyone in the photo with their iPhones.
Google has yet to bring this idea back to Pixel phones, and for relatively good reason. A “premium” Android phone in 2022 can’t get away with leaving room in its bezels for two cameras, and a dual-camera cutout like a “hole punch” would be equally off-putting. The Pixel 6 Pro has a wide-angle lens, but it doesn’t pack the same punch as Google’s 2018 releases.
Perhaps one of the most ephemeral features to ever appear on Pixels wasn’t technically even exclusive to the lineup. Android 11 brought with it a completely revamped power menu that, instead of just offering power and restart options, also offered quick access to your mobile wallet with tap to pay, as well as smart home controls. This feature was not exclusive to Pixel phones as it was also used by OnePlus and a few other brands. Still, the feature was more prominent on Pixel phones, and it still hurts that Android 12 removed it entirely.
Similarly, Android 10 introduced new customization options to Android, such as the ability to change system font and icon styles. It was a fun option, but Google finally removed on Android 12 in exchange for the excellent Material You.
You may also recall that in Google Photos, Pixel phones had the ability to take Portrait mode photos, but revert that photo back to “original” with a single tap. The option made it easier to recover from a shot where the Portrait effect didn’t work too well, or where it might not be appropriate to use the effect when sharing the shot. In any case, the feature was in many of Google’s earlier pixels, but was quietly removed with the release of more modern devices.
One feature removal that probably hurts more than any other as the Pixel lineup has aged is the issue of Google Photos backup. The original Google Pixel launched with the promise of free, unlimited backup of photos and videos at the highest quality. for life to Google Photos. It was a tremendous offer at the time that has yet to be matched. The Pixel 2 series backed off a bit and moved on to a timed offer for unlimited backups. The Pixel 3a was the first to lose the original quality offering, only getting unlimited “storage saver” backups. By the time the Pixel 6 arrived, Google had withdrawn the offer entirely. The Pixel 5 was the last phone eligible for unlimited Google Photos backups for life, but it only got that offer with limited-quality backups.
There are sure to be a few other little features from previous Pixels that we’ve forgotten about here, but what really intrigues us is which one was your favourite. Let’s discuss in the comments!
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