Pixel (1st gen) review: Google's first in-house phone — best camera of 2016.
Where the Pixel camera began.
The first Pixel debuted Google's computational photography — a single 12.3 MP sensor that topped DxOMark in 2016 through software alone. It also launched Google Assistant and free unlimited photo backup, setting the Pixel template for years.
01Display
78/10078/100 trails the 80-point cohort average for flagship phones of 2016.
02Camera
86/10086/100 puts it above the 80-point average for flagship phones of 2016.
03Performance
80/100At 80/100 this is one of the strongest performance showings among flagship phones of 2016 — 10 points above the cohort average.
04Battery
64/10064/100 trails the 70-point cohort average for flagship phones of 2016.
05Build
74/10074/100 puts it above the 72-point average for flagship phones of 2016.
- Best smartphone camera of 2016 (DxO 89)
- Launched Google Assistant
- Free unlimited original-quality photo backup
- Small 2770 mAh battery
- Mono speaker
- No water resistance
How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 9-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .