I can’t trust Google Pixel phones in 2026 — here’s why

I’ve been using Pixels for as long as I can remember, which is why admitting this feels a little strange: I don’t fully trust Pixels in 2026. That isn’t because Google makes bad phones. In many ways, the Pixel experience has never been better. The software is polished, Gemini takes the hassle out of everyday tasks, and features like Magic Eraser, Best Take, and Call Notes have become so ingrained in my routine that I instantly miss them whenever I pick up another phone. However, Pixels also leave a few crucial boxes unchecked.

Every time I consider making a Pixel my only phone, something holds me back. It has little to do with Google’s AI ambitions or its clean take on Android. The problem is far more basic than that. In 2026, I need my primary smartphone to be dependable in a few areas I cannot compromise on, and despite all the progress Google has made, Pixels still have not earned that level of trust from me.

For me, it all starts with performance. Or, more specifically, how Pixel phones behave when I actually use them throughout the day. Until very recently, the Pixel 10 Pro was my daily driver, and it tested my patience more than I’d like to admit. We’ve all heard the conversations around Tensor chips not being the fastest or most efficient, but this goes beyond benchmark scores. It’s something I’ve experienced firsthand across multiple generations, including the Pixel 8, Pixel 9, Pixel 9a, Pixel 10 Pro, and now the Pixel 10a.

They get hot. Really hot. And I’m not talking about the occasional spike while installing an update or gaming for an hour. I’m talking about regular, everyday tasks. Open a handful of apps, spend a little too long taking photos and selfies, record a few high-resolution videos, or multitask for a while, and I can almost predict what’s about to happen. The top half of the phone starts heating up until it becomes genuinely uncomfortable to hold.

For the longest time, I blamed the weather, my own usage, or yet another software bug that I hoped the next update would fix. I wanted to believe there was a reasonable explanation because, honestly, I wanted to keep loving my Pixel. So I tried everything — I used it outdoors, indoors, in air-conditioned rooms, and during relatively light use. The result barely changed. That same uncomfortable warmth kept showing up, regardless of where I was or what I was doing.

If performance is my biggest complaint, battery life comes in at a very close second. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m terrible at remembering to charge my phone. More often than not, I’m plugging it in just a few minutes before leaving the house, and that’s completely on me. But even on the days when I do everything right — charge it to 100% before stepping out, I still don’t have complete faith that my Pixel will comfortably last until I get back home. That’s the bigger issue.

My daily routine isn’t particularly demanding. I’m usually listening to music during my commute, replying to messages, scrolling through social media now and then, taking a few photos, and spending a good portion of the day on work calls. It’s a fairly typical workload, and one I’d expect any modern flagship to handle.

Instead, I find myself constantly glancing at the battery percentage, mentally calculating how much longer it’ll last, and whether it’s time to switch on Battery Saver. I hate having to manage my phone around its battery instead of simply using it.

I’ve also gone down the rabbit hole of every battery-saving trick I could find. Adaptive Battery, Battery Saver, restricting background activity, turning off features I barely use — you name it, I’ve tried it. None of those changes made a meaningful difference to how much I trusted the phone by the end of the day.

To make matters worse, the Pixel’s idle battery drain only adds to that frustration. There have been plenty of times when I’ve left the phone untouched for hours, only to pick it up and find that it has mysteriously lost a noticeable chunk of battery. Google has said it fixed the issue for most users, but that hasn’t been my experience. Judging by the number of reports from owners of the Pixel 9 series and Pixel 10 lineup, I’m clearly not the only one still dealing with it.

At this point, I’ve stopped assuming my Pixel will get me through the day. Instead, I leave home with a second phone whenever I can, because the moment your primary phone needs a backup, it’s hard to call it a phone you truly trust.

And don’t even get me started on the charging speeds, because that’s where my patience completely runs out.

Out of pure curiosity and maybe a little spite, I decided to see how slow my Pixel 10 Pro really was. One morning before work, I plugged it in at around 3% and went about my usual routine. I stretched for a bit, took a long shower, made myself breakfast, ate it, cleaned the kitchen, packed my bag, and got everything ready before leaving for work. By the time I came back, I’d spent roughly an hour and 15 minutes away from the charger. Surely the phone would be at 100%, right? No, it was still sitting at 68%.

I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the battery percentage. I had finished an entire morning routine before my phone had even finished charging. At that point, it almost felt like the Pixel was politely asking me to slow down and enjoy life while it figured things out.

As if the slow charging wasn’t frustrating enough, it usually comes with an unwanted bonus: heat. The moment the phone is plugged in, it starts getting noticeably warm, sometimes to the point where it’s uncomfortable to pick up. So not only does it take ages to charge, but it also turns into a tiny hand warmer while doing it. That’s not exactly the kind of multitasking I was hoping for.

And just when I think I’ve run out of reasons to complain, my Pixel reminds me that the network experience deserves its own section. For some reason, my Pixel 10 Pro has developed a rather unique talent: pretending incoming calls don’t exist.

Sometimes the phone rings, sometimes it doesn’t, and on the rare occasion it actually decides to cooperate, the call quality can still be an adventure. I’ve had moments where I had to leave my desk, walk over to my Wi-Fi router, and continue the conversation from there, as if better reception was hiding behind it. It’s funny the first time. By the tenth time, not so much.

The most frustrating part is that you never know when it’s going to happen. Over the past month, I’ve realized my phone has silently ignored several incoming calls without giving me so much as a missed call notification. At first, I assumed my device was having a bad day. Then I looked online and realized I wasn’t alone. Plenty of Pixel users on Reddit have reported the same problem, and we even covered those complaints ourselves.

Honestly, I could keep going. There are plenty of frustrations I’ve run into over the years, but you probably get the idea by now.

What disappoints me the most isn’t that these issues exist — it’s that many of them have followed me across multiple generations of Pixel phones. Every new launch is supposed to iron out the rough edges, make the experience more dependable, and leave the previous model’s problems behind. That’s how progress is supposed to work, isn’t it? Somehow, with Pixels, I keep finding myself having the same conversations every single year.

So why do I keep buying them? Because every new Pixel fills me with an unreasonable amount of optimism. I genuinely want Google to succeed because, when Pixels are good, they’re unlike anything else on the market. The software is brilliant, the AI experience is miles ahead, and there are moments when using one feels magical. That’s exactly why I’m still looking forward to the Pixel 11 series. A part of me hopes it’ll finally be the Pixel I’ve been waiting for all these years.

But that’s the thing about hope — it only gets you so far. Eventually, reality kicks in. After giving Google chance after chance, I’ve reached a point where optimism simply isn’t enough anymore. A smartphone is the one piece of tech I rely on more than anything else, and trust isn’t something it should have to earn back every single year. That’s why, for now, it’s time for me to move on. Because no matter how much I love what a Pixel could be, I can’t keep relying on one that doesn’t consistently deliver when it matters most.