Google's Pixel 6 looks like it'll actually be way more exciting than the iPhone 13

As much as I look forward to Apple's big iPhone reveal every year, I'm more excited this year by what I'm seeing about the upcoming Pixel 6. And I've been a happy iPhone owner for years, so this feeling is coming as a surprise. In part this feeling comes from Apple's lackluster iPhone 13 upgrades. Don't get me wrong -- the iPhone 13 is impressive. Better screens? Yep. Better cameras? Yep. Longer battery life? It's there. A "free" iPhone 13 for trade-in? Sign me up right now. (Actually, I'm not big on upgrading my phone every couple of years, and those carrier deals come with a lot of caveats anyway.)

But by and large, it was a sleeper year for the company in terms of the iPhone 13 lineup, at least. Sure, that smaller notch is swell, and holy smokes, have you seen the dramatic videos you can take with Cinematic mode? I adore those features, and I can't say I didn't feel my skin tingle when I watched them in action. But apart from the routine improvements to things like the processor and those features I mentioned earlier, there was a bevy of features that remained remarkably unchanged, like the overall design and dimensions for starters. CNET's Patrick Holland even said in his iPhone 13 review that the phone isn't radically different from the iPhone 12.

As much as I look forward to Apple's big iPhone reveal every year, I'm more excited this year by what I'm seeing about the upcoming Pixel 6. And I've been a happy iPhone owner for years, so this feeling is coming as a surprise. In part this feeling comes from Apple's lackluster iPhone 13 upgrades. Don't get me wrong -- the iPhone 13 is impressive. Better screens? Yep. Better cameras? Yep. Longer battery life? It's there. A "free" iPhone 13 for trade-in? Sign me up right now. (Actually, I'm not big on upgrading my phone every couple of years, and those carrier deals come with a lot of caveats anyway.)

But by and large, it was a sleeper year for the company in terms of the iPhone 13 lineup, at least. Sure, that smaller notch is swell, and holy smokes, have you seen the dramatic videos you can take with Cinematic mode? I adore those features, and I can't say I didn't feel my skin tingle when I watched them in action. But apart from the routine improvements to things like the processor and those features I mentioned earlier, there was a bevy of features that remained remarkably unchanged, like the overall design and dimensions for starters. CNET's Patrick Holland even said in his iPhone 13 review that the phone isn't radically different from the iPhone 12.