According to a new report from SellCell (via 9to5Google), Pixel owners are becoming less loyal, starting back in 2019. This makes total sense, though.

2016

Google makes their first Pixel device, which is not cutting edge in every way, but it has a good camera and has a major focus on Google Assistant. It feels like a new day for Google hardware.

2017

The height of the Pixel, the Pixel 2 has a major upgrade to the camera and improves the build quality pretty significantly. There’s still chunky bezels and it’s not as premium as things like the iPhone or Galaxy devices, but they’re really great phones.

2018

Some more screen quality issues and the world’s most insane notch you’ve ever seen are concerning, but people seem to be generally happy with them anyway. The camera is the same as last year, which is weird, but still really great.

2019

The Pixel 4 comes out and is a major stumble for the company. Most of the new features are considered gimmicks, and the battery life took a major hit. The main camera sensor remains unchanged, but it does add a telephoto lens…right as everyone else is moving to ultra wide secondary lenses.

2020

The Pixel 5 is a weird “upgrade” as it’s a downgrade in many ways and loses almost all of the new features from the Pixel 4. This isn’t the worst thing, but still it is not a clear upgrade and fills an awkward middle ground between budget phones and flagships. The camera sensor remains unchanged again, although they do switch to an ultra wide for the secondary lens. Ultimately, the camera is strong, but has ceded any lead it may have had years ago.

I’m not sure what Google has planned for the Pixel 6 this year, but from the outside it seems like they’re investing less and less into making insanely great phones and are more interested in making “fine” phones. I don’t think that’s the worst thing in the world, and they certainly have seen more sales success with their “a” line of phones, but I can absolutely see why their fierce loyalty may be slipping.