Ever since last October, the Pixel 2 has been my daily driver and go-to choice for the smartphone I want to use. It's ridiculously fast, has the best camera on the market, and is first-in-line for software updates and security patches as they roll out. The Pixel 2's been a great phone and an all-around joy to use, but for the past couple weeks, I've found myself using the OnePlus 6 instead. I still love my Pixel 2 and jump on it here and there to mess around with the Android P beta, but when it comes to the phone that's now in my pocket day after day, that title's gone to the OnePlus 6. Here's why. See at OnePlus Why the OnePlus 6 works better for me

In a lot of ways, the OnePlus 6 and Pixel 2 are more similar than they are different. Both have excellent displays, performance is blazingly fast, and even though the Pixel 2 has the upper hand, the OnePlus 6 still has a great camera. Verizon is offering the Pixel 4a for just $10/mo on new Unlimited lines These similarities aside, though, there are some aspects of the OnePlus 6 that I find better-executed than the Pixel 2 — the first of which is the software experience. That might sound preposterous considering that Google's Pixel phones are widely considered to have the ultimate Android experience out there, but there are a lot of things that OnePlus just does better. After using both, I've come to prefer OnePlus's software over Google's offering on the Pixel phones. Most notably, OxygenOS on the OnePlus 6 is much more user customization-friendly than the software Google's crafted for the Pixel 2. With the OnePlus 6, you can set custom accent colors, create your own actions for the on-screen navigation buttons, use icon packs with the built-in launcher, and turn on a system-wide dark theme that's light years better than Google's poor excuse for one in Android P. Speaking of Android P, OnePlus's gesture system is easily ten times better than the jumbled mess Google's created. It's more intuitive, easier to use, and is a really solid alternative for folks like me that hate looking at Android's navigation bar 24/7. Something else that continues to be a game-changer more than two years since it was first released is Dash Charge. The Pixel 2's quick charging does top its battery up rather fast, but the OnePlus 6 + Dash Charge is a combo that cannot be beaten. Even though battery performance itself isn't the greatest I've ever seen on a phone with the OnePlus 6, Dash Charge really does make up for it 100%. Add all of this together with Reading Mode that turns the screen to a grayscale to be easier on your eyes, the physical alert slider for quickly toggling notification sounds on/off, and the mind-blowingly fast Face Unlock system, and you end up with a truly unique phone that's both fun and practical to use. The things I miss from the Pixel 2

Even though the OnePlus 6 has proven to be a better fit for me, there are still some things about the Pixel 2 that I miss having. Now Playing, the Pixel 2 feature that automatically detects songs that are playing in the background and shows them on your lock screen, is hard to live without after using it for so many months. It's an admittedly small feature, but the convenience it provides is something no other phone offers and one that I wish more OEMs would adopt. Features like unlimited Google Photos cloud backup and Now Playing still help the Pixel 2 remain unique. Another Pixel 2 exclusive I long for on the OnePlus 6 is the squeeze gesture to open up the Google Assistant. This sounded like the most gimmicky thing Google could have come up with when I first heard about it, but sure enough, it became something I used every single day. Lastly, even though I don't take a ton of pictures or videos, I think it's fantastic that Google includes unlimited cloud backups in original quality for these on Google Photos. That peace of mind you get with not having to worry about storage for the memories you capture is almost priceless, and after owning both the original Pixel and Pixel 2, it's easily become one of my favorite features of Google's smartphones. OnePlus is fighting to make a better Pixel than Google can