Granted, it's been a couple of years since I bought my last camera, so there may have been some improvements in that time. However, I actually find that I take better pictures more effortlessly with the Pixel than any other "real" camera I've used. I'm not a photographer, I don't play with settings much, I just want to point and shoot and get a good result. The Pixel really delivers, whereas with even the most highly rated point & shoot cameras I've had I feel like it's been more of an effort to take a good picture. In the hands of someone that knows what they're doing, I'm sure it's another story, of course.

The other thing I just thought of is that I don't even know if I could go back to having a separate camera. Even if you don't count the inconvenience of carrying a separate device around, being able to take a picture on the phone, instantly edit it, share it, have it backed up to the cloud, have Google Photos do its magic with collages and stylizing and creating albums and "they grow up so fast" videos is just something I've gotten so used to at this point that to go back to a "dumb" camera seems like a huge step back. I'd have to deal with a tiny screen, transferring pictures to a computer, editing and categorizing them manually, etc. I'd have to be really damn serious (and knowledgeable) about photography to go through all that hassle.