Six months later, Google's Pixel 2 is still one of the best phones in the world (GOOG, GOOGL)

It's hard to overstate how good Google's Pixel line of smartphones are. For my money, they're the best smartphones available.

Google Pixel 2

They run a clean, sleek, fast operating system. They have great cameras for capturing sharp, vibrant photos and video. They cost far less than the competition — literally hundreds of dollars less than the closest equivalent Apple iPhone. The Pixel line looks great, but still prioritizes function over needless visual upgrades.

I've been using the Pixel 2 for a few weeks now, transitioning from the Pixel 1 directly, and I'm convinced it's the best smartphone available — with one caveat.

Here's why:

ORIGINAL REVIEW: Google's new Pixel 2 is the phone you'll want for the long haul

1. Price: At $650, it's the best value for any flagship smartphone.

Listen, spending $1,000 on a phone is ridiculous — I'm looking at you, iPhone X! If I'm being completely honest, I don't feel super comfortable spending upwards of $650 on a phone either.

It is, however — comparatively speaking — the best price for a flagship smartphone from a major manufacturer. Compared to Apple's $1,000 iPhone X (and even the $700 iPhone 8), the Pixel 2 is the lowest priced. Samsung's Galaxy S9 goes for over $700, and LG's G7 ThinQ starts at $750.

Naturally, there are pluses and minuses to those other phones. Limiting the discussion strictly to price, the Pixel 2 has them all beat.

2. The camera is ridiculously impressive.

To celebrate my partner's birthday, we went to Prune, an institution on the New York City culinary scene. Because I don't want to be one of those people taking photos of my food, but I also want to take photos of beautiful things, I snuck this shot covertly. This is a tiny restaurant with servers moving around, low lighting, and I took it without really looking.

That the photo still came out this good, with this much detail and richness of color, is stunning.