What Google Pixel 5 color should you buy?

The Google Pixel 5 is shaping up to be one of the best Android phones, but before you can order yours, there’s one final question to answer: what color Pixel 5 is best for you and your wardrobe? There are only two colors to choose from this year, which gives a nice contrast between two distinct looks: the down-to-earth Sorta Sage, and the meticulous look of matte black.

Best Pixel 5 color Sorta Sage is full of wisdom and peace

Google has always brought an uncommon and uncommonly beautiful color option for the Pixel flagship each year. For the first Pixel, it was Really Blue, the Pixel 3 was “Not Pink,” and last year’s Pixel 4 got in on the action with Oh So Orange. This year, the color wheel stopped on green, and Google gave us the most serene shade of sea green for the Google Pixel 5, and it makes me want to take it on a nature walk right now.

While you can always turn to a cool case to jazz up the color of your phone, starting with a phone that has a great color means you can instead indulge in clear cases that showcase the natural beauty of the Pixel 5 — or go au naturale if you’re feeling extra daring. I’m a huge proponent of the philosophy that life’s too short for boring tech, and for most gadgets, there’s nothing more boring than plain black.

Of course, Just Black on the Pixel 5 isn’t plain by any stretch of the imagination. Unlike last year’s glossy, smudge-prone black, glass-covered back, the painted back of the Pixel 5’s aluminum housing is a matte black with texture and variety to it. It’s more like a fresh black chalkboard with charcoal grey mixed into the clean slate, with just a silver Google G across the back. If you’re all about the matte black life, the Just Black Pixel 5 is the best looking phone you’ve seen in three years, and I don’t blame you for falling for it, especially if green isn’t your color.

Whatever color Google Pixel 5 you grab, you’re getting yourself an excellently rounded-out phone that gives you performance and the perfect camera experience while letting you keep more money in your pocket than Samsung or OnePlus would take for their flagships.

Naturally fabulous

Sorta Sage Google Pixel 5

$700 at Amazon
$700 at Best Buy
$700 at B&H

Precisely the proper green for a down-to-earth look.

Sorta Sage is the latest color to come to Google after Not Pink and Sky Blue, and I’m very hopeful it spreads from the Pixel 5 to other Google devices because this is the most perfect shade of green I’ve seen on a phone in five years. It’s not so bright to evoke some candy-colored neon green, nor is it too dark to avoid getting confused with teal or grey.

Matte magic

Just Black Google Pixel 5

$700 at Amazon
$700 at Best Buy
$700 B&H

There’s nothing “just” about this black beauty.

If Sorta Sage doesn’t have you all green with envy, there’s always tried and true Just Black to give you that timeless look. Black is the universal phone color for a reason — it goes with everything and tends to wear better over time compared to white and colors — and the matte look taken with the Pixel 5 means it won’t show oils, grease, and fingerprints the second you take it out of the box.