The Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 pro have finally been officially revealed after months of teasers, leaks, and pre-reveals. They are Google’s first true flagship Pixel devices and they’re powered by Google’s first processor called Tensor, let’s get into the details and what this could mean for Pixel devices in the future.
The pricing of these new flagships is surprisingly low with the Google Pixel 6 starting at $599/£599 and the Pixel 6 Pro starting at $899/£849, this makes these new devices incredibly competitive when compared against other devices from Apple and Samsung.
Google Tensor
Credit: Google
The new Tensor Processor from google has been developed specifically for machine learning on Pixel according to Google.
It supposedly provides the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro with up to 80% faster performance compared to the Pixel 5 from last year which ran a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G, this puts it at around the same performance as the Snapdragon 888 that has powered the latest 2020 smartphones but it may mean that Google’s latest Pixel is slightly behind next years flagships. I guess we will find out next year.
There is also a new security core within the Google Tensor which will allow for greater on device security features to help users maintain their privacy while using their device, however, we’ll have to wait and see how this may affect the development of custom roms for Pixel devices in the future.
Credit: Google
Google Tensor’s CPU is composed of two high-power cores, two mid cores, and four high-efficiency cores. We don’t currently have much information regarding what type of cores these are, however, so we’ll have to wait for the full reviews to arrive before we find out.
However, the Google Tensor does have much more going for it than just its power. Google says that they have designed the Google Tensor for on-device machine learning and AI which has supposedly allowed them to build their newest features.
An example of this can be seen in the new live translate feature which allows people to have conversations between multiple languages without being connected to the internet, it also works within Messages on android with near-instantaneous translation between languages.
Camera
Credit: Google
Pixel devices have always had incredibly impressive photo quality and this year is supposedly no different. Both the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have a new 1/1.3 inch sensor on the back which also captures 150% more light in comparison to the Pixel 5. This allows for greater detail and colour as well as better capture with Night Sight. They also have a new ultrawide lens allowing for even more people to be in your shot.
The Pixel 6 Pro also has a 4x optical zoom with up to 20x zoom thanks to a new and improved Super Res Zoom. There is also an even better ultrawide front camera that records 4k video.
The new camera system also includes a motion mode which allows people to capture photos of people while they’re moving with Action Pan which allows for smoother photos of people riding their scooters and also long exposure shots which allow people to capture moving waterfalls and busy city streets.
Call Screen Improvements
Credit: Google
Call Screening was first introduced in late 2019 with the Pixel 4 as a way to not need to interact with the person calling you if it’s a number that you don’t know so you can decline robocalls without having to do anything. It’s quite useful if you’re the kind of person who gets lots of calls from clients on numbers that aren’t saved to your device so you need a quick and easy way to determine if you’re receiving a legitimate call or a call from someone with malicious intentions.
Yesterday, Google announced that the Pixel 6 will launch with two new features that will allow people to spend less time on the phone to the bank and more time doing what they love.
Wait Times
The Phone app on Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 pro allow users to see the supposed wait times for the rest of the week allowing them to decide on whether or not to call now or wait for a better time later in the week. these wait times are inferred from data relating to call times that are not linked to user identifiers.
Direct My Call
Direct My Call allows users to pay less attention when going through automated calling systems by automatically transcribing what is said and displaying it on screen in a list that people can then choose from. This also means that when users are listening to menu options they no longer need to remember which number to dial for each option as it will be available for them to see on screen.
Once a user chooses an option Pixel will stay on hold for them whilst they do something else and then let the user know when a human representative picks up the phone.
Overview
The Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 pro are much better than the Pixel 5, especially when considering the fairly big upgrade to both the camera and the processor. These new devices are also some of the most powerful Android handsets to be released this year and they come at some of the most affordable prices for new flagships that we have seen this year.
These new devices are available for pre-order now and will be generally released on October 25 from most major US and UK carriers.