Pixel 6 Pro – Google’s new cheap top mobile will beat the Iphone 13 and Galaxy S21
The technology giant is spanning the arc with the new Pixel 6 and Pixel Pro 6. Smart ai functions connected to its own Tensor chip and a relatively low price will attract buyers.
On Tuesday evening Swedish time, Google held court and presented new hardware in the form of two fresh smart phones: the 6.4-inch Pixel 6 and the bastard Pixel Pro 6, whose screen measures 6.7 inches.
More luxurious design – and hardware
Much was known about the phones even before the launch, thanks to a steady stream of leaks. This year, the Pixel 6 teddy bears have had a much more luxurious appearance compared to previous models. This applies to both the performance and the design itself, with glass on both the front and back, as well as a flashy frame of polished aluminum that runs around the Pixel 6 Pro.
The phones offer a bunch of features that most other flagship mobiles also have in the name of honesty: high-resolution LED screens, wireless charging, IP68 enclosure and support for wifi-6E, for example.
Pixel 6 Pro has, like Iphone 13 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, a 120 Hz screen, where the refresh rate can vary from 10 up to 120 Hz.
Google’s own 5 nm chip
The main number is instead Tensor, a self-developed system circuit that Google, according to its own statement, has been working with since 2016.
The 5 nm chip has a total of eight processor cores. Of these, two are high-performance Cortex 1 cores, which are complemented by two medium-performance and four energy-efficient cores.
On board the system circuit is also a processor that is tailored for image management, as well as a dedicated security processor (Titan M2), which protects the phones from, among other things, malware attacks and potential phishing attempts via apps such as Facebook Messenger.
Both phones come with Android 12, and are guaranteed five years of security updates. However, the updates to the Android operating system are limited to three years.
Focus on smart camera features
Google’s main focus for Tensor is on enhanced camera features. Both Pixel 6 and big brother Pixel 6 Pro have a new main camera (50 MP) with a larger camera sensor that can take in 150 percent more light compared to the corresponding camera on Pixel 5. This has been made possible with a technology called “pixel binning”, which means that several pixels in the 50-megapixel camera are combined into a 12.5-megapixel image for better light input.
During the launch stunt, Google tensed its muscles with a bunch of new camera features linked to the Tensor chip. An example is “Magic eraser”, which makes it possible to easily remove unwanted objects from photos. “Face blur” is another feature that means that the camera selects a specific face from several, and then ensures that it remains sharp – even if the person is moving.
Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have also got new camera modes which, for example, make it possible to shoot with a very long exposure time to create nice effects in the images. The camera’s night and portrait modes are also said to have been sharpened with the help of the custom chip, which gives Google better control of the entire camera system – from the signal processor to ai accelerators and memory controls.
Sharper ai services
Other Tensor features that stood out are related to natural language processing (NLP), an ai area that deals with how computers can understand and process human speech.
Live Translate is a new feature that automatically translates messages you have received or text that appears in the camera’s viewfinder into 55 different languages. The function, which works together with most chat apps from third parties, can also translate your answer into, for example, Japanese, Portuguese or Italian – even in offline mode.
Live Translate should also be able to transcribe videos that are played on the Pixel 6 mobiles.
Perhaps more useful for everyday use is “Assistant Voice Typing”, which gives Pixel 6 phones enhanced speech-to-text conversion. Voice dictation has been made considerably faster, should be able to set punctuation marks automatically and become better at understanding “context”, the search giant states. Exactly how well this works in practice remains to be seen.
Want to compete with the price
Google’s pricing is also interesting. Pixel 6 has a base price of the equivalent of approximately SEK 5,200 (128 GB), while Pixel 6 Pro costs approximately SEK 7,800 in its simplest version (128 GB). This means that Google’s new mobiles are significantly cheaper than Samsung’s and Apple’s flagship models.
However, there is not much to suggest that Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will be officially released in Sweden.