There was a lot of anticipation building up to this year’s Google I/O that we’ll be hearing something about the next generation of Pixel Phones and hopefully some more details on the Pixel 5A, which the company announced in April.
There was also chatter about a rumoured Google and Samsung Partnership and updates to WearOS to give Google’s wearable OS a much-needed boost. While we did hear what’s on the horizon concerning wearables and Android 12, Google didn’t exactly drop much information on any of the anticipated Pixels.
However, there have been quite a few leaks recently that have given an insight into what the upcoming Pixel 6 and 5A might look like and here we’ve compiled all the exciting rumours and leaks about both the upcoming Pixel devices.
For starters, let’s get the ‘when’ out of the way. Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are expected to release in October 2021 — the usual Pixel release timeline going by previous releases — however, the launch may be delayed by a few weeks if the chip shortage continues. This also applies to the launch of Pixel 5A, which could very well launch alongside the Pixel 6 devices, if not in August 2021.
Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are going massive
Google has seldom made any design changes in its Pixel lineup since the first Pixel came out in 2016. However, if the Pixel 6 leaks are to be believed, this is all about to change.
The new Pixels seem to be featuring some massive camera bumps with supposedly three cameras, larger displays, a cutout hole-punch front camera in the centre, smaller bezels and apparently an in-display fingerprint sensor.
Both the new phones will be powered by Google’s in-house ‘Whitechapel’ SoC as well, a chipset said to be somewhere around the Snapdragon 870 in terms of performance.
A stark departure from design traditions
The Pixel 6 shares the same physical appearance as the bigger Pixel 6 Pro but seems to be lacking a sensor, although appearing with the same protruding camera bump.
The display is also reported to be flat and smaller than the 6 Pro. The phone could also be downgraded to just one speaker rather than the usual two we’ve seen so far on Pixel phones. The phone is expected to have a 120 Hz FHD+ OLED display, with an approximately 4500mAh battery.
Better camera hardware
The Pixel 6 Pro leaks indicate that Google has finally upgraded the camera hardware to go head to head with companies like Apple and Samsung. Google’s Image Processing and Computing has made the Pixel cameras one of the best smartphone cameras, even with outdated sensors.
Getting better camera hardware will allow the already amazing software to stretch out its legs even more.
Based on appearances and CAD renders, the 6 Pro seems to be having three cameras — a primary sensor, an ultrawide sensor and something which appears to be a periscopic telephoto camera. There’s also a good chance that it could be the first pixel with a curved screen and no bezels featuring a 120 Hz QHD+ OLED display with a 5000mAh battery.
The 6 Pro also maintains Google’s tradition of having stereo speakers on their phones.
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The middle ground: Pixel 5A
There isn’t much news around the Pixel 5A except the fact that the phone is simply going to be a rebadged Pixel 4A 5G and will fall somewhere around $349.
The phone is set to have 6GB RAM, an octa-core Snapdragon 765G SoC running at 2.4GHz and a 6.2-inch, 416 PPI OLED Display. The battery is a bit short at 3480mAh, but the fast charging should more than makeup for the lack of battery capacity.
As you can see, the Pixel 5A is set to be identical to the 4A 5G in many aspects. There are rumours that the 5A could potentially feature the Snapdragon 780G SoC, which provides over 40% more performance as compared to the 765G currently expected to be in the phone.
Featured image by TechScoreNY
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