The Pixel series was founded on a simple idea: all the best Google in one phone. Google's journey to Pixel 1 through Pixel 5 was not easy. We discovered that each of the four previous generations of Pixel flagships were ruined by simple hardware mistakes 18 months ago in our "Pixel Imperfect" feature. There was always something that held these flagship Pixels back, whether it was the Pixel 2 XL with its poor screen or the Pixel 4's notoriously bad battery life. The Pixel 5 was an exception to the rule. The Pixel 5 was cheaper, had a great battery life, and retained a competitive price. The Pixel 5 is the most powerful Pixel yet, but not the flagship that many people wanted. VPN Deals: A lifetime license for $16, and monthly plans starting at $1. Many of us wondered what the future holds for the Pixel brand, after Google apparently abandoned traditional flagship phones in 2020. It was expected that it would remain in the safe middle-range market. It seems that the reality is quite different. High-end Pixels will be back with the Pixel 6 series and the Pixel 6 Pro. These phones, if Google's early details are accurate, will make the previous five generations of Pixel seem like boring trials for the first Google smartphones.In a Pixel teaser, Google revealed the design and core features for the Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 6 Pro. Although Google did not reveal the camera configurations and processor, these details suggest that the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will be high-end phones with a high price tag. The flat screen of the vanilla Pixel 6 and its larger bezels and dual camera indicate a lower price, but it's clear that the 6 Pro will challenge the most powerful Android phones at the moment. The best smartphones from Samsung and OnePlus will be challenged by the Pixels this year. The new Tensor processor from Google, also known as. GS101, a.k.a. Whitechapel. Although specs aren't confirmed, the Google-designed chip reportedly employs a tri-cluster design that includes two ARM Cortex A78 cores and two A76 cores. It also has four A55 cores. This could make it more powerful than the Snapdragon 888 or Exynos 2100, particularly in single-threaded tasks. AC's Jerry Hildenbrand points out that Tensor does not need to achieve top marks in synthetic benchmarks to make the premium Pixel. According to reports, Google and Samsung LSI are working together on the chipset. The Samsung 5nm node could be used to fabricate the [Google Tensor], just as the Snapdragon 888, 780G and Exynos 2100. We'll wait to see how the Pixel 6 performs in this area. The 5nm node will likely deliver efficiency improvements. This isn't just about CPU cores. Tensor could reduce power consumption by using the Cortex-X1 Cores in Samsung and Qualcomm's new offerings. This would allow for superior AI performance. Google has experimented with custom chips in Pixels before, with its Pixel Visual Core and Pixel Neural Core as well as the Titan M security chip. XDA's Mishaal Raman reported that a dedicated TPU, or Tensor Processing Unit, will be added to Google's next-generation chipset. This is likely a distant descendant from the Neural Core last seen in the Pixel 4 series. Tensor, even though it doesn't have the fastest single-core performance, could enable AI features simply not possible on other Android phones. It could achieve this feat with a smaller CPU cluster and save power when compared to high-end Snapdragons. Google will not reveal the details, but the @MadeByGoogle account tweets some generalities. Tensor's highlight is its ability to process Google's most powerful AI/ML models directly on Pixel 6. According to the account, "You will see a transformed experience with the camera, speech recognition, and many other Pixel 6 features."Source: GoogleImportantly, Google will have almost complete control over the future support of the Pixel 6 series, even though Qualcomm is out of the picture. We expect Google to provide the same four years of security updates that Samsung flagships offer. Tensor could offer a longer support life, possibly matching some iPhone models.After a year of boring Pixel designs it was time for a breather.After a disappointing year of Pixel hardware design, the Pixel 6 Pro's design screams "premium". This is a refreshingly bold aesthetic. The Pixel 6 Pro is the first large-screened Pixel phone in two years, with a 6.67 inch diagonal screen. The new Pixel 6 Pro is also said to have dual stereo speakers, so the dual-tone paint job won't be the only throwback feature of the Pixel 2 XL.Source: GoogleNewly upgraded hardware allows for Pixel processing magic. The main draw of the Pixel 6 Pro, if you are like me, will be the camera setup. Since the Pixel 2 series, only minor improvements have been made to the main rear camera. It is past due for a major overhaul. Rick Osterloh, Google's chief engineer, has confirmed that the Pixel 6's new camera bar at the back will accommodate larger sensors than would be possible in a square-shaped camera bump. In a tweet, the company confirmed that the Pro model will feature a 4X super-telephoto camera. AC believes that the Pixel 6's main camera will feature a 50-megapixel sensor, which is a significant upgrade to previous models.Source: GoogleGoogle's Tensor chip will also be a major deal for photographers. It could offer a huge leap forward in image processing, not only because it has more raw horsepower to process that 50-megapixel main camera's output but also its machine learning prowess. Video processing is one area that machine learning can help. Rick Osterloh, Google's hardware boss, revealed to The Verge that Tensor allows the same HDR+ processing done on still photos to be applied to every frame 4K video from the Pixel 6. HDR video in itself is nothing new, but Pixel HDR applied to ultra-high-definition footage could make the Pixel 6 as revolutionary for video as the Pixel 1 was for photos.
