UPDATE: After sharing additional Pixel 6 Pro renders and details, tipster Steve Hemmerstoffer has now shared images of the vanilla Pixel 6. It appears Google is planning a periscope camera on the Pro model, a 6.4-inch flat display on the standard Pixel 6, wireless charging for both flagships, and much more. The updated story and galleries continue below.
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The Google Pixel line hasn’t been as successful as first expected. But with LG permanently out of the picture and an in-house chipset almost ready to ship, a huge Google Pixel 6 leak suggests the company is about to revamp its entire smartphone line.
Google's Pixel 6 Pro uses a periscope camera, but the Pixel 6 doesn't
First off, Google is reverting back to its old ways with plans for two flagship smartphone models. The 2021 lineup will consist of the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, according to the information shared by Steve Hemmerstoffer and Front Page Tech host and leaker Jon Prosser.
Hemmerstoffer has a stellar track record when it comes to Pixel leaks, while Prosser has a reasonable one. It's also worth noting that leaker Max Weinbach has corroborated the legitimacy of this Pixel 6 design, although the colors shown in the renders might not be the final ones.
Back to the leak, recent Pixel smartphones have featured a pretty boring square camera module on the back, but the leaked Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro renders (based on real hands-on photos of the phones and CAD files) show a radical new design that centers around a rectangular camera bump.
That new bump is covered in black glass and stretches across the entire width of the rear panel. In the case of the Google Pixel 6, it’s said to house two cameras — presumably main and ultra-wide shooters — and the usual LED flash, as well as what looks like a color correction sensor.
The Google Pixel 6 Pro gains a third camera on the back. That one seems to be some form of periscope shooter, a feature never seen on a Pixel smartphone before. Rumors suggest it'll support 5x optical zoom.
Rumors also point to a 50-megapixel main camera, though this is unconfirmed. Google Pixels tend to be some of the best camera phones around, so with the brand’s first triple-camera setup now reportedly in the works, Samsung and Apple might have reason to worry.
Forget dual-tone designs, Google's using three colors on Pixel 6
The camera bump also plays an important role in the design department. Early Google Pixel phones offered dual-tone designs, though this was ditched on later models. With the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, Google is once again playing around with colors and looks to be planning a triple-tone design.
The renders indicate that it consists of a more neutral color across two-thirds of the rear panel. Above that sits the black camera bump and an additional strip of glass that’s painted in a darker tone.
The colorways that Google offers on the final Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro devices could differ, but the renders hint at a white-black-orange combo, a champagne gold-black-gold finish, and a champagne gold-black-orange colorway. The first two have black frames and the latter has a gold one.
A 6.4-inch display on the Pixel 6 and a 6.7-inch screen on the Pro
If all of that wasn’t enough, it appears Google has important upgrades planned for the front of its Pixel 6 flagships too, ensuring that both models make the list of best phones in 2021 at launch. Their shape is now squared-off and the display still offers impressively thin bezels, although the bezels don't look uniform anymore.
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There's also a centered punch-hole for the selfie camera — the Pixel 5’s camera sits in the left corner — and an in-display fingerprint reader, meaning Google is finally saying goodbye to the rear-mounted sensor.
The Pixel 6's flat display reportedly measures in at 6.4-inches, whereas the Pixel 6 Pro is said to feature a large 6.7-inch curved AMOLED panel. The Pro model measures in at 163.9 x 75.8 x 8.9mm and the Google Pixel 6 lands at 158.6mm x 74.8mm x 8.9mm.
That makes them both significantly larger than the Pixel 5 (144.7 x 70.4 x 8 mm) and around the same size as the Pixel 4 XL (160.4 x 75.1 x 8.2 mm). Completing the package on both Pixel 6 models is a stereo speaker setup and wireless charging support.
Google Pixel 6 announcement and release date expectations
Google typically announces new flagship smartphones around October. Last year's Pixel 5 debuted on September 30 and the Pixel 4 was announced on October 15, with every model before that appearing somewhere in between.
Taking that into consideration, there's a very good chance Google will announce the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro in early October, followed by a release date around a week or two later. Alongside the smartphone, the company might introduce the rumored Google Pixel Watch.
Google Pixel 6 and Pixel Watch
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