The first-ever Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro price leak looks pretty encouraging
UPDATE: The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro pre-order deals are here.
While Google unexpectedly nipped a whole lot of Pixel 6 and 6 Pro leaks in the bud by making the two 5G-enabled handsets official several months ahead of their commercial release, the search giant left plenty of major questions unanswered so we can have something to discuss all this time.
Of course, most of the key specifications and features were purportedly revealed back in July, leaving us obsessing over the company's launch timeline, as well as many small but important details like product weight, in-depth camera capabilities, and SoC configuration in the last few weeks.
One crucial puzzle piece that very few leakers and insiders dared to tackle so far, even in passing, is the potential pricing structure of Big G's next high-end smartphone duo. That's actually the highlight of the latest video uploaded on "This is Tech Today", which is a YouTube channel with a largely unproven track record but a seemingly reliable source on the inside.
More affordable than previously expected
Because Google has a history of overpricing its in-house smartphones and because the company literally told us to expect "upper segment" prices for both the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro early last month, it's safe to say the "atmosphere" around the two devices was not particularly... cheerful prior to today.
While we still have no reason to anticipate a push for the title of best budget 5G phone here, the "regular-sized" Pixel 6 is all of a sudden tipped to cost a very reasonable €649 on the old continent, with the ultra-high-end 6 Pro likely to fetch no more than €899 around those parts.
There's obviously no point directly converting the two tags to US dollars to try to guess how the MSRPs could look stateside, so instead of that, we should mention that the creator of the YouTube video embedded above expects the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro to go for around $799 and $1099 respectively in their entry-level configurations.
We actually feel that's a bit "conservative" and there's a good chance those numbers could end up closer to the $699 and $999 marks, but of course, we'll have to wait and see exactly how accurate these guesstimates will prove. Either way, it's sure starting to sound like Google might have a winner on its hands.
Direct iPhone 13 and 13 Pro rivals?
By "a winner", we mean the 6.4-inch non-Pro Pixel 6 is likely to greatly appeal to the same masses targeted by Apple's non-Pro iPhone 13, which just so happens to start at $799 as well. Compared to the hot new iOS-running 6.1-incher, the Pixel 6 will reportedly be smoother, thanks to a 90Hz flat AMOLED display, while "settling" for only two rear-facing shooters instead of three, one of which should however be equipped with an outstanding 50MP primary imaging sensor.
If the Pixel 6 does manage to undercut the iPhone 13, at $699 or even $749 in a 128GB storage variant, its 8GB RAM count and hefty 4,600mAh or so battery could make the handset pretty much irresistible for budget-conscious Android purists displeased with the mid-range Pixel 5a.
Unfortunately, the first-of-its-kind Tensor processor makes it seem unlikely that Google will ever be able to keep up with the demand generated by such a value champion. Especially amid a global chip shortage that undoubtedly played a role in the Pixel 6 duo being scheduled for a fairly late October 19 announcement and October 28 release.
The same could be true for the $999 or $1099 Pixel 6 Pro, which should go for the iPhone 13 Pro's jugular and possibly generate slightly lower "mainstream" excitement with a 6.67-inch curved AMOLED screen supporting 120Hz refresh rate technology, a whopping 12 gigs of RAM, 5,000mAh battery capacity, a 48MP telephoto lens added to the 50 and 12MP rear cameras of the "normal" Pixel 6, and up to 512 gigs of internal storage space.
Another newly revealed tidbit today concerns the Pixel 6 colors, whose black and green variants could be dubbed "carbon" and "fog" respectively for marketing purposes. That's... not particularly exciting, also contrasting with the unique names of many previous Pixel paint jobs, but like every other unauthorized "leak", this shouldn't be taken for granted by any means just yet.
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