Google's Pixel Fall Launch 2021 event saw the company make several product announcements. The stars of the show included the company's first in-house system-on-chip, Tensor, and the Pixel 6 series. But there was more to the event than these two products.
Here's everything Google announced at the Pixel 6 launch event.
The Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro
Google unleashed the latest iteration of its Pixel series, Pixel 6, headlined by the Pixel 6 Pro. The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are fresh from the outside to the innards.
The exterior features a new design with a hole punch notch housing the selfie camera, a first one for the Pixel line, and an elevated camera bar on the rear. Together, the Pixel 6 series stands out in the industry, especially on the rear camera bar design and the different color options available.
Google's Pixel 6 series features upgraded cameras for the first time in a few years. Pixel 6 has several new features baked into the camera, including Motion Blur, Face Unblur, and Magic Eraser.
On the front, the Pixel 6 Pro includes a 6.7-inch curved QHD+ LTPO panel with up to a 120Hz refresh rate. The standard Pixel 6 has a relatively more minor 6.4-inch FHD+ display with up to a 90Hz refresh rate. Aside from the display and design, there are other key differences between the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.
Internally, the phones boast Google's AI-powered chip Tensor, marking the debut of the company's line of mobile chips. With Tensor, the Pixel 6 series has additional intelligent features and improves existing ones like Live Translate, courtesy of improved speech recognition and language understanding models.
The duo includes an optical fingerprint sensor, another first in the Pixel series.
The Pixel 6 starts at $599 for 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage. The Pixel 6 Pro starts at $899, shipping with 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Alongside the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, Google released their accompanying accessories. They include new cases in various colors and a second-generation Pixel Stand for wireless charging up to 23W.
Google's New Tensor Chip
Google's Pixel 6 launch marked the debut of the company's Tensor chip.
Tensor is a 5nm chip with an 8-core CPU (in a 2+2+4 configuration) and a 20-core Mali G78 GPU. It also includes a Titan M2 security chip for improved security, Tensor Processing Unit (for machine learning capabilities), and a custom image signal processor.
Google's main pitch on Tensor isn't the speed, although there are some notable differences there. The company says the CPU and GPU are both faster compared to the Pixel 5. The CPU is 80% faster, while the GPU is a whopping 370% faster.
Google's main aim with Tensor is to bring the power of its Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning advancements to mobile devices.
The new Pixel 6 series features powered by Tensor include Face Unblur, Magic Eraser, Motion Blur, and Speech enhancement mode. All of these will be done with a reduction in power consumption.
Pixel Pass
If you need a Pixel 6 series device, you can get one without paying the total price upfront using Google's Pixel Pass program. Pixel Pass is a subscription service that enables you to acquire the latest Pixel devices by paying low monthly fees spread over 24 months.
It also includes an option to upgrade your device once every two years to the latest Google Pixel device. Bundled with Pixel Pass are a variety of Google's suite of services.
Android 12
Google officially released Android 12, the next major version of Android. This update includes a significant UI overhaul with the debut of Google's Material You design language.
Aside from the redesign, Android 12 has new system animations, a privacy dashboard, camera and microphone access indicators, and modular location controls to name just a few new features.
Android 12 comes preinstalled on the Pixel 6 series and is available via OTA on older Pixels starting with the Pixel 3 series. Smartphones from other device makers will also receive the update but eligibility will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.
Stay Updated With the Latest Hardware Launch Events
At the Pixel 6 launch event held on October 19, Google made several announcements. But now that you're up to date with everything, you should also catch up on Apple's latest announcements at its Unleashed event held a day earlier.