Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro official: these are the new top phones

Google has officially announced its Pixel 6 series. For Google, this series signifies the return to the high-end segment. Read all about the new Google phones here.

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Google Pixel 6 Series Officially Revealed

The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have been leaked almost completely in recent months, and Google has already revealed a lot of details. So we pretty much knew exactly what to expect. For the editors: Sebastien, Jelle, Laura and Claudia, this flow of information made us all the more curious about the new top telephones. Why? You can read that here and here. Now that Google has officially announced the new Pixel 6 series, it’s time to take stock. What can you expect from the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, and more importantly, are they coming to the Netherlands and Belgium?

Specifications

New design

Google has given the Pixel 6 series a new design. You can immediately see that on the horizontal camera strip on the back, which is reminiscent of the back of the Nexus 6P. That strip is made of recycled material, and that also applies to the accompanying cases. In addition, Google gives you the choice of different colors, outside the standard colors. The edge above the camera strip has a different color on some versions, which provides an extra face.

The Google Pixel 6 differ in a number of areas and the screen is one of them. The Pixel 6 Pro has a 6.71 inch AMOLED screen, which is a waterfall screen with rounded screen edges. The AMOLED screen of the Pixel 6 is slightly smaller at 6.4 inches. The display of the Pixel 6 Pro has a refresh rate of 120Hz, making images look smooth. The Pixel 6 comes with a refresh rate of 90Hz.

• Google Pixel 6: 6.4 inch AMOLED screen, 1080 x 2340 pixels pixels, 90Hz
• google Pixel 6 Pro: 6.71 inch AMOLED display, 1440 x 3120 pixels, 120Hz

Both phones have a 12 megapixel selfie camera in a hole in the top center of the screen, making the edges nice and thin. Google has incorporated the optical fingerprint scanner into the screen. Both phones come with an IP68 certificate. This allows them to survive to a depth of 1.5 meters for at least half an hour.

New Tensor chipset and speech recognition

Google has previously unveiled its self-designed Tensor chipset and it serves as the engine of the Pixel 6. Google has made the chipset especially for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro and has equipped the piece of hardware with special functions for the camera and speech recognition. Speech Recognition now recognizes accents and translates them into other languages. The chipset will help process artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The Tensor chipset is 80% faster than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G from the Pixel 5. It works with two ARM Cortex-X1 processors, as far as we know. Google has also given the battery of the Pixel 6 series some extra attention. For example, fast charging has been improved, because the phones can be charged for 50% in half an hour with 30 watts.

Cameras

The horizontal camera strip on the back of the Pixel 6 houses two cameras and the Pixel 6 Pro houses three. The latter will get a periscope camera with 4x optical zoom. In addition, the main camera of the Pixel 6 (Pro) has a larger sensor, which can capture as much as 150% more light than the predecessor. This will have a favorable effect on the quality of photos taken in less favorable lighting conditions.

• Google Pixel 6: 50MP wide-angle camera, 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera, 12MP selfie camera
• google Pixel 6 Pro: 50 MP wide angle camera, 48 MP telephoto camera with 4x optical zoom, 12 MP ultra wide angle camera, 12 MP selfie camera

The power of the Tensor chipset is also used in the cameras of the Pixel 6 series. For example, the Pixel 6’s cameras can use ‘Magic Eraser’ to remove disturbing objects from a photo and focus blurry faces of moving people.

Incidentally, Google has also developed a new function for the camera in collaboration with Snapchat. Tapping the back twice will create a snap. Google has also paid attention to diversity. Everyone, white or black, of course has the right to have their skin color reflected in the photos they take with their smartphone. The Pixel 6 series can now take better and more realistic photos of dark-skinned people, which is sometimes a problem with modern smartphone cameras today.

Android 12 and updates

Google supplies the Pixel 6 with the brand new Android 12. As is the case every year, Android 12 can also count on many new possibilities and optimizations and improvements. For example, the new Privacy Dashboard with which you can see at a glance when certain parts of your phone have been used, such as the microphone, the camera or your location. Google has also taken care of the effects and animations and apps will launch faster.

• The main new features of Android 12

Like the Pixel 6, Android 12 will also get a new appearance, Material You. That’s the new dynamic color theme system that adapts to the colors of the wallpaper you’ve set. According to Google, this allows you to better set your phone to your own liking and you will encounter Material You everywhere in the interface. The Google apps and widgets, among others, are getting the new look.

The Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro can count on security updates for five years. Furthermore, the phone will continue to receive version updates for three years. That is, it will receive versions of Android versions 13, 14 and 15.

Google Pixel Pass

Along with the Pixel 6 series, Google is announcing a brand new subscription, Pixel Pass. With this subscription you have access to the latest Pixel smartphone and premium Google services. The services covered by the Pixel Pass subscription are Google One, Play Pass, YouTube Premium or YouTube Music and Google Fi (not available in the Netherlands).

Pixel Pass is available in the United States for $45 a month in combination with the Pixel 6. With the Pixel 6 Pro, the subscription costs $55 a month.

With this subscription, Google is following in the footsteps of Apple and Microsoft. Apple provides access to a wide range of premium Apple services through Apple One subscribers. They pay a fixed amount per month for this. Microsoft offers something similar with Xbox All Access.

Google wants to sell more of its Pixel smartphones with Pixel Pass.

Google Pixel 6 Pricing and Availability

The Google Pixel 6 series is on sale in just eight countries, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom. If you want to buy the Pixel 6, you can do so via the Google Store in these countries. In addition, you can also divert to the gray channel and other providers. The phones will be in stores from October 28.

• Buy Google Pixel 6 (8GB+128GB) – Google Store DE – 649 euros
• Buy Google Pixel 6 (8GB + 256GB) – Google Store DE – … euros
• Buy Google Pixel 6 Pro (12GB+128GB) – Google Store DE – 899 euros
• Buy Google Pixel 6 Pro (12GB + 256GB) – Google Store DE – 999 euros