Google Pixel 6 release date, price, news, specs, leaks and what we know so far
Google officially revealed the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro – oddly only in a press release and over Twitter – in August, and they look just like the leaks predicted: sleek devices with a visor-like camera block that splits the back cover in two. You won't have to wait long to see the phones, as Google announced the Pixel 6 launch date is October 19.
That's not the only interesting thing about them though, as the Google Pixel 6 range has been confirmed to pack an in-house chipset for the first time – one that we haven't seen in any other phone. It's called Google Tensor, and the company has hyped up everything the new phones can do with the new custom silicon.
- Announcement on October 19 (confirmed)
- Releasing October 28 (rumored)
- All-new design
- Big camera bump
- Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro both coming
- 6.7-inch QHD+ 120Hz screen for the Pro
- 6.4-inch 90Hz flat screen for the standard Pixel 6
- New in-house Tensor chipset
- Up to 512GB of storage and 12GB of RAM
- Triple-lens camera for the Pro
- Dual-lens camera for the Pixel 6
- 4,614mAh battery for Pixel 6 / 5,000mAh battery for Pro
There's lots we don't officially know about the Google Pixel 6 yet though thanks to the minimal unveiling on social media, so we're waiting on a 'full' unveiling to bring us all the stats.
We won't have to wait too much longer to see the phones – while the Google Pixel 6 release date hasn't been announced, Google confirmed it will launch in 'fall 2021' (meaning October or November) in the US, so it's likely to land shortly after the October 19 launch event, possibly alongside Android 12.
While Google has officially revealed a bit of information, leakers have brought reams of info on the Google Pixel 6 range, and we're hearing new information about the devices all the time. You can scroll on down for all the important information we've heard so far, including images of the Pixel 6 we managed to snap ourselves.
We've seen plenty of Google Pixel 6 leaks in the run-up to its full unveiling, with the latest being a flood of information inadvertently revealed online by a UK retailer.
Google Pixel 6: what you need to know
Google Pixel 6 release date: Google has confirmed it will reveal the phones at an event on October 19, while leaker predictions say the phones will hit stores on October 28.
Google Pixel 6 price: Pricing isn't totally clear yet, but leaks point to a starting price of 649 euros (around $760 / £560 / AU$1,045) for the Pixel 6, with the Pixel 6 Pro starting at 899 euros (roughly $1,050 / £775 / AU$1,450).
Design: Google has already revealed the design of the Pixel 6 range and it's totally different to the Pixel 5, with a big camera block running across the back and a three-tone color scheme.
Colors: Images show the Pixel 6 in black, pale green and pink shades, with the Pixel 6 Pro shown in black, white and yellow colors.
Display: The Google Pixel 6 is rumored to have a 6.4-inch flat screen with a 90Hz refresh rate, while the Pixel 6 Pro might have a 120Hz curved screen of between 6.67 and 6.71 inches.
Camera: We know that the Pixel 6 has a dual-lens camera and that the Pixel 6 Pro has a triple-lens one, with the extra lens being a 4x telephoto snapper. Leaks suggest a 50MP main, a 12MP ultra-wide and - in the case of the Pro - a 48MP telephoto.
Specs: The Pixel 6 range will use the Google Tensor chipset. This is new, and leaks can't agree on whether it's slightly more or slightly less powerful than the Snapdragon 888 powering many of 2021's flagships. There's also talk of up to 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage.
Battery: Rumors suggest the Pixel 6 will have a 4,614mAh battery with the Pixel 6 Pro having a 5,000mAh one. For reference, the Pixel 5 has a 4,080mAh power pack.
Google Pixel 6 release date
The Google Pixel 6 will be revealed in its entirety at the company's Pixel Fall Launch on October 19. The event starts at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST (that's 4am in AEDT on October 20).
The Google Pixel 6 release date has been confirmed to be in 'fall 2021', which means we'll see it before the end of November. A previous leak that was accurate about the phone being unveiled on October 19 also said pre-orders would open on that date with a full release on October 28, while a retailer listing additionally points to October 28 for the phones shipping.
Plus, Google's own Camera app included code that said the Pixel 6 Pro will need to be updated on October 27. That also matches with these dates, and would make sense for the Pixel 6 release.
Google Pixel 6 price
The price of the Pixel 6 range is hard to guess, because while the Pixel 3 and Pixel 4 were more premium offerings, the Pixel 5 is a mid-range phone, and we don't know for sure if Google will stick in that price range or return to the top end.
For reference, the Pixel 5 cost $699 / £599 / AU$999, so maybe we could see a similar price again. That said, given that there's a Pixel 6 Pro as well, we might see both a mid-range Pixel 6 and a high-end Pro model, with the latter probably costing a lot more than the Pixel 5.
While we still don't have an official price for either phone, Google hardware executive Rick Osterloh was quoted in Der Spiegel as saying the Pixel 6 'belongs in the upper segment' of phones as a 'mainstream premium product.'
The Pixel 6 Pro, on the other hand, Osterloh said 'will be expensive.' Given that he said the last two years of Google phones (including the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4) weren't competing in the flagship market segment, Osterloh may be suggesting that the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro will be pricier than we expected.
That said, a leak suggests a starting price of 649 euros (roughly $760 / £560 / AU$1,045) for the Pixel 6, and 899 euros (around $1,050 / £775 / AU$1,450) for the Pixel 6 Pro, which doesn't sound too bad. Another leak has also since listed the same price for the standard Pixel 6.
With Osterloh's comments in mind, it may be Google opts for a similar pricing structure to both Samsung and Apple in 2021. The iPhone 13 is priced at $799 / £779 / AU$1,349 with the iPhone 13 Pro at $999 / £949 / AU$1,699.
Similarly, the Samsung Galaxy S21 starts at $799 / £769 / AU$1,249 with the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra starting at $1,199 / £1,149 / AU$1,849. Google may see fit to follow a similar pricing structure for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro with one offered as a cheaper flagship version to its top-end sibling.
Meanwhile, the latest word from the production line is that Google has ordered a lot of these phones – so the Pixel 6 range should be widely and readily available.
Google Pixel 6 design
Google officially revealed the Pixel 6 in a series of tweets in early August – and the company essentially confirmed the design leaks that trickled out through 2021.
There's a camera block that runs across the width of the back, jutting out, and a three-tone color scheme in a range of options. The Pro model has more space above the camera block, and that camera block has glossy silver edges on the Pixel 6 Pro and matte black ones on the standard Pixel 6.
Flip the phone to the front and you can see an all-screen design with a selfie camera in a central punch-hole - a design which Google has since also shown off in video adverts.
The company has even put the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro on display in New York City, albeit behind glass and only visible from the back. We captured some photos of the phones, and you can see some of them below.
Some details have leaked too, such as the dimensions of the Pixel 6 Pro, which are apparently 163.9 x 75.8 x 8.9mm (with an 11.5mm camera bump). The phone also apparently has dual stereo speakers.
We've also now seen additional leaked renders and marketing shots of the Google Pixel 6 range, some of which show water on the phone - strongly hinting at water resistance.
Google Pixel 6 colors
You can see the colors we're expecting for the Pixel 6 range in the official images above, though there may also be other colors that we haven't yet seen.
Based on these images though, the colors include black (rumored to be called Carbon), white, yellow, pink, and pale green (rumored to be called Fog).
The images show the standard Pixel 6 in the Carbon, Fog and pink shades, with the Pixel 6 Pro being shown in Carbon, yellow and white, so you can expect those phones in those shades.
Google Pixel 6 display
Google was light on screen specs, but according to Marques Brownlee (a YouTuber who got hands-on time with the phones) the Pixel 6 Pro has a slightly curved 120Hz screen of around 6.7 inches, while the standard Pixel 6 has a smaller 90Hz flat screen.
Beyond that we're in leak territory for additional display details, with one source claiming that the Google Pixel 6 Pro has a 6.67-inch curved AMOLED display.
You can see that screen in a leaked hands-on video. The back also looks glossier here than we'd seen in official images.
Another source points to a 1440 x 3120 screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, and elsewhere we've similarly heard that the Pixel 6 Pro might have a QHD resolution, while the Pixel 6 might have a 6.4-inch flat screen.
That screen size has been echoed by Jon Prosser (a leaker with a good track record), who also points to both models using OLED, and says that the Pixel 6 Pro's screen is 6.71 inches (which is in line with Brownlee's claim of it being around 6.7 inches). We've heard the same screen specs for both phones from a Chinese source now too.
Marketing materials leaked online would seem to confirm the 6.4-inch and 6.7-inch screen sizes, as well as a host of other details – it sounds as though these Pixels will be in line for a full five years of software updates, for example.
Google Pixel 6 camera
When Google officially revealed the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro via tweet in early August, the company confirmed the former will get two cameras and the latter will get three shooters – with the extra being a 4x optical telephoto.
There wasn't any other information from Google itself, but Marques Brownlee (who was granted hands-on time with the phones) claims that the other two lenses are main and ultra-wide ones.
He also stated that Google has switched to all new photo sensors, for basically the first time since the Pixel 2, and that the Pixel 6 is likely to offer a significant video upgrade on the Pixel 5, thanks to the new chipset (more on which further down) powering computational photography.
A camera leak points to the Pixel 6 having a 50MP main and 12MP ultra-wide camera, while the Pixel 6 Pro apparently has both of those along with a 48MP telephoto one. This source also claims that the Pixel 6 has an 8MP selfie camera while the Pixel 6 Pro has a 12MP one.
A more recent leak has also said the same about the Pixel 6 Pro, while another leak echoes these claims about both phones. We've also seen a retailer listing and a leaked marketing render with the same camera specs, so these look very likely.
That said, an earlier leak suggested that we'd see a 50MP main camera with a larger sensor than on the Pixel 5, plus an 8MP periscope snapper and an ultra-wide camera. So that differs slightly.
Android 12 code also suggests that both the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will have a 50MP main camera. Code in the Google camera app meanwhile suggests that the front-facing camera on the Pixel 6 might support 4K video recording, which is higher resolution than most selfie cameras can get.
We've heard about some Google Pixel 6 camera modes, thanks to leaked code from the camera app, though we don't actually know what they do. Modes include 'magic eraser', 'face deblur', 'scene lock', 'portrait spotlight', 'front torch', 'baby mode', 'nima aesthetic' and more. These are likely for both photography and videography.
Google Pixel 6 battery
As for the battery, there's no official news about this but multiple sources claim the Pixel 6 Pro will have a 5,000mAh one, with the Pixel 6 having a smaller one. Elsewhere we've heard the same claim, but this leak details the Pixel 6's battery too, saying that it's 4,614mAh. Another source has also since listed the same battery sizes, while a retailer listing points to a similar 4,620mAh size for the Pixel 6.
We've also heard that - unsurprisingly - the phones will support wireless charging.
They might support faster wireless charging than the 12W offered by the Pixel 5 though, as evidence of a new wireless charger has been found in Android 12 code, and there's mention of fans - a feature which helps keep the phone and charger cool when pumping out lots of power. More evidence was revealed by retailers who could stock the wireless charger, letting us know this kind of powering could hit 23W.
Wired charging might get a speed boost too, with one source pointing to 33W charging, up from 18W on the Pixel 5, and we've heard this leak multiple times. However, that charger won't come in the box - in fact the Pixel 6 won't have an in-box charger at all.
Google Pixel 6 Tensor chipset
When Google revealed the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro in early August, the company also unveiled the Google Tensor – its first custom chipset, which the tech giant suggested will improve the cameras, speech recognition, and other features – especially improving voice commands, translation, captioning and dictation, with more things carried out on device.
According to Brownlee (who got an official look at the phone) the Tensor chipset also allows the Pixel 6 to decode voice and process it on the device (rather than on Google servers), which allows for faster responses from Google Assistant and other vocal interface features.
Neither Google nor Brownlee have said much about the power of this chipset, but rumors around this chip are gaining momentum, and we've heard that it could be a 5nm one. However, it sounds like it won't match the best Android chipsets for performance, with a source claiming it will basically slot between the top-end Snapdragon 888 and the older Snapdragon 865 in terms of power.
Another source has echoed these claims, saying that it rivals the Snapdragon 870 for power - a chipset that's high-end but not top-end. They added that its GPU performs well under stress.
That said, one report has suggested that the Tensor chipset is in fact the Samsung Exynos 9855, previously rumored but never put inside a phone. If that's correct, the performance of the Pixel 6 phones would be somewhere in between the Galaxy S21 and the Galaxy S22 launching next year.
Google Pixel 6 specs and features
We've heard more than once that the Pixel 6 might have 8GB of RAM and a choice of 128GB or 256GB of storage, with the Pixel 6 Pro upping the RAM to 12GB and offering 128GB, 256GB or 512GB of storage. Additionally, this source claims that the two phones will get at least five years of software updates, which is far more than other Android devices.
A benchmark for the Google Pixel 6 Pro has also now appeared, and this backs up the leak above by listing 12GB of RAM - though the scores achieved by the phone are unimpressive.
You can also expect an under-display fingerprint scanner on the Google Pixel 6. An executive from Google included a screenshot - which has since been deleted - that showed a phone with a fingerprint in the middle of the screen.
Beyond that, in Android 12 code we've seen two hints of the feature as well.
Speaking of Android 12, the Pixel 6 range will of course run that, and we know already that this includes a whole new visual design, along with a real focus on privacy and security. That extends to the hardware too, as Google itself has said that the Pixel 6 is built with the most layers of hardware security in any phone.
And a leak also suggests that the Pixel 6 could get a redesigned version of Google Translate, which should be easier to operate with one hand.
Finally, we've heard the Pixel 6 could have UWB, or ultra-wideband technology. This is a short-range communications function that lets devices talk to each other if they're nearby - it can be useful for location tracking, so maybe the Pixel 6 will have some new feature regarding this?
- These are the best Google Pixel smartphones
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