Google Pixel 6 — here’s what it needs to not be another flop

Google Pixel 6 — here's what it needs to not exist another flop

(Image credit: Evan Blass)

The Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will make their debuts later this month at Google's Oct. xix Pixel Fall Launch event. And and then far, it seems that Tensor will be the star of the bear witness.

Tensor is the Google-designed chipset which the company has already said will power the new phones. That'due south certainly set up tongues wagging in the tech globe, as new silicon tends to draws attention. But volition Tensor's official arrival onboard the Pixel half-dozen generate interest among smartphone shoppers who are less inclined to dig into the nuts and bolts of handset hardware?

It seems unlikely.

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"Tensor itself volition not interest mainstream consumers even a little," agreed Avi Greengart, lead analyst at Techsponential when I asked him well-nigh the possibility of Tensor-mania gripping the nation subsequently this month. "Though, if the new silicon enables unique capabilities, that could break through the noise."

And that'southward the claiming Google faces heading into its Pixel Fall Telephone launch. Information technology's one affair to have a marquee characteristic like a new arrangement-on-chip to brand your phone stand out from the crowd. It's quite another to make it articulate why people should be excited nearly that modify and what it means for day-to-mean solar day telephone use.

If the Pixel vi and Pixel 6 Pro are to brand a splash, Google is going to have to offer u.s.a. more than just the arrival of Tensor. Here's how the company could pull that off.

Google Pixel 6: A Tensor refresher course

First, a little Tensor background. Google first confirmed that the chipset was slated for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro at the beginning of August. (Revealing your surprise new characteristic two months before the phones see the light of day is some other reason why Google's Pixel Fall Launch event requires more than only a recitation of specs.) And the focus of this chip is less about raw operation and more near on-lath intelligence.

google pixel 6 tensor — (Image credit: Google)

Specifically, Tensor boasts enhanced artificial intelligence and automobile learning features. Those take place on the Tensor Processing Unit of measurement, which frees up the phone's CPU to handle other tasks. What's more, the TPU is a cadre role of the pipeline on the Tensor system-on-fleck, so it will exist handling a lot of tasks.

A rubber supposition is that Google has emphasized AI horsepower for better computational photography and voice-driven interactions.

— Avi Greengart, Techsponential

Greengart is right when he says that's the sort of thing that interests "applied science journalists, analysts, and YouTubers... and the added attending should help Google's smartphone efforts." Merely talk of tensor processing, machine learning and neural engines makes the average person's eyes glaze over. It's going to be incumbent on Google to use the Pixel 6 launch to explain what a defended Tensor Processing Unit means for everyday telephone use.

"While Google has previewed what the Pixel 6 looks like, it has non provided whatever details withal on what the Tensor scrap will really do," Greengart said, "A safe assumption is that Google has emphasized AI horsepower for amend computational photography and vocalism-driven interactions."

Adding to the Pixel'south already formidable photo smarts is probably the virtually tangible benefit that Tensor volition bring. Already, Pixel users can come across Google flex its computational photography prowess with features like Super Res Zoom, which taps software to minimize the noise that can result from a digital zoom (handy, since the current Pixel phones lack a telephoto lens). The Pixels' ability to capture low-low-cal photos has too been augmented by software, then hopefully a dedicated TPU opens upwardly new possibilities on that forepart.

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The Pixel six could certainly stand up to add some of those, specially with Apple tree's iPhone 13 turning upwardly the heat. Apple'due south new phones introduced a Cinematic mode which automatically blurs the groundwork when shooting video and — even more than impressively — can shift focus as you lot toggle between subjects. Whether Google has something that polished to add to the Pixel 6's toolkit, we'll discover out on Oct. 19.

As for voice-driven interactions, we already feel some of those with the Google Banana. Just the machine learning capabilities of the Tensor bit could further ability vocalization recognition and similar features — though exactly how will exist Google's challenge to explain.

A contempo Pixel 6 leak may take given the states some other sense of how Tensor might innovate new features to Google'south smartphone lineup. The leak talks nearly a potential "Live Space" widget appearing on the Pixel 6, which seems to automatically surface the information you lot need to the forefront of the phones screen.

A render of the Pixel 6's display, showing a widget automatically displaying a ticket for an upcoming flight — (Prototype credit: Evan Blass)

In the leaked screenshot of the Alive Spaces feature, we meet a widget with a QR lawmaking accompanied by flight information — the idea existence that the Pixel will be smart enough to know your calendar and your location, pulling up the boarding pass for the flight y'all demand when y'all get in at the airport. Other phones practice something similar — my iPhone brings upward game tickets when I arrive at a stadium, for case — just it sounds like Google is aiming to make those kind of smarts a more than regular part of the Pixel 6 feel.

Other ways the Pixel half-dozen can stand up out

Expect Google to point out features beyond simply its Tensor chip when it makes the case for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. And nosotros'd expect the phone maker to focus on a lot of the features that are key to what people use their smartphones for.

To that stop, we'd look for Google to talk a lot near the cameras on the new Pixels, and based on what we seen so far, there'due south more than to talk about than only the computational photography boost that Tensor should deliver. The Pixel half-dozen Pro is confirmed to take three rear cameras — leaked info suggests those will be a 50MP main camera, along with a 12MP ultrawide shooter and 48MP telephoto lens. The Pixel 6 will make practice without the telephoto camera. At whatsoever rate, that'south a far cry from the dual 12MP sensors Google'southward been using recently.

With Apple joining the ranks of phones with dynamically refreshing displays — at least when information technology comes to the iPhone 13 Pro models — Google is going to beef upwards its own panels. The Pixel five already featured a 90Hz refresh rate, simply that's getting boosted to 120Hz on the Pixel 6 Pro. While that's already a known feature, yous'd expect Google to spend some time at its launch consequence explaining the do good to end users.

Finally, improved battery life could be a focus of Google's Pixel 6 pitch, especially since the Pixel v offered below-boilerplate longevity based on our testing. Rumors signal to bigger batteries for both Pixel 6 models. We've too heard that Google could boost the charging speeds of its phones from the pedestrian 18W wired charging of its current handsets.

Google Pixel 6 outlook

In a smartphone earth dominated by iPhones and Galaxy S flagships, companies not named Apple tree and Samsung need to brand an actress effort to explicate why their device deserve more than attention. From what we've heard then far nearly the Pixel six, it certainly seems similar Google's lining upwardly some noteworthy features for its new phones. Now all that's left is for the company to explain why those Pixel vi additions should make a difference to us.

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Philip Michaels is a senior editor at Tom's Guide. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics and sometime movies. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.