Google announces high-end smartphones with their own Tensor SoC
Google has surprisingly published the first details about its new top smartphones Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. In addition to the design, the manufacturer has also revealed initial information about the in-house processor Tensor SoC.
Rumors of Google’s next generation of smartphones have been circulating online for months. Now the manufacturer is confirming some details of its new pixel range before the actual market launch in autumn. It is not the first time that the company reveals details in advance – Google announced various features such as the Soli sensor and other information months before the actual launch of the Pixel 4 (test). With the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, the manufacturer seems to seriously want to penetrate the high-end segment.
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Pixel 6 and 6 Pro come with a specially developed Tensor SoC
As already leaked in advance, Google is in fact installing its first specially developed processor in its Pixel 6 models. The chip is not called “GS01” (Google Silicon 01), but is based on Google Tensor on the Tensor Processing Units (TPU) that Google uses in its data centers. The name Whitechapel, which was leaked months ago, appears on the Product page of the devices.
Google’s first own smartphone SoC, Google Tensor, is in the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. (Image. Google)
Like the chips from Qualcomm, Samsung or Apple, Google’s Tensor is a SoC (System-on-a-Chip) and thus houses various components. Google has only partially revealed what is actually inside: At least two elements of the SoC come from its own development laboratories: a mobile TPU for AI operations and a new Titan M2 chip for security. The chip is also used to run Google’s computer-aided photography models that have already been used in previous pixel models. Furthermore, thanks to the new chip, speech recognition should be faster than before, explains Google in its announcement post.
The rest, including the CPU, GPU, and 5G modem, are all still a secret. It is rumored, however, that Samsung had a hand in it and acted as a development partner.
Pixel 6 and 6 Pro: Google shows design and colors
The colors of the Google Pixel 6 Pro. (Image: Google)
Aside from the in-house chip, Google has already unveiled the design of the Pixel models. In the end, it looks exactly as the leaker Jon Prosser described it and showed it in rendered images. Even one of the color options was correct. However, Google will offer its Pixel 6 Phones in different colors: The 6 Pro comes in a yellow or gold tone, in silver and in black, while the Pixel 6 will appear in red-orange, yellow-green and also black. The colors of the devices are based on Google’s new Android 12 operating system, which will appear in autumn together with the design language “Material You” and represents the largest design update since 2014.
The colors of the Google Pixel 6. (Image: Google)
What is striking is the thick camera element that Prosser had depicted fairly correctly in his leak. According to Google, it had to be enlarged because the new, larger camera sensors would not have fitted into the old design. It can also be seen that the Pro model will have three lenses and the Pixel 6 will have two camera lenses. According to Prosser, we can expect a 50-megapixel wide-angle, a 48-megapixel telephoto and a twelve-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera in the Pro model. According to The Verge and the Youtuber Marques “MKBHD” Brownlee Google relies on wide, ultra-wide angle and telephoto zoom without going into the sensors. In addition, Google confirmed that the zoom lens supports four times optical magnification.
The Google Pixel 6 from the side. (Image: Google)
Opposite to The Verge confirmed Google’s hardware boss Rick Osterloh that the Pixel 6 will have a 6.4 inch FHD + screen with a 90 Hertz refresh rate on board, while the 6 Pro will have a 6.7 inch QHD + display with 120 Hertz. The screen of the Pixel 6 is completely flat, that of the Pro model has a slight curvature to the sides.
Google has not yet revealed further details, but it did say that Google could provide Android updates for up to five years because the manufacturer, like Apple, carries out vertical integration and develops all components from hardware to software itself. With Qualcomm as the chip supplier, a maximum of four years is possible since the Snapdragon 888. The devices will probably be presented in full glory and with all specifications again in October.
