“Google Pixel 6 XL gets decent telephoto camera with 5x zoom”
The Google Pixel 6 XL will come with a telephoto camera that will be good for a 5x optical zoom range. There are indications for this in Google Camera. We can also expect a 50 MP main camera and a new wide-angle camera.
Google Pixel 6 XL Rumors
The rumor mill around Google’s upcoming Pixel 6 series is going to spin again. Google is launching two flagship phones this year: a Pixel 6 and a phone that will be called the Pixel 6 Pro or Pixel 6 XL. We previously received information about the camera setup of that XL variant, and now it has been confirmed: it will get a telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom.
XDA Developers has found a reference to an “ultra tele” button in the code of Google Camera, the default camera app on Pixel phones. If you activate it, the phone will zoom to 4.3x zoom, but the interface will probably show ‘5x zoom’. In comparison, the Pixel 4 had a 1.6x zoom telephoto camera, but we still saw 2x zoom in Google Camera.
Software is no longer enough
Google will therefore be working with a so-called periscope camera for the first time. That is a camera sensor that can achieve a larger zoom range by placing multiple lenses over both the length and width of the phone. We have seen such cameras in the most high-quality phones for some time, but Google has always ignored the technology. The company, on the other hand, focused on software optimization to achieve good zoom performance, but it has become clear in recent years that Google could not stick to that strategy if it wants to compete with the best camera phones on the market.
Earlier we learned that the Pixel 6 series will have a 50MP main camera and a 12MP wide-angle camera. XDA now reports that Google will certainly use a different wide-angle camera than the sensor we know from the Pixel 5. That camera had a zoom range of 0.670x, while that is 0.615x with the Pixel 6 XL.
Recently, almost all specifications of Google phones leaked, and we learned that the phones can count on software updates for the first time for five years. Google is thus aligning its update policy with Apple’s. The Pixel 6 was also featured in a video. What do you think about the upcoming Pixels? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of this article.
