Google previews the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, with snazzy new design and its own System on a Chip

We thought the Google Pixel 5 went a bit mainstream, but the company’s going for something novel with its successor. The final device and specs won’t be revealed until this autumn, but Google today provided tantalising insight into the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro (£TBC). First up, there’s an eye-catching new design. The new camera hardware can’t be stuffed inside the traditional camera bump square, and so there’s an entire bar across the back, making the phone look like a cartoon robot ninja from the future. The Pro phones get typical upmarket (read: boring) colours – grey; gold; silver – for their polished aluminium frames, but the standard 6 gets a splash of colour that looks lovely. But it’s what’s inside that counts. Google says it’s slammed into computing limitations with existing silicon, and so the company’s made its own to beef up its ambitions in AI, machine learning and hardware security. Whether these new Pixels with Google Tensor inside will knock the industry for six, we’ll have to wait and see – but our sixth sense suggests it just might.

Craig Grannell Contributor

About

I’m a regular contributor to Stuff magazine and Stuff.tv, covering apps, games, Apple kit, Android, Lego, retro gaming and other interesting oddities. I also pen opinion pieces when the editor lets me, getting all serious about accessibility and predicting when sentient AI smart cookware will take over the world, in a terrifying mix of Bake Off and Terminator.

Areas of expertise

Mobile apps and games, Macs, iOS and tvOS devices, Android, retro games, crowdfunding, design, how to fight off an enraged smart saucepan with a massive stick.