The Google Pixel line hasn’t been as successful as first expected. But with LG permanently out of the picture and an in-house chipset almost ready to ship, a huge Google Pixel 6 leak suggests the company is about to revamp its entire smartphone line.
Google’s Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro look nothing like Pixel 5
First off, Google is reverting back to its old ways with plans for two flagship smartphone models. The 2021 lineup will consist of the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, according to the information shared by Front Page Tech host and leaker Jon Prosser.
Back to the leak, recent Pixel smartphones have featured a pretty boring square camera module on the back, but the leaked Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro renders (based on real hands-on photos of the phones) show a radical new design that centers around a rectangular camera bump. Worth noting here is the fact that Max Weinbach has corroborated the legitimacy of these renders.
That new bump is covered in black glass and stretches across the entire width of the rear panel. In the case of the Google Pixel 6, it’s said to house two cameras — presumably main and ultra-wide shooters — and the usual LED flash.
Google Pixel 6 Pro
Unfortunately, there’s still no word on the specifications. But Google Pixels tend to be some of the best camera phones around, so with the brand’s first triple-camera setup now reportedly in the works, Samsung and Apple might have reason to worry.
Forget dual-tone designs, Google’s using three colors on Pixel 6
The camera bump also plays an important role in the design department. Early Google Pixel phones offered dual-tone designs, though this was ditched on later models. With the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, Google is once again playing around with colors and looks to be planning a triple-tone design. The renders indicate that it consists of a more neutral color across two-thirds of the rear panel. Above that sits the black camera bump and an additional strip of glass that’s painted in a darker tone.
The colorways that Google offers on the final Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro devices could differ, but the renders hint at a white-black-orange combo, a champagne gold-black-gold finish, and a champagne gold-black-orange colorway. The first two have black frames and the latter has a gold one.
Pixel 6 offers a centered selfie camera and under-display fingerprint scanner
If all of that wasn’t enough, it appears Google has important upgrades planned for the front of its Pixel 6 flagships too, ensuring that both models make the list of best phones in 2021 at launch. Their shape is now squared-off and the display still offers impressively thin (and seemingly uniform) bezels.
There’s also a centered punch-hole for the selfie camera — the Pixel 5’s camera sits in the left corner — and an in-display fingerprint reader, meaning Google is finally saying goodbye to the rear-mounted sensor.
Google Pixel 6
Google Pixel 6 announcement and release date expectations
Google typically announces new flagship smartphones around October. Last year’s Pixel 5 debuted on September 30 and the Pixel 4 was announced on October 15, with every model before that appearing somewhere in between.
Taking that into consideration, there’s a very good chance Google will announce the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro in early October, followed by a release date around a week or two later. Alongside the smartphone, the company might introduce the rumored Google Pixel Watch.
Google Pixel 6 and Pixel Watch
