They’re just…out there. Google’s new Pixel 6 and 6 Pro phones made an unannounced appearance at the Google Store in Manhattan today, so I went and took some photos.
The phones were first spotted by TechRadar’s Matt Swider, but I had to see them in-person for myself. They’re in display boxes behind a glass window facing out onto 9th Avenue. While there are no Pixel 6 phones inside the store, there’s a booth where you can watch short videos about the Pixel 6 (mostly, just rotating the phone and showing the UI) and scan a QR code that sends you to Google’s online store.
The most prominent and striking new aspects of the phones are their raised camera bars, which have two lenses on the Pixel 6 and three lenses on the Pixel 6 Pro. A Google employee in the store confirmed only that the phones are “coming out this fall.”
The Pixel 6 will use Google’s new Tensor processor, which focuses on machine learning, and will run Android 12. “The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have new materials and finishes, too—like the Pro’s light polished aluminum frame, and the 6’s matte aluminum finish,” Google says. Here are some more shots of the phones.
Pixel 6: The Best ‘Mini’ Phone?
Using Samsung’s AR measurement app, I tried to get some measurements of the phones. The app isn’t very accurate through glass, but it suggested that the smaller Pixel 6 might be 2.6 inches wide. If so, that makes for a great one-handed phone—right between the size of the iPhone 12 (2.82 inches) and the 12 mini (2.59 inches). Relatively few Android phones today are less than 2.8 inches wide (the small Galaxy S21 is 2.8 inches), so the Pixel 6 could become your best one-handed Android choice.
The Samsung app also suggested the Pixel 6 Pro is 2.8 inches wide, which would make it more of a “standard” sized (and one-handed-friendly) phone than a “max” sized phone, if true. Once again, I have no idea how accurate the app is.
We’ll likely hear more about the Pixel 6 later this month or in October. For now, though, if you want to see one and you’re in New York, stop by the corner of 9th Avenue and 15th Street.
