The Google Pixel 5 was not the mobile powerhouse people may have hoped for, but disappointed fans will be glad to hear about this latest leak, which spills the beans on the rumored Pixel 5 Pro.
The phone has been teased for several weeks now, promising a premium flagship experience that the Pixel 5 lacks. Now screenshots from Slashleaks show that there may be a significant upgrade coming.
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The first and most obvious thing about these leaked screenshots is that the alleged Pixel 5 Pro does not have a visible front-facing camera. So now we have to wonder whether Google has thrown a pop-up camera lens into the mix, or if it’s actually under the screen.
Under-display cameras haven’t quite made it into mainstream phones yet, and in fact we only know of one commercial handset that has one: the ZTE Axon 20 5G. So that seems the least likely option of the two.
That said, pop-up cameras have all but disappeared since the advent of the hole-punch camera. While not impossible, it would be strange for Google to adopt that seemingly-dead piece of tech. Especially since the Pixel 5 had a perfectly good hole-punch camera.
Other information we can glean from the AIDA64 screenshot includes the mention of the “kona” platform. Kona was the codename for Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865, which was 2019’s flagship chipset. It’s a little bit odd that Google wouldn’t opt for the newer Snapdragon 888. But newer chipsets cost more and by opting for a slightly older model, Google may be able to keep the costs down. It’s still a significant boost from the Snapdragon 765 used in the current Pixel 5.
Aside from the new chip, we can also see 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of total storage, which is double the space available on the Pixel 5.
There isn’t much else we can say for sure based on these images, which means there are still plenty of unanswered questions about the Pixel 5 Pro. Assuming these images are legit, which they may well not be. Specs like battery, screen size, camera capabilities and more are still unknown.
What we can expect, at the very least, is something better than the Pixel 5, because it’s not a Pro version unless there’s some sort of upgrade. Since the Pixel 5 has a 6-inch display, 4,080 mAh battery, and a pair of rear cameras (comprising a 12.2MP wide angle lens and a 16MP ultrawide), we might expect a bigger display and larger battery on the Pro.
As ever, we’ll bring you more about the Google Pixel 5 Pro as we hear it. But it could be a surprising Android phone that might steal the thunder of the Samsung Galaxy S21 next year.
