After being teased with it for so long, the Google Pixel 6 may finally have appeared in the real world.
As shared by M. Brandon Lee on Twitter, the mystery video seems to show a pre-production Pixel 6 Pro being turned over in a user's hand. The look of this phone isn't a surprise since Google's already shown the Pixel 6 off in renders, in a display in its New York City store and in an YouTube promo video.
However, we've not seen the Pixel 6 in real life until this point, so seeing it in the metaphorical flesh is an exciting moment.
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On the front, aside from the welcome interface, it's possible to see the relocated front selfie camera in the top center of the display, shifted over from the left corner. The display itself is a 6.7-inch 120Hz AMOLED panel, which we know since it was confirmed by Google itself. The base Pixel 6 uses a smaller 6.4-inch display with a 90Hz max refresh rate.
I think this may be the first hands on video leak of a Google Pixel 6 Pro. FYI: The logo would indicate that this is likely an early production test unit, so that means there may be some differences between what you see here and the actual production device. #teampixel pic.twitter.com/4QSvdktqA7September 21, 2021
As the person in the video turns the phone over, we can see the camera bar, the new location for the phone's rear cameras and the Pixel 6's most distinctive design element. We can also see the glossy gray back, one of three different colors that seem to be on offer for the Pixel 6 Pro.
The cameras within the Pixel 6 Pro's camera bump are thought to be a combination of a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera and a 48MP telephoto camera with 4x optical zoom. Put together, this would be the most cameras ever on a Pixel phone. The basic Pixel 6 ,on the other hand, is said to be getting just the main and ultrawide cameras.
If you're wondering why there's an unfamiliar logo in the middle, it's as Lee explains in the tweet: it's a disguise. Before phones go on sale, they need real-world testing, but to do so without prematurely revealing the phones, companies use fake names and logos to keep things under wraps.
The most exciting thing about the Pixel 6 that we can't see in this video is its new chipset. Rather than using Snapdragon silicon like it has before, Google's designed its own chip for the Pixel 6, named Tensor. It says that this new chip is focused on AI and machine learning features, and these will impact every element of the Pixel experience. We're particularly looking forward to how it impacts photo processing, which has already earned Pixel phones a place on our best camera phones list.
We're expecting Google to show off the Pixel 6 official in October, potentially on October 19, a date that's been rumored multiple times. It'll be one of the last major phones launched this year, but the major changes promised for its hardware should help it compete against the best phones around, like the newly released iPhone 13 or the Samsung Galaxy S21.
