Pixel 6 hype has been building ever since the launch of the Pixel 5 and back in November of last year when Google hinted at a more substantial upgrade coming in 2021.
A new leak from Jon Prosser of Front Page Tech has given us what could be our first look at the phone with a series of renders based on images of alleged Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro models that he received from a source.
- Pixel Watch: Price, release date, specs and more
- Asus Zenfone 8 review: Android’s answer to the iPhone 12 mini
- The best cell phone deals in May 2021
If accurate, this is a departure for the Pixel design that was kindly referred to as minimal ( or perhaps more accurately "bland" over its various incarnations). There are two models of the phone including a Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, according to Prosser.
The front of the phone gets a slight tweak with the front-facing hole-punch camera shifted to the top-center from its previous position in the upper-left. Otherwise, things seem reasonably unchanged in front with minimal bezels as we saw with the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 last year. It will allegedly feature an in-display fingerprint sensor after last year's switch to a rear fingerprint sensor.
The back of the Pixel 6 is where things get interesting. The rear camera array runs horizontally across the entire width of the phone, sloping down at the edges. The Pixel 6 features a pair of cameras while the Pixel 6 Pro will be the first Pixel to include a trio of cameras. There are no details yet on what sensors will be used, but it would be reasonably safe to assume that it will be a wide-angle and ultra-wide on the Pixel 6 and that the Pixel 6 Pro will add a telephoto zoom.
The camera array is getting the most attention with people comparing it to Cyclops from the X-Men, Geordi's visor from Star Trek and Cylon's from Battlestar Galactica to name a few. I wish Google had sloped the glass at the top and bottom as well, but other than that, it looks great. This is a phone you could actually use without a case and set down on a table without having it wobble all over the place.
The back of the Pixel 6 models also get interesting coloring with the area above the camera array in a separate color from the body. On the Pixel 6, this is a vibrant orange stripe with a white body below the camera and on the Pixel 6 Pro it's that same vibrant orange above but with an orange-tinged body below. It's a very subtle hue, similar to the Not Pink Pixel 3 or the Barely Blue Pixel 4a. Another variant features a metallic champagne-colored finish you'd expect from Apple or Samsung.
Notably, there are conflicting reports on the colors. While Prosser asserts that these are accurate to the devices that he saw, another reliable leaker Max Weinbach tweeted that the design is accurate but not the colors. Given that these phones aren't launching until sometime in the fall, there is certainly time for the final colors to be locked in, so we'll have to wait and see who is right.
