After leaks and pre-announcements, ads, and yet more leaks, the time has come for Google to officially launch the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. We already know many details: the custom Tensor processor that powers it, the colors and many of the specs, and even some of the software features have all been officially announced. And rumors have filled in more details.
But there will be more to hear from Google. This is easily the most important Pixel the company has launched in years, it’s a launch where the company says it is taking on flagships from Apple and Samsung at the high end. Google hasn’t really talked a big game about its phones before, so even if we’ve seen a lot of rumors, how Google goes about making this launch happen will be interesting.
We’ll likely get a deeper dive into the specs on these phones, including whether the new camera system really is good enough to justify the massive camera ledge on the backs of these phones.
So now, with the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, Osterloh hopes that the culmination of that chip decision paired with what his team has called Google’s “first real flagship” will make this year’s Pixel something different from all the phones that came before: something that will sell.
To get there, Google will need more than just a marketing blitz — it will need to have made a great phone. Answering that question will have to wait for our review, but there’s no question that Google’s ambition is to make a phone that can stand toe-to-toe with the best from Apple and Samsung.
For this week’s Vergecast, Pichai, Osterloh, and I got into all that as well as some of the antitrust issues facing Android. Listen in to hear, and stick around after the interview for some first-hand impressions of the phone from myself and Nilay Patel.
