Google Pixel

Google has announced a new Pixel Feature Drop that also contains the December 2021 security patch. All recent Pixel smartphones are eligible, starting with the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL. However, Google is not ready to push its new Pixel Feature Drop to Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro.

Some users are reporting that their Google Pixel phones, which they had mailed in for repairs, are getting stolen from the warehouses and their data compromised. A recent incident saw someone allegedly obtaining a Pixel 5a from a Google warehouse and using it to look at the victim’s private data.

Marketing assets for the Pixel Watch have leaked, Google's first smartwatch. The assets confirm the smartwatch's design with its near bezel-less display and its name. The Pixel Watch is tipped to rely on a custom SoC manufactured by Samsung, too.

The Google Pixel 6 impressed us in the test with its bright OLED display, strong cameras, and decent battery life, but it still didn't manage to get a top score. Read on to find out why this is and why it's still a very good smartphone.

According to reports, a 2022 release is on the table for Google's first smartwatch. However, expect to charge the Pixel Watch daily and to shell out over US$300 for a smartwatch that has proprietary straps.

Contrary to previous reports, the Pixel 6a will not feature a Snapdragon 778G or the ISOCELL GN1 from the Pixel 6 series. Instead, the Google Camera app has confirmed that Pixel 6a, 'bluejay' will launch with a mixture of Pixel 5 and Pixel 6 cameras, along with the Google Tensor SoC.

@OnLeaks has compared the Pixel 6a with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro in a new render. The leaker has shown that the Pixel 6a will be Google's smaller alternative to the Pixel 6 series, with the mid-range smartphone slightly larger than the Pixel 4 and Pixel 5.

The Pixel 6 is already available for US$100 lower than its retail price, one month after its launch. The saving applies to all configurations and colours, including all 256 GB models.

Google's new Pixel 6 phones are barely a month old but the company already has a new device, the Pixel 6a, in the works. Going by a new leak, the Pixel 6a may well be the most attractive option in the company's locker, thanks to a combination of impressive specs and an expected mid-range price tag.

Google recommends charging the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro with its 30 W USB Type-C charger, a separate purchase on top of its new smartphones. However, the company has now confirmed that neither device ever reaches the charger's limits and only recharge as fast as they do wirelessly.

Google has reduced the price of the Pixel 5a this Black Friday to boost the popularity of its mid-range handset. The Pixel 5a shares plenty of its hardware with the Pixel 5, but with a 60 Hz display, a larger battery and a metal build.

Google has finally starting accepting pre-orders for the new Pixel Stand. The Google Pixel Stand (2nd gen) costs US$79, £69 or €79 in the US, UK and the Eurozone, respectively. The wireless charging stand works best with the Pixel 6 series, but it supports other smartphones too.

Typically, Google releases one update per month to the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. However, this month it has released two, with the second containing no changelog. Strangely, Google left it to Verizon to confirm what changes SD1A.210817.037 makes, which is available to both devices globally.

Reportedly, Google is upgrading its Pixel 6 series pre-order offer. Initially, the company offered a pair of Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, but stock issues have forced it to send out the newer Bose QuietComfort 45, instead. The company has included a Google Store voucher, too.

According to a report, Google has shelved plans to release the Pixel Fold, the company's first foldable smartphone. However, Google's own camera app suggests that it has switched development to a new foldable smartphone codenamed 'Pipit', which will arrive in 2022.

A new leak has now revealed the purported pricing of Samsung's upcoming premium phone, the Galaxy S21 FE. As it appears, the Galaxy phone could be a bit more expensive than its closest rival, the vanilla Google Pixel 6, when equipped with the same memory and storage configuration.

The Pixel 6 Pro has now appeared in teardown videos from the popular YouTube channels iFixit and JerryRigEverything. The 2021 Google flagship phone has come in for some praise for the relative ease of removing and possibly replacing its display. Then again, it seems other disassembly-friendly measures the Mountain View giant has tried to make may have backfired.

Google has confirmed that it has no plans to release a new Pixelbook this year, let alone next year. In fact, a next-generation Pixelbook, tentatively called the Pixelbook 2, will not arrive before 2023.

Google may have forgotten the Pixel 2 XL, but developers have brought Android 12 to the device in the form of ProtonAOSP. The custom ROM will soon be available for the regular Pixel 2, too.

It seems that Google was originally developing the Pixel 5 with its Tensor SoC, rather than the Snapdragon 765G. The device, codenamed 'whitefin', contains an earlier revision of Tensor with different clock speeds than the SoC in the Pixel 6 series, too.

The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro currently only support one biometric authentication method, which has its issues. However, Android 12 code has revealed that Google has been working to bring face unlock to the pair with a feature codenamed 'Tuscany'.

Another Pixel 6 series fingerprint bug has hit users. This time around, the fingerprint scanner stops working entirely if users let their device run out of battery.

Google has weighed in on the speed of the fingerprint readers in the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. Apparently, they are slow because they are more secure, with 'enhanced security algorithms' reducing their speed.

Newer iPhones come with software locks that prevent the use of the cameras should replacement parts be installed instead of factory originals. Now, there are rumors that Google has done the same with its 2021 flagship, the Pixel 6 Pro. A famous independent-repair blogger has investigated these claims using 2 new units of this phone.

The new Google Pixel 6 phones are reportedly suffering from a phantom calling problem as evidenced by several complaints on Reddit and in independent testing. The majority of the cases point to the Google Assistant getting triggered and placing calls to random numbers. Right now, a temporary solution is to disable Assistant responses on the lock screen, but a fix from Google is on the way.

According to reports, the Pixel 6 Pro gets nowhere Google's implied 30 W charging speeds. Instead, Google's latest Pixel smartphone barely charges any faster than the Pixel 5 and is much slower than the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

The Google Pixel 6 series has launched with Android 12, the latest version of Google’s popular operating system onboard. However, you’d never know that the Pixel 6 was powered by Android looking at Google’s website.

The Pixel 6 Pro is Google's most convincing flagship smartphone for years. Does this also make it the Mountain View giant's most durable Android device of years? The YouTuber Zach Nelson puts the new device through his famous JerryRigEverything series of tests.

The Google Pixel Fold has leaked again, this time with camera specifications and a possible launch date. Google's first foldable smartphone is expected to debut Android 12L, a version of Android 12 optimised for large-screen devices. Unfortunately, the Pixel Fold may share more details with the Pixel 5 than the Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro.

Google and Samsung have had a long history of collaborating on Android devices. Arguably, every Galaxy phone released has had some level of collaboration between the two. However, the Galaxy Nexus S was the first deeper collaboration between them while the Google Pixel 6 series is the most recent. How do they compare 11 years apart?

According to DxOMark's in-depth analysis, the Pixel 6 Pro is Google's first smartphone to keep up with the best that Apple and Samsung have to offer. The Pixel 6 Pro even surpasses Galaxy S21 Ultra and iPhone 13 Pro in some disciplines, and by a considerable margin.

The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL have not received the November 2021 security patch, a sign that Google has ceased software support for the pair. However, the company has confirmed otherwise. Project Mainline should also ensure software support beyond the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL's final update.

Apple is planning to bring a car crash detection feature to the iPhone and the Apple Watch in 2022. According to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, the feature would work similarly to the Apple Watch's fall detection and would call the emergency services if there is a car crash. Pixels have had crash detection for years.

Google has confirmed plans to address the Pixel 6 Pro's display flickering issue, confirming that it is reasonably widespread. A fix is incoming, but not for another month.

Google's first try at an in-house chipset, Tensor, is proving to be rather capable. It appears, however, that the Pixel 6's chipset isn't as original as Google's marketing would lead one to believe, with code showing a strong relationship with Samsung's Exynos.

Mishaal Rahman has revealed camera configurations for two unreleased Google Pixel devices. Codenamed 'bluejay' and 'cloudripper', the pair are seemingly part of Google's R&D towards next year's batch of Pixel smartphones.

Google's latest flagship phone has only been on the market for 10 days now, yet seems to be out of stock already. The OEM has had to replace its "Order" buttons with one that says "Join Waitlist" instead on its website for most of its color and storage options. Then again, it might still be available through carriers, in the US at least.

Arguably, Magic Eraser is one of the best innovations that Google has introduced with the Pixel 6 series. However, it turns out that other smartphones can take advantage of Magic Eraser too, at least for now.

Initial details about the successor to both the Google Pixel 6 and Google Tensor chip have been uncovered. A model number for the second-generation Tensor SoC has apparently been revealed and there is also some codename information in regard to a board that could be used in conjunction with the Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.

After making the trip to 3DMark, the Google Pixel 6 Pro and its Tensor chipset have now been tested in real-world gaming conditions. The new Google flagship was put through the paces on the notoriously demanding title, Genshin Impact. Results? Conflicting.

Google and its partners only started shipping the Pixel 6 series yesterday. However, people are already complaining about display issues with both models. Seemingly, there are three problems arising with Google's latest flagship smartphones.

Google's parent company Alphabet has reported revenues of just over US$65 billion for the latest complete quarter of 2021 (3Q2021). This represented a 41% increase year-on-year (YoY); then again, only $18 billion remained as the search giant's profit - no less than 68% year-on-year.

Google has announced a surprise new variant of its Android mobile operating system. Android 12L is a new version of Android 12 that is designed specifically for large screen devices such as tablets, foldables and Chromebooks and is coming in early 2022.

Google’s new Pixel is starting to roll out to users in selected markets globally and it touts some impressive new camera features. One we were keen to try is what Google is calling inclusive camera technology designed to deliver image equity.

The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have started shipping to those who pre-ordered Google's latest flagships. There is a big day-one patch to install once you unbox your new smartphone though, and one that will take a minimum of 25 minutes to finish.

The Google Pixel 6 range is about to start its rollout in select markets with the promise that Google has made its new Tensor chip to really shine in machine learning tasks. Unfortunately, we just pitted it against the Apple A15 Bionic in the new GeekBench ML test and it got obliterated.

A Geekbench comparison between a Google Pixel 6 Pro and an Apple iPhone XS Max has been grabbing attention due to the apparent failure of the Tensor chip against the three-year-old Apple A12 Bionic. In fairer terms, the Pixel 6 Pro does fall behind the A13-powered iPhone 11’s average results but Google has focused on machine learning and AI more than raw performance.

It turns out that the Pixel 6 Pro shares even more with recent Samsung flagships than previously thought. While we already know that the device uses a Samsung ISOCELL GN1 sensor as its main camera, it also relies on the 48 MP telephoto camera from the Galaxy S20 Ultra.

The Google Pixel 6 was put through Geekbench a few days ago and performed decently. The phone has now made the trip over to 3DMark in an attempt to gauge its GPU's prowess. The result? Supremacy over current flagship chipsets. Tensor's Mali-G78 MP20 GPU hits hard, it appears.