The big boy of the new Pixel phones, the Pixel 6 Pro packs a big display, a telephoto lens, and a wholly new design that turns heads. On paper, the Pixel 6 Pro shows Google is taking its flagship smartphones seriously this year. And with an $899 starting price, maybe that's true.
We're still in the review process for the Pixel 6 Pro, but I wanted to share some early impressions based on my limited time with the phone so far. A full analysis, like camera performance and battery life, will have to wait for now, but I can tell you what I think of the device right out of the box.
Read on our for my initial Pixel 6 Pro impressions. And when you're done here, be sure to check out our hands-on Pixel 6 review, too.
Pixel 6 Pro specs
| Google Pixel 6 | Google Pixel 6 Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Price: | $599 | $899 |
| Colors: | Stormy Black, Kinda Coral, Sorta Seafoam | Stormy Black, Cloudy White, Sorta Sunny |
| Display: size (resolution): | 6.4-inch (1080x2400 pixels, 411ppi) | 6.7-inch (1440 x 3120, 512ppi) |
| Refresh rate: | Up to 90Hz | Up to 120Hz |
| Processor: | Google Tensor with Titan M2 | Google Tensor with Titan M2 |
| RAM: | 8GB | 12GB |
| Storage: | 128GB | 256GB | 128GB | 256GB | 512GB |
| Rear cameras: | 50MP wide-angle (ƒ/1.85), 12MP ultrawide (ƒ/2.2) | 50MP wide-angle (ƒ/1.85), 12MP ultrawide (ƒ/2.2), 48MP telephoto (ƒ/3.5) |
| Zoom: | 7x Super Res digital | 4x optical and 20x Super Res digital |
| Front camera: | 8MP (ƒ/2.0), 84-degree field of view | 11.1MP (ƒ/2.2), 94-degree field of view |
| Video: | Rear: 4K and 1080p (both up to 60fps), Front: 1080p at 30fps | Rear: 4K and 1080p (both up to 60fps), Front: 4K at 30fps, 1080p at up to 60fps |
| Authentication: | Fingerprint Unlock with under-display fingerprint sensor | Fingerprint Unlock with under-display fingerprint sensor |
| Battery: | Rated for 24 hours (48 with Extreme Battery Saver), at least 4524 mAh | Rated for 24 hours (48 with Extreme Battery Saver), at least 4905 mAh |
| Dimensions: | 6.2 x 2.9 x 0.4 inches | 6.5 x 3 x 0.4 inches |
| Weight: | 7.3 ounces | 7.4 ounces |
Google Pixel 6 Pro release date and price
Despite rumors of a $1,000+ phone, Google kept the Pixel 6 Pro's cost below those of fellow flagship smartphones. Starting at $899 for the 128GB model, the Pixel 6 Pro packs in a lot of hardware value on top of Google's excellent software design and support.
Announced October 19, the Pixel 6 Pro is available for pre-order with a ship date of October 28. You can grab yours from the Google Store or Google Fi, plus AT&T and Verizon.
With the Pixel 6 Pro comes the optional Pixel Pass, which starts at $45 per month. This all-in-one program gives you a Pixel upgrade every two years, device protection, a 200GB Google One cloud subscription, YouTube Premium (including YouTube Music Premium), and Google Play Pass. On paper, it's quite the deal.
Google Pixel 6 Pro design
Previous Pixel phones haven't been terrible when it comes to build quality, but the Pixel 6 Pro certainly is a step above the Pixel 5. It feels more premium and solid, with a heft that isn't too heavy at 7.4 ounces.
The design is striking, with an extremely prominent camera bar that spans the back of the phone. I haven't fully come to a final decision on what I think of it.
The front of the Pixel 6 Pro has a Gorilla Glass Victus display with up 2x better scratch resistance than earlier Pixel phones. The back is Glass Victus as well, and it's surrounded by a polished alloy frame. There's no fingerprint sensor on the back; instead, there's an under-display fingerprint reader for unlocking the phone. The Pixel 6 Pro is also rated IP68 for dust and water resistance.
The Pixel 6 Pro comes in three colors: Stormy Black, Cloudy White and Sorta Sunny.
Google Pixel 6 Pro display
The curved 6.71-inch QHD+ OLED display Pixel 6 Pro looks nice, although we have yet to put it through our full suite of tests. Google says it has a normal 500-nit max brightness, with a max of 800 nits for HDR content in High Brightness mode.
The Pixel 6 Pro has a 120Hz refresh rate that can scale down all the way to 10Hz. This should result in smoother animations and overall performance, but we'll see how it stacks up in testing.
Google Pixel 6 Pro cameras
Google stepped up the game on the Pixel 6 Pro's camera hardware. Gone are the twin 12MP sensors that you'd find on the Pixel 5. Now there's a 50MP wide-angle camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera, and a 48MP telephoto camera with 4x optical zoom.
There's also an 11MP front-facing camera with a 94-degree field of view. Historically, Google has relied on software to make its phones' photos look so good. Now it's got hardware to back it all up.
Among the new AI features powered by the Tensor chip, chief among them is Magic Eraser, Face Unblur and Motion Mode. Magic Eraser is an incredible feat of engineering, letting you effectively remove unwanted items from the background of your photos. It's obviously not perfect, but the Pixel 6 Pro will automatically suggest things to remove. Google says it works best on beaches and at parks.
Face Unblur is perfect for wiggly kids. It does what it says on the box: It works to unblur faces in your photos. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on pets.
Motion Mode is great for those long exposure shots to create artistic photos that perfectly express movement. Action Pan focuses on a moving subject and blurs the background, while Long Exposure adds blur to moving objects within the scene.
Google also worked on its skin tone reproduction this year, making the Pixel 6 Pro more inclusive for people of color. The phone can capture a wider array of skin tones thanks to adjustments to white balance and stray light algorithms.
Video has also seen a boost thanks to Tensor. You can record HDR live in 4K, offering vivid and punchy videos. Selfie recordings get sound improvements, too, with Speech Enhancement. Google says the Pixel 6 Pro will better filter out background noise to make your voice come through clearly.
Pixel 6 Pro performance
We don't have performance numbers for the Pixel 6 Pro just yet. Like the display benchmarks and battery life tests, we don't have full results for Tensor, so stay tuned for the full review on those.
I know that you're probably curious to see how well Google's new system-on-chip holds up to its Snapdragon 888 competition — I certainly am.
Tensor's focus is on AI and machine learning and less so on raw and gaming performance.
Other than camera stuff, the Pixel 6 Pro can also handle several Call Assistance features (like Wait Times, Hold for Me, and Direct My Call), Assistant voice typing, Live Translate from messages and the camera, and the still-excellent Recorder app. Tensor will be able to transcribe call menu options, offer even better screening for robocalls, and estimate wait times so you don't waste your time.
All in all, Tensor offers some of the most exciting advancements in a smartphone that we've seen in years. It remains to be seen how well it holds up in practice, however.
Pixel 6 Pro battery life and charging
The Pixel 6 Pro offers the biggest battery ever seen in a Pixel, coming in at 5,000 mAh. Coupled with Tensor's touted power efficiency, the Pixel 6 Pro stands to be a battery-life champ. Google claims it can go for 24 hours, bumping up that number to 48 with the battery-saver mode active.
Charging has also seen a boost to 30W up from the meager 18W on the Pixel 5. You can even get 23W on the new Pixel Stand, even if the standard Qi charging is limited to 12W. Google followed in Apple's and Samsung's footsteps by leaving out the charger this year, so you'll need to spring for the 30W wall brick separately.
Pixel 6 Pro software and special features
Of course, the Pixel 6 Pro comes with the new Android 12 operating system out of the box. From the Material You design language and theming engine to the Privacy Dashboard and Private Compute Core, the Pixel 6 Pro highlights this latest version of Android.
Google is touting the security and privacy aspects of the Pixel 6 Pro, with many of those powered by Tensor and its security core, which includes a Titan M2 security chip.
You'll get a privacy dashboard with the Pixel 6 Pro to show you which apps are accessing the phone's location, camera, or microphone. A security hub gives you a one-stop place to manage your passwords, app permissions and Google account. There's even a Safety app for alerting contacts when you're in trouble.
Google Assistant is getting a lot smarter and more helpful with the Pixel 6 Pro. For instance, when you're voice typing, you can insert emojis using your voice and issue commands like "Clear," "Stop," and "Send."
The Live Translate feature also looks impressive, as you can just point the camera at a sign in a foreign language and see it translated. Or you can tell the Assistant to be your interpreter and it will translate what's said in real time.
Google Assistant on the Pixel 6 also supports new quick phrases for things like "Stop" for an alarm or time and "Decline" when getting incoming calls. And At a Glance can show you things on the home screen when you need it, such as your plane tick, appointments, commute times and more. This is opt in.
We're still waiting on the final release for Google's operating system, so expect our Pixel 6 Pro review to go through what's new. And be on the lookout for the full Android 12 review once the official release drops.
Google Pixel 6 Pro outlook
It's impossible to say right now whether Google has succeeded in making the Pixel 6 Pro a truly competitive Android flagship phone. That said, I'm fairly impressed from the outset just based on the build quality and feature set.
I encourage you to check back for our full Pixel 6 Pro review as we dig in on the camera and Tensor benchmark results, as well as explore all of the new features. At a reasonable $899, the Pixel 6 Pro could be a winner, but we'll have to see how well this flagship performs.
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