The Pixel 6 vs. the competition: The Tensor chip goes up to bat

Last year’s Pixel phone might have been unambitious, but this year’s pair look to be a real treat. Google’s finally got its own chip, the Tensor, alongside the Titan M2 coprocessor for better security. (Given the Pegasus spyware incident this summer, it’s a welcome and well-timed addition.) There’s plenty of new software features, like Live Translate and Material You, the latter of which will allow you to customize your home screen’s look even more. But this past year has been a pretty decent year for phones, and below you can see how the Pixel 6’s new gussied-up insides compare to some of the other stellar flagships we’ve seen in 2021. And be sure to check out our hands-on, as well as our full review later this fall.

Pixel 6

iPhone 13

Galaxy S21

OnePlus 9

Pricing

$599 / $699

$799 / $899 / $1,099

$800 / $850

$729

Dimensions

158.6 x 74.8 x 8.9 mm (6.2 x 2.9 x 0.4 inches)

146.7 x 71.5 x 7.65 mm (5.78 x 2.82 x 0.3 inches)

151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm (5.97 x 2.8 x 0.29 inches)

160 x 74.2 x 8.7 mm (6.3 x 2.92 x 0.34 inches)

Weight

207g (7.3 ounces)

174g (6.14 ounces)

171g (6.03 ounces)

192g (6.77 ounces)

Screen size

6.4 inches (163 mm)

6.1 inches (154.94 mm)

6.2 inches (157.48 mm)

6.55 inches (166.37 mm)

Screen resolution

2,400 x 1,080 (411 ppi)

2,532 x 1,170 (460 ppi)

2,400 x 1,080 (421 ppi)

2,400 x 1,080 (402 ppi)

Screen type

OLED

Super Retina XDR

Infinity-O Dynamic AMOLED

Fluid AMOLED

Battery

4,614 mAh

2,775 mAh

4,000 mAh

4,500 mAh

Internal storage

128 / 256 GB

128 / 256 / 512 GB

128 / 256 GB

128 GB

External storage

None

None

None

None

Rear camera(s)

Dual cameras:
Ultra-wide, 12MP, f/2.2
Wide, 50MP, f/1.85

Dual cameras:
Ultra-wide, 12MP, f/2.4
Wide, 12 MP, f/1.6

Three cameras:
Ultra-wide, 12MP, f/2.2
Wide, 12MP, f/1.8
Telephoto, 64MP, f/2.0

Three cameras:
Main, 48MP, f/1.8
Ultra-wide, 50MP, f/2.2
Monochrome, 2MP

Front camera(s)

8 MP, f/2.0

12 MP, f/2.2

10MP, f/2.2

16MP, f/2.4

Video capture

4K at 60 fps

4K at 60 fps

4K at 60 fps

8K at 30 fps

SoC

Google Tensor

Apple A15 Bionic

Qualcomm Snapdragon 888

Qualcomm Snapdragon 888

CPU

2.8 GHz octa-core

3.23 GHz hexa-core

2.8 GHz octa-core

2.8 GHz octa-core

GPU

ARM Mali G78

Apple hexa-core GPU

Adreno 660

Adreno 660

RAM

8 GB

6 GB

8 GB

8 GB

WiFi

802.11ax

802.11ax

802.11ax

802.11ax

Bluetooth

v5.2

v5.0

v5.2

v5.2

NFC

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Operating system

Android 12

iOS 15

Android 11

Android 11

Other features

IP68 certified, USB-C, Qi wireless charging

IP68 certified, Lightning connector, MagSafe and Qi wireless charging

IP68 certified, USB-C, Qi wireless charging

USB-C, Qi wireless charging

Catch up on all the latest news from Google’s Pixel 6 event!

The Pixel 6 Pro vs. the competition: Telephoto, Tensor and more

Last year’s Pixel came and went with only one screen size available, and for this year’s flagship Google’s giving you two options again. But instead of dubbing it the “XL” the bigger phone now carries the “Pro” moniker. The company says it’s because it offers more professional features like a telephoto lens, but it also means it’s named similarly to rival handsets from Apple and OnePlus. Check out the specs of some of the competition in the table below, and be sure to check out our hands-on with this fancy new phone while you wait for the full review later this month.

Pixel 6 Pro

iPhone 13 Pro Max

Galaxy S21 Ultra

OnePlus 9 Pro

Pricing

$899 / $999

$1,099 / $1,199 / $1,399 / $1,599

$1,200 / $1,250 / $1,380

$1,069

Dimensions

163.9 x 75.9 x 8.9 mm (6.5 x 3 x 0.4 inches)

160.8 x 78.1 x 7.65 mm (6.33 x 3.07 x 0.3 inches)

165.1 x 75.6 x 8.9 mm (6.5 x 2.98 x 0.35 inches)

163.2 x 73.6 x 8.7 mm (6.43 x 2.9 x 0.34 inches)

Weight

210g (7.41 ounces)

240g (8.46 ounces)

229g (8.07 ounces)

197g (6.95 ounces)

Screen size

6.7 inches (170 mm)

6.7 inches (170.18 mm)

6.8 inches (172.72 mm)

6.7 inches (170.18 mm)

Screen resolution

3,120 x 1,440 (512 ppi)

2,778 x 1,284 (458 ppi)

3,200 x 1,440 (515 ppi)

3,216 x 1,440 (525 ppi)

Screen type

LTPO OLED

Super Retina XDR

Infinity-O Dynamic AMOLED

Fluid AMOLED with LTPO

Battery

5,003 mAh

4,352 mAH

5,000 mAh

4,500 mAh

Internal storage

128 / 256 / 512 GB

128 / 256 / 512 GB / 1 TB

128 / 256 / 512 GB

256 GB

External storage

None

None

None

None

Rear camera(s)

Three cameras:
Ultra-wide, 12MP, f/2.2
Wide, 50 MP, f/1.85
Telephoto, 48MP, f/3.5

Three cameras:
Ultra-wide, 12MP, f/1.8
Wide, 12MP, f/1.5
Telephoto, 12MP, f/2.8

Four cameras:
Ultra-wide, 12MP, f/2.2
Wide-angle: 108MP f/1.8
Telephoto 1: 10MP, f/2.4
Telephoto 2: 10MP, f/4.9

Four cameras: Main, 48 MP, f/1.8
Ultra-wide, 50 MP, f/2.2
Telephoto, 8 MP, f/2.4
Monochrome, 2 MP

Front camera(s)

11.1MP, f/2.2

12MP, f/2.2

40MP, f/2.2

16MP, f/2.4

Video capture

4K at 30 fps

4K at 60 fps

4K at 60 fps

8K at 30 fps

SoC

Google Tensor

Apple A15 Bionic

Qualcomm Snapdragon 888

Qualcomm Snapdragon 888

CPU

2.8 octa-core

3.23 GHz hexa-core

2.8 GHz octa-core

2.84 GHz octa-core

GPU

ARM Mali G78

Apple hexa-core GPU

Adreno 660

Adreno 660

RAM

12 GB

6 GB

12 / 16 GB

12 GB

WiFi

802.11ax

802.11ax

6 GHz 802.11ax

6 GHz 802.11ax

Bluetooth

v5.2

v5.0

v5.2

v5.2

Operating system

Android 12

iOS 15

Android 11

Android 11

Other features

USB-C, Qi wireless charging

IP68 certified, Lightning connector, MagSafe and Qi wireless charging

IP68 certified, USB-C, Qi wireless charging

USB-C, Qi wireless charging

Catch up on all the latest news from Google’s Pixel 6 event!

How to pre-order the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro

Google finally revealed the long awaited (and much rumored) Pixel 6 smartphones today. The $599 Pixel 6 and the $899 Pixel 6 Pro have revamped designs and run on Google’s new Tensor processor, plus they have under-display fingerprint readers as well. The Pixel 6 handset has an OLED display, a dual-camera setup plus support for dual SIM cards, WiFi 6 and USB-C charging, while the Pixel 6 Pro has a 120Hz LTPO OLED screen, a triple rear camera system and 12GB of RAM. Here’s how you can pre-order the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones. 

Google Pixel 6

Google Pixel 6
Google

The Pixel 6 smartphone is available for pre-order today for $599 and will be widely available starting October 28. Instead of buying the phone outright, you can get it for $45 per month with Pixel Pass, Google’s new subscription service that also includes access to Google One, YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium, Google Play Pass and Preferred Care.

Pre-order Pixel 6 at Google starting at $599Pre-order Pixel 6 at Best Buy starting at $599Pre-order Pixel 6 at B&H starting at $599

The Pixel 6 is the smaller of the two new Google handsets, with a 6.4-inch 1,800 x 2,400 OLED display that supports HDR and refresh rates up to 90Hz. One of the smartphone’s kicker lies under the screen — fingerprint reader that you can use to unlock the device. The handset also has Google’s Titan M2 security chip for enhanced security, along with camera and mic toggles.

When it comes to cameras, the Pixel 6 has a 50MP wide lens and a 12MP ultra wide shoot on the back, plus an 8MP front-facing camera. The rear setup can shoot video in up to 4K/60fps while the front camera tops out at 1080p/30fps. Google added a bunch of new camera features to the smartphone, too, including Magic Eraser, which automatically suggests objects like random people or cars to remove from a shot, Face Unblur and Motion Mode.

Inside the Pixel 6 is Google’s Tensor processor, 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage. Google claims it has a “beyond 24-hour” battery life and that you can get up to 48 hours of use in Extreme Battery Saver mode. It supports fast charging, so you can get 50 percent of juice in just 30 minutes, and you can power up with wireless chargers, too. It has one USB-C port along with support for 5G, WiFi 6 and dual SIM cards.

Google Pixel 6 Pro

Google Pixel 6 Pro
Google

The Pixel 6 Pro smartphone is available for pre-order today for $899 and will be widely available starting October 28. Instead of buying the phone outright, you can get it for $55 per month with Pixel Pass, Google’s new subscription service that also includes access to Google One, YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium, Google Play Pass and Preferred Care.

Buy Pixel 6 Pro at Google starting at $899Buy Pixel 6 Pro at Best Buy starting at $899Buy Pixel 6 Pro at B&H starting at $899

The higher-end Pixel 6 Pro has a 6.7-inch 1,440 x 3,120 LTPO OLED display that supports HDR and refresh rates up to 120Hz. It automatically adjusts the refresh rate depending on what you’re doing and it can go as low as 10Hz to save battery. The key differences between the Pixel 6 Pro and the regular Pixel 6 are in battery size and cameras. The 6 Pro has a slightly larger battery, but Google gives the same battery life estimations for both handsets. Both also support fast charging and wireless charging.

The Pixel 6 Pro has one extra rear camera: a 48MP telephoto shooter that supports super-res zoom up to 20x. That’s on top of the 50MP wide camera and the 12MP ultra wide lenses that also appear on the regular Pixel 6. The 6 Pro also has a slightly better front-facing camera, which is a 11MP shooter with a wider, 94-degree field of view.

The Pixel 6 Pro has all of the same security features that its smaller counterpart does, including the under-display fingerprint sensor. It also runs on the same processor but comes with 12GB of RAM — storage options remain the same, too.

Catch up on all the latest news from Google’s Pixel 6 event!

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