In this week’s top stories: The Pixel Buds Pro and Pixel 6a are hitting customers’ hands, the Google Camera 8.6 update arrives, and more.
A pair of new Made by Google products launched this week, starting with the Pixel 6a powered by the same Tensor chip as the Pixel 6 Pro. In our review, we found that the mid-range phone should make a huge improvement for those who should upgrade from the Pixel 3a this year.
In terms of size, the Pixel 6a is about the same size as the standard Pixel 3a, just with smaller bezels. It also comes with the addition of an ultrawide camera, a much better screen, and most importantly, the major chip upgrade that is Google Tensor. Compared to the Snapdragon 670 in the 2019 phone, the Tensor is a version particle Raising the level of. It’s a huge upgrade over what’s found on the Pixel 4a and 5a, if you’re looking to switch from one of these devices.
The Pixel Buds Pro—which we shared our initial review of—arrived the same day and brought noise cancellation to Google’s line of earbuds, a long-awaited addition. The Pixel Buds Pro are available in four colors, but it looks like Google was considering up to eight different options at once.
Google nailed it in regards to audio quality, at least in my opinion. Everyone has different tastes when it comes to audio, but the Buds Pro headphones do a really great job of creating an overall enjoyable listening experience.
Right before the Pixel 6a reached customers, an update to the series’ Google Camera app arrived. On the surface, the update brought “speech improvement” for the rear camera and some UI tweaks. Digging a little deeper, our team also discovered a new mode designed specifically for the foldable Pixel Notepad.
The main visual change today is to the Modes tab at the end of the library. The buttons for Panorama, Photo Sphere, and Lens are now placed in a circular rectangular container rather than being directly overlayed in the live preview.
Elsewhere in Google Camera News, the researcher has discovered information about the camera hardware inside the Pixel 7 & 7 Pro, Pixel Tablet, and more. Where the Pixel 7 series is set to see some minor improvements, the Pixel tablet appears to be aiming for the lower end of the market.
Low-level camera sensors point to ways Google might be planning to make the Pixel tablet more affordable, albeit at the cost of losing the premium photography for which the Pixel series is known. Kuba’s findings confirm our reports that the Pixel tablet will likely lose a few Google Camera features, such as 4K recording, Audio Zoom, and Slow Motion.
The folks at OnePlus have taken off the covers for their next flagship phone, the OnePlus 10T. The new phone is set to feature 150W fast charging, but will remove the series’ signature design element, the alert slider.
OnePlus chief designer Hope Liu explains that this move was a “necessary” for other key components of the device, including a larger battery, faster charging, and a better antenna. The Alert Slider occupies about 30 mm² on the motherboard, which has a “relatively large impact” on the build of the device. An alternative to removing the Alert Slider on the OnePlus 10T was to stack the motherboard, which makes the phone thicker.
Here are the top stories left for this week:
Android |
Applications and updates |
Made by Google |
Samsung |
Video |
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