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What’s in a name, Google Pixel 6 Pro or Pixel 6 XL?
Just a few days after we reported on the full leaked specifications of the Pixel 6 series and a number weeks after its wild design was revealed, Google confirmed the Pixel 6 name and potentially revealed that the larger of the two could be called Pixel 6 XL instead of Pixel 6 Pro. Not so fast, let’s dive into the details below.
Early today, Google held a Games Developer Summit in which the company unveiled new the new “play as you download” feature coming to Android 12 devices. In the developer docs, Google describes a number of Game Mode intervention values and Google listed Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 XL as an example, those names were quickly removed.
The Pixel 6 series will be the first Pixel phones to utilize the company’s new in-house Silcon, codenamed Whitechapel with the model number GS101. We also recently learned that Google may commit to at least 5 years of software updates for both Pixel 6 devices.
| Pixel 6 (Oriel) | Pixel 6 Pro (Raven) | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 6.4-inch AMOLED | 6.71-inch Plastic OLED |
| SOC | Google Silicon GS101 | Google Silicon GS101 |
| RAM | 8GB | 12GB |
| Storage | 128GB / 256GB | 128GB / 256GB / 512GB |
| Android | 12 | 12 |
| Front Camera | 8MP | 12MP |
| Rear Camera | 50MP (Wide) + 12MP (Ultra-wide) | 50MP (Wide) + 48MP (Tele) + 12MP (Ultra-wide) |
| Battery | 4614mAh | 5000mAh |
So, what’s in a name then, is it Pixel 6 Pro or Pixel 6 XL? Up until now Google has labelled its larger Pixel with XL after the version number, that was until the current Pixel, Pixel 5. This year, there is no Pixel 5 XL, just Pixel 5. So, will Google reuse the XL label? Let’s dig a little deeper into what using the Pro label would mean. For Apple the ‘Pro’ label means high-end finishes and Pro-level features, so what will it mean for a Google Pixel? So far, we have seen two larger Pixel devices one in the Black/White/Orange color combo and the other in the Black/White/Gold combo, with the latter color combo being decidedly more upscale. Does the larger Pixel 6 device have ‘Pro’ level features? Yes, in fact it has a number of features that are decidedly more ‘Pro’ than the standard Pixel 6. It has a larger display, more RAM, larger storage options, a larger front camera sensor, an added 48MP Telephoto camera sensor and a larger battery.
So, what will Google call the larger Pixel? Will Google opt for four generations of tradition and label the next Pixel with XL or celebrate the Pro-level features and label the next Pixel with Pro? We will keep our readers posted.
