The very best factor Google can do for the Pixel line is keep constant | Hazard Tech

Google first confirmed off the Pixel 7 collection in Might at its I/O 2022 convention, revealing two telephones that appeared extra iterative than revolutionary.

Each gadgets provide related designs to the Pixel 6 collection, with these digital camera viewfinders, center-mounted punch-hole cutouts, and near-identical digital camera specs as final yr. You would be forgiven if you happen to thought these had been Pixel 6 variants. However there is a robust argument to be made that that is precisely what the Pixel lineup wants.

It is simple to see a historic lack of dedication to consistency when taking a look at older Pixel {hardware}. Every successive gadget usually felt like an experimental launch fairly than a part of a cohesive product line and long-term technique. It is nearly as if the corporate decides the options by throwing darts at a board.

Maybe essentially the most distinguished instance of this was the Pixel 4 collection which ditched the Pixel 3 line’s rear fingerprint scanner, twin selfie cameras, and single rear digital camera in favor of 3D face unlock, a single selfie digital camera, and twin cameras. twin rear foremost/tele. The change to 3D facial unlocking meant the telephones could not be bought in some markets (similar to India), as a consequence of Soli’s use of radar expertise to provoke facial recognition as quickly as you reached for the cellphone.

Then there was the Pixel 5, which ditched the Pixel 4’s flagship powerhouse for a mid-range chipset and ditched a foremost/telephoto digital camera setup for a foremost/ultrawide combo. Google has been a bit extra per its software program options, however you by no means actually knew what you had been getting with the Pixel {hardware}.

This inconsistency can also be mirrored within the many issues we have seen with Google telephones over time. Whether or not it was the unique Pixel’s bootloop and mic points or the Pixel 3 and 4’s again cowl coming off, it appeared like each launch was accompanied by a severe difficulty of some form.

These defects usually are not a factor of the previous both; Google’s present Pixel 6 collection suffers from quite a few points. The corporate’s semi-custom Tensor chipset is susceptible to working scorching, whereas its poor wi-fi connectivity has additionally been well-documented. The telephones additionally suffered from software program bugs associated to fingerprint scanners, cellphone calls, Bluetooth, and extra.

The upcoming Pixel 7 collection telephones, alternatively, appear to symbolize a extra iterative Google fairly than an organization ranging from scratch as soon as once more. And there are lots of explanation why it is a good factor.

The primary purpose to welcome the launch of an evolutionary Pixel collection is that it offers Google an opportunity to concentrate on fixing these aforementioned points it encountered with the Pixel 6 household. In any case, you are not simply beginning over from scratch. that means you do not want to spend so much of time on issues like {hardware} and general design.

So hopefully the time that might have been spent on a whole rework is spent on fixing software program points, for instance making the swarm of bugs from the Pixel 6 collection launch a factor of the previous. It additionally signifies that Google can theoretically refine its Tensor processor in a bid to scale back overheating and unreliable connectivity.

An evolutionary strategy additionally signifies that Google can concentrate on refining what already works, like cameras. Google caught with a 12MP foremost digital camera for years, permitting it to shine its picture processing with every successive Pixel launch till it determined to go together with a 50MP sensor with the Pixel 6 collection. All indicators level to it retaining the 50MP sensor, which is able to give Google an opportunity to fine-tune its picture processing and algorithms as soon as once more.

Lastly, this strategy additionally doubtlessly frees up assets for future Pixel function updates. Additionally, the shared {hardware} DNA between the 2 Pixel generations may permit the Pixel 6 to get the options of the Pixel 7 sooner or later.

Along with software program fixes and product refinement, there’s additionally an general potential profit to taking an evolutionary strategy. This technique may assist Google lay the groundwork for future development.

Even when Google cannot handle all the Pixel 6’s main points with the launch of the Pixel 7, a extra acquainted cellphone will permit the corporate to refine its general smartphone technique. Though its telephones provide glorious digital camera processing, years of updates, and a few progressive software program options (eg Name Screening, Recorder), Google hasn’t actually achieved a fantastic job of speaking why folks can purchase its telephones in years previous. . At the very least not for most of the people, which was mirrored in delivery numbers for an extended time earlier than the launch of the Pixel 6 household. However that is altering.

There are indicators that the corporate is basically delving into a technique, with the corporate’s Tensor processor enjoying an important function. The semi-custom chipset has loads of machine studying energy, which Google makes use of to distinguish options like offline voice dictation, Magic Eraser, and facial blur. We already know that the Tensor G2 is coming to the Pixel 7 collection, so we anticipate Google to construct on this already spectacular basis for extra AI-powered options.

One other signal that Google is lastly adopting a constant technique for the Pixel lineup is solely the look of the Pixel 7. The design is broadly in step with the Pixel 6 collection, that includes the distinctive rear digital camera bar that exhibits an effort to keep up a cohesive design language throughout generations. We have not seen this in a flagship Pixel lineup for the reason that Pixel 3 collection. That is actually necessary; You definitely will not mistake the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 collection for Samsung or Apple copycats.

All of those factors counsel that Google and the Pixel workforce are lastly pulling in a single route. A extra iterative launch of the Pixel 7 means Google is not reinventing the wheel this yr, nevertheless it permits the corporate to maintain going uphill as an alternative of stopping to vary wheels but once more.