Pixel 6 released, Google wants to put artificial intelligence into users' phones through Tensor chips

On the morning of October 20, Google launched its own brand flagship mobile phone Pixel 6 series. The biggest feature of this phone is that it uses Google's self-developed chip Tensor. The price of Pixel 6 starts at US$599 and the Pixel 6 Pro starts at US$899. It will be available on October 28.

New self-developed chip - Tensor

The biggest difference between the Pixel 6 series and any previous Pixel and other Android phones is the use of the Google Tensor chip, Google's own custom chip.

Tensor is what Google calls "the biggest mobile hardware innovation in the company's history." Tensor is not as superior in performance as Apple's A-series chips, although in terms of performance, Google said that the Tensor chip makes the Pixel 6 series run 80% faster than last year's mid-to-high-end Pixel 5.

But Google isn’t just after benchmarks this year. As the name “Google Tensor” suggests — “tensor” is a core concept in machine learning — Google is trying to put its latest artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities directly into the hands of users.

This is very Google. Before, when other people's flagship phones were equipped with dual or even triple cameras, their phones only had a single lens. However, they used algorithms to optimize photography, and at one point they achieved the result of a single lens beating three lenses.

The Tensor chip can be seen as a hardware component specifically designed for use on mobile devices that embodies Google AI artificial intelligence.

“This is an area where we’ve been held back for years, but now we’re able to unlock a new chapter of AI-driven smartphone innovation. Tensor provides a hardware foundation that we’ll refine over the coming years so you get the personalized, meaningful experiences you expect from a Google phone.” – explained a Google source.

To be more specific, its artificial intelligence is reflected in the fact that the chip can run local voice recognition more efficiently with "half the power". It provides an "assistant voice input" experience, allowing users to edit their content in a completely hands-free (and offline) way. To put it simply, most mobile phones can only execute instructions mechanically, such as asking the phone to send a text message, and you will obviously feel that it is different from a human assistant. With the help of the Tensor chip, it is of course no problem to "send" with voice. You can say "clear" to delete the last sentence, and even "next" and "previous" to move in the text. At the same time, users can spell letter by letter, and can also easily insert emojis.

These are things that all current mobile phone voice assistants cannot do.

Call Screen, Pixel phones will automatically answer unknown calls and ask them to explain their purpose; translation has also received a major upgrade. Google said that thanks to the assistance of Tensor, the translation quality has improved by 18%, and this improvement usually requires "years of research."

Taking photos is better

Google positioned the Pixel 5 as a mid-range device, which is a better choice for Google fans than a Pixel 4. Finally, the flagship positioning is back in the Pixel 6 series, and the rarely upgraded camera has kept up with the trend this time.

The appearance has finally changed

In terms of appearance, the Pixel 6 series has undergone the biggest change in the past two years. The bright colors and prominent camera are more in line with the aesthetics of contemporary people. The Pixel 6 is available in Stormy Black, Seafoam Green, and Cloudy White, while the Pixel 6 Pro is available in black, yellow, and white, which is more restrained than the youthful color scheme of the Pixel 6.

In terms of screen, Pixel 6 uses a 6.4-inch 1080x2340 pixel OLED screen and supports a 90Hz refresh rate, while Pixel 6 Pro uses a 1440x3120 pixel adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The hardware parameters of the two can be compared in the figure below:

Comparison of the two Pixel phones

Google also uses a 50-megapixel camera (previously only 12 million pixels), which is more powerful in hardware but also more clear in the help of algorithms for photos.

On the video side, Google says the chip brings “photo quality” to video features, with its HDRnet algorithm processing in real time on 4K 60FPS video to achieve “excellent” color accuracy, as well as improved vibrancy and stability.

In general, the Pixel 6 series is a major revision of Google's own mobile phones. In terms of appearance, design, lens components and other infrastructure are obviously better; in terms of internal, Tensor is combined with Google's artificial intelligence to make the phone smarter from local to online aspects. Some of these features have appeared at the previous I/O Developer Conference and are now implemented in specific products. If Pixel is a showcase product for Google technology, today's Pixel 6 series is more like a mature consumer product. Tech guys have learned to dress themselves up so that more people can accept it.