After a series of leaks and rumors, Google has finally announced the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. Both smartphones come with new hardware, new cameras, Google Tensor chip, and Android 12, but aside from that, there are also some fairly unique features you won’t find on another phone.
Here are seven super-cool Pixel 6 features you need to know about and try out yourself once you get your hands on the devices.
Magic Eraser
Gone are the days when you needed to fire up Photoshop to remove unwanted objects and people from your beloved photos. Google is offering you the easiest way to perform this function. Pixel 6’s Magic Eraser feature lets you remove distractions with a few taps in Google Photos.
While the phone suggests stuff that you can remove, the user can select distractions in the photos themselves by simply rolling a finger over the unwanted object. Magic Eraser can detect distractions in your images, like people in the background, power lines, and power poles. It then suggests what you might want to remove. You can also choose whether to erase them all at once or tap to remove them one by one.
Motion Mode
Motion Mode on the Pixel 6 series offers features like Action Pan and Long Exposure. These bring movement to your shots. You can use Action Pen to click photos of your child skateboarding with a filmy blurred background. The new feature also allows you to create long exposure shots where your subject is moving, like waterfalls or vibrant city scenes.
Making cameras more equitable
Cameras have been historically designed to capture light skin tones. When people of color shoot selfies, sometimes the white balance is off the charts or the skin tone isn’t captured correctly. Google noticed that stray light had a tendency to disproportionately wash out darker skin tones. The company is building better tools for people of color. Auto-exposure models help determine the brightness of an image, while auto-white balance models help determine color in a picture.
Android 12 goodies
Android 12 offers a slew of features for customization and personalization. For instance, when you change your wallpaper, the entire Android 12 experience changes to match its colors. Material You also brings redesigned widgets that are more dynamic and customizable than ever. A new privacy feature lets you see when an app is using your microphone or camera, thanks to a new indicator in your phone’s status bar.
Better phone calls
Wait Times and Direct My Call make calling businesses easier. When you call a toll-free number, you’ll see the current and projected Wait Times for the rest of the week. Once the call goes through, Direct My Call helps you get to the right place with less hassle. The Google Assistant can determine when the business wants you to do something –- like select a number (“Press 1 for hours and locations”), say a word (“Say ‘representative’ to speak with one of our agents”) or input your account number.
Five years of updates
The new Pixel 6 will get five years of updates, which means Google will offer security patches, Pixel drop features, and more till 2026. However, major Android updates are limited to 2024. Taking a dig at Qualcomm, Google said that making its own chip now allows it to offer more updates with less hassle.
Live Translate
The Live Translate feature lets you message people in different languages, including English, French, German, Italian, and Japanese. It detects if a message in your chat apps, like WhatsApp or Snapchat, is different from your language, and if so, automatically offers you a translation.
