Skip to main content

All the smart, new Pixel 4 features coming to older Pixel phones

The Google Pixel 4 is here, offering a ton of great features, an awesome camera, and more. Much of the Google Pixel experience has long been about the software and artificial intelligence — and that means that Google has been able to bring many of those awesome new features to older Pixel phones.

This year is no different. The Pixel 4 has a ton of great features, but if you don’t want to buy a new Pixel phone, you may still get some of those new features. Here’s a list of awesome Pixel 4 features that will make their way to other Pixel phones.

No Dual Exposure and Live HDR+

The Pixel 4’s camera offers a number of awesome features, like the new Dual Exposure controls and Live HDR+. Unfortunately, it looks like the features will be exclusive to the new phone, as they apparently require low-level capabilities only available in the Pixel 4’s camera hardware, according to a tweet from Google. This could refer to the new Pixel Neural Core co-processor.

Google Assistant 2.0

google assistant 2.0 pixel 4
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Google has launched a new version of Google Assistant, which offers an improved UI and a smarter experience. Not only that, but Google has managed to shrink the algorithms on Google Assistant down from over 100GB to a much more manageable 500MB — meaning that they can now be stored on-device. Because of that, with or without an internet connection, Google Assistant will be able to help you with many things quickly and easily. This feature is exclusive to the Pixel 4 at launch, but will come to other phones eventually, including the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL.

Live captions

Android 10 Live Caption
Riley Young/Digital Trends

Live Captions allow you to see captions of a video in real time, and it’s a pretty awesome feature. The captions can be dragged around the screen, and are sure to be helpful for those with hearing difficulties.

At launch, Live Captions are only available on the Pixel 4, but they’ll eventually come to the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3a too, according to a report from Android Police.

Recorder and live transcription

pixel 4 xl recorder app
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Google has developed a new Recorder app that allows you to record audio of someone speaking, and transcribes that audio in real time. Users can then search through the transcriptions just as easily as they would be able to search through a Word document. That’s pretty awesome for journalists or students. It’s only available in English for now, but will likely get other languages over the next 12 months.

The app will be available in the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL at launch, but will most likely make its way to other Pixel phones too, considering the fact that an APK for the app made its way online.

Astrophotography mode

The Google Pixel 4’s new Astrophotography Mode allows you to use multiple exposures to take stunning photos of the night sky, but much of the work is software-based — and as such, the feature will make its way to other phones. Google itself has announced that the feature will make its way to the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3a.

Editors' Recommendations

Christian de Looper
Christian’s interest in technology began as a child in Australia, when he stumbled upon a computer at a garage sale that he…
Have a Google Pixel phone? You’re about to get these new features
A person holding the Google Pixel 8 Pro.

One of the great things about Google’s Pixel phones is how often the company sweetens the pot with its Pixel Feature Drops. While they’re not always the most exciting updates, every so often, we get some pleasant surprises; this month’s Feature Drop fits into that latter category with some new goodies that will be of particular interest to owners of phones in the recent Google Pixel 7 and Google Pixel 8 lineups (and of course the Google Pixel Fold).

That doesn’t mean older Pixel phones are entirely left out of the party, though. There’s at least one helpful enhancement here for the Pixel 6 and even some smaller improvements that go back to the Pixel 5a. Let's dig into everything that's new.
New features coming to Pixel phones
Circle to Search Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Read more
Your Google Pixel phone may soon get a lifesaving feature
A person holding the Google Pixel 8 Pro.

Google Pixel 8 Pro Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

If you have a Google Pixel phone or plan on buying one in the future, you could be getting an important safety feature in the very near future. As spotted in an update for Google's Adaptive Connectivity Services app, Google is planning on adding a "Satellite SOS" feature to its Pixel devices.

Read more
TCL’s new Android phones are coming soon, and they look promising
Someone holding the TCL 50 LE smartphone at CES 2024.

TCL 50 LE Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

TCL announced a slate of new phones at CES 2024 last month, but there wasn’t a lot of information about them. Thankfully, that's just changed.

Read more