Leaked pricing hints Pixel 6 Pro will not be cheap

Fall just wouldn’t feel the same without Google Pixel hype. After the stealth announcement of the mid-range Pixel 5a last month, Google is now turning its attention to the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6. It’s flagship time, baby!

Rumors of the Pixel 6 and the Pixel 6 Pro have been circulating since earlier this year, with leaked renders showing us the phone’s bold design. As October draws near, those rumors are starting to become reality.

Jon Prosser, a leaker with more dubs than Ls, claims pre-orders for both phones should happen on October 19, with the official launch coming later on October 28. That the phones are coming out next month is a given, but it’s the pricing that we’re most interested in.

Flagship price — Up to this point, the Pixel has come in two flavors: the standard Pixel and then the Pixel A-series that’s released later. As of late, both lines of Pixel phones have been affordable, maintaining flagship software features that leverage the hardware beyond what it’s capable of. However, 2021 is the first time Google’s gonna release a “Pro” branded Pixel. With pro features comes a premium price, and it’s looking like the Pixel 6 Pro might cost as much as the iPhone 13 Pro.

According to YouTuber Brandon Lee who runs the This Tech Today channel (via GSM Arena), the Pixel 6 Pro will cost €900 or about $1,044. Lee says he got the pricing information from a source working at a European wireless carrier.

In the leaked document, the product name is listed as “Raven”, which we know is the codename for the Pixel 6 Pro; the Pixel 6 is listed as “Oriole.” The figure will likely be a round number when it launches in the U.S. The standard Pixel 6 will have a more reasonable price, according to the leak, starting at €650 (about $754).

With the Pixel 5 retailing at $699, there’s not a huge difference. While the standard Pixel 6 will likely be a good value pickup, the Pixel 6 Pro looks to be taking the mantle as Google’s hardware darling (with the specs to back it justify the price, too).

Competitive hardware — According to the previous leaks, the Pixel 6 Pro will reportedly launch in three models, each with different storage capacities: 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. It appears all three models will have 12GB of RAM, a considerable leap from the 8GB of RAM believed to be on board the standard Pixel 6. Obviously, the models with higher storage capacities will cost more, with GSM Arena writing that there could be a €100 difference between each model. Also internally will be Google’s own silicon, the 5nm octa-core Google Tensor chip. While the same chipset should power both the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, the higher RAM and better hardware of the Pixel 6 Pro could get more out of the chip.

It’s also been reported that the Pixel 6 Pro’s larger display will use a Samsung LTPO panel. These panels offer high refresh rates and better resolution without decimating battery life. Rumors suggest the Pixel 6 (6.4-inch FHD) and 6 Pro (6.7-inch QHD) will come with 120Hz refresh rates — or at least the 6 Pro will.

Other high-end features include 33W fast charging, and better camera hardware all around. Apart from the 50-megapixel main sensor and a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, the Pixel 6 Pro will reportedly have an additional 48-megapixel telephoto lens with periscope technology capable of up to 4x zoom. On the front, the Pixel 6 Pro is said to sport a wide-angle selfie camera with 12 megapixels.

Worth the money? — On the software side, Google’s new Material You will be front-and-center on the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, and the Tensor Processing Unit for AI calculations should make AI processes faster. Though the Pixel has lately provided users with an upper mid-range experience when it comes to hardware, the Pixel 6 Pro sees Google duking it out with the big boys by investing in their own silicon and doubling down on flagship specs like camera hardware, RAM, and display. If all the rumors come true, the $1,000 price point won’t sting as much, especially if you’ve been waiting for Google to put some muscle behind its mobile hardware.