Tag Archives: Pixel

Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro design aims for a smoother and more sophisticated look

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Smartphones have started to sound and even look similar, not only from their specs but also from their designs. That’s why many manufacturers are now trying to stand out from the crowd with a new design almost every year. Some are tasteful and elegant, while others can be obnoxious and over the top. Some, on the other hand, have tried to go against the flow and stick a design until it gets long in the tooth. After many generations, Google finally decided to give its Pixel phone a fresh new face last year with some amount of success. Rather than switch to a different design after that, the Android maker has instead opted to refine a winning formula, making it look a bit more grown-up rather than a passing teenage fad.

Designer: Google

There might be some people who disagree with the aesthetic of last year’s Pixel 6 siblings, but few will argue that it at least had some lasting impact. It was so unlike any other smartphone on the market, and the shape of its visor-like camera bump, paired with its dual-tone color scheme, made it look novel, quirky, and youthful. Just like the Material You design language of Android 12 from last year, it carried some character that would appeal to people who see their smartphones as a form of personal expression.

Wow factors rarely last forever, though, and the Pixel 6’s design might even look too playful for some people. Rather than throw it away, Google is maturing the easily distinguishable design instead, making the Pixel 7 look more mature and well thought out. The differences are subtle yet telling, retaining the Pixel’s new visual identity while also giving it a more sophisticated character compared to the youthful Pixel 6.

The camera bar, for example, not only protrudes less but also blends visually and structurally with the frame. It now shares the same color as the mid-frame rather than just a black paint job. As for colors, the back of the Pixel now has a single color, and the camera bump provides not only visual but also a chromatic that makes that side of the phone look more active. The cameras themselves are also displayed better, huddled into groups rather than standing isolated from each other.

There are still parts of the design that remain the same, particularly when comparing the Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro. The former, for example, retains its flat display, while the Pixel 7 Pro sticks to its curved edges. In both cases, the two still bear hallmarks of a slightly older design convention that uses rounded edges to supposedly make the phone comfortable to hold. Not everyone’s a fan, though, but it at least fits perfectly with the Pixel 7’s design.

It’s definitely refreshing to see that Google hasn’t given up on a design that gives its phone a distinctive appearance. Even better, it is actually improving that design to make it look more elegant while still retaining its quirky nature. Of course, a phone is more than just its looks, and we’ll have to see next month whether the combination of design and hardware will put the Pixel 7 at the top this year.

The post Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro design aims for a smoother and more sophisticated look first appeared on Yanko Design.

Google Pixel Headphones concept shows what the Android answer to the AirPods Max could be

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Although there are some undeniable similarities between this Google Pixel Headphones concept and the AirPods Max, this one comes with a solid cushioned headband, touch-sensitive ear-cups, and a USB-C port to charge the device.

It’s common knowledge that Apple usually takes its sweet time with tech, launching new features long after they’re tried and tested successes (widgets, multitasking, and most recently, lock screen customization), although it seems like Google’s been playing catch-up with hardware of late. The company that was usually on point with hardware, launching a smartwatch before Apple (through its subsidiary Motorola) and even beating Apple to the smart speaker market with the Google Nest, hasn’t launched smart headphones yet. Google’s Pixel phone releases plateaued off over 2019-20, only picking up in 2021 with the Pixel 6, and the Pixel Buds also finally got a refresh after ages; but Google doesn’t have a horse in the smart headphone race… yet. Envisioned and designed by Yousef Hussain, the Google Pixel Headphones are the company’s answer to Apple’s AirPods Max. Designed to pair perfectly with Google’s smartphones and work seamlessly with its voice AI, the Pixel headphones are a clean pair of cans that help you get the most ‘helpful’ audio experience Android has to offer. Who knows, maybe it has a Tensor chip in it too??

Without really any speculation (given that this is a concept), let’s really break down the Pixel Headphones’ design. It’s classic, understated, and feels a lot like the designer borrowed cues from the AirPods Max and the Chromecast. The headrest is slim, but padded, and the earcups have a weave fabric overlay with the letters L and R embroidered inside the cups to tell you how to wear the phones. Metal sliders give you precise height adjustment, although the earcups don’t fold frontwards like the AirPods Max, and there’s no awkward charging case/handbag with this too.

Instead, the Pixel Headphones charge via USB-C, located on the base of the right earcup. A single button on top of the left earcup handles power, while the headphones are entirely operable using touch-sensitive controls on both cups. How one would really account for accidental touches (or having other people randomly touching them and pausing music playback) remains to be determined, but then again… this is a conceptual device, after all.

Other details include the five rather delightful color combinations (that match with the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro color schemes), and what feel like microphone arrays around the rim of each cup (given the few slits there are on them). It’s safe to assume that these cans have at least ANC if not a transparency mode. The slits also make me wonder if they’re semi-open-back headphones, which would make passive noise cancelation/isolation rather impossible.

The Pixel Headphones are a rather neat way of showing ‘what could have been’ if Google had taken its hardware game more seriously instead of wasting time designing its hundredth chatting and messaging app. There seems to be little method to the company’s madness, although as someone who’s used Android products all his life, I see very little impetus to switch over to Apple’s walled garden. Something like these Pixel Headphones would convince me to stick to my Android way of life all the more!

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Google Pixel phones join the cause to make phones repairable and sustainable

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Smartphones are one of the most ubiquitous consumer electronics we have today. That translates to millions of components produced each year, which, in turn, could translate to thousands or even millions of e-waste piling up in landfills. The way this market works, most smartphone owners upgrade to a new phone even when they don’t really have to yet, mostly because of how the industry rewards such mindsets. At the same time, that same industry almost penalizes people who do actually want to keep their phones for as long as they can by making it harder or more expensive for them to repair old phones. Times are changing, it seems, and the biggest players in the market are fixing their attitudes on self-repair methods, and Google is the latest to swing its doors wide open to both consumers and small businesses.

Designer: Google x iFixit

Google actually announced its new program to make it easier for those outside its hallowed halls to repair Pixel phones. It followed the lead of Apple and Samsung in finally acknowledging the self-repair movement, or at least as much as their businesses and legal teams would allow. Of course, promises can sometimes ring hollow, so it wasn’t until Google finally removed the remaining impediments that we could consider its more sustainable repair program to be good as gold.

It wouldn’t be much of a more open repair program, however, if Google became the bottleneck of the entire process. The problem with trying to repair your own Pixel phone, or starting a small business around third-party repairs, wasn’t really the just the know-how. The real deal-breaker was getting your hands on replacement parts, officially and legally, which was nearly impossible until today. Now almost anyone can buy Pixel screens, batteries, and even adhesives from iFixit, one of the biggest proponents of the right to self-repair your stuff, at least if you live in the few regions where the parts are made available.

Not only does this make it possible for anyone with the technical knowledge to repair their broken Google phone, but it also helps smaller shops make a living off providing that service to others. To some extent, it helps democratize the smartphone repair industry, even if iFixit still has to source those components from official suppliers only. Google is even providing some validation software tools for free, allaying fears of potential legal repercussions for using these replacement parts on your own.

Being able to repair phones easily, whether by yourself or through service providers, already goes a long way in increasing the sustainability of these devices and reducing their negative impact on the environment. It’s just the first step, of course; we still have to figure out a way to make use of more sustainable and more responsible materials in a way that won’t disrupt the economy too much. Given how the smartphone industry seems to almost be set up to make sustainability efforts fail, the ability to repair your own phone is still a massive win in the grand scheme of things.

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Google and Samsung are making phone repairs a lot more accessible

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They’re still not making easily repairable phones, but Google and Samsung are at least taking big steps in making these devices a little bit more sustainable.

Smartphones are no longer just novelties that only the affluent can afford, although there are definitely a few out there that fit the bill. These mobile devices, some of which have become as powerful as our computers, have become ingrained in modern life and almost indispensable tools in our pockets. While most tools, including PCs and laptops, seem to be built to last for as long as they can, smartphones, unfortunately, seem to be intentionally designed to be replaced when they break. Sure, they can be repaired, but the cost of repairs sometimes means that a new phone would actually be cheaper. That’s not even mentioning the rather laborious process of sending a device for repairs, which may sometimes end in violations of privacy. Smartphone repairs can add to the stress of a broken phone, but two of the world’s most famous tech companies are trying to change the status quo and make these devices easier and more affordable to fix than ever before.

Designer: Google

Google and iFixit team-up

Smartphones today are built in a way that prevents them from falling apart easily. They’re also sealed tight against dust and liquid that would otherwise destroy the phone from the inside. The side effect of making it more difficult to open up these phones for repairs. Gone are the days when you could simply pop off the phone’s back to change the battery. These days, you risk cracking the glass rear right at the start of the repair process.

That’s not the only consideration when repairing a phone, though. First-party repair services are often expensive and limited, especially for phones with limited availability like Google’s Pixels. There are quite a few third-party services and advanced consumers that are able to repair their phones on their own, but that practice is heavily frowned upon. There’s also the problem of getting genuine replacement parts, which most companies don’t sell to outsiders and unauthorized shops.

Google is trying to challenge that business model and has partnered with iFixit to sell those replacement parts, ranging from batteries to displays to cameras and more. This, of course, means that Google is giving blanket permission for anyone to repair their own Pixel phone, a trend that is thankfully gaining traction among the big smartphone makers. Apple kicked it off last year, and Samsung followed suit earlier this month, teaming up with iFixit as well.

Images: iFixit

Of course, this presumes that the phones are designed to be easily repaired, which isn’t generally the case. The Google Pixel 6 Pro, however, does diverge from the path that most phones take and have a few places where it does help facilitate self-repairs. We’re still far from the ideal, but at least some companies will no longer punish you if you repair your own phone yourself.

Samsung Recycled Replacemnts

Samsung is already ahead of the self-repair game, but it might be doing something extra special to really drive the sustainability message home. Making replacement parts easily accessible is definitely a good thing, but that also comes with the risks of increasing e-waste even more. With electronics getting thrown out and replaced easily, this new program might do more damage than it is meant to fix.

According to industry reports, however, Samsung might have a simple solution to that as well. The company has been making a lot of noise about its recycling and upcycling efforts, and it might apply those same processes to replacement parts. In other words, Samsung might introduce a program where it will provide certified recycled parts to be used for repairs and replacements.

Designer: Samsung

In addition to the environmental benefits of such a program, using recycled parts could also be advantageous to consumers. It is projected that costs of repairs could almost be halved by using these parts. Not only does it make self-repairs more accessible and affordable, it also encourages such a culture of repair in opposition to current business models. Hopefully, both Google’s and Samsung’s efforts will bear good fruit so that they become role models on how to make smartphones more sustainable in the long run.

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Pixel 6 Launch: Google gives us a deep-dive into the new Pixel’s refreshed product design

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It’s rare for Silicon Valley companies to actually explain their design choices and decisions to their customers. Google flouted convention by beginning their Pixel Fall Launch keynote with a pretty comprehensive look at how they designed their latest flagship phone, from its hardware right down to its software.

Just yesterday Apple had us baffled with their MacBooks bringing back ports, connectors, and keyboard elements that Apple took away 5 years ago. Apple’s design process has always been a complete mystery, so it was really odd to see them finally walking back on their past design decisions and bringing MagSafe, HDMI, the SD Card slot, and the Function keys back to their MacBooks. While the Cupertino giant has a reputation of being shrouded by secrecy, Google on the other hand is perceived as much more open, forthcoming, and vocal… After all, they deliberately leaked their own Pixel 6 design MONTHS before it actually launched.

Just 10 minutes into the Pixel 6 reveal, head of hardware Rick Osterloh hands the stage to designer Isabelle Olson to talk about the Pixel 6’s design. Isabelle mentions the Pixel 6’s redesign on the back involves highlighting its breakout feature – its camera. With a bar running across the screen almost like a highlighter running across important text, the Pixel 6’s camera is the first thing you look at.

“So the Industrial Design team designed the phone to celebrate the camera”, Isabel mentions. “The camera bar brings a clean, symmetrical design that puts the camera front and center.” The bar, as strange as it looked back when the images were first leaked, is now an icon of the Pixel’s not-so-subtle evolution, and provides the perfect separating element for the phone’s dual-color back. The Pixel phones originally pioneered this with their split-tone design that had two different colors on the top and bottom of the phone’s rear surface. With the Pixel 6, that split-tone design gets a hearty refresh, with a black belt adding its fair share of contrast in the middle. The phones instantly look refreshing, and are immediately recognizable (a feature that really helps in a market where all smartphones are beginning to look alike).

The Pixel 6 comes in two variants, a 6 and a 6 Pro, which are different sized, and have slightly different designs, but are unified by the same visual language, UI, and the Tensor chip inside the phone. The 6 sports a black metal armature, with 3 color variants with their signature quirky names – Sorta Seafoam, Kinda Coral, and Stormy Black. The 6 Pro, on the other hand, has a more chrome armature (the team used jewelry references to highlight the differences between the Pro and regular models), and comes in Cloudy White, Sorta Sunny, and Stormy Black.

A concern I had earlier with the Pixel 6’s odd camera bump (it’s now referred to a camera bar) was how it made case-design impossible, or rather, difficult to elegantly execute. To subvert these worries, Google even released its own set of cases with a slightly tinted frosted design, matching colors with the phone you have underneath. When paired correctly, the case would actually complement the phone and highlight its color palette rather than being an obstructive piece of plastic that’s only purpose was to protect the phone. The cases, Isabelle claims, are also designed out of recycled plastic (the phone’s chassis is made from recycled aluminum too), helping further Google’s mission to build devices that have a minimal negative impact on the environment. From what it looks like, though, the cases don’t do much to protect the Pixel’s camera bar from direct impact, although that’s the kind of thing you find out months after customers actually buy and use the phones.

Moving onto software, Google has big plans for the Pixel thanks to how powerful its Tensor SoC is designed to be. The new chip unlocks a new era of Material Design that Google calls Material You. Instead of having you adjust to your phone’s settings, Material You has the phone adjust to YOU. For starters, the entire screen’s color palette changes to match your wallpaper, giving you an experience that’s unified. Widgets, icons, and elements complement your theme and they change when you change your wallpaper too. The phone also understands context exceptionally well, serving you up with the information you need right when you need it, from your fitness app’s stats while you’re jogging, to your boarding pass while you’re heading for a flight. As Rick Osterloh keeps reiterating, the Pixel 6 is a completely new take on smartphones, both inside as well as out.

Designer: Google

Watch the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro video below.





Google is rumored to be working on a foldable PIXEL Smartphone with a release date as early as 2021

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It seems like Google was hibernating all through last year and the company finally woke up in May with their IO conference (which they canceled in 2020). As we gear up for Techtober (an informal term MKBHD uses to describe the September-October-November months that see all the major smartphone releases), rumors are suggesting that the Pixel 6 may be accompanied by the announcement of something MUCH more interesting… a foldable Pixel phone.

Developers who scanned through the Android 12 Beta were surprised to find model numbers for the Pixel 6 family, including foldable codenamed ‘Passport’. Suggesting that it would be a passport-shaped device that would open and close like the Samsung Galaxy Fold, with a similar dual-screen layout. The rumors prompted Tech YouTuber Waqar Khan to create renders of the purported device, which comes with a Pixel 5-inspired camera module, an outer screen with a hole-punch camera, and a large folding screen on the inside with yet another hole-punch camera.

The existence of a Pixel Fold was first touted by Ross Young, a digital analyst, who took to Twitter to mention that Google could launch the folding phone as early as 2021, or in the beginning of 2022. Young also said that the company was toying with the idea of a rollable smartphone, but the mention of “Project Passport” in Google’s own Android Beta seemed to confirm that they were working on developing a stock Android OS just for a foldable Pixel.

2021 is definitely an interesting year for Google, as they’re also developing their own silicon to rival Apple. Titled ‘Whitechapel’, Google’s silicon chip will make it to its smartphones, hopefully giving it a performance upgrade that should push it miles ahead of its competition. The Whitechapel chip could potentially even make the foldable Pixel an incredibly powerful and efficient device.

Waqar Khan’s renders give us a clue of what a folding Pixel would look/feel like. Schematically, it’s no different from Samsung’s first folding phone; although with significant developments made in the world of flexible OLED displays, maybe the ‘Pixel Fold’ could avoid the pitfalls of the Galaxy Fold that came 2 years before it. The renders show a clean matte body (like last year’s Pixel device) along with the presence of a fingerprint reader on the back. That particular detail could be a creative call on Khan’s part, given that in-screen fingerprint readers seem to be quite the norm with Android phones over the past year.

The confirmed Pixel 6 is set to debut at Google’s ‘Made By Google’ hardware event, which usually happens around October. It’s unclear if the event will be an in-person or a virtual one, and we can only hope that the company also teases (if not releases) the folding Pixel along with its expected lineup which includes a flagship phone, smart-speaker, and possibly Google’s first-ever smartwatch, which comes 2 years after the company announced it was acquiring Fitbit for $2.1 billion.

Designer/Visualizer: Waqar Khan

The only thing I absolutely hate about the Google Pixel 6 is how ugly its cases are going to be…

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Google Pixel 6 Protective Cover Case Alibaba

The Google Pixel 6 is coming… and with it, a barrage of hideous cases that completely destroy its beautiful aesthetic.

Roughly a month ago Jon Prosser claimed he had credible information regarding how the upcoming Google Pixel 6 would look. The images he shared with the world showed a radical new design that had a pretty standout visual detail – an elongated camera bump that covered the entire phone’s width… it was less of a bump and more of a ‘bumper’. My own personal thoughts on the design were mixed, although I have to admit it was refreshing to see Google investing effort into its Pixel range after an extremely lackluster performance last year. I am, however, having second thoughts after seeing the kinds of smartphone cases appearing on websites like Alibaba as we slowly approach the Pixel 6’s launch.

Google Pixel 6 Protective Cover Case Alibaba

You see, that camera belt may be a design feature, but it’s also a major design flaw once you consider that most smartphone users would end up buying protective cases to shield their expensive smartphones from damage. The benefit with almost every smartphone’s camera bump is that its camera exists INSIDE its body, so when case-designers make cases, the simple solution of navigating around the smartphone’s camera bump is to create a cutout there. The case has a rather manageable hole through which the camera peeks through, sort of like a ski-mask. That, however, isn’t possible with the Pixel 6… A look at the image below should explain why.

The fact that the Pixel 6’s camera module extends all the way from the left to the right makes it very difficult to create one single cutout. If one were to simply go about creating a camera hole, you’d essentially have a case that exists in two parts that are barely connected together near the middle. The case becomes a merely decorative product that simply protects the edges of the smartphone, giving no cover to the cameras, which in the case of the Pixel 6, are dangerously exposed. The only way to really overcome this problem and make a proper case would be to design OVER the phone’s wide camera bump, adding another 1-2 millimeters to it and making the bump EVEN LARGER. The cutout would then exist only around the lenses and not the bump itself… as you can see in the image below.

This ‘technical’ solution spells disaster for the Pixel 6’s aesthetics. It exaggerates the phone’s elongated camera bump, turning an elegant detail into an ugly caricature… and the minute you choose an opaque cover over a transparent one, it practically conceals every element of the Pixel 6’s design, making it look like “just another phone”, albeit with a monstrous bump around its camera, exposing a major flaw in Google’s design approach to the Pixel 6 – that smartphone designs exist in a bubble where phone-makers expect you to NOT put protective cases on expensive and fragile phones. Not Okay, Google.

Google Pixel 6 Protective Cover Case Alibaba

Google Pixel 6 Protective Cover Case Alibaba

Images via: Alibaba

Google Pixel 6 leaked images show a smartphone with a ‘camera belt’ instead of a bump

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When John Prosser leaks or predicts something, one usually takes it with a grain of salt. He’s been right about a bunch of designs, including the colorful iMacs, the AirTags, and even the AirPods Max, but he missed it with the Pixel 5, and even made a pretty big bet about the date of Apple’s Spring Loaded event this year. A bet which he lost and had to shave his eyebrows on YouTube for. However, taking things in his stride, Prosser is back for yet another prediction/leak which he feels is right on point. It’s the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, which Google is slated to release this year… with Google’s first homemade silicone chip on the inside to rival Apple’s M1, and more noticeably, a whopper of a camera bump.

I wouldn’t really call this a bump because it’s so wide and protruding, it’s practically a shelf. Prosser claims these images are as legit as they come, because they’re based on actual leaked photos from his inside source. Deciding it was better to protect the source by creating fresh 3D renders rather than just circulating those leaked images, Prosser collaborated with Ian Zelbo to bring the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro to life. Now I’ll be much more critical of Google’s strategy when the phone actually drops (because Google did such a horribly half-assed job with the Pixel 5 last year, drawing the ire of many Android lovers… me included), so let’s just look at these renders for what they are. According to Prosser, Google’s working on two phones, the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro (they ditched the XL name). The smaller 6 has a dual-camera setup on the back, while the slightly taller Pro opts for 3 cameras. The Pixel’s design language has been famous for its color-blocking design, with the upper half being glossy and black, and the lower half being a variety of colors and finishes. This concept develops on that original style, adding a band of black running between the upper and lower blocks.

Objectively speaking, the band protrudes at least 2-3 millimeters from the phone’s back, making it look almost like a belt or a shelf emerging from the phone. Subjectively, it kind of makes the phone look like a criminal – serves them right for stealing the ‘Pro’ nomenclature from Apple! However, that really isn’t an indictment on the phone’s design itself, it gives the Pixel a strong new character, which makes sense, because this is a new era for the Pixel.

Prosser further breaks down the renders, talking about how the two phones come in different colors too. The smaller Pixel 6 has an orange band on top and a pure white block at the bottom. The Pro version, however, ditches the white bottom for an orange-tinted white. Prosser also mentions the presence of a Champagne-Gold Pixel 6 Pro (the first image in this article) that I personally really love.

The renders are as close as possible to the leaked images Prosser has his hands on. In fact, it even exactly mimics the wallpaper and widget on the screen. The screen even comes with a centrally aligned hole-punch camera, and we still have no word on whether there’s an in-screen fingerprint reader, so the jury’s still out on that. Interestingly though, the final image in this piece has the Pixel 6 sitting beside a rather interesting-looking smartwatch. Could it be the highly anticipated Pixel smartwatch?? Let’s wait till Google’s product event to find out!

Image Credits: Jon Prosser & Ian Zelbo