The best thing Google can do for the Pixel line is stay consistent

Google first confirmed off the Pixel 7 sequence again in Could at its I/O 2022 convention, revealing two telephones that appeared extra iterative than revolutionary.

Each units provide comparable designs to the Pixel 6 sequence, that includes these digicam visors, center-mounted punch-hole cutouts, and near-identical digicam specs to final 12 months. You’d be forgiven for pondering these have been Pixel 6 variants. However there’s a powerful argument to be made that that is precisely what the Pixel line wants.

It’s simple to see a historic lack of dedication to consistency when older Pixel {hardware}. Every successive system usually felt like an experimental launch relatively than a part of a cohesive product line and long-term technique. It’s virtually as if the corporate selected options by throwing darts at a board.

Maybe probably the most distinguished instance of this was the Pixel 4 sequence ditching the Pixel 3 line’s rear fingerprint scanner, twin selfie cameras, and single rear digicam in favor of 3D face unlock, a single selfie digicam, and predominant/tele twin rear cameras. The transfer to 3D face unlock meant the telephones couldn’t be bought in some markets (similar to India), owing to the usage of Soli radar tech to start out facial recognition as quickly as you reached for the cellphone.

Then there was the Pixel 5, which ditched the Pixel 4’s flagship energy for a mid-range chipset and deserted a predominant/telephoto digicam setup for a predominant/ultrawide mixture. Google has been a bit extra according to its software program options, however you by no means actually knew what you have been getting with Pixel {hardware}.

This inconsistency can be mirrored within the quite a few issues we’ve seen with Google telephones over time. Whether or not it’s the unique Pixel’s bootloop and microphone woes or the Pixel 3 and 4’s rear cowl coming off, it appeared like each launch was accompanied by a critical difficulty of some variety.

These defects aren’t a factor of the previous both; Google’s present Pixel 6 sequence suffers from quite a few issues. The corporate’s semi-custom Tensor chipset is liable to heating, whereas its poor wi-fi connectivity has additionally been well-documented. The telephones have additionally suffered from software program bugs associated to fingerprint scanners, cellphone calls, Bluetooth, and extra.

The looming Pixel 7 sequence telephones, however, appear to symbolize a extra iterative Google relatively than an organization ranging from scratch as soon as once more. And there are many the explanation why this can be a good factor.

The most important purpose to welcome an evolutionary Pixel sequence launch is that it provides Google a possibility to give attention to fixing these aforementioned issues it encountered with the Pixel 6 household. In spite of everything, it’s not ranging from zero once more, which implies it doesn’t have to spend a ton of time on features like {hardware} and the general design.

The time it might’ve spent on an entire rework will hopefully, due to this fact, go to addressing software program points, for one, making the bug swarm of the Pixel 6 sequence launch a factor of the previous. It additionally means Google can theoretically refine its Tensor processor in a bid to scale back the overheating and unreliable connectivity.

An evolutionary method additionally means Google can give attention to refining what already works, such because the cameras. Google caught with a 12MP predominant digicam for years, permitting it to shine its picture processing with every successive Pixel launch till it determined to undertake a 50MP sensor with the Pixel 6 sequence. All indicators level to the 50MP sensor being retained, giving Google an opportunity to fine-tune its picture processing and algorithms as soon as once more.

Lastly, this method additionally doubtlessly frees up sources for future Pixel function drop updates. Plus, the shared {hardware} DNA between the 2 Pixel generations might doubtlessly permit for the Pixel 6 to realize Pixel 7 options down the road.

Apart from software program fixes and product refinement, there’s additionally an over-arching potential profit to taking an evolutionary method. This technique might assist Google lay the muse for future development.

Even when Google isn’t capable of deal with each single main Pixel 6 downside with the Pixel 7 launch, a extra acquainted cellphone will permit the corporate to refine its smartphone technique on the whole. Though its telephones provide nice digicam processing, years of updates, and a few progressive software program options (e.g. Name Screening, Recorder), Google hasn’t actually carried out a incredible job of speaking why folks can purchase its telephones in years passed by. No less than to not the mainstream public, which was mirrored in its cargo figures for the longest time previous to the Pixel 6 household’s launch. However that’s altering.

There are indicators that the corporate is certainly drilling down on a method, with the agency’s Tensor processor taking part in a vital position. The semi-custom chipset is packing loads of machine studying energy, which Google makes use of for differentiating options similar to offline voice dictation, Magic Eraser, and face unblur. We already know that the Tensor G2 is coming to the Pixel 7 sequence, so we’re anticipating Google to construct on this already spectacular basis for extra AI-powered options.

One other signal of Google lastly adopting a constant technique for the Pixel line is solely the Pixel 7’s look. The design is broadly consistent with the Pixel 6 sequence, that includes the distinctive rear digicam bar that reveals an effort to take care of a cohesive design language throughout generations. We haven’t seen this from a Pixel flagship line because the Pixel 3 sequence. That’s actually essential; you actually gained’t mistake the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 sequence for Samsung or Apple imitators.

All of those factors recommend that Google and the Pixel crew are lastly pulling in a single course. A extra iterative Pixel 7 launch means Google isn’t reinventing the wheel this 12 months, nevertheless it does permit the corporate to maintain going uphill as an alternative of stopping to alter wheels as soon as once more.