Google launched the Pixel 6 smartphones in October last year and dared to make a big restart on the technical side. It didn’t pay off in the first few months, but now the unexpected problems have finally been dealt with and hopefully, we can focus on getting the most out of the new hardware in the years to come.
The Pixel 6 smartphones are the first smartphones from Google to do without a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Instead, they switched to the Samsung infrastructure and built the Tensor-Soc on it, which is built into the devices in the first generation and certainly has a great future ahead of it.
Although Tensor had been in development for many years (Google speaks of the start of development in 2018), the update difficulties were probably not expected at the beginning.
We’ve already broken down that the October-January update issues were due to Tensor, which in turn was due to the combination of Samsung and Google.
Apparently, the processes in the background are not as mature as one would like. It is quite possible that this was known and accepted even before the Pixel 6 release because they finally wanted to bring Tensor to the market. It’s no secret that Tensor was originally intended for the Pixel 5.
But now Tensor is here and Google has made the all-important restart without any major problems. Of course, the update situation of the last three months was not nice, but basically Tensor works and there are no known problems with the SoC.
It could have turned out very differently, especially when you put pressure on the last few meters and maybe let one of the other important tests fall through the cracks.
Are the Pixel 6 smartphones saved now?
At the beginning of February, we were still wondering whether the Pixel 6 smartphones would get the security update on time this time and whether it would lead to new problems.
Now we know it arrived on time but still brought new problems with it. However, the problems are of a rather simple nature and, from my layman’s point of view, are not related to the Tensor or the hardware of the smartphone. It’s just an over-focused adaptive assistant.
But that’s not all: Shortly after the security update, the Pixel 6 smartphones were finally approved for the Android Beta program and a few more hours later even Android 12L for the Pixel 6 came through this channel.
Shortly before the final release, it was still possible to bring the Android 12L beta to the new smartphones as promised. So nothing should stand in the way of the stable version. Android 13 also arrived on the Pixel 6 right from day one. It’s been a real update week for the Pixel 6 smartphones.
It is to be hoped that the current status quo will remain and that there will be no further problems with the Pixel 6 or the Pixel 6a and Pixel 7 expected this year. Now Google can focus on taking advantage of Tensor and also improving the SoC year after year, as it has done with many other components for a long time. Possibly also longer Android updates.