What is happening with the Google Pixel 5?

Google’s upcoming Smartphone for 2020 seems to have been completely forgotten, or so you would think, since we haven’t had any major leaks yet. By this time last year, Google themselves even tweeted the full Design of the Pixel 4 because of how many leaks we had at that point.

Not only that, but we even had full Review videos of the Pixel 4, months before the Phone was even announced. The Pixel 4 ended up being the most leaked Phone since the iPhone 4. Whether or not some of this was done on purpose, we cannot know for sure. But, what we do know is that the Pixel 5 is just three months away and we’ve barely heard anything about it.

So, here’s everything that we do know about the Pixel 5, so far!

Design

Let’s be honest, Google has never had a good looking Pixel Phone. The Pixel 1 from 2016 looked just like the iPhone, which at that time had some gigantic Bezels. Not only that, but the fact that the Pixel also had the Android Navigation Bar made that chin look even more gigantic and the back just looked…weird.

The Pixel 2 from 2017 thinned out the Bezels considerably, but 2017 was when we got the iPhone X and the Samsung Galaxy S8, so we started getting Bezel-less Smartphones and Google was, once again, at least a year behind.

Then, the Pixel 3 from 2018 had that gigantic Notch, even bigger than on the iPhone, but that Notch didn’t have any 3D Facial Recognition Sensors, like on the iPhone. Instead, it only had a secondary Front Camera, which was a Wide Angle, but that was it. The back of the Pixel 3 was improved with the inclusion of Frosted Glass, which I absolutely loved.

The Pixel 4 in Orange was easily the best looking Phone in that line-up.

Then in 2019, we had the Pixel 4 and instead of Google removing that gigantic Notch altogether, like what most of the competition was already doing, Google went back to the Pixel 2’s Design with thicker Bezels on the top and bottom. Now, we did get a 3D Depth Sensing Camera with the Pixel 4, just like the iPhone, but the Pixel 4 still looked very out-dated.

That’s the thing, when you build a Smartphone, you can indeed make it extremely exciting for us (the tech nerds) by adding Sensors that can sense your hand from 30cm away and cool stuff like that. But, the majority of people won’t care about that at all, they only care about how good the Phone looks and how much it costs. With the Pixel 5, it seems like Google will finally be focusing on these two things.

We’ve had a recent link from ‘xleaks7’ who, in partnership with ‘Pigtou’, shared some CAD Models and some renders of the Pixel 5. It seems that Google will finally bring a modern Display to the Pixel line by dropping the Notch and the Forehead altogether, going for an In-Display Camera Cutout. You know, just like what other manufacturers have been doing since early 2019. The Frame surrounding the Phone, the Bezel, is now thinner and seems to resemble the one that we have on the iPhone X. The sides are pretty much identical to the Pixel 4, with a coloured Power Button and a Volume Button on the right-hand side and nothing on the left, aside from the SIM Card Tray. The back is really where we might see some more changes.

So, on the leaked CAD files, the Camera is just identical to the Pixel 4 one, at least when it comes to the number of Modules. This is very disappointing to see as most Smartphone manufacturers are moving towards four and even five Camera Modules, Google is still sticking with just two. Also, the Fingerprint Reader from the Pixel 3 is returning, at least according to the CAD Models.

I honestly don’t see this happening at all. Everyone has been using In-Display Fingerprint Readers for a few years now and I really don’t see Google going back in time and having a Fingerprint Reader on the back but it is Google, so anything’s possible. We’ve actually removed that from our Concept and we’ve obviously embedded that into the Display Assembly, we’ve also added one more Camera Module for a total of three.

Finally, when it comes to the colours, the Pixel 5 is rumoured to come in two colours, Black and White, but I would expect them to release at least one “special colour”, similar to the ones we’ve seen previously such as “Oh So Orange, “Purple-ish” and “Not Pink”. We haven’t had any leaks in terms of that, so we’ve created our own colour. We call this ‘Tasteful Turquoise’ and I think it just looks incredible, especially with that white Power Button. I would definitely buy this, should Google actually release this colour.

Display

That was the Design so, what about the Display? The Pixel 4 had a 90Hz Refresh Rate, so will we get anything crazy like 120Hz this year? According to all the leaks that we’ve seen, Google will be keeping the same 90Hz Refresh Rate as last year but the Display size is said to be getting smaller, from 6.3” to 5.78”, making it around the same size as the iPhone XS. This is still said to be an AMOLED Display, with a QHD Resolution.

However, this year it seems like we would also be getting the Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a XL. According to some code found by ‘9to5Google’ in the latest version of the Google Search app, Google would not have a Pixel 5 XL and instead, they would only have a Pixel 4a, 4a 5G and Pixel 5.

Speaking of the Pixel 4a, the official render of the Pixel 4a has appeared on Google’s website and we even got to see a full billboard featuring the 4a, which matches with the Design of the Google website listing. It seems like the Pixel 4a’s launch is imminent and the Pixel 5 leaks seem to match up with the 4a’s front Design, so it is quite likely that Google would be announcing all of these, at the same time.

That’s also why there’s a lot of confusion when it comes to the Specs, as we’ve seen reports that Google would keep the Pixel 5 as a mid-range device this year, which I’ll cover more in just a second.

Camera

In terms of the Camera, ‘OnLeaks’ has posted a schematic that shows not just all of the upcoming Pixel phones for 2020, but also their Camera Arrangement. He did mention that this is likely not 100% accurate, at least on the Pixel 5’s side, as we’re still awaiting on a lot of details to be confirmed. Nonetheless, that schematic does point to the Pixel 5 having a Triple Lens Camera Module, as opposed to the Dual on the 4a. But, one of these Modules would be the Flash, which would mean that the Pixel 5 only has two Cameras, the same as the Pixel 4. The Pixel 4a would only have one Camera.

The leaks are also saying that the Main Camera on the Pixel 4a would be identical to the Pixel 4’s, which was mostly identical to the Pixel 3’s Camera. We don’t know yet if that second Module on the Pixel 5 would be the same Telephoto that we had on the Pixel 4, or a new Ultra-Wide Angle Module. I’m really hoping that it’s an Ultra-Wide, or even better, a Triple Lens Camera with both a Telephoto and an Ultra-Wide Angle Module.

But the thing is, even-if the hardware remains the same, Google’s magic is all in Software. That is why the Pixel Phones have such a great Camera, because of that Google Image Processing.

Performance

When it comes to the Performance, this is a bit of an odd one. We’ve seen many reports that Google would not be including a new flagship level Processor in the Pixel 5 this year, so no Snapdragon 865, but instead they would be using Qualcomm’s mid-range 765G Processor. This is a fairly decent Processor and also Qualcomm’s lowest-entry Chip that would give you 5G.

In terms of RAM, the Pixel has always fallen short of its flagship competitors.

But, the problem here is that all the leaks are saying that both the Pixel 4a, the 4a XL and the Pixel 5 will all have this Chip. This begs the question…what will the Pixel 5 have over the 4a’s, aside from that extra Camera Lens? Also, why would Google make such a move?

Keep in mind that the Pixel Phones, as they were released in October, are quite late in terms of implementing a new Processor. Qualcomm announces their new Chips in December. So, just two months after the Pixel Phones launch, they would already be outclassed by a faster Processor. While Pixel Phones were very well optimised in the past, we haven’t really had any performance issues. RAM management issues were always a problem, as Pixel Phones only came with 4 or 6GB of RAM when other Smartphones already have 8GB, 12GB or even 16GB. The Pixel 5 is said to be sticking to 6GB of RAM.

Special Features

When it comes to Special Features, Water Resistance and Wireless Charging will still be there, at least on the Pixel 5, but it seems like the 3D Facial Recognition Camera Array on the front is going away.

While that is a bit of shame to see, as Google has even done a better job when it comes to Face-Unlock than even Apple, the majority of users would still pick a better looking Phone than a not so great looking Phone that comes with more features.

Battery

In terms of Battery Life, the Pixel 4 had a fairly poor one. The 4 XL was better, but it still wasn’t great.

At the moment, we don’t have any leaks in terms of the Pixel 5’s Battery Life but from the looks of it, it would remain identical to the Pixel 4’s, or even getting a bit smaller due to the entire Device being smaller. Fast Charging is also expected to remain the same at 18W.

Release Date

The Pixel 5 is likely to break away from the usual October launch.

When are the Pixel 4a and Pixel 5 going to be released? Well, the Pixel 4a’s launch seems to be imminent. Not just judging but the sheer number of leaks that we’ve had on it, but also by the leaked press image on Google’s website. Plus, the Pixel 4a has been long overdue, this was supposed to launch back in May.

The Pixel 5 on the other hand, is a bit of a different story. You see, Pixel Phones have always launched around October, but we’ve also had a ton of leaks in the past, around this time. This means that Google could either delay the Pixel 5 until November, or even December, or they could be releasing the Pixel 5 alongside the 4a’s as a slightly higher-end version of it, rather than a true flagship Smartphone. I do think that this is what will happen.

Price

The problem with Pixel Phones has always been the fact that they were priced like flagship Smartphones, but they lacked a lot of features that the competition had. These were Features such as a modern Design, a high amount of RAM or a Dual/Triple Camera Module. Even the Processors were out of date two months after the Pixel Phones launched.

However, with Google marketing the Pixel 5 as a mid-range device rather than a flagship, they can still keep most of those features and they can cut back on the CPU Performance. This was already pretty good to be honest. All of this means that they can drop the price as a result. Therefore, the Pixel 4a is said to start at $350, while the Pixel 5 would be priced around $500-$700. However, the Pixel 5 would need to seriously outclass the 4a’s, if Google wants to charge this much for it.

So, at the end of the day, there’s nothing really that points to the Pixel 5 being a revolutionary Smartphone at all, or even a Smartphone that competes with the flagships of today. Google has tried to compete with the flagships for so many years now and aside from the Camera, which was indeed flagship level, they have failed. They seemed to have just moved into another direction, focusing on the mid-range market instead.