- Google has just been granted a design patent indicating that a Pixel phone of the future could have a design unseen on iPhone or Galaxy S handsets.
- Google may be working on under-screen camera tech, as are many other players in the industry. That should be an exciting prospect for iPhone users waiting for a similar design from Apple.
- What sets Google’s efforts apart from others is the computational photography algorithms that have turned the Pixel into one of the best camera phones on the market.
I’ve often explained why I’m unlikely to go from iPhone to Android. I’m too ingrained in the Apple ecosystem and everything just “works *”. Yes, there will be hiccups here and there, but the iPhone-Mac combo is unbeatable. It’s not just Apple hardware. It’s the hardware and Apple software of these products and the way they are intertwined. Not to mention all the premium apps for iPhone and / or Mac that I should be leaving behind. Add other elements to the mix if you have them, such as the Apple Watch, AirPods, iPad, and Apple TV, and switching to Android is all the more difficult.
With all that in mind, iPhone, iOS, Mac, and macOS cannot evolve and remain competitive without any pressure from Google and Microsoft. The better Android and Windows hardware, and the more polished and reliable Android and Windows 10 become, the better the Apple experience will have to become. That’s why I absolutely love this Pixel innovation and hope Google will find a way to make this possible with Pixel 6 or 7.
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Google’s Pixel has never been the iPhone variant of the Android ecosystem. Google has been a quick follower in most cases, looking for inspiration at Cupertino. The iPhone’s design and features were tweaked year after year, even though Google would criticize them first. Removing the headphone jack and the multi-lens rear cameras are a few examples. Unfortunately, the result was not a phone as good as the iPhone. Google has encountered hardware or software issues with every Pixel generation or both. Some were repairable. Some led to settlements in class actions.
The Pixel 5 is a peak of disappointment. Many praise its affordable price tag and advanced features, but the Pixel 5 isn’t the kind of phone it could have been. It’s not a flagship that can really pressure Apple.
This brings us to the following images of a Pixel of Christmas future. They come from a design patent that Google filed with the USPTO in mid-March 2019. The agency granted the patent to the Pixel maker in early December.
What the images show is a device very similar to the current Pixel 5. It has an all-screen display, a much better choice of screen design than the terrible Pixel 4. On the back we have a dual-lens camera system, but it’s not the back panel that interests me.
Absent on the screen is a hole punch camera. That’s the design Google used for the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a this year. The implication seems to be that Google is already working on under-screen selfie camera tech. The design shows the placement of the top speaker and buttons, so it should definitely have the hole punch camera.
“No surprise,” smartphone fans will say, as all the major players in the company are developing one. In fact, ZTE is the first handset vendor to launch a device with a camera below the display. It’s not widely available, and it’s not a flagship, but it’s the world’s first.
The problem with under-screen cameras is the quality of selfie photos and videos. Smartphone manufacturers must find a way to allow enough light to travel to the sensor through the display that covers the camera. They need algorithms that can compensate for the problems they appear and ensure that the selfie experience isn’t sub-par. After all, selfies are still a thing.
You must have realized by now why this Pixel patent is so exciting. If Google wants to launch a Pixel phone with a camera under the screen, Google will also develop its own algorithms for this technology. And Google knows how computational photography can work. The Pixel phones may have had several issues, but Google has turned them into great cameras, surpassing and surpassing other Androids and the iPhone. The Night Sight mode was overwhelming and forced everyone to come up with an answer.
Google could do the same with under-screen camera algorithms and force everyone to adapt quickly. It’s not that companies, including Apple and Samsung, don’t look at the same technology. But it’s one thing to only have a ZTE phone and Xiaomi and Oppo concepts with the technology. It’s quite another to have Google launch a Pixel 6 or 7 with a camera below the screen.
That said, there is no guarantee that Google will actually be more successful than its rivals or that it will launch a Pixel phone with a flawless screen design this year. Still, the fact that it filed for the patent last year shows that it is studying the technology.
Apple is expected to keep the iPhone notch in place for at least a year. Placing the camera under the screen is one thing. Doing the same thing with Face ID is quite another. But Apple certainly wants to offer buyers the same perfect iPhone for all screens. We’ve seen many Apple patents and rumors over the years to back that up.
Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby and before he knew it, he shared his thoughts on tech matters with readers around the world. If he doesn’t write about gadgets, he sadly fails to stay away from them, although he desperately tries. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.