What to expect from Google’s 2020 Hardware event

Google's big yearly hardware event is scheduled for September 30, and as usual, we're expecting a big pile of products to be announced. Google has a hard time keeping anything under wraps before the event, so we're doing a roundup of all the leaks so far. We're expecting four products: the Pixel 5 (and Pixel 4a 5G), the "Nest Audio" smart speaker, a new Chromecast with a remote and Android TV, and maybe even a new Nest thermostat.

The Pixel 5 (and Pixel 4a 5G)

• 

  An official render of the Pixel 5. [credit: WinFuture ]

No yearly Google hardware event would be complete without the launch of a new smartphone, and this year we're getting two phones: the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G. We don't need rumors for the basics on this one: these phones were officially confirmed by Google in the Pixel 4a launch blog post. The Pixel 4a (5G) even has an official price: $499.

This year we should see Google's Pixel line change from ultra-premium, ultra-expensive flagship phones to a lower price with a lower specs. Between leaks from WinFuture and a prototype Pixel 5 in the wild, we can piece together a 6-inch, 2340×1080 90Hz display, a Snapdragon 765G SoC, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 4080mAh battery. The phone has a rear capacitive fingerprint reader instead of the in-screen reader every other high-end Android phone has. It also has wireless charging. Besides a wide-angle camera, the Pixel 5 disappointingly has the same main camera sensor as the Pixel 4, which has the same sensor as the Pixel 3, which, with a minor revision, has the same sensor as the Pixel 2. Google has been staying atop the camera comparisons all these years thanks to pure software magic, but you've got to wonder what the company could do with a bigger, more modern sensor. WinFuture lists the price in Germany as "629 euros," which would work out to $736.84.

Read 15 remaining paragraphs | Comments

from Tech – Ars Technica https://ift.tt/35TEJSi