Google Pixel 6 Pro is the first phone in Australia to support 5G millimetre wave
Google’s new Pixel 6 Pro is the first phone to support a superfast version of 5G called millimetre wave in Australia.
In what is a historic development, Google has unveiled the first Australian phone that supports a superfast form of 5G.
A test by Telstra of the new Google Pixel 6 Pro clocked a ferocious 3622 Megabits (3.6 Gigabits per second) download speed, which is 36 times the speed of the fast 100Mbps fibre home plan offered by NBN.
The speed test using extremely high frequency 5G millimetre wave, or mmWave, took place in the most pristine of locations, at Telstra’s headquarters in Sydney, a factor Telstra readily acknowledges. “While this is on the live network, 3.6 is more an indication of what the device can do, and our focus is more on the capacity that it offers rather than the speed,” a spokesman said.
Millimetre wave delivers fast 5G to crowds in high density usage areas over relatively short distances, such as at sporting stadiums, airports, railway stations, theatres and concert venues.
It is designed to work even when large numbers of people are accessing 5G at the same time.
Millimetre wave is also viable in stand-alone installations, such as automated factories with a private 5G network, but it requires lots of infrastructure to make it sustainable over distance.
The millimetre wave frequencies adopted can vary from country to country, making it complex for manufacturers to provide mmWave across the globe. However Google has announced that mmWave will be available on US, Japanese, and Australian Pixel 6 Pro handsets. So Australians are in luck.
Rival Apple has rolled out mmWave in the US, starting with the iPhone 12 last year, but Australia was not included in that roll out.
Google’s move will push other manufacturers such as Samsung, Apple and Oppo to include mmWave on Australian handsets next time around. Once it’s more common, sporting stadiums can build in-game experiences such as fan engagement and commerce around selling merchandise at matches, and there will be increased purpose to a rollout of mmWave in public spaces beyond linking to modems.
This will take time but it’s a small but important start.
Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro
Google announced the next generation of its phones, the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, at a launch event in the US overnight. Both support 5G but only the Pro model additionally supports mmWave.
It is important to remember that Google is predominantly a software company when it comes to phones. It is the developer and custodian of Android used across the globe, but phone sales are small compared to Apple and Samsung. In short its Pixel smartphones are a sideline. However they sport some fascinating camera features, show off some of Google’s advanced AI capability and run efficiently.
The regular Pixel 6 has a 6.4-inch display with a fast 90 Hertz refresh rate which makes it suitable for faster gaming, and a large 4614 milliampere hour battery. It comes in three colours (sorta seafoam, kinda coral and stormy black) and starts at $999.
The Pro model has a larger 6.7-inch screen with an up to 120 Hertz refresh rate, and a new rear triple camera system with 4x optical zoom, and 20x hybrid zoom. It also comes in three colours (sorta sunny, cloudy white and stormy black) and starts at $1299.
Google says the main camera sensor on both phones captures 150 per cent more light than last year’s models. Both phones have ultra wide front facing cameras that record 4K video, a feature that will be welcomed by video bloggers.
The Google Tensor processor offers on-device artificial intelligence for features such as speech recognition and image processing which is performed entirely on the phone.
The handsets’ intelligent machine learning allows for instant on-device live translations during messaging and when watching videos – another potentially impressive capability.
Camera options are a highlight of these phones. You can blur the background when capturing people in videos, and a magic eraser feature lets you remove photo bombers and other extraneous people from photos so that shots concentrate on the main subjects.
Samsung offered a similar feature years ago. It worked by taking multiple photos of an area with moving people, substituting the people you wanted removed with background snapped in another.
The Pixel version works differently. It substitutes people with backgrounds gleaned from machine learning. It will be interesting to see the results.
Motion mode captures action shots and long exposures, while face deblur and real tone seeks to accurately capture skin tone.
Both phones will run Android 12.
Google claims a full day’s battery life even with 5G operating; that stretches to 48 hours with extreme battery saver enabled. This mode allows only essential apps to operate to save power.
You can recharge to 50 per cent in 30 minutes with the compatible 30 Watt USB-C connected charger sold separately. It’s not included in the box.
Google will throw in three months of YouTube Premium and Google One for new users if you buy a handset before November 30.
You can pre-order the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro from today. They go on sale on October 28. You can take out plans from Telstra and Optus - both telcos are set to eventually offer 5G millimetre wave connectivity. Vodafone also is selling the Pixel range.
Watch out for our review of the Google Pixel 6 soon.
Atlassian founders add $4bn to their personal fortunes
The personal fortunes of two of the nation’s richest businessmen rocketed by a massive $4bn on paper Friday when investors responded to their tech company beating revenue expectations.
How DeepSeek has exposed the short lifespan of monopolies
The top investors will tell you that monopolies are the best investments money can buy but as the emergence of China’s DeepSeek shows, assumptions about sectors can be short lived.