Pixel 6 comes with Exynos modem
Google has a similar ecosystem to Apple. Its users can choose from a large choice of items to meet their various tech needs. The IT behemoth has kept evolving, producing new product after inventive product. It started as a search engine and has now moved into the smartphone market with its mid-range models.
Details about the Google Pixel 6 are scattered all over the web. According to the latest reports, for the upcoming Pixel 6, Google is ditching Snapdragon.
Exynos replaces Qualcomm’s modem chip
Google has used Qualcomm as the sole producer of not only its Snapdragon CPUs but also its modem chips, for all previous iterations of the Pixel series. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G SoC and the Snapdragon Qualcomm X52 modem enable 5G connectivity on the Pixel 5.
The reliance on Qualcomm chips is unsurprising, given that the United States is one of Google’s largest client bases, and Qualcomm has had a rigid monopoly on wireless chip technology in the country for the past 20 years. Qualcomm modem chips have been used solely in all smartphones sold in the United States, a reality that has become even more apparent with the introduction of 5G.
Qualcomm has the greatest 5G networking technology out of the only three 5G modem chipmakers in the world, adopting a variation called Millimeter Wave (MMW), which can now harness the fastest speeds on 5G networks even carry out processes such as SMS Share swiftly.
After Qualcomm, MediaTek, a Taiwanese fabless semiconductor business, and Samsung are the other two 5G-capable chip makers. One of Samsung’s newer Exynos 5G modems, the Exynos 5123, appears to have progressed far enough to interest Google’s attention.
With Samsung’s Exynos 5123, the Pixel 6 will be the first smartphone in the US to use a non-Qualcomm wireless modem, shattering Qualcomm’s stranglehold across the country. Additionally, this will be a new kind of triumph for Samsung, as it will be the first time its Exynos modem processor will be seen in a non-Samsung phone.
Collaboration between Google & Samsung
On the Pixel 6, the modem chip isn’t the only Samsung component we’ll see. On the contrary, the lengths to which Google has gone to incorporate Samsung’s technology into its current Pixel flagship has led some to speculate that the two tech titans are working together, though neither has confirmed this.
Apart from the modem, the Pixel 6’s display, camera, and processor will all be Samsung-made. Samsung’s main camera was confirmed to be either the GN1 or the more current GN2 ISOCELL sensor in some previously released code. The display is believed to have a 6.4-inch 90Hz AMOLED screen manufactured by Samsung. And the SoC, which will power the upcoming smartphone, will be the 5-nanometer Tensor chipset, which was built by Google but will be manufactured entirely by Samsung.
It seems that the two tech companies have joined forces for the Google Pixel 6. If that is indeed the case, we have high expectations for the device. We’ll have to wait for official statements from both companies to acknowledge these rumors.
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Robert Haba is the founder and editor-in-chief of Droid Tools. A lifelong gadget enthusiast with over a decade following the Android ecosystem, he built this publication to cut through the noise and give readers honest, real-world coverage of the tech they actually use.
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