It’s that time of year again. Unlike many other Android manufacturers, Google saves its biggest phone launch for the tail end of the year, essentially getting a head start on next year with its latest Pixel flagships. This year is no different, although now, Google seems to have a good formula for its mobile hardware, making the Pixel more lineup popular than ever. Thus, there’s more pressure to get it right.
After many rumors and leaks, we pretty much have a good idea of what to expect from Google’s upcoming Pixel event. The company has already begun teasing its products, so it’s not exactly a mystery at this point. However, if you haven’t been paying close attention to the mobile sphere lately, then we’ve got you covered with a roundup of the announcements we expect to see at the upcoming Made by Google event.
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How to watch the Made by Google event
The Made by Google launch will take place on October 4 at 10 a.m. ET in New York City, where it will host a live, in-person event. However, for those of us who aren’t lucky enough to attend, the company will livestream the event on both the Google Store website and on the official Made by Google YouTube channel.
To make things easy, we’ve embedded the YouTube video below, where you can click the “Notify me” button to ensure you don’t miss the big event.
Google Pixel 8
(Image credit: Google)
The highlight of the Pixel event will be the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. These are Google’s latest flagship phones that will further refine and build upon the design and experiences we saw with the Pixel 7 series and the Pixel 6 before it.
The design of the phones is similar to their predecessors, maintaining the iconic camera bar, but you’ll notice the corners are more rounded. And while Google has yet to show off the displays, rumors tell us the Pixel 8 display will be slightly smaller at 6.17 inches, while the Pixel 8 Pro will move to a flat display instead of a curved one seen on previous Pro models.
Based on previous leaks, a new temperature sensor sits in the Pixel 8 Pro camera bar, although we’re not entirely sure what Google’s purpose for this is.
Internally, the phones will be powered by the Tensor G3 chipset, which should enable better performance and, hopefully, better efficiency and thermal management. It will also be the driving force for Google’s new and improved AI features that we expect to arrive with the phones. These should provide plenty of new ways to edit and play with your photos and videos in ways we may not have expected.
Among these is an Audio Magic Eraser that was leaked earlier this year, which will allow users to adjust various audio elements in a video to highlight the sounds they want. We’re also expecting to see the new Magic Editor that Google showed off at I/O 2023. This lets users move elements on an image around and even adjust select parts of a photo to better highlight certain aspects like the sky.
We’ve also seen leaks of an interesting new feature that will let users adjust the facial expressions of people in a photo, likely from multiple shots taken at the time of capture. Beyond that, we’re expecting new video enhancement features, including Night Sight video, new manual controls for images, and all of the other Pixel features we’ve already come to know and love.
The phones are expected to sport new colors, such as a “Sky” blue hue and a Porcelain colorway to match the Pixel Fold.
Google Pixel Watch 2
The original Pixel Watch was a long time coming, but it still left a lot to be desired, particularly around battery life. With the new Pixel Watch 2, it seems like Google might have solved that issue by ditching Samsung for Qualcomm this time around.
Rumors point to the new Pixel Watch 2 sporting the new Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chipset, which launched last year and has only been featured on a few phones thus far. This promises to bring improved performance and battery life, and it’s a chip we hope to see grace more Wear OS smartwatches, so we’re happy to see Google playing nice with Qualcomm.
Externally, the watch will look pretty identical to the first-generation Pixel Watch, albeit with some very subtle changes and a cool blue colorway for one of the watch band options, which nicely matches the Pixel 8 Pro. The device is said to feature new and upgraded health sensors akin to devices like the Fitbit Sense 2 and a revamped Fitbit app, which means the Pixel Watch 2 is inching closer to being the best Fitbit smartwatch on the market.
On the software front, the Pixel Watch 2 is expected to run Wear OS 4, which has only been available on Samsung’s Galaxy Watch series. It should bring better performance, an easier way to transfer to a new phone, and new apps like Gmail and Google Calendar.
Google Pixel Buds Pro
We expect this will be a smaller announcement since the Pixel Buds Pro are already available. However, per Google’s teasers, the earbuds are expected to come in a new Porcelain colorway, and some leaks have also shown them off in a blue hue to match the other new Pixel devices.
It’s not clear if Google will have any other Pixel Buds Pro-related announcements, but perhaps the company is gearing up to bring some nice updates and new features.
Android 14
Following a rumored delay, Google is likely to announce the stable Android 14 update at the Pixel event. This means that the new update could arrive on current Pixel phones before the new ones are in customers’ hands.
Based on the near-stable betas, Android 14 isn’t a particularly large update when compared to Android 13. However, we’ve seen some welcome changes coming to accessibility, 10-bit HDR support, custom lock screens, and a no-integrated Health Connect for better management of your health data across apps.
Wallpapers are also getting some exciting new features, allowing users to create a wallpaper from emoji or using generative AI.
But beyond Android 14, we also expect more Pixel-exclusive features per the Pixel Feature drop, which was also delayed and will likely be tied into the Android 14 update for Pixels. We expect this will bring additional options like an updated camera interface, but we’ll see what else this new feature drop will bring when the update is announced.
