This is the Google Pixel 6’s most underrated leaked feature

This is the Google Pixel six'due south nigh underrated leaked feature

(Image credit: Google)

With so many Google Pixel 6 features already rumored and leaked, there's already a lot to hash out well-nigh the telephone even before all is revealed at the Pixel event on October xix. However, alongside the new pattern, beefed-up camera system and new Tensor chipset, the Pixel vi is believed to be equipped with a less flashy feature with a lot of potential for users. And that'due south Wi-Fi 6E.

With rumored compatibility with this latest guise of Wi-Fi based on leaks from the FCC (via FCC ID), the Pixel six serial could get one of the easiest and cheapest means of getting a hold of a Wi-Fi 6E device. And it's a applied science you'll desire to have since it'll bring you lot connectivity benefits for a long time to come up.

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Wi-Fi 6E: what is it and what does it offer?

Wi-Fi 6E and the availability of 6GHz is going to fundamentally alter the experience that users go from Wi-F

— Kevin Robinson, Wi-Fi Alliance

If you're not already familiar with it, Wi-Fi 6E is the latest version of the local wireless network organization you likely use every day. It builds on Wi-Fi 6, which arrived in 2019, by adding a 6Ghz ring alongside the two.4GHz and 5GHz bands already in use. The basic benefits of this are lower latency (equally footling as ii milliseconds), greater stability and higher speeds for your data, although the limited range can evidence to be a problem.

As Kevin Robinson, senior VP of marketing for the Wi-Fi Alliance (the global network of scrap, hardware and service providing companies that make Wi-Fi happen) summarizes it: "Wi-Fi 6E and the availability of 6GHz is going to fundamentally change the experience that users go from Wi-Fi".

For the average user, this translates into enhanced performance when streaming content, specially AR or VR content which will benefit greatly from the low latency. Information technology'll also exist benign in making devices smaller, as Wi-Fi 6E means yous don't demand as many antennas installed in a product. The actress bandwidth and more stable connexion should also mean you get less interference from neighboring networks — fantastic news if you live or work in a large building with multiple small networks operating on superlative of one some other.

The benefits may outlast Wi-Fi 6E besides. "6GHz is going to enable every future generation of Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi vii, Wi-Fi 8, Wi-Fi 9 are all going to rely on this critical piece of spectrum," Robinson explains.

Google Pixel six and Wi-Fi 6E: why it matters

Should rumors of the Pixel 6 and Wi-Fi 6E compatibility testify true, it won't be the first phone to support the characteristic. That honor goes to the Samsung Milky way S21 Ultra, at least in the U.Due south. All the same. the S21 Ultra is a very expensive $ane,200 device, while both the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are rumored to cost anywhere from $100 to $400 less than that.

Although Samsung has a much bigger market presence in the U.Southward., savvy users might be tempted away from the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Plus non merely because of the Pixel 6's numerous photography, display and AI upgrades but also considering of the new season of Wi-Fi.

Google Pixel 6 Pro on display NYC — (Paradigm credit: Future)

It's unlikely that the Pixel 6 is going to bulldoze a wave of mass adoption of Wi-Fi 6E tech, at least by itself. Even though Google is allegedly predicting 10 million Pixel half-dozen units shipped in the get-go year (via Nikkei Asia), that's still merely a ninth of Apple'due south iPhone 13 product goals, even afterwards Apple adjusted its targets due to the global chip shortage. It'll likely be future iPhones and Samsung devices — the biggest-selling phones in the U.Due south. and U.K. — that will introduce most users to Wi-Fi 6E. Merely Google and the Pixel 6 volition nonetheless accept played a part.

The real benefit of having Wi-Fi 6E support on a telephone similar the Pixel 6 is the same reason why information technology's good to have 5G connectivity — information technology should future-proof your phone both in the short and long term. While Wi-Fi 6E networks aren't also common nevertheless, 83% of equipment makers, service providers and enterprises volition have deployed Wi-Fi vi or WiFi 6E by the end of 2022, according to a report from the Wireless Broadband Alliance. In other words, it won't exist long before this technology is ubiquitous. With Google allegedly promising five years of updates, y'all've got a decent risk of seeing at least one of these major generational shifts with the Pixel 6 even so in your pocket.

Wi-Fi 6E outlook

Wi-Fi 6E won't stay that exclusive for long. The more than features like this get used, the more rapidly they become cheap plenty to implement on any kind of telephone. However. how quickly different companies prefer the engineering science will depend on the market. For example, Mainland china has all the same to open up 6GHz. This could hateful that companies similar OnePlus, Huawei, Oppo and more will be backside companies whose main markets already take the capability to employ Wi-Fi 6E, like the U.S or Europe. That could leave Google amongst an aristocracy group of smartphone makers who are able to evangelize the best Wi-Fi speeds effectually.

If you lot're already on the cutting edge with 1 of the all-time Wi-Fi routers installed in your dwelling house and are intrigued past the offerings that Wi-Fi 6E can bring, the Pixel 6 serial could be your primeval ticket to reaping the rewards.

More: Google Pixel 6 benchmarks just leaked — here's how it stacks upward

Richard is a Tom's Guide staff author based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, gaming, audio and whatever else people demand advice on. Following on from his MA in Mag Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at piece of work, he'due south likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.