iPhone 12 should steal this stunning Google Pixel 5 camera design

This Google Pixel 5 design features an incredible central triple-camera array

Google Pixel 5
(Image credit: Yanko Design)

Google Pixel 4, although much hyped on first release, couldn't quite keep up with Samsung and Apple when it was first unveiled in 2019. Although it boasted a world-class camera, great face unlock and an attractive price point, it just wasn't the powerhouse it needed to be.

That's why we're really excited about the Google Pixel 5: there's a lot to love in the Pixel range, and if the rumours are true, Google Pixel 5 will be gunning to compete with the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Max, as Apple releases its wide range of four new handsets later this year.

Render artist Sarang Sheth has taken all the available information, leaks and rumours to put together this eye-catching design of the Google Pixel 5. Previous leaks have reported Google will NOT be building a phone to take on this year's top-of-the-line Android set. 

Rather, Google is reportedly focusing on delivering a great upper-midrange phone , something which embraces the company's design philosophies while being more attainable than the likes of the ultra-premium, ultra-expensive top-tier handsets its rivals like Samsung and Oppo are sporting. 

This will allegedly manifest in a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765, a perfectly respectable chipset, but not the company's most advanced model: the top-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 is the one that can be found in this year's other Android flagships. Little detail is available on the lens, but Google Pixel cameras, and the software behind them, are never anything short of stellar. Check out the designs below:

The design opts for a slightly curved screen with very little bezel and a centralised triple-camera array. It eschews the raised module that's been so popular with all the top-tier handsets over the last couple of years in favour of a sleek, flat design.

Yep, we'll say it: this design is very Apple. It's economical, centralised and very beautiful. Apple's iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Max are rumoured to start at $649 and $749: at this price point, it will have to content with the Google Pixel 5 rather than the powerhouse Samsung Galaxy Note 20.

We know these two iPhones will only have dual rear cameras. If it's small, moduled two-camera array has to compete with this slick powerhouse, it might find itself losing many photography fans to the Pixel. 

iPhone 12

Can the Pixel 5 see off the four iPhone 12 models?

(Image credit: EverythingApplePro)

The Pixel might have another advantage over Apple's smaller iPhones: 5G.  The Snapdragon 765, which the Google Pixel 5 is sporting, integrates a modem with support for both mmWave ("true" 5G, which takes full advantage of the network's capabilities and Sub-6 5G (which can only use lower-band 5G signals). The iPhones can only use the latter.

This could make all the difference: if the Google Pixel 5 can take greater advantage of 5G, it's even looking like it's been "future-proofed" to a greater extent than Apple's offerings. Watch this space as the battle for 2020's best upper-mid phone heats up.

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Matt Evans

Matt Evans now works for T3.com sister brand TechRadar, covering all things relating to fitness and wellness. He came to T3.com as staff writer before moving on, and was previously on Men's Health, and slightly counterintuitively, a website devoted to the consumption of Scotch whiskey. In his free time, he could often be found with his nose in a book until he discovered the Kindle.