Google Camera Update Hints at New Pixel Phones, Video Improvements

An update for the Google Camera update that showed up over the weekend gives us two hints about the future of Google Pixel phones. For one, we might get a video improvement, which is an area that Google’s Pixel 4 got hammered on in early reviews. Additionally, we got another tease about the upcoming Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a XL.

The update is arriving as Google Camera 7.3 and it may have tipped off a future 24fps feature for video recording. The guys at XDA noticed a couple of strings that mention “fps_24” and “fps_24_desc.” There isn’t currently a 24fps option in the camera app, only 30fps, so this is new.

The significance there is that Google’s camera app has not nearly enough options in it. Adding 24fps at least gives people the option to shoot in a more cinematic, standard way. We’d love to get 60fps too, but that may not happen any time soon.

As for the Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a XL mentions, the new Camera app also includes listings for the codenames that we believe will be those devices. Specifically, sunfish and bramble were found twice within the new Camera app, along with a “pixel_20_mid_range” string, while redfin was only spotted once. XDA believes that sunfish and bramble will be the Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a XL, respectively, and that redfin might just be a development board.

The sunfish and bramble phones were previously thought to be Snapdragon 730 and 5G-equipped Snapdragon 765 devices, respectively. Again, though, the inclusion of 5G in bramble worries us that prices might jump significantly over last year’s perfectly priced Pixel 3a and 3a XL.

// XDA