It appears that the larger of the two Google Pixel 6 models coming this fall will have a telephoto lens, and leaked specs surrounding the Pixel 6 Pro (or Pixel 6 XL if Google calls it that) suggest that. However, we are now beginning to learn just how powerful Google's planned telephoto lens is.

With the release of the latest Android 12 beta, advanced users have been scouring the software for clues about Google's plans. And according to XDA Developers, one of the senior members has found a valuable treasure. Code in the camera app suggests that the Pixel 6 Pro's telephoto lens will support 5x optical zoom.

According to XDA, the clue is in the id "zoom_toggle_ultratele" and the text "5x." This seems to suggest that a 5x zoom option appears in the viewfinder of a camera phone.

If true, the Pixel 6 Pro would immediately move up to first place among the best camera phones. iPhone 12 Pro Max has up to 2.5x optical zoom, while the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Plus offer 3x hybrid zoom. The Galaxy S21 Ultra is the current king of zooming with two telephoto lenses (one with 3x zoom and the other with 10x zoom).

Google offered a telephoto lens as one of the rear cameras on the Pixel 4, but reverted to the main/ultra-wide camera setup on the Pixel 5. Recently leaked Pixel 6 specs suggested that the main Pixel 6 would maintain this two-camera setup, but the larger Pixel 6 Pro would offer a triple camera array with a 50MP main sensor, 12MP ultra-wide camera, and 48MP telephoto lens It was. And now, in this latest leak, we know how that telephoto lens will perform.

This is quite a change in philosophy for Google, which has been equipping its phones with modest camera hardware while setting the standard for software-assisted computational photography. This approach has made Google's flagship phones top-class camera phones. Obviously, it will be interesting to see what happens with the hardware upgrades and all the post-processing features.

According to a 9to5Google report, the Android 12 update includes several other camera details. Specifically, the Camera app has confirmed that the Pixel 6 Pro's front camera can be used to shoot 4K selfie videos. The front camera will have a built-in flash, and it has been suggested that it will support a 7x zoom when shooting video.

9to5Google also used the placement of the front camera lens (which will be in the center notch on both the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro) to calculate the display resolution of both models. The standard Pixel 6 resolution is 1080p, while the Pro model is expected to have a resolution of 1440p.

The Pixel 6 is not expected to appear until early October, as Google will likely focus on shipping the Pixel 5a first. This lower-priced version is expected to appear next month.