See Google's Pixel 6 camera hardware

Google is trying to keep its edge in smartphone photography, long a hallmark of its smartphone line. The Pixel 6 Pro's telephoto camera employs a "periscope" design to fit the optics into a relatively thin phone. A prism bends the light direction 90 degrees.

The Google Pixel 6 Pro's camera bar has, from left to right, a 25mm wide-angle main camera, an 16mm ultrawide camera, a 104mm telephoto camera and a flash.

Google put a relatively large image sensor into the main camera of both its $599 Pixel 6 and $899 Pixel 6 Pro.

The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro employ a much larger image sensor to gather more light, which improves color, dynamic range and low-light performance.

The Pixel 6's telephoto camera, a 104mm equivalent, has an f3.5 lens and produces 12-megapixel photos from a 48-megapixel sensor.

the Pixel 6's ultrawide camera, a 16mm equivalent, has an f2.2 lens and produces 12-megapixel photos.