The new Dual Exposure Controls for the Pixel 4, won’t be coming down to the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3A smartphones, unfortunately.
Usually after Google announces a new Pixel smartphone with new camera features, we see those features coming to the older models within a few months.
Of course, some are going to be limited to new hardware, which is definitely the case with the Pixel 4 – since it has an extra camera now. And unfortunately, the Dual Exposure controls and Live HDR won’t be coming to last year’s Pixel 3 and Pixel 3A smartphones.
Pixel 3 not getting Dual Exposure is no surprise
Google did confirm that both Dual Exposure and Live HDR+ are not coming to the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3A because of underlying hardware requirements that the Pixel 4 has, and these older smartphones do not.
It’s unfortunate, but that’s how things work sometimes. It’s a hardware limitation and not a software limitation.
Of course, it would have been nice to see it coming to the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3A, making it less necessary for those users to upgrade to the Pixel 4 this year. But Google does need to give us a reason to upgrade to the Pixel 4. And Dual Exposure is the reason for that.
Other Pixel 4 camera features are coming though
There are a few other Pixel 4 features that are coming to the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3A though.
That includes Astrophotography, Live Caption, Top Shot for Video, the new Recorder app and much more. So it’s not all doom and gloom for Pixel 3 and Pixel 3A owners, fortunately.
Google does do a pretty good job at bringing these new features to their older smartphones. Which is a pretty stark difference from the other OEMs out there.
Many other OEMs will keep those new features on their new smartphones, giving users a few reasons to upgrade to their new phone. Which is how they are going to make money.
Of course, with Google, it’s a bit more complicated, because you’re using Google Services, which is where they are going to make the majority of their money.
It’s still unclear when that update is going to roll out to the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3A. But if recent years are anything to go by, this update will likely come out around November or December of this year. So it won’t be too far out. Google likely needs to make some tweaks for these features to work on that older hardware, versus the new hardware in the Pixel 4.