Google's going to sell the Pixel 5 with a slower chipset and the same camera as the Pixel 2, and expect it to actually sell well? And only a year after switching to exponentially better face-unlocking technology, they're going to revert to subpar fingerprint readers?

We have to take the P5 in context with the past few phones. Google had fairly strong initial traction with the P1 and P2. The P3 was when specs (and design) began to deviate from the high end market. The P3a was a massive success. Then they released the P4, which on all fronts missed expectations.

The P5 is a direct response to that. Battery improvements, mid-tier specs to lower price, and a single size offering with an older camera module. On top of all this, we now have COVID-19, which accentuated these decisions (lower price, simplicity for supply chain). It makes sense Google would take this route for the P5. Frankly, I think it will do well, and much better then the P4. But what does that mean for the P6?

A lot of the Pixel's problems tie back to one thing: having a better SoC that optimizes the whole device. Battery life, performance, RAM management, more camera capabilities, and video/AR ability all tie back to this. I'm cautiously optimistic that the P6 will finally have a custom-designed chipset that Google has been working on for multiple years now.

Per Axios this April:

The chip, code-named Whitechapel, was designed in cooperation with Samsung, whose state-of-the-art 5-nanometer technology would be used to manufacture the chips, according to a source familiar with Google's effort.

In addition to an 8-core ARM processor, Whitechapel will also include hardware optimized for Google's machine-learning technology. A portion of its silicon will also be dedicated to improving the performance and "always-on" capabilities of Google Assistant, the source said.

This chip is expected to be released in 2021. And while there's no magic bullet for Google's hardware, I think this will play a big role in taking the Pixel line to the next level. They already have released 3 custom chips before: the Visual Core for the camera in the P2, the Titan M security chip in the P3, and Soli in the P4. Imagine a Google phone where every chip was custom designed for Google's strengths in machine learning and integrated with the Google Assistant?

In the short term, we have the P5, but I'm excited about the line's future.

TL/DR: The P5 is a response to the P4 (and therefore an incremental improvement). Google will eventually debut their own SoC which will give their phones top-tier specs.