Google had set the October 9 hardware event a full month ahead; however, even before then, some individuals might already have in their hands on a few units of the products that the company is planning to announce. Rumor has it that a batch of the yet-to-be officially announced Pixel 3 and Pixel 3XL got lost in transit and found its way to the hands of a couple of lucky Europeans. They’ve made a killing on unboxing videos on YouTube since garnering millions of views in just a couple of hours after posting.
The new pair of Pixel 3s has got to be the most leaked handset of 2018. Even famed leak hunters from Apple couldn’t get as much information and pre-release hands-on time that the Pixel leakers currently have.
However the leaks came to be, the fact is that it’s already out there and there’s nothing we can do to unsee what we’ve already seen. And that huge Band-Aid looking notch looks like Google’s made a boo boo in the design department.
The excitement, therefore, lies in whether the leakers got the real deal. Chances are, they’re bona fide pre-release versions of the phone but, we’re still holding on the fact that things can still change because there are some serious flaws on these new models, at least on the XL version.
So, here is the top leaked features of the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3XL that you may want to look out for at the release:
Design
The first thing that we’re going to notice from leaks, of course, is the design. People were particularly interested to find out whether Google will go with the notched phone trend that the iPhone started. Fortunately, or unfortunately for some, the leaks show that it, at least the XL version, would have it.
The Bucket Notch
Like the iPhone X that came a year before it, the notch on the rumored Pixel 3XL is already being derided even before its release. More so because it looks like it’s going to have an even bigger notch than its Apple counterpart.
While some people had already warmed to the necessity of the notch and the tech underneath it, people generally liked their notch small. Some smartphone manufacturers such as the Essential PH-1, for example, has been praised highly for its teardrop-shaped notch that didn't take much of the screen real estate. Google, however, embraced the notch way too much by putting an absolutely huge notch on top of the new XL version of the Pixel. Some people are even calling the bucket notch because it goes so deep into the screen.
Cameras
Based on the cutouts on the top rear glass back panel, the Pixel 3 XL is going to have a dual rear-camera set-up while the base model is going to have just one. This is a more certain aspect of the leak as other companies such as Apple has done it before. The bigger, more expensive version usually gets the better camera set-up and there’s no reason to think otherwise.
The front camera cutouts on both phones are a bit more mysterious. Certainly, one of the cutouts is going to be for a camera. The other cutout, however, can be one of two things: it can be an infrared sensor for a secured face-unlock feature, or it can also be another camera for an improved bokeh effect.
Internals
While it’s difficult to discern the level of accuracy that these leaks have when it comes to what’s actually inside the new Pixel 3s, it’s all but confirmed that these flagship phones are going to have flagship internals. Therefore, we can expect a Snapdragon 845 CPU and an Adreno 630 GPU in them.
Judging from historical releases, we can also assume that the cameras are going to be an absolute beast with the current generation of Pixel 2s still having the best quality cameras in the market even after a few years of existence.
The RAM estimates, however, look a bit more lacking especially on paper. They’re both expected to have 4GB that isn’t very high by modern standards but, for a Pixel both designed manufactured by Google itself, Android should perform extremely well.
Software
Almost half of Google’s October events are focused on the new Android versions. Android Pie is almost assuredly the OS that the new Pixels are going to ship with.
The software isn’t technically a leak because Google itself has already released it on the current generation of Pixels. But we’re including it here as well because it plays such a huge part in the user experience these days.
Aside from the notch integration, it borrows another feature from the iOS: the home button-less feature. Instead of the on-screen home button used on previous Android Oreo, Android Pie uses a home bar and touch gestures similar to the iPhone.
On a marketing video for the new Android, Google also displays how the new OS would integrate a real-time Google Lens on the native camera app to make recognizing text and other contextual images easier for the device potentially making access to information even faster and easier.
Should You Get Excited?
When it comes to the best Android phone, we have a lot of different choices unlike iOS devices. When it comes to media creation and consumption, we have the Samsung Galaxy Note 9’s huge screens and S-Pen. For everyday music, we have the LG V30s Hi-Fi DAC. When it comes to camera quality, we have the Pixel phones. A person's buying decision has a lot to do with what he wants to do with the smartphone.
The leaks look like there may be several changes, aesthetics-wise and internals-wise. These are all great improvement but the main reason why people buy Pixel phones these days is for the camera.
Google’s homegrown smartphones have come a long way in the camera department. Now, it occupies a niche of its own as the camera phone of choice both in the Android and iOS space. This year’s iteration looks like it’s going to improve even more in that department with the introduction of a better selfie camera system. If you care about that, then you should be really excited about the new Pixels.
