Every phone manufacturer tries its best to stop their product from leaking in order to keep it a surprise for the launch. As much as Google might try to stop its products from leaking, the Pixel 3 has all but leaked. Every phone that people look forward to tends to leak some time before its launch. But with the Pixel 3, the leaks started pouring in as early as June. It has leaked to the point where we possibly know everything about the phone but the price. There was even a Pixel 3 unboxing video uploaded to YouTube by a Russian media outlet which has garnered over 300k views by now.
This is the worst leak row any company has faced with its flagship device in a long time. While some people still believe these leaks are Google’s doing in order to lower our expectations, almost all the leaks point in the same direction. Interestingly, the larger XL model has been leaked in its entirety while the smaller model remains relatively unknown.
Google Pixel 3
Keeping in line with its history of launching the Pixel devices in October, the Pixel 3 is slated to launch sometime in the first half of October. The Pixel devices promise to offer a true flagship Android experience, the way Google meant it to be. Despite its many flaws and quality control issues, Google’s Pixel 2 line was one of the best smartphones that launched last year. It had everything that makes a smartphone a useful tool. Great cameras, lag-free software, great battery life, and flagship specs were all present and accounted for.
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If anything, Google will at least try to improve on all those fronts with its upcoming Pixel 3. It would be interesting to see how Google manages that. Seeing how manufacturers are struggling to offer meaningful generational upgrades, it’s definitely not going to be easy.
The Leaks
From what the leaks tell us, the Pixel 3 XL is unsurprisingly going to have flagship specs. Snapdragon 845, 4 GB Ram, Android Pie 9.0 and a 6.7-inch QHD display having a resolution of 1440×2960. We are also going to see an updated Pixel Visual Core, the hardware responsible behind those amazing photos. There’s a 3430 mAh cell running the show which is a bit less than what the Pixel 2 XL offers.
The phone is supposedly going to have a single 12.2 MP sensor on the back and dual 8 MP sensors on the front for the larger model. The smaller model is going to have a single selfie camera while retaining the same rear configuration. The XL’s screen is also rumored to sport the controversial notch. There’s almost no hope for the 3.5mm headphone jack which Google got rid of last year. This was also confirmed in the unboxing video. The stereo front-facing speakers make a return though. Yes, that also means there’s a bottom chin.
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There was also a leak regarding a third ‘budget’ Pixel device which would be a competitor to the so-called “flagship-killers” on the market. It’s rumored to run the Snapdragon 710 while retaining most of the other specs from its more expensive siblings.
There were also some leaks which pointed to a Pixel watch being launched alongside the phones. But Google clarified the air on the topic by stating that the product will not launch in 2018.
The leaks suggest the pricing of the larger model will cross the $1000 barrier for the bigger storage variant. The base variant of the smaller device is probably going to start at $700.
Conclusion
Keeping in mind all the leaks, the Pixel 3 lineup looks like it’s going to be an interesting one. If Google can fix the QC issues that plagued its last year’s devices, the Pixel 3 will very well stand in contention for the best smartphone of the year. But not all is good. The size of the notch and the chin is just abysmally large. The battery capacity has taken a hit while the screen size has increased.
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Despite the optimization improvements, I don’t see how the battery life will be better than the previous generation. There’s also the question of price. The rumored pricing, if true, is not at all competitive and with such great smartphones near that price point, it’ll be really difficult for Google to make its case.
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