The recent wave of Google Pixel 3XL leaks are, by far, the best we’ve ever had and it seems like they are not planning to stop anytime soon.
Somehow Mobile Review got their hands on the phone and took a couple of photos as well. The author of the post claims that he was contacted by ‘an anonymous well-wisher’ who offered to send them the Pixel 3XL ‘without any conditions and free of charge.’
He goes on to say that the device he received is a pre-production Alpha prototype and that the phone will most likely, by the time of the official launch, be rid of undesirable design elements the prototype features such as the gap between the edge and back panel.
The review claims the chipset used on the device, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 has been adapted and upgraded specifically for that handset. It has 4GB of RAM with 64GB of storage, at least on the base model. Even so, it should prove to be enough to support a next-gen VR that might be out in 2019 or later.
The Camera app features a carousel slider for all the camera modes and several screenshots from the Settings menu reveal a ‘Google Lens suggestions’ toggle, an option for storing videos more efficiently in HEVC format, along with an ‘Automatic’ setting for the display. There’s nothing to hint at a special face unlock feature, even if the device had two front-facing cameras.
Within the box, the phone comes with a pair of earbuds. They are USB-C ones with a remote that has a volume rocker and a separate one for call and playback control, which can also be used to summon the Google Assistant.
I’m looking forward to see who the next person to anonymously get a Pixel 3XL delivered at their doorstep will be. I’m not saying I’m here for it but if anyone in the business of anonymous device deliveries is reading this – I’m here for it.
An independent research also revealed that the leaks might have started with a black market merchant in Ukraine, who was selling the devices for $2000 per piece. How many got sold so far, we don’t know. Even so we cannot be sure where exactly all the Pixel 3XL’s are coming from. My guess is that Google leaked the devices on purpose, to hype up the official release, even if it’s still quite some time away.
Of course, it could be that someone stole some of the production units from somewhere, it’s a reasonable enough of an explanation.
But do I truly trust large tech companies to not try and manipulate product releases and the media? No, I do not.
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