Google Pixel 4 Leak Round-Up: What to Expect From iPhone XI Rival

Here’s everything we know about the upcoming Pixel 4 smartphone from Google and what it will offer.

This is the image of the Pixel 4 teased by Google. Rumoured to be launched in October.

(Photo: Google)

Google Pixel 4 will make its way to the market in the next two to three months time. But to everyone’s surprise, the company itself teased the next flagship phone, putting an end to all the speculation and reports doing the rounds on the next generation of Pixel devices.

Now, although Google has only teased the back panel, it has given something for the tech junkies to talk about. Here’s everything we know about the Pixel 4 series till now and what we expect to see from Google’s flagship in 2019.

Design - It’s All There Now

Could this be the new Pixel 4 from Google?(Photo: Twitter/@onleaks)

Yep, Google has teased the design of the Pixel 4, and even confirmed its name with that tweet few weeks back. And recently, we came across another leak of the phone, which pretty much gives us everything in terms of the look and feel of the upcoming flagship phone from Google.

For those who can’t see the front design, just looking at the bezels at the top of the phone we can say that Google has decided to play it safe and traditional. This is likely to have been done to offer dual front-facing cameras, without going for the notch, we saw with the Pixel 3XL in 2018.

Google Pixel 3XL (left) and Google Pixel 3a XL (right). (Photo: Canva/The Quint)

We also expect the Pixel 4 series to offer in-display fingerprint scanner, especially now that we can’t see the physical sensor at the back of the design. Considering how accurate leaks have become these days, we’re probably getting the first glimpse of the Google Pixel 4, in July itself.

We Need to Talk About that Screen

Google, it’s 2019 and if this is the screen you’re planning to dish out with the Pixel 4 series, then it’s probably going to disappoint many people. After all, we’ve now reached a phase, where phone brands in the premium segment are expected to offer bezel-less screen as a standard.

But Google seems to be content with its safe approach, which is unlikely to impress the crowd, especially when a OnePlus 7 Pro for under 50K can feature 90Hz display with near bezel-less screen.

OnePlus 7 Pro offers a display with 90Hz refresh rate.(Photo: The Quint)

We still don’t the quality of the screen Google will be packing, but after looking at the footprint of the display, we’re hoping Google can redeem its position by offering at least a 90Hz display with high resolution count of course.

Hardware - Nothing But Flagship

Moving on from design, the Pixel 4 is highly expected to get the best of hardware available to phone manufacturers right now. This means, Pixel 4 and 4 XL will pack the octa-core Snapdragon 855 processor, and hopefully Google opts to pair them with 6 and 8GB RAM, instead of 4 and 6GB this year.

For storage, we’ve become accustomed to seeing phones with onboard storage of 256GB, and it’s time Google does the same.

Leaks have indicated that Google might remove all physical buttons from the Pixel 4 series, relying heavily on gesture-based support for navigation and control. We’re yet to see anyone implement these at the software level, but we’re excited to see if and how Google manages to take a lead in this regard.

Camera - Two to Tango

Well, the one good thing we spotted from the Pixel 4 leaks is the addition of dual rear cameras. It’s not like Google needs two sensors to become the best in the business (Pixel 3 can vouch for that), but standards and the upcoming iPhone could push Google’s claims later this year. To keep everyone happy, Pixel 4 will get four cameras in total.

We’re yet to get details on the optics, but it’s possible that with the primary sensor (with f/1.6 aperture), Google will offer a telephoto lens on the other one. Which means you’re still missing out on an ultra-wide angle sensor but that’s not a big deal breaker.

On the front, you’ll get 16 and 8 megapixel units, accommodated in that dated design of the phone. Probably, Google is still not convinced about pop-cameras or even a bezel-less screen.

Price it Smartly

After what we’ve seen from Google with Pixel 2 and 3 series pricing, lessons should have been learnt, especially when it comes to markets like India, where you have the threat of OnePlus and Huawei over your head.

The Pixel 4 and 4XL look promising, almost but only when Google delivers us the official details on the product and its prices, we’ll be able to ascertain the true value of Google’s latest flagships and where they stand in front of the Apple, Samsung’s and even Huawei.