The Pixel 4 release has become a nightmare for Google and their attempts to keep it under wraps. Right about now we suspect that they are regretting moving their manufacturing plants to Vietnam given that folks over there have been able to buy a late model prototype for a few weeks now.
Today’s images offer some great up close views of the phone as well as a sample of the imagery possible with the new Google flagship. The folks at Next Rift got their hands on a Clearly White model of the Pixel 4 XL and took it out for a spin comparing the pics it took to those from a Samsung Galaxy S10+. Remember that manufacturers nearly always release new software in the days leading up to announcements of phones so the imaging software on the Pixel 4 XL in question here is most likely a long way from what the final version of the phone will be capable of.
There were the usual close up images of the phone itself and in white it does look great, although it seems that we now know why manufacturers put a glossy finish on flagships these days — because it looks more premium. The matte finish of the sides of the phone and the satin-ish finish of the back just don’t seem as premium when looking at the phone. Apparently the matte finish makes the phone less slippery which can only be a good thing.
It seems also that the display may be locked to 90Hz at all times when Smooth Display is selected, but as stated above final software often arrives much closer to the release date so this may well change to something that alters the refresh rate based on the phones requirements at that point in time.
In what I think is a very risky move by Google, Face Unlock is the ONLY biometric security on the phone. There is no backup. Remember when Apple first released FaceID and how much they were canned by how bad it was? Hopefully Google have it down much better than that — that will get very old very quickly.
NextRift found that the Face Unlock worked very well in all light levels but did point out that if the phone is flat on a table it won’t be able to unlock unless you peer over the top of it.
The Camera
While the following are pre-release software samples they do show that once again the Pixel 4 photography will be some of the best going around, even without final software. We can’t wait to find out what it can do with final software installed on the phone.
Next Rift found that the Pixel 4 XL photos actually were better than the Galaxy S10+ images — they had better detail preservation and true-life colour reproduction. Check out the images below for yourself:
Of course we will be able to see just how good the Pixel 4 imagery is once we get hands on one with final consumer-release software but until then we can hopefully use the samples above to give us some idea of how good it will end up being.
With just three weeks until the Made By Google event there isn’t much time left and this could be Google’s most innovative event yet with the Pixel 4 heading into new waters with its Soli hardware and software. Hopefully it will be all it is being built up to be.
Why do you people keep getting sucked into this idea that they’re trying to keep it secret? Every leak is a new round of free promotion to build the hype.