Pixel season is upon us, and the leaks keep on coming, but this time the leak is courtesy of the best in the business – Evan Blass (@Evleaks) and he has good news and bad news for Pixel phones.
The render is of the smaller Pixel 2 (Codename: Walleye) which will again be built by HTC. The render shows that the Pixel 2 will have quite large bezels at the top and bottom of the phone, a design consideration that won’t be present on the larger Pixel XL 2 (Codename: Taimen). The phone will come with front-facing stereo speakers similar to HTC’s much vaunted ‘BoomSound’.
HTC will also be building in the squeeze sensitive feature of the U11 into the Pixel, an interesting new User Experience which Jason quite enjoyed when he reviewed the U11. Evan also confirms that like the U11 the Pixel/Pixel XL 2 will ditch the headphone jack, a controversial decision for some users but if you’ve been holding out it may be time to start checking out bluetooth headphone options.
Finally, the render also confirms that the Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 will not be adopting a dual rear camera setup like a number of flagship phones. Google has done quite well with the single sensor on the original Pixel, so we’ll have to see what they have up their sleeve for round 2.
We’re not far off seeing these phones announced officially, with Google unveiling the Pixel and Pixel XL at an event at the end of September last year. The design appears to be quite different, and the removal of the headphone jack quite controversial, so the question is: Will these design decisions make you skip the Pixel 2/Pixel XL 2?
Google can shove their Pixel 2 up their ass if they get rid of the headphone jack.
1. USB-C audio isn’t ready for prime time.
2. Dongles are way too easy to lose.
3. Bluetooth headphones tend to have bad audio quality, bad battery life, or both (not to mention the limited range of Bluetooth in general).
Totally agree in every respect. It’s a shame as I’m due for an upgrade early next year. I guess I’ll see what the new HMD phones are like since they are stock Android and have been providing quick OS updates…. or possibly Motorola.
I’m due for an upgrade soon too as my Nexus 5X is getting closer to EOL (it’ll get O but most likely nothing past that apart from security updates).
I’m in need of a new phone – still have the trusty Nexus 6. I really hope Google release something nice that isn’t sitting around the $1200+ mark.
Hooray for stereo speakers!
Looks almost identical to a 6P from the front