Alongside phones, Pixelbooks, PixelBuds and HomeHubs, it seems the Made by Google event has yet another device to be announced on October 9th: A 3rd generation Chromecast. The discovery was made after a reddit user purchased it 10 days prior to the event at their local Best Buy.

The thread over on reddit shows user /u/GroveStHomie describing their experience of how they came to be in possession of the new generation Chromecast, as well as a brief hardware description and comparison to the gen 2 Chromecast.

I went to Best Buy earlier to pick up a Chromecast for my new TV, then I noticed the packaging and design was different from my first one. I thought it was just a design refresh taking queues from the Chromecast Ultra. Then when I was at the cashier, they couldn’t scan the item because it wasn’t in the system yet because the release date is on the 9th of October (Same day as the 2018 Google event) but I guess they put it out too early. But since I already had it in my hand and was the same price as the 2nd generation Chromecast, they let me have it under the old SKU.

Upon setting up at home and comparing it to my 2nd gen Chromecast, it seems a little thicker. The top is no longer glossy and the Chrome logo has been replaced with the G Google logo. Still micro-USB (sad right). They did remove the magnetic HDMI connector on the tip and base of the Chromecast which is a bummer.

While this has only happened 10 days prior to the expected release date, its just another of the holes in a very leaky ship this year leading into the Google Hardware Release.

If you’re due for an upgrade this year, what hardware are you most looking forward to?

Source: Reddit.