According to recent rumors, Google’s Pixel 2 won’t look like much when it’s unveiled during a press conference on October 4th. In fact, the phone supposedly looks almost exactly like last year’s Pixel. This design was fine for a 2016 smartphone, but 2017 is all about large displays and tiny bezels as smartphone makers look to maximize their screen-to-body ratios on flagship phones. But like the U11, Google’s HTC-made Pixel 2 will reportedly feature massive bezels above and below the screen.
While the phone might not look like much when Google finally announces it early next month, a new report suggests that there will be some nifty new features on board.
There’s precious little question that the Pixel 2 XL is the more appealing phone among the two new devices Google is set to release next month. Built in partnership with LG rather than HTC, the phone is expected to sport a design that’s more in line with 2017 flagship phones. The bezels have reportedly been minimized, like the LG G6 or V30, giving the phone a more modern look to go with its cutting-edge specs.
Google’s Pixel 2 will have a more compact design and a lower price tag, though, so the phone will still appeal to plenty of Android fans. And those fans will be happy to learn that a fresh leak may have exposed several new Pixel 2 features for the first time.
Artem Russakovskii, founder of the Android news blog Android Police, posted a number of interesting Pixel 2 tidbits over the weekend. Russakovskii says that the intel comes from “a new source who claims to have played with the Verizon Pixel 2,” noting that he “cannot vouch for the authenticity of these, but they seem plausible.” It’s difficult to take these posts too seriously in light of the hedging, but Android Police has had plenty of scoops in the past, so Russakovskii is seemingly pretty good at spotting a fake.
According to the series of tweets, Google’s Pixel 2 will feature a single-lens rear camera but it’ll still have an optional bokeh effect enabled entirely by software. There are plenty of third-party camera apps that blur the background in photos, but they never seem to work very well. Russakovskii’s source also says the Pixel launcher has gotten a big redesigned with a new home page and a search bar beneath the dock.
The string of tweets rehashes earlier rumors that the Pixel 2 will have the same squeeze feature found on the HTC U11, but is also notes a nifty new feature we hadn’t heard of before. According Russakovskii’s source, the Pixel 2 has a “new feature that listens to music all the time so if there’s a song playing in the [background] it will put the artist and title on your lockscreen.”
Finally, the blogger says Google’s Pixel 2 will have dual speakers like the old Nexus 6P, and it will have flat glass on the front as opposed to 2.5D glass, as had been rumored.
