Stop us if you’ve heard this story before. A big tech company is on the verge of announcing its next-generation smartphone lineup. Details surrounding said smartphone lineup had already been leaking for weeks or even months, when the floodgates open just days before the official announcement is set to take place. What’s that? You’ve heard this story about a million times before? Well you’re about to hear it again, and this time it’s Google’s Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL that find themselves in the rumor mill’s crosshairs.
We know almost everything we can expect on Wednesday when Google is set to unveil its new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones in San Francisco. The Pixel 2 will be an iterative update that looks just like last year’s original Pixel phone. It still has great big bezels around the screen, but the specs will be updated to position the second-generation model on par with other 2017 flagship Android phones. There will also be some nifty new new features like a squeezable frame (a la the HTC U11) and a new option to always listen for music in the background and display song information on the lock screen.
The new Pixel 2 XL is expected to be the more exciting of the two new Pixel phones. Built by LG instead of HTC, the phone has been rumored to include much smaller bezels around the screen, giving it a more modern design. The good news is the Pixel 2 XL does in fact have smaller bezels. But the bad news is that if you were expecting a practically bezel-less design like the iPhone X or Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, you’re going to be disappointed.
The following image of the Pixel 2 XL was posted on Twitter on Monday by well-known leaker Evan Blass, so it is believed to be authentic:
Google Pixel 2 XL, encased pic.twitter.com/GvZZadmZZg
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) October 2, 2017
We can likely expect more images to pop up in the coming hours, but this one already shows us that the phone will still have pretty sizable bezels. It also confirms the phone’s overall design. Though it’s partially obscured by a protective case, we can still see stereo front-facing speakers as well as a redesigned home screen with a relocated search bar and a new optional widget that appears to display info from Google Assistant.
Google will unveil its new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones on Wednesday, October 4th.
UPDATE: Here’s another image without a case:
…and without a case pic.twitter.com/4QrvyM9Hro
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) October 2, 2017
