Google is seeing a variety of leaks ahead of its next major smartphone launch, with a potential release date seemingly coming from the firm itself. Both the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL will supposedly be announced on October 4th, pointing towards a mid-October release to the public.
An advert apparently created by Google made its way to Famebit, a website that seeks influencers and content creators willing to cover the launch of specific products. This was spotted by YouTube channel This is Tech Today, which revealed the advertised date of October 4th. This is the same date that both the Pixel and Pixel 2 lines made their debut.
Although many countries got their hands on the first-generation Pixel and Pixel XL on its October 4th 2016 launch date, 2017’s Pixel 2 range was only made its way to general stores on October 19th. This means that the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL might only be available in a limited capacity on its alleged launch date, with a wider release sometime after.
Google Pixel 3 XL,4GB RAM,SDM845,Android 9.0. pic.twitter.com/G4cj6LLoPR
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) August 3, 2018
Just ahead of the weekend, the Pixel 3 XL showed up on Geekbench, corroborating previous rumours that the device would house a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. Sadly, it also confirmed that the handset would be running with 4GB of RAM, noticeably lower than even mid-range competition currently on the market. This paired with a deep notch is sure to cause controversy among Pixel fans, depending on the price that Google sets for its upcoming handset.
The Pixel 3 XL did manage to blow its predecessor out of the water in terms of Geekbench scores, however, with a single-core score of 2426 and a multi-core score of 8355 compared to the Pixel 2 XL’s 1845 and 6185 respectively. There is still no confirmation on rumours surrounding Google’s return to wireless charging, but the Pixel 3 range will sport the latest Android 9.0, otherwise known as Android P as it comes out of beta.
KitGuru Says: There does seem to be an air of disappointment the more we hear about the Pixel 3 XL, however Google is often the king of refining its smartphones via optimisation. It remains to be seen if any of these rumours are true and just how well the impending handsets stack up against competition. What do you think of Google’s alleged efforts lately?