Pixel 4

Supersnake

[H]ard|Gawd
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June 11, 2019
Lewis Hilsenteger from Unbox Therapy released his hands on video with a leaked Pixel 4 model. The leak reveals that the Pixel 4 will incorporate a major camera and design change over its predecessor.
Joshua Swingle from Phone Arena followed up in a written article.



Pixel 4

>Two rear facing cameras and a spectral sensor
>No notch or hole in screen
> 5 imaging units on front of device
> A forehead across the top of screen

Stereo speakers
NFC
Wireless charging
Active Edge








June 12, 2019
Google Tweeted
 
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I'm excited for the Pixel 4 XL, but bringing back the forehead top bezel like the 2 XL, seems a step backward design wise. Why not do what the Note 10 renders show and what the Essential phone had, both with very minimal tiny dot cutouts in the center top of screen. To me those look very good, and don't take space like an ugly notch.
 
I was never bothered by the top and bottom cheeks of the iphone or the bottom button bar of the old androids but I'm also not bothered by the notch. How anyone could complain about a device that adds more screen is beyond me but if your brain yells at you that this is somehow worse than having no screen in the area that's on you.

What I REALLY disliked was seeing the pin hole punch out on the screen. That was very distracting when seeing that in action and it is hardly un-noticeable.

I don't need edge to edge screens or certainly not the useless curved screens.
 
Meh, I'm a PC geek. Tell me about the internal specs ;)

Snapdragon 855 and 6/8GB of RAM I'm guessing. The problem with Google phones is that they release so late into the chipset's lifecycle that it's last generation as soon as its released almost. I'd rather they delay it and release early like the Galaxys or maybe in a May/June timeframe like what they did with the Pixel 3A.
 
Snapdragon 855 and 6/8GB of RAM I'm guessing. The problem with Google phones is that they release so late into the chipset's lifecycle that it's last generation as soon as its released almost. I'd rather they delay it and release early like the Galaxys or maybe in a May/June timeframe like what they did with the Pixel 3A.
Agree. Feels like phones are where PCs were before Ryzen ... I.e. nothing has really changed to make upgrading super exciting in like 5+ yrs.
 
Ultimately you have to have a compelling reason that the upgrade would make it exciting. Phone hardware has far surpassed software requirements, even the GPU's these days are incremental increases. However a phone from 4 years ago will run the latest OS and any App just fine.
 
I'm excited for the Pixel 4 XL, but bringing back the forehead top bezel like the 2 XL, seems a step backward design wise. Why not do what the Note 10 renders show and what the Essential phone had, both with very minimal tiny dot cutouts in the center top of screen. To me those look very good, and don't take space like an ugly notch.
Same here, can't stand my current phone (P2XL) top bezel in a almost 2020 phone. No way. They really should work on a bezelless device top and bottom. Why not something like OP 7 plus has done?
 
I'm excited for the Pixel 4 XL, but bringing back the forehead top bezel like the 2 XL, seems a step backward design wise. Why not do what the Note 10 renders show and what the Essential phone had, both with very minimal tiny dot cutouts in the center top of screen. To me those look very good, and don't take space like an ugly notch.

Same here, can't stand my current phone (P2XL) top bezel in a almost 2020 phone. No way. They really should work on a bezelless device top and bottom. Why not something like OP 7 plus has done?

Really..? The 3 XL was quite a regression in design with that ridiculously huge notch that made the notification area twice as thick as any other phone's. That phone was a step backward design wise and anything else would be a step forward again IMO, lol. In fact, anything like the Note 10 or current Samsung phones with the hole punch displays would be a step back IMO even coming from my 2 XL, as I don't want anything intruding on the display whether it be a notch or hole punch. Plus I'd take slim bezels with front facing stereo speakers all day long over no bezels and only one front facing speaker (even if the other is bottom facing like the OP 7 Pro or Samsung phones), but that's not as big of a deal to me either. The OP 7 Pro definitely has one of the best designs out there right now to me. I do use Face unlock occasionally though, so I think I'd rather have cameras/sensors in the top bezel still for all that rather than have a motorized pop-up camera that's slow and can fail at some point. Otherwise I don't really care about the front facing camera and hardly ever use it.

All this is suffice to say; the 4 XL is looking to be a solid upgrade over the previous Pixels to me. Esp. if they're finally raising the RAM to competitive levels of 6/8 GB, as that was another area where the 3 XL was a total fail from the start for the price they were asking for it. $800+ for a phone with 4 GBs of RAM is almost insulting these days, when there's a lot of phones for nearly half the price with more RAM than that and most budget phones are matching it. Is 4GB enough? Sure, most of the time, but that's not the point; it wasn't competitive and there were definitely RAM related bugs for a while apps were closing prematurely even while you were using them, which more RAM would have definitely alleviated some of that even if it was a bug.
 
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Really..? The 3 XL was quite a regression in design with that ridiculously huge notch that made the notification area twice as thick as any other phone's. That phone was a step backward design wise and anything else would be a step forward again IMO, lol. In fact, anything like the Note 10 or current Samsung phones with the hole punch displays would be a step back IMO even coming from my 2 XL, as I don't want anything intruding on the display whether it be a notch or hole punch. Plus I'd take slim bezels with front facing stereo speakers all day long over no bezels and only one front facing speaker (even if the other is bottom facing like the OP 7 Pro or Samsung phones), but that's not as big of a deal to me either. The OP 7 Pro definitely has one of the best designs out there right now to me. I do use Face unlock occasionally though, so I think I'd rather have cameras/sensors in the top bezel still for all that rather than have a motorized pop-up camera that's slow and can fail at some point. Otherwise I don't really care about the front facing camera and hardly ever use it.

All this is suffice; the 4 XL is looking to be a solid upgrade over the previous Pixels to me. Esp. if they're finally raising the RAM to competitive levels of 6/8 GB, as that was another area where the 3 XL was a total fail from the start for the price they were asking for it. $800+ for a phone with 4 GBs of RAM is almost insulting these days, when there's a lot of phones for nearly half the price with more RAM than that and most budget phones are matching it. Is 4GB enough? Sure, most of the time, but that's not the point; it wasn't competitive and there were definitely RAM related bugs for a while apps were closing prematurely even while you were using them, which more RAM would have definitely alleviated some of that even if it was a bug.
I've got a OnePlus 7 Pro and its full, bezel free-screen makes my 3XL look almost like a late model Blackberry. :ROFLMAO:

The 4XL has a lot to live up to if it's going to compete with the 7 Pro.
 
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As an owner of the normal (small) Pixel 2, I'm at least a little curious about this device. My phone has bezels for days, so even the leaked "lip" bezels look pretty good to me.
Thing is, I don't really need this phone or any others at the moment. Bezels and better cameras/batteries are just nice amenities.
The one thing that might get me to buy one is 5G support. That's a feature that will definitely be important at some point. Without that, I can't justify a purchase that big for a device with an abbreviated lifespan.
 
The Pixel 2 has the same type large of bezels that the iPhone 7 and older phones had. "For days" = a large quantity.
I'd take the 2XL bezels over the 3XL's notch from hell... but, both kinda suck.(n)
 
I'd take the 2XL bezels over the 3XL's notch from hell... but, both kinda suck.(n)

Yeah, I don't exactly like that either. In an ideal world I'd like the Pixel 4 to resemble the Galaxy S10, but it looks like that isn't happening. I'm definitely not going back to Samsung as long as OEMs are allowed to modify Android either.
At this point it's just a matter of the Pixel 4 having 5G. If it does, that might be enough to get me to buy in. It'll at least make me consider it. If not, there's no chance. I'll just wait for the Pixel 5, assuming Google doesn't kill off the Pixel line by then.
 
I have been running a 2xl for a few months and quite enjoy it. I have some issues with it not liking tmobile towers from time to time, so I’m looking forward to this plus the qi charging.
 
I feel like some of these issues like bezel size are just manufacturer and reviewers trying to separate themselves from the competition. Cause really any modern phone made in the past 4 years it more then enough for the majority of people. I doubt the average person even gives a damn about the bezel. I got a pixel 2xl and never once though about it.
 
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Here is the story behind the pictures
:)
 
Big Frankenstein monster forehead, a step back in design. Looks dated, like a Pixel 2 XL, from two years ago, not a next gen future phone.

I'll use my wife's 2 XL once in awhile, and immediately the big top bezels jump out at me, being outdated and old looking.

And then I go back to my 3 XL and it looks new and futuristic . Yeah the notch sucks, but in most apps and websites with a dark or black header the notch fades away, and the clock and status bar stuff is at the upper most edge of the phone, looking cool like an edge to edge screen, abd going back to the 2 XL bezel feels super old and ugly .
 
After my 7 Pro, I want a big beautiful screen with no bezels, notches, punch-holes, foreheads and/or chins. However, given a choice between the 4XL's forehead and my 3XL's giant notch + big chin, I'd go with the 4XL.
 
I hear ya, but man bezels just seem so freaking dated to me now. Like something from 2016 and before, like the classic ugly iPhone look with the huge bezels .

My wife's Pixel 2 XL looks ancient to me when I use it. Like something from years ago. Nothing I would expect a future 2019 phone to ever go back to .

Why not copy the Note 10 very minimal tiny dot for a front facing camera. Now that phone truly looks like from the future and these Pixel 4 XL renders look like a back up plan design from 2017.
 
Am I weird for not giving a rat's ass about the design?

Nope, I'm right there with you and am sure most outside of the tech community are too as long as it's still functional. I only care about design when it interferes with function.. like a notch or hole cutting into my display, or when the phone is too large to comfortably handle with one hand (like I've seen some reviews complain about with the OP 7 Pro). My 2 XL is definitely at the limit of how large I want my phone, since it's awkward to handle sometimes as well.
 
I'm not sure if the bezel on the 4XL is for FaceID? I think it's for some new sonar technology you wave your hand in front of it to control certain parts of the phone?
 
I'm not sure if the bezel on the 4XL is for FaceID? I think it's for some new sonar technology you wave your hand in front of it to control certain parts of the phone?

Nobody is sure about it right now. The Sonar could be used for both Face authentication and hand gestures like the G8, I would think. I would hope Google can recognize how useless and gimmicky the hand gestures are though and would much rather compete with Apple's FaceID that's much more useful and practical. But Google put Active Edge on their phones too.. which I actually like and find useful for the occasions I use it, but it seems to be ignored by most Pixel users.
 
I'm not sure if the bezel on the 4XL is for FaceID? I think it's for some new sonar technology you wave your hand in front of it to control certain parts of the phone?

Their 'high' resolution radar sensor has a high chance of flopping on contact. Right now, just reading what they released on it, it seems like an addon that they are hoping someone finds a useful tool for. I don't know which way its pointing but I doubt its towards the screen, I saw a demo unit with it pointing away from the screen.
 
Google is working on a facial identification for its next Pixel phone. Their employees are approaching people in various cities and offering them $5 gift cards in exchange for using a sample phone to gather facial data.

PhoneArena sourced from ZDNet
 
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Google is working on face ID for its next Pixel phone. Their employees are approaching people in various cities and offering them $5 gift cards in exchange for using a sample phone to gather facial data.

PhoneArena sourced from ZDNet

I assumed as much, but I hadn't considered that Google wouldn't put a fingerprint scanner under the screen along with this. I hope this doesn't mean they're not doing that now, because that's still much preferred for me over face recognition.
 
I assumed as much, but I hadn't considered that Google wouldn't put a fingerprint scanner under the screen along with this. I hope this doesn't mean they're not doing that now, because that's still much preferred for me over face recognition.

Hate to say it, but it sounds like another case of Apple envy. Google has a habit of chasing after Apple in the same way that Samsung has at times.
 
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I view that as being a good habit. Consumers benefit when manufacturers replicate and implement each other's features. It matters not to me who did what first, as long as the features are good ones, I'm all for it.
 
Hate to say it, but it sounds like another case of Apple envy. Google has a habit of chasing after Apple in the same way that Samsung has at times.

And a good habit it is. Consumers benefit when manufacturers replicate and implement each other's features. It matters not to me who did what first, as long as the features are good ones, I'm all for it.

I agree, I just don't want OEMs copying other's lack of features, like Apple did ditching the fingerprint scanner and headphone jack. Unfortunately, most others have copied Apple's removal of the headphone jack on higher-end phones at least. They haven't copied their Face-ID only authentication only because they haven't had a comparable solution yet, so I'm hoping now that Google may have one, that they don't also ditch the fingerprint scanner as Apple did.

Half the time I'm unlocking my phone, I'm not looking directly at it like when it's sitting on my desk stand or when I'm just kinda discretely checking my phone in public or at a table. Plus I troll my coworkers all the time when we're at a conference room table with our phones out on the table; we like to pick up the other's phone discretely and point it at their face to unlock it and then change their background or text someone something stupid from their phone, lol. Stupid scenario, I know, but it's a common thing in my realm and also I wouldn't put it past my kids to unlock my phone the same way either when I'm sleeping or distracted.
 
I agree, I just don't want OEMs copying other's lack of features, like Apple did ditching the fingerprint scanner and headphone jack. Unfortunately, most others have copied Apple's removal of the headphone jack on higher-end phones at least. They haven't copied their Face-ID only authentication only because they haven't had a comparable solution yet, so I'm hoping now that Google may have one, that they don't also ditch the fingerprint scanner as Apple did.

Half the time I'm unlocking my phone, I'm not looking directly at it like when it's sitting on my desk stand or when I'm just kinda discretely checking my phone in public or at a table. Plus I troll my coworkers all the time when we're at a conference room table with our phones out on the table; we like to pick up the other's phone discretely and point it at their face to unlock it and then change their background or text someone something stupid from their phone, lol. Stupid scenario, I know, but it's a common thing in my realm and also I wouldn't put it past my kids to unlock my phone the same way either when I'm sleeping or distracted.

I like MS's implementation the best to be honest. It has the capability to detect range and will only unlock if you are within a certain range. I think theirs requires quite a bit more processing capability though.

Also, points for screwing with your co-workers. When Apple first implemented the time'd lockout for inaccurately putting your pin in we got our co-workers phone and had her locked out for a few hours. Man was she pissed!
 
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I agree, I just don't want OEMs copying other's lack of features, like Apple did ditching the fingerprint scanner and headphone jack. Unfortunately, most others have copied Apple's removal of the headphone jack on higher-end phones at least. They haven't copied their Face-ID only authentication only because they haven't had a comparable solution yet, so I'm hoping now that Google may have one, that they don't also ditch the fingerprint scanner as Apple did.

Half the time I'm unlocking my phone, I'm not looking directly at it like when it's sitting on my desk stand or when I'm just kinda discretely checking my phone in public or at a table. Plus I troll my coworkers all the time when we're at a conference room table with our phones out on the table; we like to pick up the other's phone discretely and point it at their face to unlock it and then change their background or text someone something stupid from their phone, lol. Stupid scenario, I know, but it's a common thing in my realm and also I wouldn't put it past my kids to unlock my phone the same way either when I'm sleeping or distracted.

I really like Face ID and don't mind losing the fingerprint reader on the iPhone, although I will acknowledge the limitations. You can't unlock the phone with someone's sleeping face, though -- your eyes have to be open.

I suspect Google might ditch fingerprint scanning on the Pixel 4, if simply because the line still serves that Nexus-like role of driving key Android features like notch support with the Pixel 3 XL. If you have to use your face to unlock a Pixel 4, OEMs and developers may feel compelled to support that themselves.
 
I really like Face ID and don't mind losing the fingerprint reader on the iPhone, although I will acknowledge the limitations. You can't unlock the phone with someone's sleeping face, though -- your eyes have to be open.

I suspect Google might ditch fingerprint scanning on the Pixel 4, if simply because the line still serves that Nexus-like role of driving key Android features like notch support with the Pixel 3 XL. If you have to use your face to unlock a Pixel 4, OEMs and developers may feel compelled to support that themselves.

If Google can make a Face ID competitor as good as or better (in terms of the angle/range it works at), then I can prolly get past the loss of the FP scanner, but I'm not sure I really trust Google to pull off that kind of execution with a different kind of tech as well (sonar vs IR). So I would just really hope they put the fingerprint scanner as an alternative on there for the times it does come up short on facial recognition. I could see them going either way though since most Android competitors are using in-glass fingerprint scanners now, but none of them have comparable (to Apple's) facial recognition either.

We shall see I guess. Regardless, I won't be buying one until months after it launches so I can get it on sale/promo or something like I got my current 2 XL for $200 off (directly from Google) and been seeing much better sales on the Pixel 3s since it launched.
 
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