After the launch of the Pixel 3a (Review) and the Pixel 3a XL last month, the Pixel 4 series rumor mill had started and we’ve been seeing a lot of leaks and reports regarding Google‘s next Pixel phones with contradicting information. However, to add to the hype train, Google itself released a teaser image and confirmed that it is indeed working on the Pixel 4 smartphone series.
Google’s @MadeByGoogle Twitter account tweeted a teaser image of its upcoming phone and mentioned the hashtag #Pixel4 along with it, leading everyone to believe that the company is indeed working on next-generation Pixel smartphones. The image shows a single-colored glass back design and a square camera assembly with two camera sensors, an LED flash, and an unknown sensor.
The image could either be an actual image of the Pixel 4 or a mock on the design of upcoming Apple iPhones and their squarer camera assemblies. However, TheVerge is reporting that a Google spokesperson reached out to them through email and confirmed that it is indeed an image of the Pixel 4.
Google Pixel 4 To Feature More Than One Camera & Face ID-Like System?
Over the past couple of years, consumers have been intrigued as to why Google is sticking to a single-camera system at the time when competing brands have moved on to camera systems with as many as five cameras on the rear. However, Google released features like Portrait Mode, Night Sight, and Super Res Zoom even with the Pixel phone’s single camera system, leading us to believe that the company can do much more with just software which the competition can’t achieve without hardware. However, if the image teased by Google turns out to be true, Google could finally be moving to a multi-camera setup with its next-generation Pixel phones. We expect one of the sensors to be an ultra-wide angle camera. There also appears to be a sensor of some kind, and we think it could be a 3D ToF (Time of Flight) sensor.
If you can notice, there’s no visible fingerprint reader on the phone’s rear, which leads us to believe that Google will either use an in-display fingerprint reader or a 3D facial unlock system, similar to Apple’s Face ID or OPPO and LG’s 3D Face Unlock feature.
Pixel 4 To Feature Radar-Based Gesture System?
A separate report from GSMArena showcased images of what are claimed to be the Pixel 4 XL. Those images showcase a dual-punch hole selfie camera cutout on the phone’s display, similar to that of the Samsung Galaxy S10+ (Review) and the Galaxy S10 5G. Also visible is a possible shrink in the size of display bezels compared to bezels of the Pixel 3 XL.
The folks over at 9To5Google were the first ones to float an idea of the Pixel 4 featuring Project Soli, a radar-based gesture system. Later, XDA Developers reported that they’ve found a piece of evidence called ‘Aware Sensor’ in the latest Android Q beta release pointing towards a gesture system that can let users control notifications through gestures. It also allows users to skip or silence music through gestures.
It is easy to guess that Pixel 4 series phones will come with OLED screens, Snapdragon 855 processing chipset, Android Q, USB PD charging, wireless charging, and a missing 3.5mm headphone jack.
