It has not even been a month since Google showed off some of the out-of-the world technologies at its annual developers conference Google I/O 2018, but already reports of another major Google event have started flooding the social media. While some tech enthusiasts are still trying to get over the Google Duplex hysteria, reports of Google working on its next set of Pixel smartphones has got everyone excited.

Social media today is brimming with rumours and reports from tech enthusiasts and industry insiders about Google’s upcoming smartphones — Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. So, here’s everything we know about Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, which will follow in the steps of the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL, hopefully with a camera that will be even better that the best in the last year’s Google phones.

PIXEL 3 LAUNCH DATE

If reports are to be believed, Google is likely to continue its trend of launching its smartphones in October. The tech giant launched Pixel 2 on October 19 last year and Pixel on October 20 in 2016. The company is expected to launch Pixel 3 along with its higher variant Pixel 3 XL around the same time this year. In India, if Google follows its last year’s strategy, the phones should arrive within weeks of the global launch. In other words, if the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3XL global launch is around middle of October, they should be available in India around the end of October.

PIXEL 3 DESIGN

As far as the design is concerned, word on the street is that Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL will sport entirely different designs. Up until now both of them have been similar with the biggest difference between the two being the large display on the XL variant of the Pixel smartphone. However, the search engine giant is about to change this trend this year. While Pixel 3 is expected to feature a design that resembles the Pixel 2, the Pixel 3 XL is expected to feature an iPhone X-like notch — a feature that is common in most high-end smartphones this year.

Apart from the notch, the Pixel 3 XL is also likely to feature an edge-to-edge display with a thicker bezel at the bottom of the phone. As per a Bloomberg report, while the phone won’t sport a notch that is as big as iPhone X, it is most likely going to be “taller”. Pixel 3, by contrast, will neither feature the notch nor the edge-to-edge display. It will be a plainer and more old-fashioned phone.

Last year, Google hinted that it could use two camera lenses in its future smartphones. And an image leak of the cases of the two smartphones from China’s Weibo suggests that Google Pixel 3 XL may come with not only dual cameras on the rear but also on the front.

It is also possible that the dual camera setup on the front includes some sort of 3D face recognition technology for additional security. The Pixel 3, on the other hand, is likely to feature a single camera on the front.

Currently it is not given that the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL will come with two rear cameras. But it is important to remember that most high-end phones this year are coming with dual-camera setup. The only problem is that Google likes to do “googly” things. It likes to do its own thing instead of following some trend. This is the reason why last year it went with the single camera, and even with the single lens ensure that the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL are the phones with best camera even for portrait photography.

But single lens camera in a phone has its limitations. The biggest is that there is no optical zoom. Phones like Huawei P20 Pro come with 3X optical zoom. Similar is the case with the iPhone X, which comes with a 2X optical zoom. Last year when Google launched the Pixel 2, its senior executives said that the single lens was the best solution for now, but they also left the door open for dual-lens cameras in future. We believe that this year at least the Pixel 3 XL will come with a dual-lens camera, even if the Pixel 3 sticks with the single lens.

But irrespective of the number of lenses, it is almost certain that the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL will be among the phones with best camera, just the way Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL are.

PIXEL 3 SPECS

In terms of the specifications, the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL smartphones are likely to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor and run on Android P, which means we can expect the two smartphones to sport advanced features such as an adaptive battery life, adaptive brightness, app action tools, gesture navigation, screenshot editing and a Do Not Disturb to mute all the annoying notifications in the two devices.

Additionally, the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL will come with stereo speakers which will be placed at the bottom of the two phones. Besides this, reports also suggest that Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are likely to sport an OLED display which will be manufactured by LG Display.

Other key points to note about the Pixel 3 are:

— Fingerprint sensor will be on rear cover, just the way it is in the Pixel 2.

— The phone will almost certainly have water-proof design and features like fast charging.

— It is possible that the Pixel 3 may not support dual-SIM feature. In this way it will be similar to the iPhone but different from phones like the Galaxy S9 and the OnePlus 6 in India.

— There will be no support for microSD card. Period.

— The Pixel 3 will at least have a 1080P screen, stereo speakers, 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage.

PIXEL 3 MANUFACTURER

As far as the manufacturing process is concerned, German blog WinFuture has revealed that the two Pixel phones will be manufactured by FIH Mobile which is a subsidiary of manufacturing giant Foxconn. Incidentally, Foxconn also manufactures iPhones for Apple and it is one of the partners of HMD Global, the brand that revived Nokia. There are also reports that this time Google is handling all the manufacturing on its own unlike previous years when the Pixel phones were made by HTC or LG.