Rumours suggest that the Pixel 3 XL will be priced around $750, which roughly translates to Rs 53,000
Google is yet to reveal the launch date of its third generation Pixel phones — the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL. But at least one of these phones — that is the Pixel 3 XL — is already on sale, albeit at an outrageous price of $2000 (around Rs 1.4 lakh) and through the personal Telegram account of someone in Russia. The Pixel 3 XL has also been revealed thoroughly, has been reviewed on couple of Russian websites, its specs and hardware details have been shown to all, and its design has been displayed from all angles in photos and videos. As far as the leaks go, the Pixel 3 XL leak is as extensive as it gets.
Officially, the phones are expected to launch in October. But it seems that ahead of the October launch, a batch of Pixel 3 XL were on their way to the Google office in Mountain View from China, where they were manufactured. The plane carrying the Pixel 3 XL units stopped in Ukraine, and the Google phones were stolen. Bad for Google we suppose, but not so much for the smartphone users who were looking forward to these phones. Now, all the details of the Pixel 3 XL are known. And here is a quick summary of everything that we have learnt about the Pixel 3 XL.
A Ukrainian dealer has reportedly managed to get hold of some pre-production units of the Pixel 3 XL and has leaked images, unboxing video and the retail box of the phone. The Pixel phones this year will come bundled with Pixel buds.
The dealer — who goes by the name Luchkov — is selling the Pixel 3 XL units for $2,000 each — which is roughly around Rs 1.4 lakh — in the black market. Google legal and security teams, and Foxconn’s team are both investigating the matter and are involved in internal discussions about the leaks.
Meanwhile, another Russian website has somehow got the Pixel 3 XL and has posted an early review of it. The reviewer has also compared the Pixel 3 XL camera samples to that of the Huawei P20 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. The review comes with a disclaimer in the beginning — in which the author says that this is a pre-production unit of the Pixel 3 XL and hence some aspects of the phone rough and some features are not fully developed. But overall, the reviewer says, the final product will look exactly like the pre-production unit.
As far as the design of the phone is concerned, the Pixel 3 XL will look a lot like the Pixel 2 XL. The front design of the phone, however, will see a drastic change compared to the predecessor. The Pixel 3 XL follows the latest trend and comes with a notched display. Compared to the iPhone X notch, the Pixel 3 XL notch is much wider (length-wise) — which doesn’t look very appealing.
The notch — as seen in the leaked pictures -includes the selfie cameras. The Pixel 3 XL is expected to come with two front sensors, and sensors along with the earpiece. The back panel of the phone will be made of glass and the leaked hands-on video shows that the phone will come with wireless charging support. Just as the Pixel 2 XL, the rear side of the 3 XL will include a single camera paired with LED flash, followed by a circular shaped fingerprint sensor.
A hands-on video leaked by the earlier this week revealed that the Pixel 3 XL will come with wireless charging support. In another video, leaked by a Twitter user, who goes by the name Khoroshev, the Pixel 3 XL is seen with built-in Qi wireless charging support. Rumours also suggest that the Pixel 3 XL will not come with the wireless charger, which means consumers will have to buy the charger separately. Previously, we did come across rumours of a Google Pixel Stand wireless charging dock, which the search giant is expected to launch along with the third-gen Pixel phones in October. Some rumours suggest that only the Pixel 3 XL with glass back design will come with wireless charging support and not the cheaper model — the Pixel 3.
Contrary to earlier rumours, the new images of the Pixel 3 XL posted by the black market dealer as well as the review reveal that Pixel 3 XL will not come with dual cameras on the back. The phone — just like the Pixel 2 XL — will come with a single camera of the back paired with a dual LED flash. As far as the camera specs are concerned, the Pixel 3 XL is tipped to sport 12-megapixel sensor with an aperture of f/1.8, dual pixel PDAF and laser-assisted auto focus.
Meanwhile, on the front, going in line with the previous leaks, the new images also show that the Pixel 3 XL will come with dual selfie cameras. This camera will have an 8-megapixel primary image sensor. One of the two selfie cameras will come with a wide angle lens. A new report coming from 9toMac reveals that the Pixel 3 XL will be able to shoot ‘Super Selfies’, meaning the phone will feature faux bokeh for Portrait Mode.
As far as the camera performance is concerned, the Russian website that put up the review of the Pixel 3 XL compared the pictures clicked with the Pixel phone with that of the Galaxy Note 9 and the Huawei P20 Pro. Camera has always been the best thing about Pixel phones, and the same is expected of the Pixel 3 XL as well. But, according to the reviewer, the camera samples of the Pixel 3 XL don’t look as promising as that of the other two phones. This could probably be because pictures are taken with a pre-production unit.
The reviewer clicked a picture, keeping the Pixel 3 XL, Galaxy Note 9 and the Huawei P20 Pro next to each other, and there’s no doubt that the Google phone is the biggest of the three. The Pixel 3 XL is said to sport a 6.7-inch display with 1440 x 2960 pixels resolution, 18.5:9 aspect ratio and screen-to-body ratio of 94.4 per cent. The Pixel 3 XL will come with OLED panel, with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on it. In the review, the screen of the Note 9 looks brighter than the Pixel phone’s under direct sunlight.
The Pixel 3 XL will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 paired with 6GB RAM with 64GB/128 GB. The phone will run Google’s latest Android 9 Pie.
