Google Leak Reveals New Pixel 2 Hardware

Details around Google’s update to the critically acclaimed Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones continue to leak out from the supply chain. The latest pointers to Mountain View’s 2017 smartphones highlight the new screen sizes.

The smaller Pixel 2 is expected to support a 4.97-inch screen, broadly similar to the 5-inch FHD panel used in 2016’s model. The larger Pixel 2 trumps the 5.5 inches of the Pixel XL with a 5.99-inch QHD screen. These screens are expected to be supplied by LG (reports Mario Tomás Serrafero for XDA Developers), while the handsets will again be manufactured for Google by HTC.

The new details on the screen come after the recent confirmation that code inside HTC’s U11 contains likely references to two new Pixel 2 devices - the references to S2 and M2 echo the references to last year’s S1 and M1 (the first Pixel and Pixel XL respectively). That pretty much locks the Pixel 2 family into a SnapDragon 835 architecture.

Although three models were initially discussed, the Pixel 2 family looks to have settled on a ‘regular’ smartphone and a ‘phablet’ device to meet market expectations. It also allows the Pixel 2 line to draw a direct comparison to families such as the Android powered Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, and presumably Apple’s update to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus which should be announced in the weeks before the Pixel 2.


Google is expected to announce the new Pixel devices maybe by October and is likely to be the last ‘major’ manufacturer to announce in the Q3/Q4 2017 period following Apple’s big tenth-anniversary reveal and Samsung’s return to the Note family.