Google released the two Pixel phones last year with much fanfare but they are not exactly popular today. Some devs are calling them as foundational release being first-gen models of a phone series that could be bigger and more important in the years to come. We’re interested to know what the tech giant can incorporate in the next Pixel phones.
As early as January, we started hearing about the improved features and specs of the Pixel 2. The phone may have a cheaper variant but the flagship version will still be premium and not mid-range. We’ve heard a number of speculations including the idea the company may be ditching the headphone jack and call and online support. The two Pixel variants are codenamed as ‘muskie’ and ‘walleye’. The Walleye will be the entry-level Pixel 2 while the Muskie will be the Pixel XL 2.
There may be a third Pixel phone codenamed as ‘Taimen’—seen on Geekbench already— and all three will run on the Snapdragon 835 processor. A recent leak spilled a lot of important details but we also heard the rumor the Pixel XL 2 will not be released. There will be no more three new Pixel phones but will remain as a pair—Walleye and Taimen only.
LG is believed to be manufacturing the larger Pixel but there’s also a note that some reference was sighted in HTC U11 files. The XDA developers managed to get more information coming from a source very close and familiar with the Pixel phones, having spent some time with one.
The Walleye is described to have a 4.97-inch display screen, FHD resolution, large bezels, stereo speakers, 3GB RAM, Snapdragon 835 processor, and a 64GB onboard storage. The phone will not have a 3.5mm headphone jack. As for the Taimen, the bigger device will come equipped with a 5.99-inch screen, 1440p OLED panel, 128GB built-in storage, 2.45GHz Snapdragon 835 chipset, 4GB RAM, and one camera will have dual LED flash.
There’s also a mention of ‘Nexus Imprint’ for Taimen and ‘Pixel Imprint’ for the Walleye phone. We’re only guessing here but the two might be the fingerprint scanning functions and will be slightly different for each smartphone. The Nexus inclusion seems intriguing because the Nexus era has ended. Let’s wait and see if it will have a comeback.
VIA: XDA Developers
