Google Pixel 3 Allegedly Left At The Back Of A Lyft
Google will likely release its 2018 flagship smartphones, the Pixel 3 series, sometime this coming October. While the devices’ release is still more than a month away, Google appears to be having a serious problem preventing its Pixel 3 prototypes from falling into the hands of leakers or the general public.
Just last week, images of the smaller Google Pixel 3 emerged online, showing the notchless device in its full glory. Even before that, another Google Pixel 3 prototype was literally unboxed and tested in the wild. This time around, the Pixel 3 XL was left in what could very well be the most ridiculous location yet — at the back of a Lyft. That’s right. Someone from Google, who was issued a prototype unit ahead of the device’s launch ended up literally dropping the phone in a ride-hailing service’s vehicle.
Faced with the unique opportunity, the tech-savvy Lyft driver opted to take some photos of the Pixel 3 XL before returning it to its owner. The device looks pretty much like the renders made it out to be, including its rather large and unappealing notch that puts the size of the iPhone X’s notch to shame. A handful of images were taken by the Lyft driver, but it was enough to confirm a number of rumored details about the device.
The Lyft driver shared the images with Android Police, which, in turn, posted the pictures of the prototype smartphone on its official Twitter account. From the recent images, it is evident that the Pixel 3 XL’s extra large notch features a speaker flanked by two cameras. These two sensors are expected to be 8 MP each, which, basing it on the performance of the original Pixel and Pixel 2 series, should give really good results.
Someone left a Pixel 3 XL in the back of a Lyft https://t.co/wtuYwXSHvk pic.twitter.com/c47EdyuhNI
— Android Police (@AndroidPolice) September 2, 2018
In all fairness to the person who dropped the Pixel 3 XL at the back of a Lyft, it is evident from the images shared online that there was an attempt to keep the smartphone hidden, and for quite some time too. Apart from a number of identifying marks at the rear of the smartphone, there was also a significant amount of dust buildup around the device’s single-camera sensor, fingerprint sensor, and charging port, according to a Gizmodo report. This means that there’s a good chance the Pixel 3 prototype had been kept in a case for a while before it was left at the Lyft.
The Google Pixel 3 series is expected to feature improvements over its direct predecessors, like the Pixel 2 XL. Rumors about the internals of the device indicate that the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL would be equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC, which would likely be paired with 4 GB to 6 GB of RAM. The release date for the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL is expected to be sometime in October.
