Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL phones are two of the
best Android phones you can buy at the moment. Released last year to replace
the Nexus line, Google will be releasing a second generation in a few months.
Initially, there were three devices, codenamed
Walleye, Muskie, and Taimen. However, Muskie which was believed to be the Pixel
XL 2 is said to have been cancelled, leaving Walleye and Taimen. Taimen has a
larger screen than the cancelled Muskie and will reportedly be built by LG. New
details have emerged regarding the specifications of both devices. According to
XDA Developers, a trusted source who has spent time with the devices revealed
the info to them.
The device which will be built by LG will have a 5.99-inch
1440 OLED display (supplied by LG as well). This is even larger than the LG G6
which has a 5.7-inch device. If you loved the Motorola-built Nexus 6, then you
will appreciate the extra screen estate but with smaller bezels than the
first-gen Pixel XL.
Taimen will also have a 128GB variant along with 4GB
of RAM and a Snapdragon 835 chip clocked at 2.45 GHz. Its rear will retain the
half metal and half glass finish from the previous model. However, the top
glass part won’t cover the fingerprint scanner (rear-mounted again). Camera for
Taimen is a single sensor with dual LED flash.
Walleye a.k.a Pixel 2 will have a 4.97-inch 1080p
display. The design is reported to be almost identical to last year’s model
down to the bezels. One addition Google is adding is stereo speakers. The extra
speaker will sadly come at the death of the 3.5mm audio jack which the source
says Taimen doesn’t have. RAM and processor are the same with Taimen but
storage comes in at 64GB.
The source says that he discovered that the pre-production
software on Taimen referred to the fingerprint scanner as “Nexus Imprint” while
Walleye’s settings referred to its own scanner as “Pixel Imprint”.
It is still unclear what this means. Google already
announced that it was done with the Nexus line, so we do not want to jump into
conclusions. It may also be an error that wasn’t fixed or a sort of throwback
to when LG used to make Nexus devices.
There are a number of big changes coming such as the
removal of the audio jack. It remains to be seen if Google will bundle
headphones with the Pixel 2 or just throw in an adapter. It also appears that
Google is sticking to putting the fingerprint scanner on the rear. So if you
have been hoping Google will implement the under-display fingerprint scanner
design, sorry to burst your bubble.
