We have a better idea of what the Google Pixel 3 may look like today, thanks to new drawings of an all-screen smartphone buried inside the Android P beta.
The illustrations in the gestures menu depict a nondescript phone design, but if you look at the leaked photos from Slashleaks closely enough, it has the edge-to-edge display that we anticipate from the rumored Google Pixel 3 and Google Pixel 3 XL.
Both the Google Pixel 2 and Google Pixel 2 XL were great phones with class-leading cameras, but true all-screen phones these were not. The Pixel 2 has thick bezels and the Pixel 2 XL squeezes in stereo speakers at the top and bottom.
Google Pixel 3 notch or no notch?
There a chance that this Google Pixel 3 sighting is just a placeholder. However, betas have been known to reveal blueprints of phone hardware to come in the future – the iPhone X was outed just before Apple was ready to reveal its new phone last year.
In this case, the front of the phone in these drawings is devoid of markings: there's no home button, little room for a front-facing camera, and, importantly, no notch. That does fly in the face of some early Google Pixel 3 rumors.
It's believable. Next-generation smartphones are expected to move to a true all-screen look in the future, resembling the Vivo Apex Concept. Google could be leading the way in phone design, or it could just be omitting the notch from its placeholder illustration.
We'll soon know if Google chose a notch (which the Android P software makes room for), or is able to avoid the controversial notch fate. The expectation is that the Google Pixel 3 release date will be in October.
- Next big one: Samsung Galaxy Note 9
