The newest Google Pixel phone will give buyers something more to be excited about apart from already being one of the best Android experiences, if reports are to be believed. The phone has had a week’s worth of news suggesting numerous design improvement and functionalities that are sure to be a hit with the crowd, but the latest rumor is about the internals.
According to reports, Google Pixel 2 will be the first smartphone to run Qualcomm’s newest processor, which will be a slight bump in processing power – the Snapdragon 836. Much like last year, the Pixel was released with the Snapdragon 821, while its competitors at the time all had the Snapdragon 820. This time again, it seems like the Pixel 2 will get a slightly better upgrade in terms of processing power with a more powerful chipset. It was earlier suggested that the Note 8 might be the phone to receive it first according to FudZilla’s article, the Pixel 2 will be getting it first, which means it will launch before the Note 8.
Based on industry insiders, whether both variants will receive the chipset is doubtful, but since the previous generation Pixels both came with the Snapdragon 821, it would be fitting that the new Pixel 2 phones come with the same internal setup. Having said that, if even the new 836 SoC is installed, the difference in power will not be as significant as one would believe as it would just mean a bump in clock-speed for the CPU and GPU.
Earlier listings of devices that were supposedly the Pixel 2 phones, showed that they bore Snapdragon 835 CPUs and not Snapdragon 836 SoCs. Hence, this new piece of information may be misleading at best. Apart from the processor, it also seems like Google will be borrowing trick or two from HTC’s U11 flagship, like the squeezable frame for activating certain actions. Whether Google will be able to add some new functionality to it apart from how HTC uses it for their own flagship is something that will only be tested when it finally releases.
If Google does in fact use the same technology as HTC’s, it would add custom layer of functionality that may only be exclusive to the Pixel – a first, for a Google phone, considering that all Google Android phones have been vanilla phones with just the Android experience and no extra bells and whistles. It’s the OEMs that add the custom aspect to their own Android based phones such as Samsung and HTC, who are famously known for their level of customisation.
Whether the Snapdragon 836 even exists at this point, is a matter of confirmation, let alone it being in the new Pixel phones. While it would be a welcome feature it would also not be too surprising since the last Pixel was a bit ahead of its competition in terms of internal specification.
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