For some time now, we’ve been hearing about upcoming devices from Google that, as we’ve come to expect each and every Fall, will be running nothing but stock Android. This much is business as usual, but as many of you might already know, we’ve been hearing that the Nexus line is no more, and will instead be succeeded by the Pixel line, the very same that has given birth to high-end Chromebooks as well as last year’s stock Android tablet from Google, seemingly replacing the Nexus name in tablets. Evidence for the Pixel name has mounted over the past few days even, with the landing of an APK file for the Pixel Launcher, which is all but confirmed to be replacing the Nexus Launcher. Now however, it looks like we could be getting one of first looks at the Pixel XL.
The above picture, which isn’t very crisp at all, comes from a fairly unknown Twitter handle of @usbfl, which has changed its username to simply “pixel”, the handle is new, having only been opened back in August of this year and the only other tweets from the account have been Nexus/Pixel related. This latest tweet comes with a simple image of what appears to be the front of the Pixel XL. For those paying attention to this year’s Nexus rumor roadshow, the Pixel XL is obviously the larger of the two rumored devices, said to be shipping with a Snapdragon 821 and a form factor similar to that of the Nexus 6P from Huawei last year. There’s not a huge amount we can see in such a low-quality image, but we can make out design cues from the classic Nexus 4, which had a slightly curved front as well as grippy edges to it. On top of this, we can also see what appears to be a new design for the home, back and multitasking buttons which are said to be launching with the new Nexus/Pixel devices coming this Fall.
This isn’t the most exciting look at things Pixel, but it does give us some sort of look at what Google and HTC have been working on. Previous renders as well as rumors have pointed to a device that appears to follow in the footsteps of LG’s first Nexus, the beloved Nexus 4, as well as some iPhone design elements. This image isn’t clear enough for us to say for sure what the Pixel XL – if this even is the Pixel XL – will look like, but as the rumored launch date looms ever closer, we could see more leaks like this over the next fortnight or so.