Google Just Shared an Image of the Unannounced Pixel 4

It’s getting to be the time of year we expect to see leaks of the upcoming Google Pixel phones. Although, we traditionally don’t expect those leaks to come from Google itself. Following a handful of blurry spy shots, Google has tweeted an image of the upcoming Pixel 4 on its official @MadeByGoogle Twitter account. The image confirms some things about the leaks but leaves plenty to the imagination.

Google’s leak, if you can call it that, shows the phone from the back with the rumored square camera module in the corner. In the previous render leak, we didn’t have any specifics on what was inside that module. Now, it’s clear the phone has two cameras. This makes the Pixel 4 the first in the series to have two rear-facing cameras along with a flash in the camera module.

Well, since there seems to be some interest, here you go! Wait 'til you see what it can do. #Pixel4 pic.twitter.com/RnpTNZXEI1

— Made by Google (@madebygoogle) June 12, 2019

Even with a single camera, Google’s phones have put most other smartphones to shame with their impeccable photos. A second camera means more data for Google’s essentially magical computational photography algorithms, but it’s unclear if the secondary camera will be telephoto, wide-angle, monochrome, or something else entirely. There are also two non-camera holes in that module. Their purpose is anyone’s guess.

The rest of the back is unremarkable — there’s no fingerprint sensor back there, confirming the previous leak. It could be under the screen or gone entirely. We also don’t get a look at the front of the phone, so we can’t tell if the Pixel 4 will have a display notch, punch hole, or neither. We also can’t say if this new image shows the Pixel 4 or 4 XL — there may not even be any discernible difference from this perspective.

Google has never posted an image of an upcoming phone before an announcement, at least not intentionally. It has, however, been very bad at keeping things under wraps. This Twitter post could be Google giving up on staying ahead of the leaks, or it could be angling toward a much quicker Pixel 4 announcement.

We already know that Pixel 3 sales have been disappointing, and the Pixel 3a makes Google’s flagship phones much less attractive. We’ve been expecting the fourth-gen Pixels to debut in October like the last three, but it’s possible Google will release the Pixel 4 and 4 XL when Android Q is ready. That should happen around August.

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