Google Pixel 3 XL leak appears to show production hardware and wired USB-C Pixel Buds

Is Google actually including headphones in the box this time?

By Chaim Gartenberg on August 8, 2018 9:10 am

  

Photo: Канал Лучкова (via Android Police)

We’re still presumably months away from the official Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL announcement, but that isn’t stopping the leakers. The latest images of Google’s next flagship appear to show finalized production hardware and what seems to be a pair of wired USB-C Pixel Buds.

The pictures come from Russian tech blogger Канал Лучкова’s Telegram channel (via Android Police), and they’re in line with earlier images we saw from other Pixel 3 XL leaks, including the already controversial notch. In these admittedly less-than-ideal shots, it appears to be a bit deeper than some users would like. (The Verge’s resident notch expert, Vlad Savov, commented that he finds it to be “the worst of all the notches so far.”) This time, the engineering emblem on the back seen in prior leaks has been replaced by Google’s G logo, so the phone has seemingly moved much closer to final production.

Photo: Канал Лучкова (via Android Police)

Also in the leaks are images of what looks like a bundled pair of wired USB-C headphones that Google might include in the box with the Pixel 3 line. Back when the Pixel 2 first launched, there was considerable evidence that Google was working on a wired version of its Pixel Bud headphones to ship with the phone. There was even an early packaging design that had a slot for the headphones, and it outright mentioned them in the manual.

Instead, Google only included a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle, much to the frustration of users who had to deal with the incredibly poor offerings of USB-C headphones on the market. If the leak is to be believed, the Pixel 3 won’t force users to deal with that issue again.

Photo: Канал Лучкова (via Android Police)

Google is expected to announce the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL sometime in early October, if previous launches are anything to go by. But at the current pace of these leaks, there might not be anything new left to share by then.