We'll hand it to Google — y'all made it quite a while without an in-depth hands-on video of your next big thing leaking on YouTube for all the world to see. You certainly fared better than you did last go around, when a bunch of Pixel 3 units started popping up all over the Ukraine well ahead of the phone's October 2018 debut.
Yet here we are, likely a month away from seeing the Pixel 4 officially in the flesh, and an extensive hands-on video from Vietnamese YouTuber Anhem TV has emerged online. The video shows off a device that looks a whole lot like the Pixel 4 in high definition from every angle. Even though you might not be able to understand what this gentleman is saying, you'll certainly appreciate this crystal clear look at Google's forthcoming flagship from all sides.
In the video, we see a handset that aligns perfectly with all the Pixel 4 rumors we've heard to date. On the front, Google has retained a chunkier top bezel to house a mess of cameras, Project Soli motion-sensing radars and 3D face authentication hardware. On the back, we see a clean sheet of glass and a square camera bump similar in shape and positioning to those on the iPhone 11 series, with dual lenses to match.
While the traditional "Pixel Window" aesthetic is gone — the back panel is one continuous texture, rather than a mix of matte and glossy — the metal frame of this white model has been coated in a contrasting matte black, with a salmon-colored power button for a little pop. Those who dug the old penguin-themed Pixel 2 XL should like what they see here. Rumors have suggested we'll also see a fully black variant with a white power key, as well as another colorway that combines an orange back with a black frame.
From the video, we can see the software isn't quite final yet. The camera app doesn't work and regularly crashes, especially when the individual attempts to launch Portrait mode. However, thanks to a peek into the Settings app, we have proof Google is planning on building a 90Hz screen into the Pixel 4, thanks to a Smooth Display feature that can be toggled on or off. Another new feature, titled Ambient EQ, looks to adjust the white balance of the display to suit your surroundings, like Apple's True Tone technology.
A third-party CPU analyzer app running on device teases a Snapdragon 855 processor under the hood, backed by 6GB of RAM. That should at least answer back at critics who felt the 4GB of RAM in the Pixel 3 wasn't cutting it. Interestingly, the unit in the video does also appear to have 128GB of storage, though there's no way to tell if that's the base model Google intends to build, or if a cheaper one will have 64GB instead.
Unfortunately, the video doesn't test those Soli air gestures, nor does it experiment with Face Unlock. Again, this could have something to do with the software on board not being final. Hopefully we'll get to see those highly-anticipated features in action before Google's event likely in a few weeks' time. Otherwise, it won't be much longer of a wait now.
