It’s been a few days since Google introduced its low-cost Pixel 3a and we already have details on the incoming Pixel 4, a phone that allegedly will have no buttons at all and a punch-hole display.
If previous release dates are a sign, the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL are four months from release but Jon Prosser’s Front Page Tech, a YouTube channel that has accurately predicted details about the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3a series in the past, already has details about the next Google flagship phone.
The Pixel 4 will allegedly eliminate all physical buttons. No power button, no volume keys, not Google Assistant… nothing. Instead of clicking, users will just touch the capacitive surfaces on the sides of the phone.
Why? The hell we know, folks. PhoneArena suggests that it may be related to Google’s Active Edge, a feature that allows users to squeeze the frame of their phones to perform functions — as if learning all the Dr. Strange finger gestures needed to take full advantage of your phone weren’t complicated enough.
Prosser also claims that the phone will have a new in-display fingerprint scanner, stereo speakers, and a punch-hole display like the one you can see in the Samsung Galaxy S10. All of which is fine and good — but no physical buttons?
Oh well. Google wouldn't be the first company to try this— Chinese company’s Vivo and Meizu both are doing that with the new Apex 2019 and the Zero, respectively. But those areexpensive models amongst many others, directed at people looking for those breakthrough features.
For Google, this will be their only flagship. It’s hard to imagine them being so bold as to take this radical step. On the other hand, I will be glad for them to push the envelope in any direction at this point.
Be sure to catch up on all of the biggest Pixel 4 rumors so far.
