Alleged Google Pixel 3 Lite With Snapdragon 670 Leaked Again In Hands-On Video
The Pixel 3 rumors are coming in fast and furious. Sure, Google already launched the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL (check out our review), but the company is said to be readying toned down versions of both handsets in the form of the Pixel 3 Lite and Pixel 3 Lite XL. We've seen some purported benchmarks show up online, and now there's a video of a pre-production Pixel 3 Lite.
As always, you should take these things with a grain of salt. One of the things that stands out about the video is it claims the pre-production model wields a Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 system-on-chip (SoC). There's nothing wrong with plopping a Snapdragon 670 inside a mid-range handset, but over on Geekbench, a recent entry purporting to show a Pixel 3 Lite XL indicates it has a Snapdragon 710 SoC.
It's possible that Google could go with two different chipsets for the Pixel 3 Lite and Pixel 3 Lite XL. Another explanation is that the pre-production model is not indicative of the final hardware. And of course one or both leaks could be fake. The narrator in the video alludes to the discrepancy by saying "the chipset is so new that many popular benchmarks still don't know how to properly recognize it."
In any event, the video lists the following specs:
- 5.56-inch display (2160x1080, 18:9 ratio, ~434 pixels per inch)
- Snapdragon 670 (10nm)
- Adreno 615 GPU
- 4GB RAM
- 32GB internal storage
- 2,915 mAh battery
- Android 9.0 Pie
For the cameras, the phone is said to have an 8-megapixel front shooter and a 12.2-megapixel rear camera with an f/1.8 aperture and optical image stabilization. This looks to be the same camera arrangement as the regular Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, minus autofocus, and according to the video, the Lite version takes the exact same quality photos. If true, that will definitely be a selling point—camera performance is a strong suit of the Pixel 3 series.
Solid camera performance on the Pixel 3 Lite might also cannibalize sales of the regular versions. As the video rightly points out, users who are only (or mostly) interested in taking great looking photos could save themselves some money by opting for the Pixel 3 Lite instead of the Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL. It's a fair point.
As to the construction, the pre-production model shown in the video is made from plastic. It has a brighter power button, and the SIM card tray has moved to the left side (instead of at the bottom). The phone also sports just a single speaker on the bottom.
Rumor has it the Pixel 3 Lite models will launch in spring.
