Richard Goodwin 24/08/2017 - 4:29pm

Google will unveil the Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 on October 5, according to everyone’s favourite leaker, Evan Blass (AKA @evleaks)

The Google Pixel 2 and Google Pixel 2 XL really have their work cut out for them inside Q4 2017.

Not only will they be going head-to-head with Apple’s iPhone 8 and iPhone 7s, and Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8, but they’ll also have to contend with the Nokia 8 AND the Essential Phone PH-1.

The Google Pixel 2 and Google Pixel XL 2 will launch on October 5, according to @evleaks, likely at a launch event at Google’s HQ, and will, almost certainly, be the first Android handsets to run Android Oreo out the box.

The Google Pixel 2 and Google Pixel XL 2 will run Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 836 CPU - a tweaked version of the Snapdragon 835. The handsets should also feature a newer, hopefully, less boring design, improved imaging, and, fingers crossed, more storage and colour options.

Here's what Qualcomm said about its Snapdragon 835 at the Galaxy Note 8 launch:

"The Samsung Galaxy Note8 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform, which is one of the first commercial SoC manufactured using 10nm FinFET technology.

It added: "The SoC integrates the Snapdragon X16 LTE modem supporting Gigabit LTE speeds and also features the latest generation of Qualcomm Adreno 540 GPU, which delivers up to 25 percent faster graphics rendering compared to Adreno 530, while allowing users to enjoy a 360-degree immersive visual capture experience. The Snapdragon 835 also features the Qualcomm Mobile Security platform with enhanced security for biometrics and device attestation, which can be experienced in the Galaxy Note8."

Google will also make the handsets water and dust resistant; the fact that the Pixel and Pixel XL weren’t was just plain silly, given that even Apple’s phones are now waterproof. Apparently it was planned for the first-gen Pixels, but the devs ran out of time.

The handsets, according to leaks, sound like refinements on what came before, so don’t go expecting something drastically different to what the original Pixel phones.

The main difference with the Google Pixel 2 and Google Pixel XL 2 will likely be how they’re marketed. The Pixel and Pixel XL were impossible to get in many regions, so we expect Google to make the Google Pixel 2 and Google Pixel XL 2 available on a global basis.

That means no exclusive network deals and launches in places like Spain and other parts of Europe and Asia, where demand for the handsets was completely untapped by Google in 2016/17.