What Leaks Tell Us About the Pixel 3 XL (Premium)

Has any smartphone leaked as frequently as Google's upcoming Pixel 3 XL? I don't believe so. But a recently-released unboxing video gives us our best look yet at this new flagship handset. And it makes it very easy to compare the Pixel 3 XL to its predecessor, at least from a form factor perspective.

To do this, I broke out the packaging for my current handset and temporarily removed its protective case. Then, I tried to match up what I'm seeing here in person with the Pixel 3 XL imagery in the unboxing video.

Which you can find here.

And I have to say that, despite so many previous leaks, a few comparisons did surprise me. And not always in a negative way.

First of all, the packaging is entirely consistent with, if not identical to, that of the Pixel 2 XL. With one exception: The box shown in the video is completely free of any exterior imagery or text, whereas the Pixel 2 XL production packaging, of course, has both.

But it lifts off in the same way, and it utilizes the same tape-like protective sticker to prevent accidental removal. (Which the videographer removed before recording.)

Inside the box, the phone is on the top, sitting in a recessed tray molded in the shape of the phone. The production Pixel 2 XL was protected by a plastic sheet, but the one in the video appears to be al fresco, suggesting that the box was previously opened or that they didn't protect the pre-production unit shown.

When the phone's back is shown for the first time, we see the familial similarity. In fact, the rear of the Pixel 3 XL looks identical to that of the Pixel 2 XL, with the same glass top area (for radio transmission friendliness), same fingerprint reader placement, and same camera, at least from an external point of view.

The interior of the packaging looks basically identical, too, though the power supply and accessories compartments are reversed (so I've turned mine around "upside down").

In the first accessories packet, we see the first major difference: The Pixel 3 XL will ship with a color-coordinated pair of Google Pixel Buds headphones. I assume these are not as powerful as the $160 pair that Google currently sells on its website, by which I mean that they are just headphones and will not include the language translation features of their retail cousins.

Underneath that, you see the same USB-C-to-USB-C cable, USB-C-to-headphone jack dongle, and USB-C-to-USB-A adapter that Google provides today with the Pixel 2 XL. They're arranged a bit more cleanly and in a single place, but nothing has really changed there.

Finally, there is the USB-C-based power supply, which again looks identical, though the version in the video is a European-style plug whereas I, of course, have the US-style plug.

And then we finally get to the device itself. Here, I'd like to preface my comments by noting that the major complaints of the Pixel 3 XL, so far, both here and elsewh...