Our suspicion that Google’s Pixel 2 XL will be one of this year’s best smartphones has been reaffirmed by a new report from XDA. If you haven’t yet decided which new smartphone to buy—iPhone X, Note 8, LG V30—you might want to wait for Google’s October 4 event.
According to the newly leaked details, Google’s device will feature a Portrait Mode and dual front-facing stereo speakers. The latter feature is a big deal because we thought the advent of bezel-less displays would mean the death of dual front-facing speakers, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.
The new Portrait Mode will reportedly work like it does on every other phone that offers the feature, blurring out the background behind a subject. The mode is great for taking pictures of friends and family, providing a DSLR-like experience without a bulky camera and expensive lenses.
XDA also claims both the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL will feature a revamped launcher (something we already got a look at), along with “music recognition.” When enabled, the feature will apparently recognize when music is playing nearby and show the artist and song on a user’s lock screen.
The report goes on to highlight features we already knew were coming to both upcoming Pixel devices, including an Always On display mode and the ability to invoke Google Assistant by squeezing the frame.
We’ve seen their designs and we pretty much know their features. Now, it’s just a matter of Google announcing the new Pixel models so we can finally see them in person. Google is holding an event on October 4.

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