Come October at Google’s I/O developers conference it is fully expected that the Pixel 4 will be announced. Whilst this is still not confirmed in tech circles it seems to be a safe bet. No details of the phone have yet been released but from the rumours, we can guess what the differences between this model and its predecessor might be.

Design

Google tweeted a picture earlier this year of the rear of the new Pixel 4 phone, so we have a fairly good idea of what that will look like. The photo showed a camera housing in the top left of the rear. This housing seemed to have three lenses rather than the one lens of the Pixel 3 models. This would be a big change for Google who has so far only used software to make photo improvements. The three lenses are likely to be a 16MP a 12MP and a time-of-flight sensor compared to the single 12.2MP lens of the Pixel 3.

On the front, the deep notch of the Pixel 3 will likely be gone and replaced with a sizeable bezel at the top of the phone. This is because we do know that the Pixel 4 range will be using Google’s new Soli radar chip, and this requires several extra sensors on the front of the phone to work. Elsewhere we will see a power button and no headphone jack which is fast becoming the norm in the market at the moment.

Display

Display-wise the tendency is towards the larger screen and this will no doubt be true of the Pixel 4 which is rumoured to grow to 5.7-inches from the 5.5-inches of the Pixel 3. The XL model though is likely to stay a similar size as the earlier one remaining solid at 6.3-inches.  The big difference with the screen though is likely to be in the refresh rates with the newer models upping the ante to a 90Hz refresh rate screen. This will see much smoother scrolling than on the predecessors 60Hz screens. Resolutions are likely to be similar with a FullHD+ resolution on the 4 and a QuadHD+ resolution on the 4 XL this is the same distinction that was on the 3 and 3 XL.

Hardware

We would always expect the hardware to improve with a new model and this will be no exception for Google. The SnapDragon 845 chipset of the 3’s is likely to make way for the SnapDragon 855 chipset improving performance all round. The newer chipset is also likely to be accompanied by a boost in ram moving up to 6Gb rather than the 4Gb found in the earlier models. The improved hardware should be backed by a bigger battery as well, so we hope that we can this grow. Maybe even to a 3700mAh model in the 4XL. Onboard storage is likely to start at 128GB as well rather than the 64Gb of the Pixel 3 base model.

Conclusion

Android Q will be launched alongside the Pixel 4’s so they will start with that OS. Google always updates their previous models with the latest OS though so software differences will be negligible. The improved hardware though will make users want to upgrade.