The Google Pixel 4 XL prototype appears online in an unprecedented gray color

In October, Google announced the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, its latest Pixel flagship smartphones with premium price tags. Google is selling the two phones in three different color options: Oh So Orange, Clearly White, and Just Black. Obviously, there may have been a fourth color option in development with a matte gray finish. Photos of a Google Pixel 4 XL prototype have just appeared on Chinese online shopping site Taobao, potentially giving us our first look at this unpublished color option.

Google Pixel 4 forums ||| Google Pixel 4 XL forums

Earlier today, Twitter user akes29 He shared a photo of a Pixel 4 XL in a gray color that we’ve never seen before. In a DM, he revealed that he saw this photo on Taobao. The listing offers a Pixel 4 XL “engineering machine” with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage for 2,699 Yuan, or about $ 382, ​​which is oddly considerably cheaper than a new Pixel 4 XL sold in the United States ( starting today, for $ 600). From the images that were shared in the list, we cannot be 100% sure that the seller has not changed the back cover of the device; Please note, however, that this phone is not easy to take apart and put back together, according to the iFixit repair website. Also, there doesn’t appear to be any signs of phone damage or image tampering, so the phone is likely to come with a gray colored glass back cover, as the seller claims. We are pretty sure this device is the Pixel 4 XL as we positively identified the IMEI using an online database and of course there is the fact that this look like the Pixel 4 XL. Take a look for yourself:

Other nuggets of information we can get from the back include the codename, C2, the intended operator, Verizon, and the type of prototype device we’re looking at, an Engineering Validation Test (EVT). In the code, the Pixel 4 XL and Pixel 4 are often referred to by Google as “C2F2”, meaning “coral” and “flame” respectively. Interestingly, the label at the bottom says that “this device has not been licensed as required by the standards of the Federal Communications and Industry Commission of Canada, nor has it been tested for compliance with EU regulations.” This device cannot be sold or rented. For internal testing and development only. The markings and packaging are not final. “This design may never have been released and was only produced to get the device into the testers’ hands as soon as possible.

Here are more images of the shared Pixel 4 XL prototype on the Taobao list:

We can see that the phone runs Android 10, which is not surprising since Android 11 is still in the developer preview stage. You can see another sticker on the front that says “do not remove unless hwpasafety authorizes”. This sticker seems to cover the face unlock point projector, face unlock flood illuminator and one of the face unlock IR cameras.

The first leaks of the Pixel 4 XL appeared in China before the official launch of the phone, so it comes as no surprise that prototype devices are still floating in Chinese markets. We may never find out the true story behind this prototype model, but that’s usually the case when it comes to pre-production units.