Rumors far and wide have been saying that the Google Pixel 2 will have a Snapdragon 836 chip, but it may have stretched credulity a bit too much.
Now the word in town is that the next-generation Pixel phones will instead have Snapdragon 835 processors, the same as what's under the hood of most 2017 Android phones. That's because there's no such thing as a Snapdragon 836, apparently.
No Snapdragon 836
According to Android Police, it spoke with a "source familiar with Qualcomm's plans," confirming that there's no such thing as a Snapdragon 836 and that the chipmaker's agenda doesn't include anything like that.
Singing the same tune, the folks over at XDA Developers also agree that the Snapdragon 836 is not happening anytime soon, saying that its "source is confident that this leak is incorrect."
Sure, it's possible that this is a grand scheme of Qualcomm to keep things under wraps, but that's just pushing the envelope.
Surprise, Surprise
Backing up the two outlets' statements, a recent FCC filing confirmed that the Pixel 2 is going to sport Snapdragon 835. As a side note, it also revealed that the upcoming Google flagship will have a squeezable edge like the HTC U11's Edge Sense and Android 8.0.1 Oreo from the get-go.
In other words, there's pretty concrete evidence that the Pixel 2 will house a Snapdragon 835 instead of a Snapdragon 836 — more weight to it than a rumor, at least.
On top of that, the Snapdragon 835 is quite a success in its own right, which means Qualcomm may have little or no incentive in upgrading it.
How The Rumors All Began
The rumor about the Pixel 2 lineup boasting Snapdragon 836 chips comes from the notable leakster Evan Blass.
Google's second-generation Pixel handsets, powered by Snapdragon 836 SoC's, will be unveiled on October 5th.
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 24, 2017
Due to his track record, it's easy to believe that the Pixel 2 had a more or less high chance to get a Snapdragon 836. Put simply, this was indeed thought to be the case until the FCC filing coupled with Android Police's and XDA Developers' sources turned up.
At any rate, disregarding the Snapdragon conundrum, the Oct. 5 unveiling date is hopefully the real deal because that would mean that the Pixel 2 is just shy of a month away, and all speculations surrounding this would finally be put to rest.
