The new Google Pixel phone has appeared at the FCC, and there are only two possible candidates.
The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC for short, is the official US communications regulator. Every smartphone and connected device must pass through this agency before they can be sold in the country.
So an appearance at the FCC is almost as good as an official announcement in terms of reliability. That’s why we’re intrigued by the FCC’s appearance of Google’s new phone, even if we don’t know exactly what it is.
Three codenamed variants of one Google phone have appeared for approval G0DZQ, GHL1Xand GWKK3. Each of these phones “use the same identical internal PCB layouts,” suggesting that they are different SKUs of the same model. A fourth device, the G82U8, is also mentioned.
No details have been released about the size or appearance of these phones, so we can only guess what they might be. As stated at the beginning, there are only two possible candidates for this mysterious Google device: the Google Pixel 7a and Google Pixel Fold.
The Pixel 8 isn’t expected to launch until the very end of the year, and an FCC appearance usually indicates a fairly quick turnaround.
There have been some notable Pixel 7a-related leaks recently, pointing to a 90Hz display, an improved camera system, and the addition of wireless charging. One recent hands-on even revealed the codename “2A281FQHN,” which appears to be very similar indeed to those FCC listings.
We’d put money on the company releasing at least one of these phones at Google I/O in May.
