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Google Pixel 4 will reportedly ditch physical buttons and display notch

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Google has just released the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL, but the rumor mill is already churning out unconfirmed information regarding its next flagship smartphone, the Pixel 4.

YouTuber Jon Prosser from Front Page Tech said that according to his sources, the Pixel 4 will undergo massive changes from its predecessors, starting with the removal of all physical buttons from the smartphones.

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Instead of clickable power and volume keys, the Pixel 4 will reportedly have capacitive touch areas along its right side, creating an uninterrupted aluminum frame.

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The reason for ditching physical buttons was not disclosed, but Prosser believes that it has something to do with the Active Edge squeezable frame. In previous Pixel devices, the feature was limited to certain parts of the aluminum frame that did not have physical buttons. By replacing them with capacitive touch areas, Active Edge may extend to the entire side of the Pixel 4.

In addition to the removal of the physical buttons, Prosser’s sources also claimed that the Pixel 4 display will not have a notch, but will instead have a hole-punch front-facing camera. The screen will have uniform bezels and a very thin chin, but will retain the front-facing stereo speakers of the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3.

Meanwhile, the back of the smartphone will no longer have a fingerprint scanner, as the Pixel 4 feature in-display technology for fingerprint recognition. The device will also reportedly have a new dual setup for the rear-facing cameras, which will be aligned horizontally in the top-left corner instead of vertically.

All of this information remains only rumors until Google releases official confirmation. Prosser’s credibility should be noted though, as he previously provided leaks for the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL that turned out to be accurate, and was also the first to confirm the existence of the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL.

The information provided by Prosser’s sources coincide with a sketch from earlier this year that claimed to be the first look at the design of the Pixel 4 XL. The drawing revealed a hole-punch front-facing camera and what looked like a horizontally-arranged dual-sensor rear-facing camera, with no indication of a fingerprint sensor at the back of the smartphone.

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