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Android Q code hints at ‘Pixel 3a XL’ branding for Google’s coming mid-range smartphone

It’s been rumored for a couple of years at this point that Google has been developing a pair of “budget” Pixel smartphones. Now, thanks to the first Android Q beta release, some code is seemingly confirming Pixel 3a XL as the name of one of Google’s upcoming mid-range devices.

First reported by the folks at XDA-Developers, a couple of snippets of code within Android Q’s first beta give us more evidence regarding Google’s coming mid-range devices. Firstly, we get more appearances of the “sargo” and “bonito” codenames.

These have appeared several times before, and in the Q beta release these names are listed alongside other Pixel codenames. In the ConnectivityMonitor app, the “walleye,” “tamien,” “sailfish,” and “marlin” codenames all appear alongside their respective devices. After that, “bonito” and “sargo” appear as “B4S4” devices. That seems to hint that these are considered fourth-generation Pixel devices.

Within a library used by the camera app on Android Q, we get another mention of “sargo,” this time accompanied by the name Pixel 3a XL. This is actually branding we’ve heard before in benchmarks, but since those are easily altered, it’s something we took with a grain of salt. Due to the code’s complex nature, it’s hard to tell with certainty that “sargo” is indeed referring to the Pixel 3a XL, but the branding itself seemingly hints that Google will be using that publicly. Based on that, it’s not a stretch to assume the smaller device will simply be the Pixel 3a.

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