Google Pixel 4 takes aim at OnePlus 7 Pro's stand-out feature

New information about the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL has surfaced online, but this time, remarkably, the details haven't been provided by Google itself, which has a habit of confirming rumoured features ahead of the official announcement – including the square camera design, and the facial recognition system.

• Google Pixel 4: price, release date, leaks, rumours and everything we know

Sources speaking to 9To5Google claim that both the standard-size and XL version of the Pixel 4 will sport a high refresh rate panel. Pegged to be around 90Hz, the display would stand toe-to-toe with the display on the OnePlus 7 Pro.

Like the latter, system animations on the Pixel 4 series will look smoother, scrolling will be silkier, action-packed mobile games will feel more responsive, and watching footage shot at higher frame rates will be possible for the first time on the Google-built smartphone series.

OnePlus 7 Pro has branded its own 90Hz panel as a Fluid AMOLED display. In our review, we described it as a "brilliant addition to the OnePlus 7 Pro and you'll really miss it when you pick-up a smartphone with a bog standard refresh rate."

Adding: "It's not always noticeable when you're swiping around the home screen, but whenever you're scrolling through a list the effect looks breathtaking. The animations look smoother than any other smartphone display. This is easily the best handset on sale right now to mindlessly scroll your Twitter and Instagram feed, bar none."

Aside from facial recognition to unlock the handset and authenticate payments within apps and via Google Pay, the Pixel 4 series will also be able to track hands movements when hovering your palm above the screen.

Dubbed Motion Sense, the new feature will let you pause a podcast, or skip to the next track on the album by swiping the air above your smartphone – perfect if you're cooking or can't use the touchscreen on your device.

"Our new Motion Sense features to allow you to skip songs, snooze alarms, and silence phone calls, just by waving your hand. These capabilities are just the start, and just as Pixels get better over time, Motion Sense will evolve as well," Google says.

Elsewhere, reports point to the Pixel 4 series packing 6GB of RAM, up from 4GB in the previous entry in the Google Pixel range. While that's likely to be a noticeable boost for anyone who upgrades, it's still a far cry from the 12GB of RAM that can be configured inside the OnePlus 7 Pro, for example. 

Just like the latest flagship smartphone from OnePlus, the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL will be powered by the top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 system-on-a-chip and will ship with the latest version of Android OS out of the box, the report continues.

Sources speaking to BGR claim the Google Pixel 4 series will have higher resolution displays – 2280 x 1080 on the Pixel 4, and 3040 x 1440 on the Pixel 4 XL. That's a sizeable increase on the 1080 x 2160 resolution on the Pixel 3, and 1440 x 2960 on the Pixel 3 XL.

The Google Pixel 4 is expected to launch in early October, so we're likely to hear more about the flagship in the coming weeks. So stick around for more.

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