There are but three certainties in life: death, taxes, and Google’s next Pixel phone getting thoroughly leaked before the company can even announce it. (Multiple generations of Pixel have been publicly unboxed, disassembled, and even reviewed before Google can show them off.)
But it seems Google doesn’t want leakers to have all the fun — it plans to let 15 lucky fans try new Pixel phones while they’re still in development, reports Bloomberg.
While Google hasn’t officially confirmed this yet, Bloomberg says it’s reviewed official rules for a contest called “The Trusted Tester program,” where 15 winners can “help shape a Pixel phone currently in development.” They’ll have to sign an NDA and agree to use the phones in special protective cases designed to disguise them while they’re out in the wild, Bloomberg notes.
It’s not unusual for companies to let their own employees test unreleased hardware out in the wild using protective disguises, or for companies to bring fans into their offices for focus tests, but to let fans take a Pixel-class phone out in the wild? Unheard of.
Could fans really spoil a Pixel surprise any more than leakers do anyway? The risk seems low. In recent years, Google has begun preemptively revealing its own phones in a “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” strategy. It wouldn’t even surprise me if one of the winners winds up getting permission from Google to share their early thoughts with the world.
It’s not yet clear when fans might enter for a chance to try the phone, which phone it might be, or when that phone might reach their hands, but Bloomberg writes it’s for “Pixel Superfans” — so it’s a safe bet you’d need to be part of that existing official fan group to even have a chance.
Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.