Google remotely formats a prototype Pixel 7 Pro sold online

The Pixel 7 soap opera that went on sale on eBay months before its release is just the tip of the iceberg of an increasingly bizarre story.

While the listing was removed from eBay, Google fans were able to see in the phone’s reflections that the Pixel 7 photos had been taken with a Pixel 7 Pro, another Google device that has yet to go on sale.

The seller, who also reportedly tried to sell the Pixel 7 on Facebook, told The Verge that he had owned a Pixel 7 Pro, but sold it.

It is not clear that it is the same device, but this week a user has appeared on Reddit who claims to have bought a prototype of the Pixel 7 Pro on Facebook. Presenting photos as evidence, the user assures that he spent three weeks using the phone normally under the belief that it was a Pixel 6 Pro. However, when the news of the prototypes for sale broke, Google remotely erased the content and the phone system, and the device was unusable.

The photos posted by the Reddit user reveal that the prototype is a Pixel 7 Pro in “Obsidian” black color, with a strange logo on the back and codename “Cheetah”. This particular model had 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256 GB of flash memory made by Micron, as well as a Samsung Exynos 5300 modem. It is also rumored that the Pixel 7 will have the same screen technology as the Pixel 6.

Although the Pixel Watch lost in a bar sounded like guerrilla marketing by Google, I don’t get anything clear from these prototypes sold on eBay and Facebook Marketplace. The Pixel 6 is Google’s best-selling Pixel, so it may be interesting to talk about the Pixel 7 that will be released in the fall to maintain the trend. However, we already knew what the phone looked like because Google itself announced it at the past Google I/O.

On the other hand, if they are phones that were stolen or leaked by an employee, I understand that they know exactly how it happened since they were able to locate the device and format it remotely.