Green phones are having a moment.
Like all fashion, it seems like phone colors ebb and flow according to what’s popular in mainstream culture. A few years ago, everyone needed something red and bold; in other more subdued years, various shades of blue pervade our colorways.
This year has seen the rise (again) of the green phone, from the OnePlus 8’s Glacial Green to the Note 20’s Mystic Green to the iPhone 11’s spearmint green option. It’s been a good year for fans of the verdant outdoors (largely because it’s been a bad year in every other way), and Google appears to be adding to the count with its upcoming green Pixel 5 option, leaked today on Twitter by WinFuture’s Roland Quandt.
The image is a marketing asset for Google’s new upcoming Chromecast with Google TV, the company’s upcoming dongle that heralds yet another rebrand of Android TV. If you’re paying close attention, you’ll notice a Pixel near the bottom right of the screen, a recognizable phone shape in an unfamiliar color.
The green Pixel 5 colorway has been rumored for a while now, but this is the first time we’re seeing it in person. In typical Google fashion, it’s a subtle, more matte and muted mint green than what other companies are doing, closer in spirit to Samsung’s Mystic Green than OnePlus or Apple.
It’s also perfect. I’ve been waiting years for a phone this color, one that exudes the calming viridescence of a forest walk or piece of Excel gum. It also looks grippy enough, at least from this shot, that I’d be comfortable using the phone without a case — though the inclusion of wireless charging likely means the back is made of glass.
Google’s done some interesting things with colors over the years. Last year’s Oh So Orange Pixel 4 was a bit too loud for my tastes, but I appreciated it all the same, while the Purplish Pixel 3a was just subtle enough to appreciate.
Here’s hoping that the Pixel 5 lives up to its hype, irrespective of color. We’ll find out more about the phone, and its Pixel 4a 5G counterpart, at Google’s ‘Launch Night In’ event on September 30 at 2pm ET.
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