Google would let 15 superfans test new Pixel phones

There are only three certainties in life: death, taxes, and Google’s next Pixel phone completely leaking before the company can even announce it. (Several generations of Pixel have been publicly unboxed, disassembled and even examined before Google can show them.)

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.

Although Google has not officially confirmed it yet, Bloomberg says it has reviewed the official rules for a competition called the “Trusted Tester Program,” in which 15 winners can “help shape a Pixel phone currently in development.” They will have to sign an NDA and agree to use the phones in special protective cases designed to conceal them when out in the wild. Bloomberg Remarks.

It’s not uncommon for companies to let their own employees test unreleased hardware in the wild using protective disguises, or for companies to bring fans into their offices for focus tests, but letting fans take a Pixel-class phone out into the wild? Never seen before.

Could fans really spoil a Pixel surprise any more than leakers do anyway? The risk seems low. In recent years, Google has started preemptively revealing its own phones as part of an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” strategy. It wouldn’t even surprise me if one of the winners ended up getting Google’s permission to share their initial thoughts with the world.

It’s not yet clear when fans might enter for a chance to try out the phone, what phone it is, or when this phone might reach their hands, but Bloomberg writes that it’s for “Pixel Superfans” – so it’s a safe bet that you’d need to be part of this existing official fan group to stand a chance.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.