Today is Pixel day, but I can’t tell you too much about the experience of actually using the Pixel 6 Pro just yet. (Sorry, embargo.) You know the specs, you know the features, and you know what it looks like in the abstract, but those are all promotional renders meant to paint the phone in the best possible light. What does it actually look like, in real life? How do the shapes meld and blend in reality? Our early first-look gives you a quick overview of Google’s changing design language and the physicality of the Pixel 6 Pro. And the elephant in the room is the elephant strapped to the back of the phone.

There’s no getting around it or hiding it, the camera bump is gigantic, projecting out from the phone’s body with strong Geordi La Forge visor energy. I’d argue it looks a little nicer than the renders suggested, but it is a comically massive projection. Given how well Google managed to shrink the size of the Pixel 5a’s camera bump, I’m a little disappointed the company couldn’t accomplish something similar here.

I can’t show you what the photos they take look like, but on the back, you can see the three camera modules. From left to right you have the primary wide-angle, the ultra-wide, and the folded periscope telephoto. To the right of that the flash, mic, and a few supplementary sensors live.

If you like using thin or svelte cases, then I suspect this chunky design choice for the rear camera strip is going to complicate things, though it does make for a nice visual effect otherwise. When all smartphones these days use variations on the camera island theme, this long TCL-like camera strip is a more refreshing approach, and it nicely divides the back into two panels, which Google takes advantage of.

While that rear “forehead” is larger on the Pixel 6 Pro than on the Pixel 6, Google still manages to turn it into a relatively subtle accent piece. On my Sorta Sunny unit, the top is an almost peach shade, while the bottom is a pastel yellow. The other more boring monochrome options make do with a gray accent.

Cumulatively, it’s a nice effect and one I hope Google sticks with. I don’t know why, but here in Androidland, most smartphone makers just sort of abandon hardware design language after a year or two, but this approach is almost a return to form and the two-tone backs offered with the Pixel 2 series. With how easily recognizable Google’s camera visor design will be, I hope it hangs around, though it could stand some tweaks like more fun colors and a matte finish. I generally prefer matte glass to glossy as it’s less reflective (handy for photos in certain circumstances), easier to keep clean, and feels more premium.

Unlike the smaller Pixel 6, the Pro has a polished and glossy aluminum metal frame, though I think I prefer the textured metal finish of the Pixel 6. You do get matte power buttons, but they don’t have a defined or “fun” texture like the Pixel 5a has, and I was sort of expecting more consistency here — I liked that texture as an accessibility feature to tell the buttons apart.

One other interesting bit of consistency is the speaker holes on the bottom of the phone, which have the same long thin shape Google’s used since the original Pixel (excluding the short stint of front-facing speakers on the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3). Other smartphone companies like Samsung and OnePlus switch up designs more frequently, though they each have their own little long-term consistencies as well, like OnePlus’s “horizon line” styling.

One thing that’s already bothering me about the design is the earpiece and the inconsistently shaped void behind it. In a well-lit room or outside, you can see that the space behind the earpiece is inconsistent and partially blocked-out, with an awkward off-center line visible when it’s bright enough to see inside it. If Google had tossed a grille of some kind over this it wouldn’t be visible, though the effect is even more noticeable on the smaller Pixel 6.

Antenna bands on the Pixel 6 Pro are curious. For one, the model we got has a big blocked-out band covering nearly the entire top of the phone. Google tells us that’s a mmWave antenna, and the mmWave-less versions of the phone will have “normal” antenna bands. There are also antenna band dividers inset in the metal bezel for the rear camera strip, which is curious. (Google couldn’t tell us what those ones were for.)

I can’t do a whole lot here with the screen on for you, but Google will let me show you the home screen and a few hardware details. The company has switched to a centered hole punch design that puts the camera front and center — an approach I prefer to the corner camera it’s used on the prior Pixel 5 series and 4a series.

There’s also a new in-display fingerprint sensor that, based on my understanding of today’s embargo, I can discuss in terms of specifications but can’t actually show you, since it’s not visible from the home screen or in hardware with the display off. Trust me though, it’s there.

The Pixel 6 Pro also has a curved edge display. I know, a lot of folk hate that, but I don’t, and it’s one of the few things that makes phones this size actually fit in your hand, and I anticipate appreciating it here as well, though a bit of off-angle color shifting to the sides is usually inevitable. Still, curved edges in general help big phones fit in your hand better, and with the size and palpable weight of the 210g Pixel 6 Pro, I think it will be handy. It’s not quite as outright chonky-feeling as Samsung’s Ultra phones, but it’s pretty close. This is a very big phone.

The rest of the physical appearance is just about mundane details: The SIM card tray is on the left side, the USB Type-C port is on the bottom, and there’s an extra mic hole up top. Antenna bands fall where they may, often near corners, though there’s an asymmetrical band on the bottom separating the USB port from one of the speaker holes, and I’m pretty sure it will drive me slowly crazy.

I don’t think I can’t go into much more detail than this right now, but that’s probably for the best — I’ve only had the phone for about a day. You can look forward to our full, in-depth review soon after we’ve had more time with the phone. But it’s okay to be excited right now. I am.