> “Reference design” is a term of art in electrical engineering, not aspirational product marketing. Root comment author here: I used the term mostly in mocker

> “Reference design” is a term of art in electrical engineering, not aspirational product marketing. Root comment author here: I used the term mostly in mockery of the hobby-level effort Google has put into Pixel in the past. However, when it cones to Android devices the lines are blurred between "reference design" and "competitor flagship". Consider: * Android's roadmap is controlled by Google, which decides which features go into the next release. Once those features are in the codebase, they can be used by any OEM * OHA OEMs get early access to upcoming Android versions and work with Google * Android devices share the same set of suppliers for sensors/chips/SoC/modems: this is highly commoditized. Once the API & drivers for a feature are there, any OEM will have an easier time implementing it; perhaps choosing a different part number in the same product line. So Google in not sharing its circuit diagrams & CAD files, but the OEMs don't have to reverse-engineer anything post-release either. The reality is someplace inbetween: cooperative development