Google has been fond of thick bezels in recent years, even if the ones in the Pixel 4 series had their uses. Nonetheless, a Pixel 2 XL prototype has shown what HTC offered to produce for Google for a few years ago. The Pixel 2 had noticeably thicker bezels than the Pixel 2 XL, despite being released by the same company. However, the prototype Pixel 2 XL produced by HTC show that thick bezels were more of an HTC thing than a Google thing.
In short, the HTC-made Pixel 2 XL has huge bezels, even by 2017 standards. The device, codenamed muskie, had the same design as the Pixel 2 XL that Google would eventually release though, which it contracted LG to produce. Unsurprisingly, the muskie looks like a larger Pixel 2, with its front-facing speakers a long way from the edges of its display.
Calyx Hikari has not offered many details on the muskie, but we presume it must have a smaller display than the LG-made Pixel 2 XL to fit within the same shell. Overall, we think that Google made the right choice by releasing the Pixel 2 XL that LG produced. There is simply too much unused space on the HTC version, in our opinion, especially compared to the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 or the Huawei Mate 10 Pro.