The Google Pixel flagship smartphones from the father of Android have always been technical marvels with every release. They also usually come with a slightly more affordable version, demarcated by the “a” suffix after the numerical.
They also are notorious for being leaked months and months before the official announcement, let alone release. In this case, it’s kind of the same thing with the upcoming Google Pixel 4a.
Via renders by @OnLeaks and 91Mobiles, the Pixel 4a is, obviously, the budget equivalent of this year’s Pixel 4. At first glance, the 4a looks generally similar to the regular model, but ditches the black outer rim in favour of a monotone look.
At a closer look, you start to see several main differences. Firstly, the notch around the 4a seems to have been reduced while retaining the original 4’s 5.7-inch display. Also, an on-screen frontal camera has been added as well.
Now that the notch has been reduced, it might seem as though the 4a might not come with the Motion Sense tech that the 4 currently has. Whether that is a major change depends on the user who actually relies on Motion Sense and (the scarily sensitive) Facial Recognition a lot.
The last two flagship Pixel smartphones have been criticised for a lack of 3.5mm audio jack support, and as such potential Pixel owners may be relieved to know that the 4a will host one at the top edge, just like the Pixel 3a before it.
Flipping the 4a over to the back, one will notice two major changes: the switch back to a singular camera (while still being housed in the currently-trending square camera bump), as well as what looks to be a physical fingerprint sensor just above the G logo.
The omission of the fingerprint sensor on the Pixel 4 was quite controversial, so it will be no doubt refreshing to see it make a return on the Pixel 4a. Whether or not the fingerprint sensor is an actual thing remains to be seen, since these are ultimately unofficial renders.
While there isn’t much to go about on the Google Pixel 4a yet, we can certainly expect a price point of somewhere along S$600 onwards. As for the release itself, you can expect it to be somewhere around May 2020, during the Google I/O 2020 event, which also should include the release of Android 11.
Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.
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