The Pixel 4a has reportedly been delayed... again!

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• Pixel 4a launch delayed...again!
• $350 for 128GB of storage
• Full specs confirmed
• Live photos appear online
• Fish codenames and potential 5G
• Launch date
• Design and specifications
• Price and availability

The Google Pixel 4a has been delayed again

The latest news breaking about the Google Pixel 4a is not good. According to reports, the phone will still be officially announced on July 13 as previously expected, but that the black model will now launch on October 22, rather than October 1. The rumored 'Barely Blue' version, which was due to release on August 6 has reportedly now been scrapped altogether.

Where’s Pixel 4a?

Here’s an update:

AGAIN, it seems Google has delayed Pixel 4a 🤦🏼‍♂️

Announcement still happening on July 13

But in the system, it’s listed that the “Black” model now launching October 22 😬

“Barely Blue” has been removed entirely...

I’ll keep you updated. 🤷🏼‍♂️ https://t.co/UgsWJrYK4U pic.twitter.com/TX209u9Jqb

— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) June 13, 2020

Prosser has previously claimed that the Pixel 4a is ready to ship and that delays are simply a case of Google waiting for the market conditions to be just right to launch the phone. Yet, the delays are not a good look for Mountain View. When your new phone is leaked as much as the Pixel 4a has been, delays only frustrate interested consumers.

The Google Pixel 4a will be cheaper than the Apple iPhone SE

When the iPhone SE 2020 launched last month, fanboy everyone went wild for that $399 price tag. Now, thanks to 9to5Google's Stephen Hall, we can be almost certain that Google is about to undercut Apple with the price of its new Pixel 4a smartphone whilst offering twice the internal storage.

heard Pixel 4a is going be $349 https://t.co/zaezMcTCDG

— Stephen Hall (@hallstephenj) May 14, 2020

Previous reports had suggested that a 64GB version of the Pixel 4a would cost $399. Has the launch - and subsequent fuss made of the price - of Apple iPhone SE 2020 made Google rethink its numbers? Perhaps...

Complete specs leak ahead of official launch

Thanks to colleagues at 9to5Google, we now know the complete spec sheet of the upcoming Google Pixel 4a. It is confirmed to be a plastic build with a 5.81-inch OLED FHD+ display. The resolution is 2340 x 1080. As expected, the Soli radar stuff is gone and the display will have a hole-punch for the selfie camera.

The chipset is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730. The GPU is the Adreno 618. Google's Titan M security chip is in there but there's no Pixel Neural Core, just like we saw last year with the Pixel 3a. The Pixel 4a comes with 6GB of RAM. The battery is a 3080 mAh with support for 18W fast charging. The main camera is a 12.2-megapixel sensor with autofocus and OIS/EIS.

There is a 3.5mm headphone jack on the Google Pixel 4a.

The Pixel 4a is spotted out in the wild

Google does not exactly run a tight ship when it comes to avoiding leaks - the Pixel 4 was one of the most leaked smartphones ever - so it's no surprise then that the Pixel 4a has been spotted out in the wild already. The launch event, which was due to take place on May 12, has been canceled, so it looks like we'll be seeing this phone for the first time officially via a live stream. However, you can take a peek at it today.

For the first time on a Pixel smartphone, it looks like we will get a hole-punched display. The hole is in the top-left corner of the screen. The Soli radar technology that was in the large top bezel of the Pixel 4 has been ditched.

When we take a look at the back of the device, which in this image is covered by a first-party Google case, we notice that the fingerprint sensor is once again in the middle like it was on the Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL and Pixel 3a range. The camera module, however, looks to be the same setup as the main Pixel 4.

Three codenames leak for the Pixel 4a line

The good folk over at XDA Developers, thanks to a tip from Twitter user @akes29, have discovered three codenames for the Google Pixel 4a smartphones expected to launch this spring. Having dug through the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), the codenames were confirmed well as details about the SoC platforms each is based on. Each is fishy in more way than one!

Sunfish - the first codename to be spotted in the AOSP repository is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 730 SoC (codenamed sm7150). This is a common chip for the upper-mid-range market. Phones that feature a Snapdragon 730 today are the Samsung Galaxy A71 and the Realme X2.

Redfin - the next leaked codename refers to the what the XDA Developers think could be either a smartphone or a development platform, but it's running on the "sm7250", the codename for Qualcomm's Snapdragon 765. This SoC has integrated 5G, which will fuel speculation that Google could be about to drop a 5G version in its Pixel 4a range. This would be surprising for us, especially given that regular Pixel 4 smartphones don't support 5G. However, by the time we get the summer, there will be a lot more 5G smartphones on the market, and Google could just do this.

Bramble - the third codename appeared on the AOSP multiple times and it appears to be running on the same SoC, or at least the same Linux kernel version 4.19, as Redfin. It seems to be in development with Android 10 and as well as Android 11, so there is no guarantee this is a smartphone yet, we'll just have to wait and see.

A spring 2020 release date?

The Pixel 3a and 3a XL launched in May 2019. Google should stick to the same release schedule this year and I would expect to see the 4a and 4a XL sometime in the spring. Sales of the Pixel 3a phones were very good, so there is little chance Google will abandon the mid-range at this stage.

• Google Pixel 3a review: everything in its place

Google Pixel 4a design and specs

Thanks to new renders published on 91mobiles, some design choices about the Pixel 4a series can now be revealed. Unsurprisingly, the 90Hz display and Soli radar chip that were behind some of the more innovative features on the Pixel 4 phones will not be included in the more affordable versions. That means a return to the traditional fingerprint sensor on the back of the smartphones and a hole-punched display for the selfie camera rather than the large top bezel which houses all the face unlock tech.

Price and availability

The Google Pixel 3a launched at $399, and it seems likely Google will follow this guideline again. If there is not Soli radar tech and only a single camera, $350 would not be out of the question here either, as the latest rumors suggest. The mid-range market has gotten a lot busier than it was 12-months ago and Google could reduce the RRP in order to be more competitive. We'll have to wait and see closer to the launch of the phone.

• 100 days with the Google Pixel 3a: the $400 phone I keep going back to

Are you excited about the Google Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a XL? Let us know in the comments section below.

Via: PhoneArena Source: 91mobiles, XDA Developers, PhoneArena