Good news, Pixel fans. The Google Pixel 8a is expected to release next month, with a reveal anticipated for Google’s I/O 2024 event on May 15. The Pixel ‘A’ series device is consistently our favourite budget smartphone, with a reasonable price for flagship-level performance. We’ve raved about it ever since the original Pixel 3a, which completely changed the budget smartphone game, and we absolutely loved it last year. It’s a brilliant device to consider if you’re switching from Apple, as I did.
But enough about the past – what about the new A series on the block, the Google Pixel 8a? What do we know about that device? Here’s everything we know about the Google Pixel 8a, per leaks and rumours up to this moment.
Table of contents
Latest Pixel 8a Rumours & News
April 26
In late April, Android Headlines reported that the Google Pixel 8a would come with seven years of Android security updates. The website also tipped that the Pixel 8a would ship with the Pixel 8/8 Pro’s distinctive AI features, such as Magic Eraser, Night Sight, and Best Take. It’s also expected to come with Circle to Search.
April 17
The Google Pixel 8a’s colours appear to have leaked. While the Aussie market tends to not get the same colour variety as buyers in the U.S., it’s still a good glimpse of what we can expect. Per Android Headlines, the phone looks like it’ll be available in the expected white and black, with the same polished metal look across the camera bar. There’s also a bold, almost cobalt blue colour that looks darker than last year’s ‘Bay’ blue option on the Pixel 7a, and an extremely vivid green.
April 5
In early April, tipster Yogesh Brar reported on some leaked specs – a 6.1-inch FHD+ OLED display, a 120hz refresh rate, and the Tensor G3 (the chip in the Pixel 8 range). The phone is also tipped to include a slightly buffed 4,500mAh battery and up to 27W wired charging.
March 25
While not explicitly an update to the Google Pixel 8a, Google went ahead and confirmed its mid-year ‘Google I/O’ event for May 15 in late March. For the past few Pixel A series devices, Google has used the I/O event to debut them – along with other Pixel devices, such as buds, the Pixel Fold, and the Pixel Tablet.
March 11
In March, the last time that we ran an update on the Pixel 8a, the phone was actually confirmed. On an official Issue Tracker page in relation to a missing feature, a Google employee said “We only enable this page on Pixel 8a and beyond, so this is WAI (working as intended).” The employee marked the issue as ‘Won’t Fix (Intended Behaviour)’. It was very odd.
Pixel 8a release date in Australia
It’s expected that the Google Pixel 8a will be made available in May, either on the same day as Google I/O or shortly after – so pencil in May 15 at the earliest.
Pixel 8a: Biggest upgrades to expect
The Pixel 8a isn’t expected to be a massively powerful device, as it’s more meant to be a budget-oriented model – that being said, it’s more than likely that it will include the Google Tensor G3 chip (as featured in the Pixel 8 range), and it’s been tipped that it will have a slightly bigger battery life. There’s also a 120hz display on the cards, but apart from that, there’s not too many upgrades to write home about.
Pixel 8a specs and design: What to expect
Specifications
Yogesh Brar tipped in April that the Google Pixel 8a would have a 6.1-inch FHD+ OLED display, capable of operating at up to 120hz. The phone is expected to include the Tensor G3 chip, and have a 64MP main camera, 13MP ultrawide, and a 13MP selfie camera (a slightly upgraded selfie camera from the 7a). A 4,500mAh battery is expected with 27W charging, though it’s not clear on what storage it’ll have – 128GB or 256GB.
Colour options
The Google Pixel 8a is expected to come in a vivid green colour and a darker blue ‘Bay’ finish, per Android Headlines, on top of the standard ‘Obsidian’ black and ‘Porcelain’ white. The Australian market tends to miss out on at least one of the extra colours that other markets get, so don’t hold out too much hope that we’ll be getting all four (though black and white are the most likely).
Pixel 8a price: What to expect
It’s expected that the Pixel 8a might get a slight price increase over the Pixel 7a, per 9to5Google. The Pixel 7a started at $750 in Australia, while it’s unclear how much more the Pixel 8a might cost. It’s worth noting that the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro both got substantial price bumps last year, so it’d make sense for the 8a to follow in the same direction and maybe jump to between $800 and $900 – but it would undoubtedly suck.
Pixel 8a features: What to expect
Camera
Don’t expect a show-stopping camera buff with the Pixel 8a this year. The two back cameras remain the same as the Pixel 7a (64MP main camera, 13MP ultrawide) while the selfie camera is being bumped from 7MP to 13MP.
Memory
The Pixel 8a is tipped to ship with either 128GB or 256GB. Given that the entry-level memory option of the Pixel 8 is 128GB, keeping the Pixel 8a at 128GB seems more likely than not.
Battery life
It’s expected that the Pixel 8a may have a longer battery life, with a slightly upgraded capacity (4,500mAh, up from 4,385mAh).
Image: Gizmodo Australia