Google Pixel 4a/4a XL rumor round-up: Release date, price, specs, camera rumors
After the lukewarm reception that the Google Pixel 4 and 4 XL were treated to, it makes tons of sense for Google to follow up its 2019 flagships with cheaper spin-offs in early 2020. Earlier in 2019, we got the Pixel 3a and 3a XL, two cheaper but arguably better versions of the Pixel 3-series, and our expectations are that Google will reiterate the same strategy in a couple of months’ time. Here’s everything that we expect of the Google Pixel 4a-series.
Design & Display
No surprises here — the Pixel 4a-series will most certainly retain the same general design of the existing Pixel 4 lineup, but with two pretty important differences.
First of all, instead of glass, we are likely to see plastic Pixels once again in early 2020. It is highly likely that if the Pixel 4a and 4a XL come in the same color variations as the Pixel 4-series, they will also retain the material finishes at the rear. The Clearly White model, as well as the limited edition Oh So Orange, have the matte finish with a frosted look and a soft grip. The Just Black model, on the other hand, would probably be glossier. These properties are completely achievable with plastic, so the new Pixels would mostly feel like the more premium devices at a lower weight.
We don’t expect any notches on the Pixel 4a or Pixel 4a XL at all — they will most likely look just like the 4 and 4 XL.
Speaking of colors, black and white are a given, but the others are a bit more tricky. As you might remember, the Pixel 3a-series were also available in Purple-ish, while the Pixel 4-series also comes in Oh So Orange. So what all of that has to do with the Pixel 4a-series? It means that when it comes to the “wildcard” color, Google seemingly has lots of options — purple, orange, green, and why not red? Our guess is as good as yours at this point.
Another important thing to consider is that the Pixel 4a and 4a XL are quite likely getting headphone jacks. This was the big surprise with the 3a series, which was the first Google phone to sport the extincting jack since… the original Pixels.
Google Pixel 4а and 4а XL
Performance
In terms of storage, we expect at least 64GB of storage in the base version of the phone, though it would be very nice if Google puts 128GB of native storage. As a reminder, it’s not possible to expand the storage via a microSD card slot and you have to squeeze into the supplied native storage.
Features
All Pixel 4-exclusive software features are extremely likely to make their way to the Pixel 4a/4a XL. Things like Live Captions, Google Assistant 2.0, the Astrophotography mode and many others are very likely to arrive on the upcoming troopers. What about the Soli-powered face unlock feature? As evident by the renders we’ve obtained, there might not be enough space to facilitate the Soli sensor. Google could possibly go for image-based face unlock, but that one is not secure and mostly a gimmick.
Google Pixel 4a and 4a XL
Camera
Here are the full Pixel 4 camera specs:
Google Pixel 4 vs Google Pixel 4 XL
Generally, we didn’t notice any big differences in image quality between the Pixel 3 and 3a series. Aside from the slightly longer processing time, you could expect similar images to come out of both phones. The Pixel 3a was just as good as the Pixel 3, and we certainly expect the same out of the Pixel 4a in comparison with the Pixel 4.
Google Pixel 4 camera samples
Price, release date, availability
The Pixel 3a started at $399, while the 3a XL cost $479 at launch. Boy, we sure do hope that Google doesn’t stray away from this pricing tier, as it would make the Pixel 4a and 4a XL exceptional additions to the upper mid-range market, where they’ll be able to punch way above their weight, especially in terms of camera quality. Hopefully, the Pixel 4a series will remain just as affordable as its predecessors from 2019.
In terms of release date, the upcoming Pixels will most likely get unveiled before the upcoming Google I/O 2020 dev summit. The official dates for the latter are not official yet, but as any other year, we suppose that Google I/O will take place sometime in May 2020. The Pixel 4a and 4a XL will certainly be released beforehand, probably in the very beginning of May 2020. Of course, there’s always the possibility for a different release date, but we don’t really expect surprises here.
We expect the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4a to be available across all major US carriers, but we don’t know if the devices will be available in more countries across the globe.