Leaker is 'certain' that Pixel 7a will be Google's last a series phone
Google is expected to reveal its next mid-tier phone, the Pixel 7a, on May 10 and per one leaker, the device could be the company's last budget phone.
The 2019's Pixel 3a was Google's first mid-range phone. With a starting price of $400, it was a lot more affordable than the $799 Pixel 3. It offered core Pixel 3 features, including the cameras, for half the price, and that's precisely what made it a huge success.
With last year's Pixel 6a, Google changed things up a bit by equipping the phone with the same premium chip as the flagship Pixel 6 series. The device's camera system was not as good as the one on the Pixel 6, but it was still pretty good and made it one of the best camera phones of the year.
If rumors are to be believed, this year's Pixel 7a will have the same chip and maybe even better cameras than the primary Pixel 7. This could cannibalize the sales of the Pixel 7.
The Pixel 7a is rumored to have a 6.1 inches 90Hz OLED screen, the Tensor G2 chip, Face Unlock tech, a 64MP primary camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera, a 10.8MP front-facing shooter, and wireless charging support.
It is rumored to cost $499, which would make it $50 more expensive than the Pixel 6a. For reference, the 6.3 inches Pixel 7 starts at $599.
Leaker Yogesh Brar thinks that all these are signs that the Pixel 7a will mark the end of the a series. He claims that going forward, the company will only release standard and Pro Pixel models and a foldable model.
He adds that Samsung might do the same. The company did not release an FE model this year and though there were rumors about a possible Galaxy S23 FE, Brar's tweet indicates it's not going to happen.
Today's leak is in line with a late 2022 report that said that Google might not release a successor to the Pixel 7a. The report said that even though Google was working on the Pixel 8a - internally known as "Atika" - its release would be dependent on the success of the Pixel 7a. It also suggested that Google could move the budget series to a biennial cycle and release new models every two years instead of every year.
Recently, it was reported that Apple has no plans to launch an iPhone SE model anytime soon. These rumors indicate that there isn't a huge demand for flagship-like phones and major vendors are no longer interested in making them.
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