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The Pixel 8 Pro remains one of my favorite Android smartphones of the past year, and so far the Pixel 8a looks to follow in its footsteps. Now, new reports from Android Authority have revealed what we can likely expect to see from the upcoming affordable Google device, and it has raised some interesting questions about the entire lineup as a whole.
According to Android Authority’s sources, the Pixel 8a will sport the same Tensor G3 chip found in the Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel 8, both of which were released last year. Google has also improved the display from the Pixel 7a, as the source claims the Pixel 8a will sport a 120Hz OLED panel with 1,400 nits of peak HDR brightness. That matches the specs already seen on the base Pixel 8, though the display will be slightly smaller at 6.1-inch compared to the 6.2-inch display found in the base Pixel 8.
This upgrade means that the Pixel 8a will look very similar to the Pixel 8, both in design and visual fidelity. It will also sport the same 2400 x 1080 resolution, though it will have a 128-pixel corner radius at native resolution compared to the Pixel 8’s 102-pixel. Of course, all of this is based off of information provided to Android Authority, and until Google officially announces the Pixel 8a’s specs, we won’t know for sure if what we’re looking at is true or not.
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Android Authority’s sources also claim that the Pixel 8a will feature DisplayPort output support, another long-requested feature that first appeared in the main Pixel 8 series. The Pixel 8a will also reportedly feature the same camera setup as the Pixel 7a, though there’s nothing wrong with that camera setup, and Google does most of the heavy lifting for your photographs with its machine learning and built-in AI functionality.
While the Pixel 8a will feature Google’s Tensor G3, it will be slightly different than the one found in the base Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. The silicone die inside the chip is the same, sources claim, but the plastic package around the chip will differ, with the 8a using an integrated package on package setup (IPoP) instead of a Fan-Out Panel Level Packaging (FOPLP). This shouldn’t affect the performance or anything, ultimately, but we’ll see for sure once we have the device in hand.
Having spent so much time with the Pixel 8 lineup, I’m extremely interested to see how the Pixel 8a makes itself stand out from the base Pixel 8. Sure, it will be more affordable, but going forward, Google will need to figure out some way to make these two devices feel different, especially if they’re going to look similar and perform so similarly. It does make me wonder if the company is gearing up to drop the base Pixel in its lineup and instead push the A series with the Pro series, but we’ll see how things play out in the long run.
The reports also indicate that the Pixel 8a will be more widely available than previously A Series Pixels, with the electronic warranty label including new regions such as Finland, Hungary, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and more. Again, we’ll have to wait for Google to officially reveal the Pixel 8a and its specs to confirm all of this, but it won’t be very surprising to see all this information proven true in the coming months, perhaps even at Google I/O.
