The Pixel 7a might not be that different from the Pixel 6a seen here. Photo: Florence Ion / Gizmodo
It will be a while before Google relaunches its flagship Pixel series. Until then, we have Pixel 7a leaks to bridge us. The latest overseas hints include a look at the phone itself and a hint at what sort of specs it might contain. Google’s next mid-range Pixel could have more memory than its predecessor and a faster refresh rate.
This leak comes from Vietnamese site Zing News, which claims to have gotten its hands on a “test” version of the Pixel 7a intended “for programmers”. But our ears are pricked. In about four months, a year has passed since the launch of the Pixel 6a. The hardware in the post is similar to the last-gen Pixel A series, right down to the rear camera bar on the back. It has a 6.1-inch display with seemingly “high-end” materials and a few more matte accents than the last-gen version.
This particular rumored Pixel 7a has reportedly been remotely banned by Google. Zing News could only be launched in Android’s fast boot mode, similar to the BIOS modes on Windows machines, as it displays the device’s specs without having to access the actual operating system. This menu revealed that the Pixel 7a could come with 8GB of RAM instead of the 6GB in last year’s version. The Pixel 7a device owner, who gave the device to Zing News, says the settings panel also showed an improved 90Hz refresh rate option for the display. This increase in RAM could be to support that refresh rate for a smoother experience across the board. In fact, one of the biggest complaints about the Pixel 6a is that even at its price point, it doesn’t offer a refresh rate similar to the Samsung A-series, with some models sporting a 120Hz refresh rate.
Overall, the supposed Pixel 7a specs leaked here are in line with our expectations. It still has two 12MP cameras on the rear, like the Pixel 6a, although one camera is a standard lens and the other is wide-angle. There’s evidence of water resistance introduced by the Pixel 6a with IP67 certification. But we still need information on the charging capacity and battery size. The Pixel 6a’s 60Hz refresh rate helped it with battery life, and it’ll be interesting to see if the Pixel 7a can maintain that kind of longevity while still outputting more frames.
This isn’t the first Pixel 7a leak to be floating around. We recently sent a Pixel-like device through the FCC, although some people are crossing their fingers that it’s a foldable rather than mid-range device. Regardless, we at Google I/O should know more about when the company will release its next-gen mid-range device.
