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Google previously confirmed the release of Pixel 5a this year without providing a release window. However, a new report has claimed that the company would announce its next mid-range smartphone sometime in August.
The report comes from Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter. While it was focused on the upcoming Apple devices and other Apple projects, the reporter gave a nod to Google Pixel fans, saying summer is for them.
Gurman reported that Apple is focused on launching new products, such as new iPhones, Apple Watch, and MacBook Pros, in the fall. With that, there is not much expected from in the coming weeks. But Google may have something to announce, specifically the Pixel 5a. The same report mentioned that the mid-range smartphone would be “announced and released in August.”
Last April, rumors of the Pixel 5a cancellation started to spread. Google immediately quashed the reports that forced the tech giant to confirm its plans for its next mid-range smartphone this year. At the time, Google said the device would be “announced in line with when last year’s a-series phone was introduced.” It is then worth noting that the LTE variant of Pixel 4a was unveiled in a press release in early August.
In the same statement, Google specifically referred to the device as “Pixel 5a 5G,” which may be a hint that the company is no longer planning to launch an LTE-only version. It is also interesting that Google only mentioned the United States and Japan as the regions where the upcoming device will be available.
Google may have also leaked some details of the Pixel 5a camera. Last year, only the 5G variant offered a dual-camera array composed of Google’s staple 12.2MP wide lens and 16MP ultra-wide sensor. The latter appears to be planned as a standard feature in the upcoming phone when a Google AI Blog post accidentally published a photo that was captured by a likely prototype of Pixel 5a.
The Pixel 5a design has also been in the rumor mill as early as February. Prolific tipster OnLeaks shared renders and a 360-degree video that shows the next mid-range phone looks almost identical to its predecessor from 2020.
Photo by Daniel Romero on Unsplash
