What you need to know
- Alongside the Pixel 4a launch, Google confirms a Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 are coming soon.
- We don't yet have a price, launch date or any details of the phones officially.
- Rumors point to the 4a 5G having a much larger screen, even larger than the Pixel 5.
The first Pixel launch of 2020 is the long-awaited Pixel 4a, but if you've been following any of the news lately you know we're expecting multiple phones out of Google this year. Well, Google pulled back the curtain a tiny bit, with part of its Pixel 4a announcement confirming that there will be both a Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 launching soon:
This fall, we'll have two more devices to talk about: the Pixel 4a (5G), starting at $499, and Pixel 5, both with 5G to make streaming videos, downloading content and playing games on Stadia or other platforms faster and smoother than ever. In the coming months, we'll share more about these devices and our approach to 5G.
But that's all we get, for now. Thankfully, there are a good number of leaks that have pieced together a picture of what we can expect from both phones.
While the standard Pixel 4a is surprisingly small, the Pixel 4a 5G is expected to fill in as the "XL" version with a much larger screen. It's expected to make a jump to a Snapdragon 765 processor (to support 5G networking), an improvement over the 4a's 730 (and 4G) — though we don't know if any other specs will improve. But at a $499 starting price, $150 more than the standard 4a, there isn't a ton of room to make improvements beyond that. Even still, considering how great the Pixel 4a is on its own, a bigger, 5G-enabled model for what is still an appealing price could be a great phone.
The naming is confusing, but the three-phone lineup will make more sense soon.
What's a bit more confusing at the moment is how the Pixel 5 fits in with all of this. It, too, is expected to have a Snapdragon 765 processor (likely the high-bin 765G version), and we actually expect it to actually be slightly smaller than the Pixel 4a 5G. But it will differentiate itself in many other ways, as we expect it will have more RAM, a better display, a secondary rear camera, a better front-facing camera, and an overall better build with metal and glass compared to the 4a's plastic.
Now obviously the launch of a "4a" and "5" phone at the same time is confusing from a branding perspective, but once we see the lineup of the three phones together and their pricing, it will make a bit more sense. We don't yet have a good guess of when Google will unveil the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5, but early October would be the best guess right now based on Google's history of launching Pixel phones in that time frame.
An amazing camera is just the beginning — this is a great overall budget phone.
The Pixel 4a improved on the 3a in many ways, kept the great camera, and took $50 off the price. It's tough to complain with that formula.
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