A new set of Google Pixel 4a cases tells the tale of the camera island

The design, on the other hand, has already shown to take cues from the Pixel 4 family, rather than the Pixel 3a, and about the only big mystery is how the camera set will perform. A few leaked Pixel 4a renders from the case maker ESR depict again a big camera island in the top left corner, leaving us wonder if the 4a will inherit the photography prowess of the Pixel 3a which was best in its class last year.

Google Pixel 4a specs, price and release date expectations

• A 5.8" FHD+ OLED display with punch hole
• Octa-core Snapdragon 730 processor
• 6GB/64GB memory
• 12MP main and 8MP front cameras
• 3080mAh battery
• 18W charging
• July 13 launch date
• Priced $349-$399

The plastic design is actually a breath of fresh air compared to all those heavy glass phones lately that we constantly have to baby, but what else would be under the hood? Well, rumor has it we will get a 5.81 inches OLED panel with Full HD+ at 2340 x 1080 pixels resolution. Thus, we are getting a slight bump in screen size and resolution compared to last year's model.

Moving on to what will make the Pixel 4a tick - a midrange Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 chipset is expected to be in store - an octa-core affair, but with 4G LTE connectivity only. Google is not one to go generous on RAM and storage in its phones, so we'd expect a 4GB/6GB RAM and 64GB/126GB storage models at the most. All that jazz should be backed up be a comparatively smallish 3080 mAh battery, and we really wish that part of the rumor mill get it wrong, despite the fast 18W charging brick.

The main camera of the Pixel 4a is tipped to keep its 12MP resolution, with optically stabilized sensor, as well as software image stabilization. The larger screen in the same package size means that we will be getting something other than a notch this year, and it will likely come in the punch-hole form of the front camera. The selfie snapper is expected to sport a 8-megapixel count with a field of view of 84 degrees, or, the same unit we have on the Pixel 4a predecessor.

Since the phone would most likely be running on a Snapdragon 730 processor, don't expect some video definition or frame rate wonders. The Pixel 4a is probably going to sport the video recording specs of its immediate predecessor, the Pixel 4, namely 1080p video at 30-120 frames per second, slow-motion HD video at 240 fps, and maximum 4K footage at 30 FPS for the rear camera, or 1080p at 30 FPS recording at the front.

A trendy online-only Android 11 Beta launch show event was supposed to take place tomorrow, but got postponed. It was obviously replacing the Google I/O one, so it's anyone's guess if Google will keep it nebulous with both the I/O and Pixel 4a launches. At the I/O happening, we would be focusing not just on Android 11, although that's interesting too, but we already have a developer preview to play with. Rather because of an eventual Pixel 4a announcement, as Google teased that the online forum will showcase a "bunch of other stuff, we are not ready to tell you about" that it hopes "don't get leaked." 

The latest rumor is that the Pixel 4a launch and release will be happening more than two months behind schedule, on Monday, July 13. Last year, Google announced and released the budget Pixel 3a on May 7 during its 2019 Google I/O Developer Conference but, all right, all right, we saw that 2020 is quite a different year already.