Google's Pixel 4a may have just leaked in real-life pics for the first time (probably not, though)
Leaked Pixel 4a render
UPDATE: Upon closer examination and after receiving valuable feedback from a number of eagle-eyed readers that spotted little details suggesting these photos might have been doctored, we're inclined to believe we've yet to see the unreleased Pixel 4a out in the wild. Of course, you can never be 100 percent certain of these things and there's still a very good chance the "pure Google" handset will end up looking similar to this, but we'll probably have to wait a little more to check out the actual front and back of the search giant's upcoming mid-ranger. Our original story follows below.
Granted, the leaking machine that goes by the human name Steve Hemmerstoffer, as well as the Twitter alias @OnLeaks, did reveal the surprisingly modern design of the 5.8-inch or so stock Android-running handset in factory CAD-based renders a little over two months ago, but not a lot of information about the Pixel 4a and 4a XL has transpired since then. We don't even know if Google is indeed planning to release a jumbo-sized variant of the on-leaked device, although we're pretty confident that's going to be the case after all.
Before seeing any Pixel 4a XL renders, an unknown and completely unverified source is today bringing us our first possible real-life look at the "regular" 4a model.
Prettier than the Pixel 3a... and the Pixel 5 XL?!?
Just as expected, this presumably affordable bad boy combines a hole punch display with a square-shaped rear camera setup for a very trendy look sharing little in common with the outdated design language of last year's Pixel 3a and 3a XL. Curiously enough, the Pixel 4a has a good chance of looking nothing like the high-end Pixel 5 and 5 XL as well, at least if that fugly early prototype ends up being chosen by the Mountain View-based search giant for a commercial run.
Of course, there are absolutely no guarantees these two new images purportedly depicting the Pixel 4a out in the wild are in fact the real deal, so we probably shouldn't jump to any conclusions just yet. But for the most part, the freshly leaked "real-world" pictures appear to correspond to the aforementioned factory CAD-based renders. One detail that seems to be off is the actual hole drilled into the phone's screen, which was rendered very close to the top left corner but is now pictured a little further to the right.
The paint job also looks nothing like the Just Black, Clearly White, and Purple-ish hues of the Pixel 3a and 3a XL, although Google does have a history of revising this stuff practically every year. All in all, there's definitely a chance these pics prove to be legit but nothing is etched in stone until the company itself officially confirms it.
There's still only one rear-facing shooter
After the Pixel 4 and 4 XL jumped on the dual camera bandwagon and with the Pixel 5 XL tipped to add a third imaging sensor into the equation, you may have expected Google to double down on the number of shooters mounted on the back of its mid-end models as well. But at least as far as the non-XL Pixel 4a is concerned, that doesn't seem to be the case.
Pixel 4a render showcasing rear camera module
Instead, this thing will apparently adopt a decidedly unusual camera arrangement with a single shooter in tow and an LED flash next to it displayed in a diagonal formation. Meanwhile, the only 5G hopes are similarly tied to an eventual Pixel 4a XL model seeing as how the smaller phone is likely to pack a respectable but modest Snapdragon 730 processor in terms of connectivity support.
Not much else is known about the specs and features of the fast-approaching Pixel 4a, although we have been hearing whispers and predictions of things like a 4GB RAM count, 64 gigs of internal storage space, and a good old fashioned 12MP primary camera presumably capable of some real image capturing magic thanks largely to Google's unrivaled software optimizations.
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