Google Teases Pixel Fold as Pixel 7a Leaks in Full

It’s been a tough month of Pixel leaks for Google, so the online giant has decided to make the most of it: today, Google issued a short teaser video showing off its upcoming Pixel Fold smartphone. And its next budget phone, the Pixel 7a, has fully leaked as well.

Granted, there’s little left to the imagination when it comes to the Pixel Fold, a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold competitor that Google will announce next week at Google I/O: as we previously reported, everything about the Pixel Fold has already leaked. But the Google video is, of course, official, and it shows off the device’s design when closed, while opening, and while fully opened. It also confirms the May 10 launch date. No real surprises, but it’s a nice peek.

The Pixel 7a, which Google will also announce next week at Google I/O, has also fully leaked. This follow-up to last year’s excellent Pixel 6a will be $50 more expensive than its predecessor, at $499, but it offers some key improvements to justify that new price. Chief among them is a Tensor G2 chipset (vs. Tensor G1 in the 6a), a 90 Hz refresh rate display (vs. 60 Hz), 8 GB of RAM (vs. 6 GB), a 256 GB storage option (vs. just 128 GB on the 6a), an improved camera system (more on that below), and wireless charging (where the 6a only supports wired charging). It will also come in more and different colors: in addition to black (carbon) and white (cotton), the Pixel 7a will also ship in pink and sky blue color choices (compared to lemongrass, a pale yellow/green, for the 6a).

Beyond those changes, the Pixel 7a will closely resemble its predecessor with a 6.1-inch OLED display with a 2400 x 1080 native resolution, a 4410 mAh battery, and slow wired charging. Also, Google will apparently keep the 6a in the market as an entry-level, low-cost option.

As always, the camera system is a key concern and here we see further improvements over the 6a, which offers two rear cameras, a 12.2 MP wide (main) lens and a 12 MP ultra-wide lens, plus an 8 MP front-facing camera. For the Pixel 7a, Google is going with a 64 MP wide (main) lens and a 13 MP ultra-wide lens, plus a 13 MP front-facing camera. That’s an improvement over the system offered on the more expensive Pixel 7, which sports a 50 MP main lens. And the Pixel 7a will support Super Res Zoom (hybrid zoom) up to 8x, compared to 7x for the 6a.

Interestingly, Google has inadvertently confirmed rumors about the Pixel 7a launch date: Google India tweeted that the phone will be available on May 11, and May 11 in India is May 10 in California, where Google will announce the device on the first day of Google I/O.

There’s also a troubling rumor that the Pixel 7a may be the final a-series Pixel, with Google retiring the line after the release of the Pixel 8 series later this year. In some ways, I understand this decision, if true, since the differences between the Pixel 7 and 7a are minor and have weird overlaps, and the prices are close. And if Google does decide to keep the Pixel 6a in market, that could be a clue about its iPhone-like strategy for the future: perhaps when the Pixel 9 series comes out in 2024, Google will keep the 8 series in market but at a lower price.

That said, the a-series Pixels also give Google a chance to offer a smaller phone: where the 6a and 7a have 6.1-inch displays, the Pixel 7 has a 6.3-inch display and the Pixel 7 Pro has a 6.7-inch display.

And let’s not forget the Pixel Tablet, which Google announced last year and should launch next week, too. I have some thoughts coming up about that device and what it will need before it’s in any way competitive with the Apple iPad.