Quick Summary
A Pixel 8a leak has revealed all possible specs, like a 6.1-inch OLED display, Tensor G3 chip, and 64MP main camera.
AI-powered photo editing (Magic Editor) might be a key feature.
There has been no shortage of leaks for the Google Pixel 8a, but now this phone has now been comprehensively revealed thanks to another.
Sharing the full details on Twitter, a user called Arsène Lupin (via 91Mobiles), is behind the big reveal, so we now know exactly what hardware the phone will offer.
This looks legitimate as the reveal comes in the form of a Google tech spec document, but there are some inconsistencies in the formatting and details, suggesting this might not actually be a final document.
One interesting element is the phone colours: they are listed as Volcanic Black, Porcelain, Blue, Azure, Green and Aloe. Previous leaks have suggested that we'll be getting Obsidian, Porcelain, Bay and Mint.
I'm pretty sure that having called the Pixel 8 Pro "Bay", Google wouldn't revert to calling it "Blue" instead. Then you have Azure and Aloe listed, which looks like a formatting error – Blue Azure and Green Aloe would make sense, rather than listing blue twice and green twice.
Full Pixel 8a specs (1/2) pic.twitter.com/ZkRcTXHe8VMay 3, 2024
So, approach the list with some caution, but here's what it confirms: the Pixel 8a will have a 6.1-inch OLED display, protected with Gorilla Glass 3; it will offer up to 120Hz refresh rate and the peak brightness is listed as 2,000 nits. It will be powered by the Tensor G3 chip, with 8GB RAM and 128 or 256GB storage.
The battery will have a 4,492mAh capacity for over 24 hours of use, with Qi wireless charging. Interestingly, this is listed as "Charging without I", which makes me suspect this document has been translated.
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Then we come to the camera, confirmed here to be a 64-megapixel main camera, and 13-megapixel ultrawide camera, and 13-megapixel front camera. These appear to be the same cameras as the Pixel 7a, which is what I'd expect to see.
What's more interesting is the list of camera features, which again seem to throw up translation clues: Magic touch-up (Magic Editor?), Better grip Magic (Photo Unblur?), eraser Anti- or (Magic Eraser?), Visage net (Panorama?). Although it's not absolutely clear, it does suggest that the Pixel 8a is going to be blessed with Google AI.
The killer application for the camera would be Magic Editor, which is the biggest AI feature that the flagship Pixel 8 models offer – and would be a real benefit for users of this cheaper handset, allowing Photoshop-like edits with generative AI image fill and so on.
What this leak doesn't give us is a price or date. But with so many details pouring out, it can't be long until we see this phone for real.
Chris has been writing about consumer tech for over 15 years. Formerly the Editor-in-Chief of Pocket-lint, he's covered just about every product launched, witnessed the birth of Android, the evolution of 5G, and the drive towards electric cars. You name it and Chris has written about it, driven it or reviewed it. Now working as a freelance technology expert, Chris' experience sees him covering all aspects of smartphones, smart homes and anything else connected. Chris has been published in titles as diverse as Computer Active and Autocar, and regularly appears on BBC News, BBC Radio, Sky, Monocle and Times Radio. He was once even on The Apprentice... but we don't talk about that.
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