Where is the Google Pixel 5a?

Date:
Tue, 03 Aug 2021 16:00:29 +0000

Description:
With the reveal of the Google Pixel 6, many are left wondering where the Google Pixel 5a is.

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Google has surprised us all by announcing the Pixel 6 and the Pixel 6 Pro. Or rather, pre-announcing.

To be clear, this wasnt a specs-and-all reveal of the companys next big smartphone line. We have no (officially confirmed) idea how many megapixels, GHz, pixels and nits these phones are capable of spitting out. No YouTubers have been filmed fondling Googles next flagship phone.

What we did get was a curious press briefing featuring an overview of what
the Pixel 6 had to offer, along with a hatful of artfully composed official shots. All very exciting indeed - and also slightly odd.

Quite aside from the novelty of the pre-announcement format itself, something has been left behind here. Where on Earth is the Google Pixel 5a ? Rumor has it

First lets make one thing quite clear: the Google Pixel 5a exists. Were as certain of that as its possible to be without a weird official pre-launch press release.

But thats largely because of a bunch of weird rumors that popped up
suggesting the Pixel 5a had been cancelled. This in turn prompted Google itself to issue a statement dispelling said rumors, and confirming that the Pixel 5a 5G (yes, it explicitly used that title) would launch around the same time as the Pixel 4a launched last year.

Pixel 5a 5G is not canceled, a Google spokesperson told 9to5Google . It will be available later this year in the US and Japan and announced in line with when last years a-series phone was introduced.

To save you taking to the internet, last years a-series was announced in August (for the 4G model) and September (for the 5G model) of 2020.

However, that confirmation from Google didnt so much dispel the Pixel 5a weirdness as shift it elsewhere. Note that in confirming the Pixel 5a 5Gs existence, Google only said that it would be releasing the phone in the US
and Japan. Thats oddly specific.

Are we to take it, then, that the Pixel 5a wont be launching in the UK, Australia, and other territories? Or is it just that there will be both a 5G model and a 4G model, and that the two wont necessarily be available in the same countries?

Its a mightily strange state of affairs alright. But then, 2021 has been a
bit of a weird year for smartphones. Weirdness pandemic The Google Pixel 6 series (Image credit: Google)

Google isnt alone in being a bit out there with its approach to smartphone releases. As my colleague James Rogerson pointed out recently , several high profile late2021 phones are seemingly set to be delayed or canceled.

None other than Samsung itself, the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, has effectively cancelled its late2021 flagship line. There will be no Samsung Galaxy Note 21 this year, with the foldable Galaxy Z line set to take its place.

Weve also heard reports that there has been a delay to the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE , and even that it might not launch at all.

Away from Samsung, there are rumors circling that there will be no OnePlus
9T. The brands flagship revisions have become a highlight of the Holiday release schedule in recent years, but that could be a thing of the past.

Lets not downplay the level of upheaval here. Were talking about follow-ups
to three of the best-loved and most popular phones of the second half of
2020. Four if you count the Pixel 4a and the uncertainty surrounding its successor.

Its all too easy to find a culprit for all this weirdness. The Covid19 pandemic has put a major dampener on everything from supply lines to production capacity. Quite simply, less stuff is being produced, which hasnt been helped by a concurrent global chipset shortage. Hope for the Pixel 5a

Despite these parallels, were way more hopeful about the Pixel 5as prospects
- and not merely because Google has officially confirmed that its still coming.

While youd never catch us making it, there is an argument that the Galaxy S21 FE, the OnePlus 9T , and even the Galaxy Note 21 dont really need to exist. For all their fancy tweaks, they would essentially be half-year iterations on early-year flagships, which seems a little extravagant in these belt-tightening times.

By contrast, the Pixel 5a will be a true annual update. Despite its
reportedly familiar design, its going to be a proper follow-up to an impressively affordable phone with a great camera that launched a whole year ago. Thats the natural peak-operating life cycle for any smartphone.

Theres still a clearly defined place for the Google Pixel 5a on this topsy turvy smartphone market, even if Google doesnt quite seem to know exactly where it is or how it should be communicated. Everything we know so far about the Google Pixel 6



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/where-is-the-google-pixel-5a/


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