Google Pixel 7a Leaked Live Photos Suggest a Familiar Design: Report

Google Pixel 6a sure took things up a notch when it came to design and processing power, over the previous Pixel 4a, which was the last device to be launched in India back then. While the Pixel 6a featured noticeable upgrades over its predecessor, it still lacked several features, given that it was priced as a premium device at launch in India. Going by the leaks so far, we do have enough evidence that the upcoming Pixel 7a exists. Detailed renders and leaked specifications also hint that the phone will make up for last year’s shortcomings. The latest leak claims to give us our first official look at the Pixel 7a. Someone seems to have gotten their hands on a unit and even managed to get details about its RAM and storage.

Zing News claims to have got the “world’s first Google Pixel 7a hands-on”. The source in its report, shows crystal clear photos of the yet to be launched smartphone. The phone at a glance appears to look very similar to the currently available Pixel 7. There’s photos of the back, the top and the bottom, all of which look eerily similar to the Pixel 7. These are also very much in line with the previously leaked renders of the Pixel 7a by another source.

The rear panel shows a camera module that appears to be an upgrade over the Pixel 6a’s glass and plastic camera bump, which was known for accumulating dust because of its design. The new camera module appears to have a single chunk of metal that stretches from edge-to-edge and seamlessly blends into the frame on either side, like on the Pixel 7. The camera module and the frame appear to have a matte finish.

The source also makes it clear that the device does have a metal frame sandwiched between two sheets of glass, unlike the plastic rear panel used on the Pixel 6a. It also claims that the camera module is made out of metal, similar to the Pixel 7’s camera module. Strangely, the source claims that the device features two 12-megapixel cameras, which goes against claims made in a previous leak that one of the rear cameras would use a 64-megapixel Sony sensor.

As per the leak, the handset only has one physical SIM slot and it comes with an IP67 rating. The phone in the picture did not switch on, but accessing fastboot suggested that it packs 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. While the 128GB of storage isn’t a big deal, the increased RAM surely brings this Pixel on par with other mid-range and premium devices as both the Pixel 4a and Pixel 6a offered 6GB of RAM.

The handset was apparently locked down by Google, but its previous owner confirmed that the phone’s display did feature a 90Hz screen refresh rate. However, the display appears to have the same thick bezels as before, hinting that it could be the same panel with the previously proven 90Hz refresh rate enabled.

While all leaks point to the smartphone being an actual unit of the Pixel 7a, we can’t be sure until Google announces the same, so we request our readers to take the above information with a spoonful of salt. Previous leaks of the Pixel 7a have suggested that the phone will be powered by Google’s Tensor G2 processor and that the phone would feature wireless charging as well. The phone’s design was previously hinted in a leaked hands-on video.