Google Pixel 8a leak may as well be Google's official announcement — colors, features, and more
Thanks to Evan Blass (@evleaks) on X, we know almost everything about Google's upcoming Pixel 8a, including its colorways, photo and video editing tools, AI improvements, security features, and so much more.
The text in some of these marketing photos looks a bit strange, like a bad copy/paste job, but it was clearly translated from another language. These are likely copies of Pixel 8a marketing photos, but there's no way to tell how close they are to Google's official copies or how outdated they are. That said, we're inclined to trust the info in this leak given Blass' track record.
Pixel 8a leak reveals almost everything
Starting with its bold color choices, the Pixel 8a may be released in four colorways: Obsidian, Porcelain, Bay, and Mint. These were the only four colors shown off next to a "Fun colors and fresh designs" heading, but another image shared by Blass shows matching color cases with a fifth color thrown into the mix, a Coral color we've seen from Google before.
According to the ad text, the Pixel 8a will "feature a smooth overall finish and a matte back, making it extremely comfortable to hold." The phone is also supposedly drop-, water-, dust-, and scratch-resistant, and it's equipped with a self-adjusting battery that can last "more than 24 hours."
Google has stuck to that battery life claim for the last several Pixel phones, while they did improve last year, the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro were closer to 10 and 9 hours, respectively, in our official testing. That involves the phones web surfing on 5G at 150 nits, real-world battery performance is better and not an issue for getting through a single day, but 24 hours is a stretch.
The Pixel 8a will get Google's Best Takes feature, which lets you "combine photos to create something everyone can love," fixing common issues like someone looking away or closing their eyes during a group photo. Google's budget-friendly phone will also allow you to erase unwanted voices from videos, remove out-of-focus spots in photos, and move or erase an object from a photo.
One translated bit of text confirms that the Pixel 8a will be equipped with the Tensor G3 chip, the same one in Google's premium Pixel 8 Pro. When the Tensor G3 first came out for the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, Google called it "the new chip that gives your Pixel an AI upgrade" and said it "[paved] the way for on-device generative AI."
With Google's Tensor G3 chip, the Pixel 8a will be able to carry out AI-powered tasks quickly and on-device (for many features, at least). The Pixel 8a can seamlessly utilize Google Gemini to generate text, summarize information, answer questions, and plan vacations, as well as the handy Circle to Search feature to look up items or places in photos.
A few of the leaked photos then dive into specifics about security features you'll find on the Pixel 8a, how to "get even more convenience by combining Google Pixel devices" and creating an ecosystem, and how to easily switch to a Pixel device.
Two key pieces of information that weren't included in these leaked photos were a release date or a price for the Pixel 8a. According to another recent leak the Pixel 8a will once again start at $499 and will most likely launch on May 14, 2024, at Google's I/O 2024 event. It shouldn't be long now, but we'll keep you abreast of the latest Google Pixel 8a rumors until it's here.
