Google Pixel 7a

Google Pixel 7a surfaces in hands-on leak with 8GB RAM, updated camera bar design

Ben Schoon | Mar 12 2023 - 1:53 pm PT

While it’s likely still a few months out, leaks are revealing new details about the upcoming Pixel 7a. This week, a hands-on leak of the Pixel 7a confirms a RAM upgrade on Google’s next budget phone, as well as one of the key design changes.

Following up on last year’s excellent Pixel 6a, the Google Pixel 7a is expected to be quite an upgrade over the company’s past few budget smartphones. As we first reported, the device is set to use Tensor G2 from the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, adopt wireless charging at 5W, and pack a significant camera upgrade with a 50MP primary camera, 64MP telephoto camera, and 12MP ultrawide camera.

We’ve seen the Pixel 7a’s design a couple of times thus far, but not in particularly good detail.

A new hands-on leak courtesy of Zing News shows off the Pixel 7a’s hardware in detailed photos, giving us a close look at what’s in store.

The back of the phone bears a strong resemblance to the standard Pixel 7, which really comes as no surprise. The main difference is that this year’s phone has the same updated camera bar from the Pixel 7, instead of the Pixel 6a’s completely glass camera module. The front of the phone also has the same thicker bezels seen on last year’s phone, apparently unchanged year over year.

Beyond that, it’s also noted that the device has a single SIM slot, USB-C for charging, and some waterproofing around the SIM tray.

The phone apparently isn’t able to fully turn on, but accessing fastboot reveals 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM on board this model of the Pixel 7a. That’s up from the 6GB of RAM present on last year’s Pixel 6a, and matching the Pixel 7. Google usually only offers one storage option on its A-series devices.

Apparently, before the device was locked down by Google, the original owner was able to confirm a 90Hz display. The report also mentions that the two rear cameras are 12MP, but there’s no mention of that having been confirmed via the software.

Google released the Pixel 6a on July 28, 2022, but announced the device at Google I/O 2022 in May. It’s likely a similar schedule could be in place this year, but nothing is set in stone just yet. Google I/O 2023 takes place on May 10.