Leaked billboard mock-ups reveal Google’s budget-focused Pixel 4a will retail at $399

Leaked billboard mock-ups reveal Google’s budget-focused Pixel 4a will retail at $399 – the same price as its discount predecessor

  • Renders reveal the newest pixel phone, the 4A, will eventually retail at $399 
  • Leaks follow other details about about the phone’s design and features
  • It will apparently come with a headphone hack and hole-punch selfie camera  

Leaks are casting light on an upcoming budget version of Google’s Pixel phone.

According to frequent leaker, Evan Blass, the Pixel 4A will debut at $399 which is on par with the tech giant’s previous budget offering, the Pixel 3A.

Blass discovered news of the price via leaked renders of billboard ads for the Google-made device.

The leaks follow similar intel from this week that confirmed the devices design and also some hardware.

TechnoLike Plus reports that the phone will have a 3.5mm headphone jack, a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, a hole-punch style selfie camera, and a square main camera array on the back.

As noted by BGR, the leaks mark a trend from the tech giant which has had all of its previous Pixel devices leaked in full well before their official release. 

One missing detail on the 4A is whether the new device will use the Pixel 4’s advanced ‘Project Soli’ chip which allows for some of the Pixel’s most pivotal features like hand-gestured controls.

The 4A appears to have a much smaller bezel compared to the Pixel 4, meaning its possible that Google was required to remove Soli in order to achieve the design.

While Google has yet to officially announce the new Pixel, the device was expected to be released at the company’s I/O conference which has since been cancelled due to concerns over the spread of novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

Google said that those who purchased tickets for the event, which was slated to take place between May 12th to the 14th, will be refunded by March 13 at the latest.

Google's rumored new Pixel phone may the first of such devices to come equipped with a 'hole-punch' selfie camera. Renders made by OnLeaks and 91Mobiles pictured above show the single-sensor camera positioned in the top-left corner

Google’s rumored new Pixel phone may the first of such devices to come equipped with a ‘hole-punch’ selfie camera. Renders made by OnLeaks and 91Mobiles pictured above show the single-sensor camera positioned in the top-left corner

The conference usually ushers in the company’s latest software features with implications on Google-made hardware and devices that run its operating system, Android.

The announcement followed the company’s decision on Monday to move its annual Cloud Next conference online and to ban all business travel except for ‘critical’ situations, in desperate attempts to help prevent its employees from contracting the disease.   

‘Due to concerns around the coronavirus (COVID-19), and in accordance with health guidance from the CDC, WHO, and other health authorities, we have decided to cancel the physical Google I/O event at Shoreline Amphitheatre,’ wrote the company in a statement.

It is looking into an ‘alternative format’ for the conference, the company said.