First spotted by sleuths at XDA Developers, this filing indicates that, as expected, this phone won’t have the Pixel 4’s motion-sensing Soli radar chip. So, you might not get that face unlock feature. Google hasn’t announced it won’t use the chip in the filing, but Soli’s operating frequencies — between 58Hz and 63.5GHz — don’t show up in it. It also makes sense that Google might not want to include an expensive chip in a sub-$500 phone. Soli’s operating frequency also prevented the Pixel 4 from launching in countries like India, where these frequencies are not open for use. If leaks are to be believed, the phone will have a hole punch camera, a 5.81-inch screen, and will cost around $399. On top of this, it’ll be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 chipset, come with 6GB RAM, and — excitingly — will have a headphone jack. Oh, and it’ll have the same camera as the regular Pixel 4. The Pixel 4a is coming into a crowded market segment though. In particular, it’ll have to battle with this year’s $399 iPhone SE 2020 and an upcoming OnePlus device. The ball is now in Google’s court. I can’t wait to get my hands on one — I’m particularly excited to test out its camera after my colleague Mix wrote a beautiful piece about using the Pixel 4 for street photography. Will the 4a match up? I’m going to find out.
