Google Pixel 4a XL leaks may show us what the apparently-canceled phone looked like
And possibly how the Google Pixel 4a will look
by Tom BedfordWhen it launches later in the year, the Google Pixel 4a will be the first Pixel phone to come without an XL variant, according to multiple leaks we've been hearing for a long time, however that hasn't stopped people creating renders to show the apparently-canceled Pixel 4a XL.
Pictures coming from phone case manufacturer Pigtou, which has recently got into the habit of leaking phone details, show what the Google Pixel 4a XL may have looked like if it hadn't been canceled.
It's worth pointing out, of course, there's been no official confirmation that we're not getting a Pixel 4a XL, so we still may see it launch, but at this point it's looking unlikely.
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- Check out our Google Pixel 4 XL review
- The Google Pixel 5 is coming soon too
The Google Pixel 4a XL renders line up a lot with how we've been expecting the Pixel 4a to look, with a punch-hole cut-out for the camera in the screen, multiple rear cameras, and a fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone. The main - and possibly only - difference between the phones would have been the size, which is hard to convey in renders.
These renders could tell us a thing or two about the Google Pixel 4a as well - there's a 3.5mm headphone jack in the images, which suggests the base device will get the same.
It's worth taking these leaked renders with a pinch of salt though - Pigtou doesn't have an established track record (none of the information it has published has been about phones that have released yet, so we don't know the accuracy), and the exact same could be said about the leaker the pictures were made with, @xleaks7, so it's hard to know if this information is actually correct or not.
Why was the Google Pixel 4a XL canceled?
It's hard to know why the Google Pixel 4a XL was canceled, given it hasn't officially been canceled at all yet, but given the number of leaks suggesting so, it seems to be the case. The question, then, is why?
That question could best be answered by heading over to our Google Pixel 4 and 4 XL deals page or looking at their prices below - the cost of the Pixel 4, that the 4a is set to be a cheaper version of, is nearly as low as the price of the Google Pixel 3a and 3a XL, at $399 / £399 / AU$649 and $479 / £469 / AU$799 respectively. It seems the unpopularity of Google's late-2019 phones has caused their prices to sink quite a bit.
Therefore a Pixel 4a XL would compete a lot with the Pixel 4 in terms of price, and Google likely wants to price its phones differently to appeal to different buyers. Cancelling the XL model, then, would make that difference bigger.
We're expecting the Google Pixel 4a phones to launch in July, so it's likely then that we'll find out for sure if the 4a XL really was canceled or not.
Via GSMArena