Google Pixel 4a may be delayed until late October

First the Pixel 4a was due to arrive in May, but that release date was reportedly bumped to June and then July. Now a new leak is pushing Google’s mid-range phone back again, and this time all the way back to October.

Phone leaker Jon Prosser has tweeted again, now saying that the handset won’t arrive until October 22. Worse, that’s just for the black model, with the “Barely Blue” version vanishing from records entirely. 

 “AGAIN, it seems Google has delayed Pixel 4a,” Prosser tweeted, adding that the announcement was still due July 13. 

“I waited all week to report this to see if it was an error in the system,” he continued in a second tweet. “But I’ve confirmed it multiple times at this point. Keeping a close eye on things and with the way things are going, it could be changed again.”

I waited all week to report this to see if it was an error in the system. But I’ve confirmed it multiple times at this point. Keeping a close eye on things and with the way things are going, it could be changed again. I’ll report back if there’s a change.June 13, 2020

With this new timetable, it’s very possible that the Pixel 4a would debut around the same time as the iPhone 12. Apple’s flagship, based on leaks, may have a release date of October but some say it could be late as November.

Here’s a chaser of bad news to go with the first portion: “Seems like the Pixel 5 will also be pushed back,” Prosser concluded, adding that at this point it would probably make sense just to launch the Pixel 5 and 4a alongside one another. That makes sense to us – Google could just call it the Pixel 5a.

Seems like the Pixel 5 will also be pushed back. Though, it would probably be smart to just launch Pixel 5 and 4a side-by-side, especially if there’s only one model of Pixel 4a that will launch.June 13, 2020

What’s particularly confusing about this is that, according to Prosser, the Pixel 4a has been ready to ship for some time, and hasn’t been delayed due to coronavirus directly, but because the market conditions aren’t particularly welcoming to a new smartphone. Perhaps Google has been keeping tabs on footfall in phone stores as they slowly reopen around the world and concluded that it’s best served waiting a few more months.

That the Pixel 4a is all ready to go would go some way to explaining why we know quite so much about it. We’re apparently looking at a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730-powered phone with 6GB RAM and with storage options starting at 128GB.

Unlike last year’s Pixel 3a, the Pixel 4a is rumored to support wireless charging, which would be a big improvement. That said, the main selling points remain early access to Android updates, a bloat-free OS and Google’s excellent track record of smartphone photography, which this time should come courtesy of a single 12.2-megapixel rear camera.     

Of course, with every month that the Pixel 4a is delayed, it becomes a little less tempting as flagships come down in price and new, better specced opponents emerge. Already Google has something of a fight on its hands, thanks to the value of Apple’s iPhone SE, which starts at $399 and packs the same processor as the iPhone 11. And the affordable OnePlus Z is also waiting in the wings.