It’s been less than a week since Google’s Pixel 10 lineup hit store shelves, and the rumor mill has already shifted focus to the Pixel 10a. Due to launch in late Q1 or early Q2 next year, the Pixel 10a will be the cheapest member of the family, bringing the best features of its more expensive sibling at a more affordable price point. However, if a new leak is accurate, the Pixel 10a might have more in common with the Pixel 9 than the Pixel 10.
Early Pixel 10a leaks indicated Google might cheap out on the SoC, sticking to the same Tensor G4 chip found on the Pixel 9. A new leak from a reliable source hints that even more hardware could stay the same between the Pixel 10a and its predecessor.
As per Mystic Leaks, the Pixel 10a will use the slower and older-generation UFS 3.1 storage. Google finally switched to faster UFS 4.0 NAND on the Pixel 10 lineup, albeit only on the 256GB and higher variants. The newer NAND standard brings significantly faster read/write speeds while reducing power consumption.
Almost all major smartphone manufacturers have switched to UFS 4.0 storage for their mid-range and premium devices. It would be disappointing if Google stuck with the older and slower NAND for another generation, especially since the Pixel 10a is expected to receive 7 years of OS updates.
That’s not the only disappointing part of the leak. Based on Mystic Leaker’s findings, the Pixel 10a will not feature a telephoto camera — even though Google added one to the base Pixel 10 this year.
No Magic Cue on Pixel 10a
Google’s next budget Pixel will also miss out on Magic Cue, one of the headlining new AI features of the new Pixels. It uses on-device AI to surface relevant, contextual information from your apps and services during calls and conversations.
Since the Pixel 10a’s launch is over six months away, Google might change its stance and add Magic Cue support. But, for now, all signs point to this not happening. This makes sense since Magic Cue relies on AI processing, and the Pixel 10a’s older Tensor G4 chip might not be powerful enough for the task.
Lastly, the Pixel 10a’s display might get a modest brightness boost, bumping it to 2,000 nits — up from 1,800 nits on the Pixel 9a. There’s no word yet on Google adopting an LTPO panel with full 1-120Hz refresh rate support.
All in all, it seems the Pixel 10a might share more in common with the 2024 Pixel 9 family than with the Pixel 10. That could make its $500 price tag harder to justify.
