Pixel 9a leaks again, showing Google is heading in a new direction

Newly leaked images of a "Pixel 9a prototype" appear to confirm Google's changed design direction

Google Pixel 9a leak
(Image credit: ShrimpApplePro)
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Quick summary

Newly leaked images purportedly show a prototype of the Pixel 9a with a very different camera design.

It's believed to house a 64MP main camera and an ultrawide.

The Google Pixel 9a leaks started early this year. Back in August, we were told that Google is going in a different design direction for the next generation of its most affordable Pixel. And now there's been another alleged leak, with images that appear to provide confirmation.

I'm saying "appear to" because we can't confirm the images' validity, but they certainly look genuine and have the same markings we've seen on leaked prototypes in the past.

Also, if these images are indeed the Pixel 9a, then Google is dropping one of the most recognisable bits of its design – the camera strip on the back of the phone.

What we know so far about the Google Pixel 9a

Posted by X user Fenibook (via 9to5Google), we are treated to two images, one of the front and one of the back.

Pixel 9a Prototype

(Image credit: Fenibook / X)

As you can see, instead of the familiar visor-style camera strip Google has gone for a very different design here. There's a lozenge-shaped camera bump that's placed towards the left hand side of the phone, and the flash is immediately to its right.

The front image isn't as revealing, and suggests that Google's design changes aren't doing anything dramatic up front.

We're expecting the Pixel 9a to launch in early 2025, most likely in March, and it's expected to be packing an optimised Tensor G4 processor, a bigger battery and an improved camera. Size-wise it's believed to be very slightly bigger than the Pixel 8a. We think it'll be made available in four colours – Porcelain, Obsidian, Peony and Iris – and rumours indicate a 64MP camera with 2x optical zoom. As ever, the Pixel 9a will be priced to sell and should deliver impressive bang for relatively few bucks.

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Carrie Marshall
Carrie Marshall

Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).