Fears of a Google Pixel 8a price hike have been stoked by the alleged discovery of the new phone's Canadian pricing, in adverts spotted by the team at PassionateGeekz.
The screen-capped ads show the Pixel 8a starting at CA$708.99, or CA$792.99 for the higher-capacity 256GB version. For comparison, the current Pixel 7a launched at CA$599 in the Great White North last year.
This suggests a pretty hefty price increase, but that doesn't fit neatly with existing rumors and trends. For one, these are some very sketchy-looking adverts from a third-party retailer, and at strangely specific price points, rather than the usual $x99 pricing we usually see for phones like this.
Plus, while we have seen possible proof of a Pixel 8a price hike in Europe from a reliable source, that only indicated the equivalent of a $60 price hike, not a hundred dollars or more like this leak suggests.
No smartphone leak should be taken at face value, but this one deserves greater skepticism than most. Maybe the prices in this leak are accurate in one highly specific circumstance (bad luck Canadians?), but we doubt Google would make its budget phone this much more expensive in a single generation.
Leaked Pixel 8a video
The pricing leak images don't actually feature the Pixel 8a at all, not even a leaked render. Fortunately for anyone wondering what the new budget Pixel looks like, we have here a fresh real-life video showing it off, courtesy of a now-disappeared Instagram Story by account gsm_islame (via X leaker @MysteryLupin).
Still looking a lot like the Pixel 7a, this alleged Pixel 8a appears in the rumored Mint Green and Bay Blue colorways, although the tipped Porcelain White and Obsidian Black models aren't visible here. The alleged new Pixel still features a camera bar with dual rear cameras, but has more rounded corners to match those of the Pixel 8 series.
pixel 8a pic.twitter.com/PG711rKBbuApril 22, 2024
The Story also included some specs information. The Pixel 8a comes with 128GB storage and 8GB RAM by default, as we expected, but will apparently retail at 4750 Moroccan Dirham, the equivalent of 468 dollars.
We should finally see the Google Pixel 8a unveiled and launched at Google I/O next month, hopefully along with some Android 15 and Pixel Fold 2 news. Although there's not much left for Google to reveal at this point when it comes to the Pixel 8a, we'll be happy to see it and finally test it to see if it's worthy of a spot on our best cheap phones guide.
