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The Pixel 5a will launch with Android 11, as will the 4a 5G: new leak

The Pixel 4 series may be replaced soon. (Source: Google)
The Pixel 4 series may be replaced soon. (Source: Google)
Google has released a new little online puzzle that offers what is probably an insight on the Pixel 4a's long-awaited launch date. It is expected to do so with a 5G variant for the first time in this series' history. However, it seems it will not make it to this event, and will instead wait until Android 11 is here too.

After a considerable delay compared to Google's normal scheme of things, the Pixel 4a is now slated to launch on August 3, 2020. However, a new leak suggests that its replacement, not to mention its own 5G variant, is already hot on its heels. It comes in the form of code allegedly lifted from Android's Open Source Project (AOSP, or the basis for many ROMs thought of as Android-based) and posted by 9to5Google.

This snippet was apparently written by a developer in order to keep track of this series' generations and the version of the ROM with which each one launched. This, at least, is intimated by text such as "(P) Pixel 3/3a", which could be interpreted as these phones debuting with Android 9.0 (Pie), as indeed they did.

This convention thus progresses to the point at which it puts the Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 5 and Pixel 5a on "R" - Android 11 - at their own respective introductions, whereas the 4G-only 4a remains on 10 (or "Q").

Should this pan out, it implies 2 immediate possibilities: either the 4a 5G will launch alongside the 5 series at the next event that introduces a major OS upgrade (currently scheduled for the autumn of 2020); or it does so alongside its 4G variant anyway, thus introducing Android 11 in a highly irregular and unexpected manner.

In addition, this new leak might indicate that Google intends to get right back on track with its usual product cycle going into 2021. In other words, the 4a may have as little as 2 months in which to be Google's latest phone before its own 5G counterpart comes along to supplant it.

The code allegedly taken from AOSP. (Source: 9to5Google)
The code allegedly taken from AOSP. (Source: 9to5Google)

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2020 08 > The Pixel 5a will launch with Android 11, as will the 4a 5G: new leak
Deirdre O'Donnell, 2020-08- 1 (Update: 2020-08- 1)