Phone
Pixel 8a Specs Revealed: 120Hz Display, Tensor G3, and More
Google has recently introduced its latest Pixel 8 series, where it has showcased two phones, including the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Both of the devices belong to the high-range category, but now, as usual, Google has brought a new device, the Google Pixel 8a, which comes in an affordable range. Now that it’s launching, we already have some details about it; let’s explore it.
A new and improved display, yet again
The display is the most important component of the device, which has a full impact on the user experience. In the last Pixel 7a lineup, the company has introduced a significant update to the display, but Google had to limit the display to only 90 Hz. Now, with the upcoming Pixel 8a, the company has provided a 120 Hz refresh rate display with 1400 nits of peak HDR brightness.
Supports DisplayPort
As we previously discussed, Google could introduce mirror display support for pixel devices, which allows the device to use the device functions on big screens. To make this possible, the company has introduced DisplayPort output support. However, there are still a few possibilities similar to the Samsung DeX. As far as the working of the feature, it could be fully functional with the upcoming Android 15 update.
High performance with the latest tensor G3 SoC
According to the report, the Google Pixel will be equipped with the same SoC that was introduced in the Pixel 8 series, which means you will get professional-grade performance. However, in comparison to the last SoC tensor, G2, it will provide a little bit of performance enhancement.
Going into details, the Tensor G3 will prove to be an improved CPU for the company. It has replaced the old scores like the Cortex-X1 and Cortex-A55 cores with the late 2022 cores, which will offer enhanced power and more power efficiency. The company has also used a new setup for Coresas 1+4+4, which gives an extra CPU core.
However, there is a slight difference in processors that arrived in the Pixel 8a in comparison to the other Pixel 8 series devices. The chip has been clipped with the silicon diie inside; the chip is identical, but it is coated with plastic packages. On the other side, the regular G3 uses FOPLP (Fan-Out Panel Level Packaging).
As the Tesor chip is designed by the corporation of Google and Samsung, Samsung describes that IPoP is thicker and hotter than FOPLP, but it is also cheaper, which explains the decision.
Source – Android Authority
The Korean Firm believes in quality over quantity! Samsung fans get ready for the new camera arrangement, as the giant is looking forward to dropping the ritual of four rear camera arrangements on the ‘S’ series ultra devices.
Dropping the four-rear camera concept doesn’t mean dropping the high-end camera result. Samsung has already started testing a Galaxy S25 Ultra prototype, and instead of housing four rear cameras, the device will have just three this time:
- A main primary camera, a telescopic camera featuring a periscope lens, and an ultra-wide camera.
If the reports come true, then we have to say goodbye to the 10 MP 3x telescopic camera. The reason behind this appears to be that the Korean giant can use the new “primary” camera to generate 3x optical zoom with the same or improved quality.
This is being speculated by a post on X shared by a tipster who stated, “Galaxy S25 Ultra: Camera News.” Following this statement, he elaborates on the news. This time in the Galaxy S25 Ultra, three rear cameras will be housed instead of four, and the dedicated 3x zoom lens will be removed.
It is reported that the main camera will have the same resolution, but the low-light performance will be improved, and it will also be used for 3x zoom as well. For the periscope camera, Samsung is said to be testing variable zoom with two fixed focal lengths; the first focal length will be between 4x and 5x, whereas the second will be between 6x and 7x. It appears that Samsung will not have continuous variable zoom technology similar to what Sony has teased in the recent teaser video of its forthcoming Xperia 1 VI.
The previous resorts already reported that the Galaxy S25 could feature three different configurations, including 12GB RAM + 256GB internal storage, 16GB RAM + 512GB internal storage, and 16GB RAM + 1TB internal storage. It could feature the same 5000mAh battery capacity but is expected to bring a new functionality called “Battery AI” that will help to add 5% to 10% runtime to the battery life. It is also expected that it will be powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset.
Although Samsung has not confirmed anything officially yet regarding the specs and features of the device, it will be interesting to see the new camera setup on the forthcoming Galaxy S25 Ultra.
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Sony is all set to introduce its forthcoming flagship smartphone, the Xperia 1 VI, on May 15, 2024, which is expected to bring a telephoto camera with an even higher optical zoom facility than Samsung.
Sony introduced its Xperia 1 V flagship smartphone in May 2023, featuring a camera with an optical zoom ranging from 3.5x to 5.2x, a bit higher than the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 5x optical zoom. Now it appears again that Sony is all set to defeat Samsung in the optical zoom game.
Sony teased the fans with a new teaser video, revealing that the Xperia 1 VI will have a telephoto camera with a focal length ranging from 85mm to 138mm. If Sony attaches a primary camera with the same focal length as the Xperia 1 V to the forthcoming Xperia 1 VI, which is 24mm, this means that its telephoto camera will offer an optical zoom of 3.5x to 5.75x more than a primary camera.
Vivo is also actively setting up to introduce its flagship smartphone, the X100 Ultra, and it is expected to have a higher optical zoom (7x) than the Galaxy S24 Ultra. It is quite clear that, in the race for optical zoom, Samsung is running behind other smartphone manufacturers.
However, the Korean giant has already started gearing up for the Galaxy S25 series smartphone, and it is expected that the Galaxy S25 Ultra could arrive with a higher optical zoom or maybe bring back the 10x optical zoom of the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
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Qualcomm is building up to redesigning the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 to reach a higher clock speed and is expected to strongly compete with Apple’s forthcoming A-series chips.
Initially, it was finalized that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 design would be on the floor with a target frequency of 4.00 GHz and above in April this year, but unfortunately, that didn’t come true. However, jumping on Apple’s M4 and its high clock speeds helped the chipset accomplish a record-breaking single-core score.
Now the report says that Qualcomm appears to be debuting a chipset redesign with a new target frequency of 4.26 GHz. It is expected that we could see this change on Apple’s forthcoming A18 and A18 Pro phones. If the report is to be believed, Qualcomm is offering the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 a performance boost to contend with the latest chip from Apple.
The design is being pinched to hit a clock speed of 4.26 GHz and will probably be finalized in June. This should upgrade both single-core and multi-core performance for the forthcoming chip, which is expected to arrive in October.
Apple’s revealing of the M4 probably caught the San Diego brand off-guard, with @jasonwill101 posting the rumor on X, stating that the forthcoming SoC will be tweaked. Given that the M4 is mass-produced on TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process, most expectedly Apple could leverage this technology for the A18 and A18 Pro, giving them similar performance attributes as the newly announced 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models.
On the other hand, Qualcomm is also stating that it will mass produce its Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 on the same node. However, the next smartphone chipset is expected to be based on the Snapdragon X Elite, which, noticeably, does not even support the ARMv9 instruction set. It appears that Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen might not reach its full potential because of a missing feature (SME), but a higher clock speed aims to cover up the gap.
Here’s the fact: the phone manufacturers will need to upgrade cooling systems to avert overheating.