Google I/O 2023, where the Pixel 7a is rumored to make its official debut, is just a few days away. We know a lot about the midrange phone thanks to months of leaks, including the possibility of a price increase this year.
over the past week, the Pixel 7a has started showing up in retail packaging, and today’s images posted online have provided details straight from the source.
On Twitter, TechDroider posted two images of the retail packaging for the Pixel 7a, and the rear of the box drew our attention. If you zoom in and squint really hard, the label on the packaging reveals several important features.
First, a charging brick is not mentioned on the packaging, only a charging cable and a Quick Switch Adapter for transferring data from your previous phone. This was expected given that the Pixel 6a last year didn’t contain a charger, following in the footsteps of Apple. From what we can deduce from this, the box’s contents should be comparable to (if not identical to) what came with the 6a last year: a USB-C cable, an adapter, a SIM ejector, and in certain locations, a fast start manual.
The Google Store version’s removal of 5G mmWave connectivity is another sad news. This was similarly true of the Pixel 6a last year when support for the fastest mobile connectivity standard was only available on the Verizon model for an additional $50 over base pricing. With the Pixel 7a, we anticipate a similar circumstance in which mmWave is not supported but the Google Store and international variants support sub-6 GHz 5G.
The Pixel 7a will have a hearing aid compatibility rating of M3/T4 for induction and acoustic hearing aids, according to the package. Google has been able to achieve this standard for all of its devices since the launching of the Pixel 6 Pro, obtaining the same rating as Apple’s iPhone 14.
Android specialist Mishaal Rahman gave us a second look at the Pixel 7a’s retail packaging. We can utilize a better-quality image of the back of the box from a since-closed eBay item to validate two model numbers. We can now determine that the black variation has a model number of GWKK2 and the white variant has a model number of GWKK3, even if TechDroider’s images weren’t sufficiently clear to make this determination.Â
When all is said and done, we could see up to five model numbers, including the blue model, the coral colorway, and possibly a Verizon version with mmWave support.
