We’re just over a week away from Google I/0 2023, when the Pixel 7a is expected to be officially unveiled. Details about the mid-range phone have been leaking out for months, so we know a fair amount about it, including a possible price increase this year. But last week the Pixel 7a started appearing in retail packaging, and some photos posted on the web today revealed details straight from the horse’s mouth.
TechDroider shared two photos of the Pixel 7a’s retail packaging on TwitterThe back of the box caught our eye. Several key features are revealed by the label on the packaging, if you zoom in and stare hard enough.
First, the poster mentions a charging cable and hot swap adapter for transferring data from your old phone, but it doesn’t mention a charging brick. This was to be expected after the Pixel 6a followed in Apple’s footsteps and didn’t include a charger last year. From what we can glean here, the contents of the box should be similar (if not identical) to what shipped with the 6a last year: a USB-C cable, adapter, SIM ejector and, in some areas, a quick start guide.
Another disappointing revelation is the lack of 5G mmWave connectivity on the Google Store variant. That was also the case last year, when Verizon’s variant of the Pixel 6a only included support for the fastest mobile connection standard for an extra $50 over the base price. We expect a similar situation with the 7a as the Google Store and international variants support sub-6GHz 5G, but not mmWave.
The packaging also confirms that the Pixel 7a will have a hearing aid compatibility rating of M3/T4 for acoustic and induction hearing aids. This is the same rating as Apple’s iPhone 14, and Google has been able to hit that bar for all of its phones since the Pixel 6 Pro.
Another glimpse of the Pixel 7a’s retail packaging was shared with us by an Android expert Mishaal Rahman. The since-defunct eBay listing offered a high-resolution look at the back of the box that we could use to confirm two model numbers. While the TechDroider images weren’t clear enough to fully distinguish, we can now tell that the black variant has a model number. GWKK2 And the white variant has a model number GWKK3. Factoring in the blue model, coral colorway, and possibly a Verizon version with mmWave support, we can see up to five model numbers when all is said and done.