Pixel 7a or Pixel Fold, your guess is as good as ours
The Pixel 7a and Pixel Fold will be Google’s most compelling phones of 2023 if we’re to believe everything we’ve seen thus far. One of them brings the most ritz on a A-series mid-ranger to date while the other could set the table for the convertible mobile devices of the future. In any case, there’s some new paperwork out of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology and it marks a step forward for either or, perhaps, both devices.
Google’s compliance filings cover devices specifically termed to be phones with model numbers GWKK3, G0DZQ, and GHL1X — the listing of the latter also includes mention of a G82U8. One included report suggests that all the devices share a PCB design and that at least one variant will support millimeter wave cellular connectivity.
OET paperwork typically contains radio transmission test results, FCC ID label placement information, and other details that are required under the law if one is to sell a cellphone in the United States. Submitting companies request and usually receive confidentiality on a lot of those materials — there’s been enough redacted to prevent us from finding out what exactly this phone actually is.
In the filings, Google’s contracted third-party lab, Sporton International, reported receiving device samples from Google starting in late August of last year. 9to5Google picked up on a potential connection where the serial numbers of the devices feature a similar prefix to the serial number of a Pixel 7a that was shown off in a previous leak (“28291FQHN” and “28251FQHN” vs. “2A281FQHN”).
The Pixel 7a remains on track to be announced at Google I/O this year just as the Pixel 6a was during the conference last year. Sources have also indicated that the Pixel Fold won’t have its displays enter mass production until Q3 of this year, opening up the potential for some internal changes that could affect SAR test results.
All of this said, you never know where the next monkey wrench lies.
