Following much speculation and some convincing leaks, the Google Pixel 7a was officially unveiled this week at I/O 2023. The successor to last year’s midrange Pixel smartphone has a couple of hardware upgrades, such as the upgraded chipset and camera, while the company is also offering a couple of stunning colors – Sea and Coral. The latter also happens to be a Google Store exclusive, but Google didn’t talk about charging more for it during the announcement. So we can understand the surprise when XDA’s head of video content, Alex Dobie, found that the UK Google Store was charging £499 for the Pixel 7a in Coral, a £50 premium on the original asking price. Well, this seems to have been an error, as buyers of the device in this colorway are now seemingly getting a £50 refund.
The news was shared by 9to5Google’s Damien Wilde, who was kind enough to attach a screenshot of the refund email in response to Alex’s tweet. Refunds will be processed to the “original form of payment,” so there’s no store credit to deal with. The UK appears to have been the only region affected, but if more regions do have the same issue with the Coral Pixel 7a, we expect Google to promptly send the same refund notification.
A quick look through Google Store UK listing reveals that it now costs £449, much like the Sea, Snow, and Charcoal models. So people who are yet to get Google’s latest midrange Pixel will not face this issue. As for people who have already paid £499 for the Coral Pixel 7a in the UK, a refund email should be on the way if it hasn’t reached you already.
On top of the couple of the CPU and camera upgrades we referenced above, the Pixel 7a has some minor but significant improvements, too, such as the inclusion of Adaptive alert vibration. This lets you manage the intensity of the phone’s vibration, especially when it’s facing upward and is still, i.e. placed on top of a table near you. In the meantime, if you’re torn between the four exciting color options, our Pixel 7a color picking guide will help you through the process.
Source: Google
Google Pixel 7a
If you are looking for a new device at a midrange price, the Google Pixel 7a checks off all the boxes. It has a fantastic camera system, strong power, great software support, and good battery life. It may be midrange in price but feels closer to its flagship siblings overall.
