Three photos were posted on SlashLeaks, one showing the Pixel 5a logo on the device's screen. The other shows the fingerprint sensor in the display. Neither photo shows a cutout for the front-facing camera, suggesting that the device in question has an in-display camera similar to the ZTE Axon 20 5G.

Forgive the irony, but for a mid-range smartphone designed with budget users in mind, such as the Pixel 5a, this seems a bit too much; past models like the Pixel 3a and Pixel 4a have taken some features from Google's expensive flagships and taken from Google's expensive flagships and incorporated them into inexpensive devices.

Neither model introduced any new features. And the in-display camera and sensor would certainly count as new features for Google; the Pixel 5 has a fingerprint reader on the back and a visible camera cutout on the front. If Google is going to add these features to its phones, the Pixel 6, due this fall, seems more likely.

Something else that rings alarm bells when looking at these purported Pixel 5a photos is that they closely resemble the rumored Pixel 5 Pro photos, which also depict a phone with an in-display camera. The authenticity of these images is widely doubted.

Not that there aren't areas where Google could improve with the Pixel 5a: the Pixel 4a relied on a Snapdragon 730G processor, which felt a bit underpowered compared to similarly priced phones like the iPhone SE and OnePlus Nord. The Pixel 4a also did not have that impressive battery life, although its camera ranked among the best camera phones we tested.

Whatever Google has planned for the Pixel 5a will likely appear in the spring. If that device is anything like the one pictured in these photos, we apologize for our skepticism.