The Google Pixel 5a could be announced somewhere this month, perhaps today (August 17). Its price may be fair based on the phone's rumored features, but Google probably pushed it a little too high.

The apparent cost of Google's new mid-range phone was spotted in an ad on the Google Fi mobile network (via GoogleFi subreddit srwaxalot and 9to5Google). We had previously heard that the Pixel 5a could be unveiled today, so it makes sense if it was sent live just a little too early, even if the banner's release is still a coincidence.

The phone's full name is said to be the Pixel 5a (5G), confirming the widely held expectation that this phone will be the successor to the Pixel 4a 5G rather than the LTE-based Pixel 4a. However, that also seems to apply to pricing.

The ad boasts that users will save $233 if they pay $15 per month for two years on a Pixel 5a contract. That comes to $360 in all, which combined with the promised savings would cost $599. Subtracting the additional cost of Google's included device protection policy ($6 per month, for a total of $144) from this figure, the cost comes to $449.

The Pixel 5a costs $450, $100 more than the Pixel 4a but $50 less than the Pixel 4a 5G, from which the Pixel 5a seems to borrow most of its features. Compared to rival models, it is $50 more expensive than the cheapest iPhone SE and $50 cheaper than Samsung's Galaxy A52 5G.

If $449 is the actual price of the Pixel 5a, then this phone is a little too expensive to be on our list of best budget phones. (We eliminated it from our shortlist at $400.) Cell phone contracts can make small price differences between devices meaningless due to monthly payments, but with rumors that the Pixel 5a is not that different from the Pixel 4a 5G, Google's decision to offer one high-priced budget model this year is still disappointing.

No doubt, the Pixel 5a will still run smoothly on a problem-free version of Android and offer excellent normal and ultra-wide photos. However, as rumored, using the same display, frame, and camera sensor would be a major disappointment. Worst of all, we would expect Google to use the same year-old Snapdragon 765G chip in the Pixel 5a. The performance will certainly not be worse, but the performance gap with rivals will only widen in the future.

Fortunately, there is one major upgrade that is rumored along with the August 17 release date - a 4,860mAh battery. While processing power is important for a phone, Google could win customers over by offering great battery life. But we will have to wait to see if that is the case until they can test new phones, and of course until the phones are released.