The Google Pixel 5a is coming soon. The budget phone is rumored to make its debut as early as this month at the Google I/O developer conference. And once the Pixel 5a arrives, it is expected to draw attention to how it compares to Google's current lineup of phones.

Indeed, much of that effort will be devoted to comparing the Pixel 5a to its predecessors. (Indeed, we discussed the comparison of the Pixel 5a to the Pixel 4a based on the rumored specs of the new model.) This is especially true since the latest rumors suggest that the Pixel 5a will have a lot in common with last fall's larger flagship.

Google I/O opens on May 18, and many expect the company to reveal the Pixel 5a. However, the steady stream of Pixel 5a rumors has given us a good idea of what to expect, so much so that a Pixel 5a vs. Pixel 5 comparison - which serves to highlight the changes Google may introduce - is a good idea.

Here is how we expect the Pixel 5a to compare to the older Pixel 5.

The Pixel 5 occupies the high end of Google's smartphone lineup, with a starting price of $699. This is $200 more than Google charges for the Pixel 4a 5G and $350 more than the Pixel 4a's debut price.

This $349 price was one of the best things about the Pixel 4a, as it allowed users to get a relatively inexpensive phone and still take better pictures than phones costing hundreds of dollars. For this reason, we expect the Pixel 5a to replicate the Pixel 5a in terms of price.

That may be difficult for Google. As this Google Pixel 5a vs. Pixel 5 showdown continues, the new phone is expected to be a significant upgrade over the Pixel 4a, with an emphasis on a more powerful processor and 5G connectivity. Once these features arrive, Google may find it difficult to maintain the $349 price tag of last year's Pixel 4a.

Still, even if a price increase is planned, Google is not likely to move far from the price point that has supported the success of its budget phones; rumors about the Pixel 5a's potential price have been silent, but we are looking for something in between the Pixel 4a and Pixel 4a 5G.

The appearance of Google's phones hasn't changed much from flagship to budget models. And according to the leaked rendered images of the Pixel 5a that have appeared so far, the new model looks a lot like the Pixel 5. The difference is in the materials, Google uses plastic for its inexpensive phones, and this will likely continue with the Pixel 5a.

Another important design difference would be the headphone jack; like the Pixel 4a, the Pixel 5a will have one, but the Pixel 5 will not.

According to rumors, the Pixel 5a will feature a 6.2-inch OLED screen with full HD resolution. This is slightly larger than the Pixel 5's 6-inch panel. However, the Pixel 5's display offers a 90 Hz refresh rate, and there is disagreement as to whether the Pixel 5a will adopt it.

Previous Google budget phones have used the more traditional 60Hz refresh rate, allowing Google to promote the faster-refreshing display as a differentiating feature of its flagships. Then again, as more budget phones are increasing their display refresh rates, the Pixel 5a could follow suit.

Since the Pixel 4, Google has offered an easy way to differentiate its flagships from budget phones. That changed a bit with the Pixel 4a 5G, which used the exact same camera setup as the Pixel 5, but the Pixel 4a still had a single rear camera, and Google's "two cameras for flagships, one camera for budget phones" philosophy remained more or less intact.

The Pixel 5a may shake that up. The leaked image of the new device shows two lenses, which we assume are probably the same wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle cameras that Google has on the Pixel 5. In addition, metadata from a Pixel 5a photo image inadvertently posted to the Google blog revealed that it was taken with an ultra-wide-angle lens. Presumably, the Pixel 5a will also add phase detection autofocus.

While the addition of a rear-facing camera is a certainty, the star of the Pixel 5a should continue to be Google's photography software; most of the image processing features that debuted on the Pixel 5 are expected to be included on the Pixel 5a. This includes an electronic image stabilization mode for video, improved HDR+, and support for portrait photos in Night Sight.

Here's where the potential for uncanny similarities between the Pixel 5a and the Pixel 5 could be. In last fall's flagship model, Google used the Snapdragon 765G. This is a low-power processor compared to the Snapdragon 8 series chipsets usually found in flagship Android phones, but Google seems to have made this move with the Pixel 5's cost in mind.

The Pixel 5a rumors suggest that the same Snapdragon 765G silicon is slated for Google's new budget phone. If so, it is a curious decision.

On the one hand, it would make Google's budget phone as good as its flagships and at the same time make it compatible with 5G without a separate Pixel 5a 5G model. But even budget-minded shoppers may be reluctant to buy a new phone with last year's silicon, even if the price is lower. And speaking of price, if the Pixel 5a has the same chipset as the Pixel 5 (and Pixel 4a 5G), how will Google keep the cost of the Pixel 5a down?

Battery life has puzzled recent Pixel models: the Pixel 5 and its 4,080 mAh battery lasted 9 hours and 29 minutes in our custom battery test; the Pixel 5's time was below average smartphone results, but at least better than the Pixel 4a.

Still, the Pixel 5a may have trouble clearing that low hurdle. Google typically puts smaller batteries in its budget smartphones. For example, the Pixel 4a offered a 3,140 mAh power pack; given that the Pixel 5a will likely have 5G, a larger battery seems necessary. Perhaps similar to the 3,885 mAh power pack on the Pixel 4a 5G. However, it seems unlikely that the Pixel 5a will have a much larger battery than the one in the Pixel 5, especially if Google wants to keep the Pixel 5a's price down.

The Pixel 5 offers reverse wireless charging, allowing users to charge other Qi-enabled devices by placing them on the back of the phone, but we do not expect this feature to be included in the Pixel 5a. Wireless charging tends to be limited to more expensive phones, and Google has not included this feature in budget models like the Pixel 4a.

From what we've heard so far about Google's smartphone plans, the Pixel 5a will significantly close the gap between Google's budget phones and the Pixel 5. From the processor to the camera, a Google Pixel 5a vs. Pixel 5 comparison may reveal more similarities than differences.

The key questions yet to be revealed are whether the Pixel 5a will get a faster refresh display and how these improvements will affect the price of the phone. The answers to these questions will tell us what the Pixel 5a will rate against the Pixel 5. And it may also shed light on what Google plans to do with the Pixel 6 this fall.