Pixel 5a specs, availability: Google’s new mid-range phone will only ship to US and Japan starting Aug. 26

Google has finally unveiled its newest mid-range phone that is unsurprisingly named Pixel 5a. The device is now up for pre-orders, but its availability is confirmed to be limited to two countries only.

Pixel 5a release date, availability

Just like last year, the new “A” series Pixel was announced through a press release and posts on Google’s official social media pages. The company did not delay the sale of Pixel 5a and confirmed that customers can pre-order the phone as soon as it was unveiled.

The catch is Pixel 5a will only be available in two countries -- the United States and Japan -- through the online Google Store for $449. But the phone will not ship until Thursday, Aug. 26.

Meanwhile, some fans are still puzzled by Google's decision to launch the Pixel 5a in just two countries, especially considering the company’s previous successful Pixel launches in other territories. Last year, Google India confirmed that the Pixel 4a was sold out in 30 minutes as soon as its sale started.

However, the very limited release of Pixel 5a should not come as a surprise, though. Google already hinted at this scenario when it debunked cancellation rumors last April. At the time, some fans may have hoped that Google would add more countries to the list, which obviously did not happen.

The Pixel 5a announcement post on the Made by Google Twitter page has since been inundated with questions about the phone’s availability. These queries are left unanswered, but the chip shortage is one of the likely factors that caused Pixel 5a’s limited availability.

“COVID has created some challenges for the global supply chain, in particular silicon shortages,” Google’s VP of Product Management, Brian Rakowski, previously said last week (via CNET). "As a result, we'll be limiting our rollout to select channels.”

Pixel 5a specs: What’s new

While the Pixel 5a design may appear lackluster, the new mid-range phone is actually packed with significant upgrades. The only model has 5G capability and sports a 6.34-inch Full HD+ OLED display that is larger than Pixel 5’s screen.

The announcements also confirmed a recent leak that the Pixel 5a gets the biggest battery ever on a Pixel phone with 4680mAh capacity, albeit without wireless charging support. The mid-range phone is now a water-resistant device with an IPx7 rating. It is powered by the Snapdragon 765G SoC and has two rear-facing cameras composed of 12MP dual-pixel and 16MP ultrawide sensors.