Technologies

Google’s Pixel 7A: The Biggest Features I Want on the Rumored Phone

Commentary: Wireless charging, a screen with a higher refresh rate, and more Android updates, please.

Google’s Pixel 6A was my favorite Android phone under $500 last year, which means Google has a lot to live up to for its rumored Pixel 7A. That’s especially true as the company faces more competition in the budget phone space from Samsung, which just announced the $450 Galaxy A54 5G.

The $449 Pixel 6A is essentially a smaller, less expensive version of the Pixel 6, Google’s flagship phone from 2021. The Pixel 6A has the same Tensor processor and general design as the Pixel 6, but with a lower-resolution, 12-megapixel main camera and a few other compromises. But its relatively low cost, solid photography for the price and attractive design made it a top choice for Android fans shopping on a budget.

Google got a lot right with the Pixel 6A, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. For example, I sometimes felt the Pixel 6A’s screen was too dim, and its lack of wireless charging feels antiquated in 2023.

Google hasn’t mentioned any details about its upcoming product launch plans. But if the company maintains the same product launch strategy as last year, the Pixel 7A could appear as soon as this summer. Here’s what I’d like to see.

Same screen size, but smoother and brighter

The Pixel 6A’s 6.1-inch screen size is perfect for people who prefer smaller phones, so I’m hoping the Pixel 7A inherits this trait. It rounds out Google’s Pixel family nicely by ensuring there’s a small, medium and large option within the lineup.

However, I am hoping to see display upgrades in other areas. Google could improve the brightness on the Pixel 7A, for example, considering I was sometimes tempted to crank the brightness above 50% on the Pixel 6A, even when indoors. That’s one area where Samsung rarely has an issue, especially in the Galaxy S22 and S23 lineups.

I’d also like to see a higher refresh rate on the Pixel 7A. Since Google’s A-series phones aren’t meant to have all the flourishes you’d find on a flagship phone, a standard refresh rate may seem reasonable for the Pixel 7A. The problem, though, is that high refresh rates are no longer reserved just for premium devices. Budget phones like last year’s Galaxy A53 5G and even Motorola’s Moto G 5G have refresh rates that are higher than the standard 60Hz, resulting in smoother scrolling. That makes the Pixel 6A feel a little behind, though it excels over these competing devices in other ways, like the camera.

Luckily, Google might address this with the Pixel 7A, if a leak from developer Kuba Wojciechowski turns out to be true. Wojciechowski claims to have found details in the Android codebase indicating that the Pixel 7A could have a higher, 90Hz refresh rate, which would match the Pixel 7’s.

Wireless charging

Another feature missing from the Pixel 6A is wireless charging. The ability to charge your phone on a wireless charging pad instead of by plugging it in may not seem like a deal breaker for most people. But similar to high refresh rates, wireless charging doesn’t feel like it should be a premium feature in 2023, especially since it’s been common on most phones for the last five years. That said, many competing phones in this price range don’t support wireless charging either, aside from the $429 iPhone SE.

Thankfully, the Pixel 7A may indeed gain wireless charging, if Wojciechowski‘s findings are accurate.

More guaranteed Android updates

Google’s Pixel phones are among the first to get new Android software updates. Google, however, doesn’t offer Android version updates for as long as Samsung does. Samsung provides four generations of Android version updates, while Google offers only three. Considering Google is the purveyor of Android, and that Pixel phones are expected to provide the ideal Android experience, I’m hoping Google considers extending support in the future. And not just for the Pixel 7A, but for all upcoming Pixel phones.

Face Unlock

The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro support the ability to unlock your phone with your face, unlike the Pixel 6. Since that functionality primarily relies on the Pixel 7’s front-facing camera, unlike Apple’s Face ID, which creates a depth map of your face, I don’t see any reason why Google couldn’t easily bring this feature to the Pixel 7A. Samsung’s Galaxy A53 5G, which was in the same price range as the Pixel 6A at launch, also supports facial recognition.

If the Pixel 7A does gain the Pixel 7’s Face Unlock, just remember that Google cautions it isn’t as secure as using the fingerprint reader or a PIN. Because of this, it’s meant for unlocking your phone more conveniently, rather than authenticating purchases.

Photo Unblur

One of the biggest ways Google differentiates its Pixel phones from other Android devices is by providing software and camera features you can’t get elsewhere. One of my favorite additions to the Pixel 7 is a feature called Photo Unblur, which sharpens old photos that may’ve been taken out of focus. If the Pixel 7A runs on the same Tensor G2 processor as the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, it’ll likely support Photo Unblur, too. And I hope it does, because during my review, I was seriously impressed with how well it sharpened a photo of me from 10 years ago.

Google has an opportunity to make its next A-series Pixel phone even more compelling by adding features that should be standard in 2023 — namely wireless charging and a screen with a higher refresh rate. Google will naturally need to make some compromises with the Pixel 7A to keep its price competitive and maintain some separation from the Pixel 7. But even with the features mentioned above, there’s still plenty that would distinguish the Pixel 7 from its cheaper sibling, like a larger screen, a higher resolution camera, a larger storage option and more RAM.

We’re hoping to find out more about Google’s upcoming Pixel plans at its Google I/O developer conference in May.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 18, #707

Hints and answers for Connections for May 18, #707.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle is a mix of difficult and easy. The purple category does what most purple categories do, and makes you really break down how you think about the words. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: School days.

Green group hint: About there!

Blue group hint: Sure, let’s go.

Purple group hint: The Scarlett Letter.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Tasks for a student.

Green group: Encouraging responses in a guessing game.

Blue group: Up for anything.

Purple group: What «A» might mean.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is tasks for a student. The four answers are assignment, drill, exercise and lesson.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is encouraging responses in a guessing game. The four answers are almost, close, not quite and warm.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is up for anything. The four answers are easy, flexible, game and open.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is what «A» might mean. The four answers are area, athletic, excellent and one.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 18, #441

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 441 for May 18.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands will probably be easier if you have some basic knowledge about a certain type of vessel. You don’t really need to have ever been on one, since the answers show up in books and movies all the time. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Riding the wind.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: famed song by Christopher Cross.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

DULL, TILE, TILER, SEER, GALE, GALES, HAIL, SAIL, LEEK, GLUE, HALL, TALL, HEAT

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

HELM, HULL, KEEL, MAST, STERN, RIGGING, RUDDER, TILLER

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is SAILBOAT. To find it, start with the S that’s four letters down on the farthest row to the left, then wind across, up and down.

Technologies

Google I/O 2025: How to Watch and What to Expect

With Android 16 out of the way, Google I/O will certainly be all about AI.

Google I/O 2025 takes place on May 20 and 21 with Google’s big keynote happening on day 1. We expect Big G to talk about its myriad innovations across its ever-expanding portfolio of products — almost certainly with a huge focus on AI every step of the way. If we collectively cross our fingers, promise to be good and eat all our vegetables then we may even be treated to a sneak peek at upcoming hardware.

Read more: Android 16: Everything Google Announced at the Android Show

Google also hosted a totally separate event that focused solely on Android. The Android Show: I/O Edition saw the wrappers come off Android 16, with insights into the new Material 3 Expressive interface, updates to security and a focus on Gemini and how it’ll work on a variety of other devices.

By breaking out Android news into its own virtual event, Google frees itself to spend more time during the I/O keynote to talk about Gemini, Deep Mind, Android XR and Project Astra. It’s going to be a jam-packed event, so here’s how you can watch I/O 2025 as it happens and what you can look forward to.

Google I/O: Where to watch

Google I/O proper kicks off with a keynote taking place on May 20, 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT, 6 p.m. BST). It’ll almost certainly be available to stream online on Google’s own YouTube channel, although a holding video is yet to be available. There’s no live link on the I/O website yet, either, though you can use the handy links to add the event to your calendar of choice. Expect links to a livestream to be available closer to the day.

What to expect from Google I/O 2025

Little chat about Android 16: As Google gave Android 16 its own outing already, it’s likely that it won’t be mentioned all that much during I/O. In fact at last year’s event, Android was barely mentioned, while uses of the term «AI» went well over a hundred.

Android XR: Google didn’t talk much about Android XR during the Android show, focusing instead on the purely phone-based updates to the platform. We expected to hear more about the company’s latest foray into mixed-reality headsets in partnership with Samsung and its Project Moohan headset, so it’s possible that this is being saved for I/O proper.

Gemini: With Android being spun out into its own separate event, Google is evidently clearing the way for I/O to focus on everything else the company does. AI will continue to dominate the conversation at I/O, just as it did last year (though hopefully Google can make it more understandable) with updates to many of its AI platforms expected to be announced.

Gemini is expected to receive a variety of update announcements, including more information on its latest 2.5 Pro update which boasts various improvements to its reasoning abilities, and in particular to its helpfulness for coding applications. Expect lots of mentions of Google’s other AI-based products, too, including DeepMind, LearnLM and Project Astra. Let’s just hope Google has figured out how to make this information make any kind of sense.

Beyond AI, Google may talk about updates to its other products including GMail, Chrome and the Play Store, although whether these updates are big enough to be discussed during the keynote rather than as part of the developer-focused sessions following I/O’s opening remains to be seen.