TL;DR
- There’s a Google Pixel 7a prototype for sale on eBay.
- The phone only boots into fastboot mode and is missing its SIM tray.
- As of publishing, the winning bid is at $2,550.
We expect Google to launch the next phone in its budget-minded A-series on May 10 during the Google I/O 2023 keynote. However, if you can’t wait until then, you could spend a few thousand bucks on the next best thing.
Over on eBay (spotted by Steve Hemmerstoffer), you can bid on a Google Pixel 7a prototype. The device powers on but goes straight into fastboot mode rather than the Android operating system. It is also missing its physical SIM tray for some reason. It is unclear how the seller nabbed this prototype.
Outside of its problems, the phone looks a lot like the Google Pixel 7a prototypes we’ve already seen. The back has a distinctive prototype logo in place of the usual Google “G” symbol, and there are also some lines covering the rear panel.
Currently, bids for the prototype sit at $2,550 but could be more by the time we publish this article. It’s also possible eBay could remove this auction by request from Google, although selling prototypes of technology is not explicitly against eBay’s terms of service agreement. Google could argue that it is stolen property, though, which could result in its removal.
Regardless, if you’ve got deep pockets and want to own a piece of illicit Google history, you can bid on the Google Pixel 7a prototype using its eBay listing.