Multiple leaks and other sources seem to confirm that the Google Pixel 5 coming out this fall won’t have as good specs as other phones. The Pixel 5 is expected to run on a Snapdragon 765G processor, a step down from the Pixel 4’s Snapdragon 855 processor and the 865 processor that’s already in phones like the Samsung Galaxy S20. This means that compared to other phones, the performance on the Pixel 5 won’t be as good as phones with better processors.

Some benefits of Google using a weaker processor is that the phone will be significantly cheaper and the battery life of the phone will be much better than others because the 765G chip doesn’t use as much power. However, Google taking this cheaper phone route might not do much for them if other specs on the phone aren’t better than the Pixel 4. The Pixel 4 has not done well in sales, and as of now you can even purchase it for $500 on Google’s website. To put that into perspective, the Pixel 3 didn’t drop down in price even when the 4 first came out last year, so for the 4 to be this cheap this fast is not a good sign.

With the Pixel 4 currently being significantly cheap, it also puts the Pixel 4a, Google’s cost-friendly version of the Pixel, at risk of not selling well if people can just buy the Pixel 4 for around the same price and get better specs. The 4a is expected to be released this month. It’s interesting that Google seems to be moving back to the more affordable phone market, after spending years of making high end phones.

Google had a chance (and still does) to be the top Android phone in the market, but after the flop of the Pixel 4 and the likely downgrade in specs for their future phones, they’ll never catch up to Samsung. It would be nice if Google could do something similar to what Samsung did this year in releasing three different flagship phones and one is a super-high end phone. There was the Samsung Galaxy S20, S20+, and the S20 Ultra, where the S20 Ultra had much better specs than the other two phones. Unfortunately, a Google Pixel 5 Ultra likely won’t happen. But there’s still time to see what will take place in the future.