Google is giving us the Barely Blue Pixel 4a we deserved three months ago

What you need to know

• Two and a half months after the launch of the Just Black Pixel 4a, we have a new color option.
• Barely Blue is the new Pixel 4a color, with a creamsicle orange power button.
• The Barely Blue version is “limited edition” and only available at the Google Store “while supplies last” in the United States.

I’m still absolutely in love with my Google Pixel 4a, but there are two things on it I wish I could change. Firstly, I wish it had a wide-angle camera, and second, I wish it wasn’t boring Just Black. Google traditionally has at least one color option beyond the standard black/white: for the Pixel 3a it was “Purple-ish” (with a fluorescent yellow power button), for the Pixel 4 it was “Oh So Orange”, and the just released Pixel 5 has “Sorta Sage”. But the Pixel 4a only had Just Black, which is just plain boring.

Today, that grievance is being rectified!

Meet the Barely Blue Pixel 4a! The phone’s plastic body is a nice pale Cinderella Blue — I really want to pair it up with a glitter case and take it to the Magic Kingdom — and the power button is a soft creamsicle orange that’s very similar to the shade used on the “Oh So Orange” Pixel 4 last year. I personally wish they’d gone for a green or purple power button — or even the same fluorescent yellow button used on the Pixel 3a — but the orange and blue have a nice pastel harmony going on.

Now the bad news: this phone is only available from the Google Store, and only as an unlocked phone in the United States. In other words, the major retailers aren’t getting the pretty new blue, nor is any international market. Ideally, we could hope that Barely Blue comes to other countries, but as the blue is a “limited edition” that will only be available “while supplies last”.

Same great phone, new magical color

Google Pixel 4a

$349 at Google Store (Barely Blue)
$349 at Amazon (Just Black)
$350 at Best Buy (Just Black)
$349 at B&H (Just Black)

An outstanding camera and dependable performance

With a camera that continues to punch well above its weight class, great battery life and a wonderfully compact form, the Pixel 4a is a great choice that will now be available in a cuter color, too!