Today, Google has released the first factory and OTA images for both of its latest phones. The Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 were both recently added to download pages for each category, so if you run into trouble unlocking your bootloader and mucking around flashing modified system images, now you can quickly and easily restore your phone back to defaults.
Google’s Android developer’s site has been updated to reflect OTA and factory images of the two new phones – Google Pixel 5 and Google Pixel 4a 5G. Pixel 5 has been given the hardware name ‘redfin’ whereas the Pixel 4a 5G carries the name ‘bramble.’ The OTA images and factory images for both the phones have been published for the very first time. The Pixel 5 has two links – one for KDDI network subscribers in Japan, and the other is for everyone else. There is only one link published for the Pixel 4a 5G.
As mentioned, these links are usually meant for developers who often do a lot of software tinkering. These default images are always a fallback option for those developers who hit a roadblock in modified ROM development or flashing. It isn’t meant for regular smartphone users, who should stick to the regular over-the-air method of receiving updates.
As usual (at least, since June), you can also flash the factory images directly from your browser with a single link, which is pretty snazzy. Whether you’re hoping to dig into these for development/modification purposes, or you just need something to fall back on when that new ROM flashes badly into a soft brick, now you’ve got the images to do it.
Both Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G SoC and include Titan M security chip. The phones sport dual cameras at the back and have an 8-megapixel selfie camera inside the hole-punch cutout on the display screen at the front. Both phones come with 128GB of onboard storage that isn’t expandable via a MicroSD card.
Google Pixel 5 pricing starts at $699 (roughly ₦266,319), whereas Google Pixel 4a 5G starts at $499 (roughly ₦190,119).
