Yeah, it's just interesting that in many ways it seems like the "budget Pixel" will actually be superior to the non-budget version: a bezel-less design (at least, according to many of the current leaks) because they aren't shipping the generally-pointless Soli hardware, and likely much improved battery life because they aren't shipping a 90hz screen (that the Pixel 4 couldn't handle anyway and has had to keep software-locked to 60hz half the time just to make it through the day on a single charge). The outdated, lopsided design and the anemic battery life were two of the most-disliked features in critic reviews of the 4; interesting that the 4a will basically be a better version of the 4, with the exception of missing the telephoto camera and (probably) lack of waterproofing.

Responding to critical feedback is a good and sensible thing to do. But ideally you would be able to get feedback on large issues internally, without needing the market to reject your product (Pixel 4 sales have been reported to be quite low): Soli seems so clearly useless, and caused such obvious product design tradeoffs, that I'm curious what led to it shipping in the first place. Was it an exec who was excited about Soli pushing it through? Was there a design/engineering communication breakdown? Would be very interesting to be a fly on the wall in the retro.