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Pixel 5a (5G) reportedly overheats when recording at 4K 60fps

By JC Torres/

Since 2013, Google has made 14 smartphones, the latest being the Pixel 5a which was announced just this week. Despite eight years of experience and multiple hardware partners, it seems that the tech giant still hasn't nailed quality down. There have been issues here and there across all Pixel generations, not all of which could be fixed by a software update. Just a few days old, some are already reporting problems with the Pixel 5a's camera, though the issue might have been present as far back as the Pixel 5 last year.

The Pixel 5a (5G) is a mid-range smartphone despite sharing the same processor as the higher-end Pixel 5 before it. As such, one probably shouldn't expect too much in the way of performance, even if the rest of the phone's hardware is actually quite capable. The 12.2MP main camera, for example, is capable of recording videos at 4K resolution and 60 frames per second. Unfortunately, the rest of the phone might not actually be able to keep up with that demand.

@TechOdyssey reported that his brand new Pixel 5a quickly popped up the overheating warning in the camera app just minutes after trying to record video at those settings. Considering it was done indoors with air conditioning turned on, the fact that the phone quickly spiked to 70°F (21°C) was very unusual.

This would haven't been concerning if it were an isolated case. Unfortunately, another Twitter user and even Android Police verified the issue. Perhaps more worrying is how the Pixel 5 apparently has the same or even worse problem when recording at 4K@60p.

TechOdyssey claimed that the Pixel 5a also overheated while recording at lower settings of 4K@30p and even 1080p 30fps, though that hasn't been confirmed by others yet. The number of incidents is still small at this point, but it might give some buyers pause for thought when reaching for Google's better and more affordable version of the Pixel 5.

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