I don’t share your optimism on this. I see what you’re saying where some of these features can seem gimmicky, however there is quite a list of flagship features that they have excluded that are not gimmicky and in fact quite mainstream.

Qi2 (magnetic alignment wireless charging) is not gimmicky at all and is incredibly useful ever for the average person. Apple users love this and there are lots of accessories for it.

Ultrasonic fingerprint sensors are in most high end phones and solve the problem some people have with the optical ones Google continues to use. It also doesn’t flah you in the face at night.

IR cameras for more accurate face unlock allow the feature to work in low light instead of the algorithms google is using on a regular camera.

They opted not to use the new GN2 camera sensors, instead sticking with the older model.

I could go on and on, but you get the picture. Google is releasing a midrange phone with midrange specs at a flagship price, hoping their software will make up the difference. For some it will, for others it won’t.

I’ll be waiting to see how the 8a turns out because I am willing to accept these corner cuts at a midrange price.