Are you considering buying the Google Pixel 4a?
This device is the perfect balance of price and performance. It offers superior camera technology, a sleek design, and a price tag of just $349.
Check out this guide to learn more about the Google Pixel 4a and its specs, features, and more. Find out why it’s the perfect phone for budget-minded shoppers.
Pros
- Excellent camera in its class
- 128 GB of storage
- Vibrant OLED display
- Elegant design
- Great price
Cons
- The most recent iPhone is superior
- They could also improve battery life
- No longer the leading Pixel A phone
The Pixel 4a is more stylish than the premium Pixel 4 model
The Google Pixel 4a has a 6.3-inch display with a 2340 x 1080 pixels resolution. It also features a notch-less design with a 90Hz refresh rate. On the hardware side, the phone has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 chipset, 8 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of internal storage.
The version shown above appears to be a less expensive version of the Pixel 4. Google will release the Pixel 4 as a standalone device in 2020.
It keeps the essential features of the Pixel 3 but does not have the extras that make it more expensive. Its price has decreased dramatically as a result.
We expect the smartphone will have an OLED 5.81-inch display with a front-facing camera in the upper left corner.
Inside, it also has a single 12.2-megapixel camera and a 3080 mAh battery.
Google has not said how people would buy the upcoming models from these online stores.
Google Pixel 4a price and availability:
Google and other companies are still selling the Pixel 5a, but supplies are running low. Now, the Pixel 4a is not available on Google Fi. You can buy it from US Cellular or Verizon’s prepaid service, which opens a new tab.
The Pixel 4a Is Still Extremely Easy to Find in the UK.
The 349 device only comes in one style with 128 GB of storage, which is349deviceonlycomesinonestylewith128GBofstorage,whichis50 less than the Pixel 3a price when it came out in 2019. Our Google Pixel 4a vs. Pixel 3a comparison looks at how these two phones differ.
Google has released an update to the Pixel line. The Pixel 4a had a successful run, but there is still plenty of life left in software support. It will receive one more year of updates for the Android operating system and two more years of bug fixes before its end-of-life date. But if you are looking for a cheap device, you can still find it online.
Google Pixel Design
Google Pixel Design
The Pixel 5 has an OLED screen that is 6.2 inches and has a resolution of 1,440 by 3,120 pixels. It comes with 64 GB of storage and runs Android 9 Pie. It can connect to 4G LTE networks and use two SIM cards. Its size is 156.5 mm by 75.3 mm by 7.9 mm. Weight: 160 g.
It is like Google’s Pixel 5 device, which came out about a year ago. These upcoming devices have simple, minimalist designs, like small cameras with holes in the front and small borders around the screen. On the back of this smartphone are a fingerprint sensor and a square camera module with two square lenses.
The Pixel 5 is a small device in the middle price range with many features. You can only listen to music on this device with wired headphones, and it is one of the few handsets that still has a headphone jack.
It is not surprising that the Google Pixel 4a looks much like the Pixel 4. Despite this, it’s cleaner and lighter, with thinner bezels and a plastic body instead of the glass and metal of the more expensive phone.
The phone has a USB Type-C port, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and two front-facing speakers that play music.
Google has not said anything about the cameras on the Pixel 5. But we know the Pixel 5’s back camera has a 12MP sensor, an aperture of f/1.8, and OIS.
The Pixel 5 looks like a high-end smartphone released this year. The body is made from recycled aluminum and is waterproof.
The Pixel 5’s matte surface makes it easier to hold than the Pixel 3.
The Google Pixel Display
The Pixel 4a is still one of the least expensive phones with an OLED screen, just like the Pixel 3a. Google’s updated mid-range phone has a 5.81-inch screen with a 1080p resolution that shows bright colors that still look real. It can also get bright. The Pixel 4a has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 processor, which is less powerful than the Snapdragon 855 in the Pixel 4. But it is still fast enough to handle anything you throw at it.
Even now, the Pixel 5 line is the most capable phone you can buy. If you want a top-of-the-line Android phone with a high-quality camera, the Pixel 5 will not disappoint you. It has all the most up-to-date features. You will also get a screen with a refresh rate of 90Hz, better sound quality, and a headphone jack. The mood of my favorite scary movie was right for the Pixel 4a’s black OLED screen. The difference was excellent, which made the night scenes even better. The bright lights were great when you think about how big the screen was.
You can choose Natural Color if you like colors close to nature, and stick with the sRGB profile, the default, to get exact colors. If you want the most color saturation, you must turn on Boosted Color on the Pixel. You can also choose a mode called “Adaptive Color,” which changes the brightness and contrast settings based on your location. Like many other Android phones, the Pixel 4a cannot use its brightest setting unless adaptive brightness is turned on. With the “adaptable” setting on and the “max” manual setting at 433 nits, the Pixel 4a panel can reach 681 nits in direct sunlight. The most you can set it to manually is 433 nits.
On the other hand, the iPhone SE can reach 650 nits, which is impressive whether you use Auto-Brightness or set it yourself. I am happy with the Pixel 4a’s screen because it costs less than other OLED screens and does not have the same viewing angles as the Pixel 4. But the colors are true, and there is no red/blue tinting that stands out. Adaptive brightness works well on all devices, but it is not foolproof.
When I moved my Pixel 4 from a bright place to a dark one, it sometimes got confused. Unlike standard auto-brightness, my Pixel 4a did not seem to understand that I wanted it to adjust its brightness on its own. It worked well on my Pixel 3 and Pixel 4, but it does not know what to do on my Pixel 4a. I do not understand why my phone changed its brightness seven times a row when I was not touching it. I tried to stop it, but I could not. Every time it happened, I had to move the slider, but that did not help. So, I returned to the settings menu and turned off Adaptive Brightness completely.
It looked like that fixed the problem. We hope Google will fix it in a future update by Google.
Google Pixel 4a Camera Review:
The Pixel 4a has no remarkable features like a pop-up selfie camera or two cameras. But if you want a phone that takes high-quality photos, you should think about the Pixel 4. It has the same camera hardware as the Pixel 3a, but the software has been updated to help it take photos with more detail and less noise. The main thing that sells is the price, which starts at $399.
When the top-end phones have megapixel counts in the tens, 12.2 megapixels and an f/1.7 aperture from a single lens are not very impressive. However, it gets the job done.
The Pixel phones from Google have always had superior cameras, and the Pixel 4a is no different. It has the same features as the Pixel 4, like Super Res Zoom, Live HDR+, and dual exposure controls. It also has Night Sight, which lets you take nightly photos using artificial light.
This model also has Google’s Night Mode, and like the Pixel 4, it can take pictures of the night sky. But the Pixel 4a does not have the fancy face unlock feature or the super-fast wireless charging of the Pixel 4.
It is not a battle of the cameras. The Pixel 4a does not always do a better job with photos than the iPhone SE. Instead, we are looking at how the two phones’ cameras differ when comparing pictures taken in the same conditions. We also looked at a few other phones evaluated for our list of the best Android smartphones. And it is difficult to argue that the Pixel 4a does not have the most OK camera phone overall for the price.
The first thing we do on our trip is to take pictures in the office. We can see that the Pixel 4A makes the plants’ greens and blues more vivid and drops most of the overexposed sky. If there is a lot of natural light, the iPhone SE’s picture of our office looks washed out and too sharp.
The Pixel 4a’s camera app lets you change a few settings to get better photos. You can change the exposure, white balance, saturation, sharpness, and contrast. You can also change the depth of field if you want something specific, letting you blur things in front of or behind your subject. There is also a setting called “Color Boost,” which makes the image redder.
But the Pixel 4a’s auto mode is the standout thing about its camera. When you press the shutter button, the phone will pick the proper settings for the scene you want to shoot. When you share the photo, Google Assistant will tell you what changes you could make to improve it.
The Pixel 4a from Google and the iPhone SE have cameras. On the front of both phones is a 12MP f/1.8 lens, and on the back is a 2.4 aperture lens. These lenses cannot be switched out, though. The iPhone SE does not have a flash for its camera, but the Pixel 4a does. The iPhone SE also has a 5MP front-facing camera with 1.22m pixels, but the Pixel 4A has a 16MP lens with a 1.12m pixel size and an aperture of f/2.0.
The Pixel 4 has a hybrid autofocus system, while the iPhone SE has a fixed focus. The iPhone SE’s camera has an 8MP f/2.2 lens with a pixel size of 1 m and a 2x digital zoom. On the other hand, the Pixel 4’s camera has a 12MP f/2.6 lens with a pixel size of 112 m and a 6x digital zoom. The Pixel’s camera is more detailed than the iPhone SE’s and has a more neutral white balance.
The Pixel 4a and the iPhone SE have single-lens rear cameras, so they use software to separate the foreground and background in shallow depth-of-field bokeh shots. The Pixel 4 has a headphone jack, but the iPhone SE only has one pair of speakers. The Pixel 4 has three, while the iPhone SE only has two.
Google’s portrait mode works best for portraits and not so well for landscapes or other photos. It tries to get the subject’s head as close as possible to the middle of the frame. So, if you take a picture of someone standing next to a wall, the device will cut off the edges of their face. And if you try to take a picture of something far away, the thing you are trying to photograph will not be in focus. So, portrait mode can be fun, but it is not always the most appropriate choice.
The Pixel 4a from Google takes excellent photos during the day, but its Night Sight feature is not as effective. Even though the phone does a good job lighting up the scene, the images are not as precise as those taken with an iPhone SE. The Pixel 4a’s Night Sight mode lights up more of the picture so you can see the house’s front door without any noise. But there are still a lot of dark shadows on the ground below the house. Even though the iPhone SE’s Night Mode does not show as many details as the Pixel 4a’s, it does not add as much noise.
Sometimes Google’s version is not clear. With Pixel 4a and 5g, Google added an extra ultra-wide lens to its A-series phones. This trend has gained traction with the Pixel 5a, a high-quality mid-range camera phone that costs less than $500. But my face is not in the proper shape, even though the beauty filters are off.
If you want an affordable phone with a high-quality camera, the Pixel 4a is an attractive choice. It is not perfect—the software still has some problems, and the lack of a headphone jack is a bummer—but it is a practical choice for people who want a reliable device with a high-quality camera.
Performance Review of the Google Pixel 4a
Performance Review of the Google Pixel 4a
One of the most prominent concerns about the Pixel 4a, or any cheap Android phone, is its performance. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors are well-known for their reliability and performance. However, many other companies produce comparable products. No mid-tier Qualcomm CPU will embarrass Apple’s A13 Bionic tech in the iPhone SE. These devices might not always work as well or reliably as the original device.
I have had my eye on the Pixel 4a for quite a while. When Google announced its phone lineup at the end of last year, I knew I wanted to get one. With a Snapdragon 730G chipset and 6GB of RAM, the Pixel 4a delivers smooth and adequate performance. But when I saw the price tag, I decided not to buy it at once. I am glad I waited because the Pixel 4a is an imposing device. Its display is brighter than any Android phone I have ever evaluated and highly responsive. I did not notice any lag during normal usage. And its battery life is excellent, and I could quickly go through two days of heavy use before needing to charge.
I started playing League of Legends on my Pixel 4a and was surprised at how well it ran. However, there were still some issues. Missing frames and a lower rendering quality showed that my computer was older. Also, the Pixel’s 730G chip takes a bit longer to process photos after taking them because it does not have Google’s visual core architecture. Burst shots, where you quickly press the shutter to take multiple pictures, did not always work right away either.
We can tell why from several online benchmarks. The Pixel 4a scored 2,853 points, the iPhone SE scored 6,958 points, and the A13 Bionics scored 7,731 points. That means the Pixel 4a is about twice as fast as the iPhone SE and three times as fast as the A13 Bionic.
The Pixel 4a took an average time of 1 minute and 26 seconds to encode a minute-long 4K clip, and the iPhone SE took just 47 seconds to complete the same task. That is not bad, considering the phone has an octa-core processor and 6GB of RAM. But if you are looking for the fastest phone, the iPhone SE is your best bet.
I think most people will be satisfied with how the Pixel 4A performs. But the iPhone SE is the cheapest option if you want the most power for the lowest price. If you prefer Android, the Pixel 5A’s Snapdragon 765G SoC will make it run smoother.
Google Pixel 4a Battery Life and Charging
Google Pixel 4a Battery Life and Charging
Google makes the Pixel line, and the Pixel 4a is the family’s newest member. Unfortunately, the Pixel 4a does not have perfect battery life. It has a 3,140-mAh battery, which is not big by today’s standards, but Google says it is the most powerful battery they’ve ever put in a “small” Pixel. On average, Google’s new mid-range phone lasted 8 hours and 55 minutes on our battery test, where you can set the screen brightness to 150 nits, and the device kept refreshing web pages indefinitely.
The Galaxy S10e can run for 7 hours and 50 minutes, while the iPhone 11 Pro Max lasts 6 and 53 minutes. That is not bad at all, especially considering the price difference. But if you want something cheaper, the OnePlus 8 offers 5 and 55 minutes, and the iPhone XS Max gets 5 hours and 31 minutes. So, there you go.
The Pixel 5a lasts longer than the Pixel 4a. We found that the Pixel 5a was battery-efficient for 9 hours and 45 minutes during our battery test, while the Pixel 4a performed for just 8 hours and 25 minutes. That means the Pixel 5a will last longer if you use it more. However, the Pixel 4a gets a lot of credit for charging quickly. It took us 30 minutes to get the Pixel 4a from 0% to 50%.
Google Pixel 4a review: Software and distinctive features
Google keeps the most impressive camera tricks from the Pixel 4 even though the Pixel 4a was cheaper. The Pixel 4a still gets all the latest updates and features. You will get the same favorite Pixel features that made Android 10 a little bit better when it came out that you loved on the Pixel 4. And since the Pixel 4a costs less than $400, you will not feel ripped off. Plus, the Pixel 4a works with the Android 12 developer preview. So, you can try out the newest features before they come to your phone.
Google Assistant is an AI-powered virtual assistant that works across all of Google’s products. The Pixel 4a is full of Android-based conveniences, like Call Screen. You can ask about the weather, traffic, news, sports scores, stocks, and other topics. Google’s excellent Recorder app is available here that can turn software into text in real-time. Also, the recorder can send transcriptions to Google Docs, making taking notes even more straightforward. Google Assistant can also help you complete everyday tasks, like setting reminders, sending messages, scheduling meetings, and finding directions.
Android 11 brings several improvements to the platform, including an all-encompassing notifications system, a redesigned app drawer, and a brand-new power user menu. There are also several other changes, including a newly-introduced feature called Bubbles that lets users see messages from different apps simultaneously. In addition, an added Notification Grouping feature allows you to combine multiple notifications from the same app into one report.
I miss Active Edge because it was a straightforward way to get to Google Assistant quickly. But I also miss that it was a feature that the public soon forgot. That said, I am glad that Google did not remove it entirely. I think it could be a powerful addition to future Pixel devices.
Google left Active Edge out of the Pixel 4a to keep the price down, and we don’t know if it will ever come back in another Pixel.
Google says the Pixel 4a will receive software and security updates for three years. It is longer than the year many low-cost Android phones get or even the two years that high-priced phones get the most. Even though three years is shorter than the five years that Apple supports its phones, this is still a suitable number.
Google Pixel 4a vs. Apple iPhone SE
The iPhone SE is the perfect phone for those who want to stay in Apple’s ecosystem. Its A13 Bionic chip gives it excellent performance, while its 6.1-inch display is more significant than any other iPhone. Unfortunately, the Pixel 4a lacks wireless charging and water resistance, two features of the iPhone SE.
I still like Pixel 4a. It has a superior camera, a beautiful screen, fast charging, a newer design with thinner bezels, and a much wider OLED display. It costs 50 less than the 64GB iPhone SE and50lessthanthe64GBiPhoneSEand100 less than the model with the same amount of storage. If you are looking for an inexpensive phone that will last longer, I recommend choosing the Pixel 4a.
OnePlus Nord vs. Google Pixel 4a
The OnePlus Nord is an excellent choice. The OnePlus Nord, which costs £379, has a larger 6.4-inch screen display, 5G connectivity, and a larger, longer-lasting battery. It also has wired and wireless charging, which is faster than the Pixel 4a. As a result, you will have a device that can manage any task you throw at it.
In conclusion
Google has released yet another excellent smartphone, the Pixel 4a. This time, Google has created a phone that I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone looking for the highest quality phone for the least amount of money. The Pixel 4a is your most suitable choice if you want the highest-quality phone.
Google’s flagship smartphone lineup is the Pixel series. The Pixel 4a does everything well, except it lasts a long time on a single battery, which is not a deal-breaker.
The midrange phone market is competitive, and many people will compare the Pixel 4a to its two main competitors, the iPhone SE (which is faster) and the OnePlus Nord N10 5G (which has a better display, bigger battery, and supports 5G). The Pixel 5a, released a year after the Pixel 4a, is a better choice from Google but is more expensive.
If you want a fast phone with a large screen, the Pixel 4a is an excellent choice. It is not the most secure phone, but it is one of the most powerful phones available at this price. Many will compare the Pixel 4a to its two main competitors, the iPhone SE (faster) and the OnePlus Nord N10 5G. If you do not mind the Pixel 5a arriving a year after the Pixel 4a, it is a better choice from Google but is more expensive.
The Pixel 4a is an excellent balance of price, performance, and quality. If you want a phone that will last you two years, the Pixel 4a is your most suitable choice. It is also a practical option if you are willing to pay a few dollars more for a flagship device. If you are on a tight budget and do not intend to spend more than $400 on the phone, the regular Pixel 4a is still a great deal. However, if you want something that will last longer than a year, the Pixel 5a is the way to go.
