Google Pixel 4a Review: The Pixel Made For Everyone!

Weirdly, I've been excited for the Pixel 4a since the Pixel iv was announced terminal twelvemonth. If for only one reason. The battery life. Pixels and even the Nexus, were bad when it came to battery life. Information technology was always the i knock on the phone – except maybe the Nexus 6P. And that was the issue with the Pixel four serial, peculiarly. Google put in a sub-3000mAh capacity battery in the Pixel 4. So it barely fabricated information technology to lunch. Meanwhile, Samsung is putting 4,000mAh capacity batteries in its smaller phones.

But, the Pixel 3a bombardment life was superb. And I expected the same thing from the Pixel 4a. While likewise keeping the Pixel experience, with the aforementioned impressive Pixel camera on-lath, at a price that should be almost half of the Pixel iv's price.

And that's basically what Google did with the Pixel 4a. Though, it would have been nice to see a Pixel 4a XL, equally this smaller Pixel 4a is very teeny by 2020 standards.

Small phones making a comeback

The Pixel 4a is definitely a small smartphone. It's considerably smaller than my Pixel four Twoscore. It sports a 5.viii-inch display, with pretty modest bezels. Sure they could be smaller, but for a sub-$400 smartphone, information technology's slap-up at all.

It's nice to be able to employ a small smartphone once again. Being able to send messages or really just type on the phone one-handed, is something I really missed. And that might be my favorite feature of the Pixel 4a.

Typically with these smaller phones though, you go a smaller battery within. Just that is kind of the case here. The Pixel 4a is smaller than the Pixel four, but has a larger battery somehow. The Pixel 4 measures in at 147.1 x 68.viii x 8.two mm, while the Pixel 4a is 144 x 69.iv x 8.ii mm. It's a little bit shorter, and a lilliputian bit wider, that is by and large due to the fact that the brow is gone, equally Projection Soli is non available on the Pixel 4a. So this means that the Pixel four likely had space for a larger battery, Google just decided to pack it with a tiny 2800mAh battery pack, because it could.

The Pixel 4a has a 3140mAh chapters battery that does last all day long. Pixel 4a has lasted me all day, every twenty-four hour period that I've started on this review. Which is no small feat. As the Pixel 4 XL would be dead around dinner fourth dimension. Especially on the weekends. So that's a win to me. I tin easily get four to 5 hours of on screen time here (of course, this will differ based on your usage). Is that the best bombardment life on a smartphone? No. Non by a long shot. The LG V60 ThinQ 5G still holds that record for me. But it means that I don't demand to charge my phone at all throughout the twenty-four hours, and that's a big deal.

It does sport the same 18W fast charging, which is okay. Information technology will charge this battery somewhat fast, but it's nowhere most what OnePlus is doing with its 30W Warp Accuse. Even so, Google'south method is safer, and better for the battery in the long term. So that'due south a good trade-off in my opinion.

In that location'southward no wireless charging included on the Pixel 4a, which to be honest, I didn't even notice until I read the spec canvas. And that's because I barely utilize wireless charging. For the most function it's slower, and but not as easy to use as plugging your phone in and charging information technology. And so no wireless charging on the Pixel 4a is non a big deal at all.

Google's showtime hole-punch display

This is the beginning time that Google has washed the pigsty-punch brandish, and weirdly, it's giving me Pixel 3 Forty vibes. In that, the condition bar is a lot taller than normal. This is because the front-facing camera is bigger than on nearly other phones with a hole-punch display. Nosotros'll allow information technology slide here, since this is a "mid-range smartphone" and non a high-finish or premium device. Simply it'due south notwithstanding nowhere near as bad as that notch on the Pixel 3 Forty.

The five.viii-inch OLED Full Hard disk+ display on the Pixel 4a is actually quite good. I was legitimately surprised by how good it was. Information technology'southward very vibrant and the color reproduction is spot on. And if that wasn't enough, it's too very bright. Making information technology a joy to use it exterior in direct sunlight.

Obviously, this display is no match for something similar the Galaxy S20 or even the upcoming Galaxy Note 20, only at $400, it's very impressive. Because it is FHD+, it does have plenty of pixels, even for the pixel-peepers.

There'south no bug with viewing angles either, which can sometimes exist a problem with these cheaper smartphones.

Information technology's a fast phone, but non the fastest

For most people, once they meet that the Pixel 4a runs on a Snapdragon 730 chipset, they automatically call it "wearisome" or "mid-range". But in all honesty, this is a very capable chipset. It clocks up to two.2GHz, which is no slouch, and it also comes with 6GB of RAM.

If y'all're planning on buying a phone for some gaming, and so the Pixel 4a is non the best selection. The Snapdragon 730 is non actually made for a hardcore gaming session. Something like the Snapdragon 865+ in the ASUS ROG Phone three, is though.

For everyday things like browsing Twitter, Facebook, watching YouTube videos, shooting photos of your friends and family unit and such, the Pixel 4a is plenty fast. In fact, in a side-past-side comparison of non-gaming tasks, it was nigh as fast equally the OnePlus eight Pro.

Most people that aren't tech nerds, won't really discover that this is not a Snapdragon 865 chipset. And that's a expert thing.

Google has also outfitted the Pixel 4a with 128GB of storage. That ways that the $400 Pixel 4a has double the storage of the $800 Pixel four serial. That, is insane. But hopefully that means that the Pixel five will have an entry-level model that has 128GB of storage, and driblet the 64GB model altogether. Equally in that location is no 64GB Pixel 4a, thankfully.

This means that you'll take plenty of space to utilise for taking photos with this Pixel camera. And it's a expert i. Though, it is all the same unlimited high-resolution backup on Google Photos. As we saw with the Pixel 4, the unlimited full resolution fill-in option is gone for new Pixel owners. It is unfortunate, but high resolution is still good, and you won't notice a large divergence between it and normal resolution.

The same Pixel camera we all know and honey

One thing Google has done across the Pixel line, starting with the original Pixel in 2016, is information technology has kept the same camera sensor. Information technology's the same 12.2-megapixel camera sensor from Pixel through Pixel 4a. Though in the Pixel iv series it did add a telephoto lens that is not available here on the Pixel 4a.

By using this same sensor on all of the Pixel phones, it means Google is able to bring some of the newer camera features to lower-end phones (like Pixel 3a and 4a) every bit well every bit older Pixel phones. Then you aren't forced to buy a new phone for this new feature.

And that'south the example hither. If Google hadn't used the same 12.2-megapixel sensor on the Pixel 4a, it'due south unlikely we'd get Astrophotography on this device. Merely we accept that. Besides as Nighttime Sight, Top Shot and all of the other features. Including Super Res Zoom, even though the Telephoto sensor is gone.

Much like the Pixel 3a, the 4a is a fleck slower in processing images later on you take them. That's due to the unlike chipset inside this one. However, unless yous are using them side-by-side, y'all won't notice that it's slower.

The picture quality is but equally good too. Portrait mode is really better than it was on the Pixel 3a, and that might be due to the better software available now. It is able to do edge detection a lot improve, this fourth dimension around.

Pixel is withal the but phone that can have photos of pets and kids without them coming out blurry. And this happens every fourth dimension. It appears to be that this is considering of the shutter. The shutter on the Pixel series is a lot faster than on the Galaxy S20, OnePlus 8, and other smartphones that cost a lot more than. So if yo have kids or pets, then this is the phone to go. So they won't be blurry.

Nighttime Sight is still voodoo on the Pixel 4a, as is Astrophotography.

Pixel 4a Camera Samples - Flickr

The camera is nevertheless very impressive here, and by far one of the biggest reasons to purchase the Pixel 4a.

Android 10 with the Pixel experience

The Pixel 4a comes with Android 10 out of the box. Of course, it will have Android 11 in the very nigh future. As Android 11 is set to be released in September, and of course the Pixel 4a is going to go the update. Merely for now, it's running on Android 10.

Android ten is pretty refined and runs really well on the Pixel 4a. There are a couple of new features hither that were/are not available on the Pixel 4.

This includes Live Caption capability for calls. So you can at present utilize captions for phone calls, which is pretty keen. Though, I can't say that I'd ever use it.

The recorder app is also here, and works insanely well. I might even say better than the Pixel iv Recorder app did at launch. Which is not a big surprise, Google does routinely improve its apps and services.

Of course, at that place are other features available for the Pixel 4a, similar the car crash detection and personal safety.

All of the other Android 10 features are available for the Pixel 4a, as y'all might look. It runs really smooth, which is nice because this does run a slower processor than the pixel 4 has. Only that has always been Google's thing. Making Android every bit lightweight as possible, and then that it can run on lesser hardware, which is always good.

For those wanting to run the Android 11 beta on the Pixel 4a, it should be supported in the beta program. But recall, the terminal beta is probable launching in merely a couple of days. So Google may leave it out and just push Android 11 to it in early September.

Should I purchase the Pixel 4a?

Yes. If you need a phone with a great camera, plenty of storage and want fast Android updates, it doesn't get improve than the Pixel 4a. I might fifty-fifty recommend this over the Pixel iv series, which is pretty incredible.

However, if you are one that does a lot of gaming on your smartphone, and so the Pixel 4a might not be the best option for yous. But at under $400, yous probable won't find something better here. Particularly if you don't want or need 5G connectivity.

Just like with the Pixel 3a final year, Google has a winner on their hands with the Pixel 4a.