Google has slashed the market again with the Pixel 4a as a good form factor in the mid-ranger phone sector. A lower-cost, mid-range phone which is high quality with a great camera. It essentially boils down to a smartphone only with the essentials and seamlessly integrating all the components with the OS.
This year, Google offers high quality with a decent 5.8 inch FHD+ OLED screen which is bright and crisp with very small bezels all for a very reasonable price. The top left void has the 8MP selfie camera. the build is completely plastic without a seam. The screen is a 60Hz panel which is a major bummer compared to other flagships but is HDR certificated for better color accuracy. It is a relatively smaller phone and feels amazing hands-on. The fingerprint scanner is placed at the back of the phone. The face unlocks feature also works accurately. It has a headphone jack with a true rarity in 2020 and is powered via USB-C port. The device has stereo speakers that are decent for the budget. however, there is no wireless charging and no official IP rating.
The Snapdragon 730G holds its place as a good mid-range processor that gets the job done. It is apt for daily performance with smooth operation similar to other flagships. The OS experience is snappy and games seem to perform well, but how it fares over long-term usage is yet to be seen.
The battery department seems to hold well. Powered by a 3140 mAh battery, It lasts for about 6 hours of screen time between charges which is slightly better compared to the previous pixel editions. However, for a relatively light smartphone user, It could stretch up to two days. It comes with Google’s 18W charging unit which can bring your phone from 5% to 50% in 30 minutes and fully charge in 90 minutes. It is rated for at least 500 cycles.
The phone ships with Android 10 out of the box and we can expect a minimum of 3 years of software updates, security updates, and bug fixes. Just like any other android phone, it comes with fully equipped gesture controls, UI changes, and user customization. However, the device lacks G capabilities. The new Google Assistant is re-vamped. It now uses an advanced local voice recognition system to dramatically accelerate the user interactions with almost no lag at all.
The Pixel 4a rocks a single camera system. Even though it lacks the optical zoom and the ultrawide sensor. It keeps the trademark Night Sight for low -light photography, Astrophotography mode for shooting the stars, HDR+ for tweaking light and dark areas, and enhanced portrait mode for live subjects.
The photos produced are crisp, well balanced, and have a good dynamic range with high detail. Video captured at 4K at 30 frames per second is a serious value for the money as well. The selfie camera, even though struggling with detail, captures good images in almost all lighting conditions.
Overall, It is a great device for the price as is one of the best phones from Google. It is a compact, light device that has an OLED screen that provides a great user experience with a decent battery to bind all things together. The headphone jack is an added perk which is not common in the recent devices. Even though it lacks the premium feel of the flagships by utilizing a plastic build, and lacks an official IP certification, it poses a great competition to other mid-range phones in the market by providing great value for money. The new and polished Google Assistant is a crunch point that adds to the user experience which makes Google Pixel 4a an easy device to recommend.
The Google Pixel is available only in one variant: 6GB RAM and 128GB storage in Matte Black Colour predicted to be priced at $349. Indian pricing isn’t confirmed yet, but expect it to be about 30K Rupees.
(Written for bytecastr by Joel Eldo)
Android Google Pixel Pixel 4a Smartphone Tech
Last modified: August 7, 2020
