Google Pixel 4a Announced | 1 Week Review | Price Details

Google Pixel 4a has been announced and I got this phone directly by Google for the pre-review before the launch. It’s been a week since I’m using this phone and it’s pretty simple and clean. For starters, I would say it is a plastic build with completely seamless design of the top and the bottom. The whole phone size is almost the same as the iPhone 11 pro but lighter. All credit goes to its plastic lighter body which I liked. The normal phone size should be like this one as you are getting here 5.8 inches 1080p OLED display flat screen, 60 Hz, and hole punch cut out for the front selfie camera. Normally, I have seen that most of the people do not like hole punch cut out and I personally used to it now and I found this better than a notch display.

If we talk about the display, it is not like the incredible but it’s definitely no big issues with it. Well, if you are looking for a good 400 pixel per inch (PPI) Google Pixel 4a is for you. Also, with that, I have noticed a pretty decent brightness range with great viewing angles. There is no high refresh rate with Pixel 4a at this price. But still, it is a deal-breaker as we are getting a high-performance device with all the hardware package is simple.

Body

The body is completely matte black and it’s giving the feeling of soft-touch like a powder-coated smooth texture. Also, it has a Google Pixel signature lightly green power button and the button is nice clicky and loud too. This is the best part of this phone but there is also a very disappointing thing which is its mono speaker at the bottom. But in a positive way, there is a headphone jack which makes it on the top position when compared to all the pixel phones back in a couple of years ago. I really wanted to make it twist and bend and check for weird creaking but I will not do that. Maybe any other reviewer might do this. Well, according to me, pixel 4a can snap in half as I don’t think it’s the plastic body can survive the pressure of bending and it’s no that much durable. And it has no glass on the upside, which means it will not shatter.

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Price

Everything has its ups and downs and we have to deal with it. The price for the Google Pixel 4a will be 350 bucks. So, I’m totally fine with the plastic matte body of the phone but if you are worried about dropping your phone then you should have a google certified grip case. By this, your phone will be more gripper than the naked phone and yes, it also comes in matte black color. There are other colors also available.

Hardware

My favorite part in the hardware of Google Pixel 4a is its fingerprint reader which is on the back, the same place as its previous phones pixel 3a, pixel 2a, original pixel, nexus 6p and the nexus 5x. The point behind this is the tried and true place to put it zero problems with the fingerprint reader on the back there. When we talk about camera quality, then it has a very good camera setup at the back with a rounded rectangular block area. But there are no multi-camera setups. So, there is only one camera and with that a flash 12 Megapixel sensor at f1.7. The number is less and isn’t too crazy but the photo you get is exactly the same as Pixel 4. If anything, just a little bit softer but it has that confident contrast highly dynamic look with great colors.

That we are used to from pixel which is so awesome at this price range. The night sight is also pretty clear and these are very good images from a 350 bucks phone. I am totally fine with the single camera on the back. But do I miss the ultra-wide? Yeah, I came up here with a phone that has an ultra-wide camera, so I miss it a little bit at this price. One more thing which a normal user can miss is “Depth Sensor”. But, there is no need to miss that too as Pixel 4a single camera is able to click the best portrait mode photos of animals, humans, and all kinds of objects. And there is no need to miss that little 2 MP macro camera as this is not a quad-camera setup and a single camera gives the best image when combined with the software.

When Pixel 2 was released and I have used it. I called that phone as the smartest phone and credits go to Google for updating that with the high-end Android. But this budget smartphone carries a couple of less those google features. But one thing which I like the most that there is no squeeze for the Google assistant. You can use it by swiping up diagonally from the corner and get your google assistant just as fast you want.

Sensors

As we see in an upward direction, there are no radar sensors but it still has rays to wake up with the accelerometer and gyroscope and you can easily turn it on or off as it has a few pixel exclusive features. It also has live caption available everywhere and I love call screening and “now playing” that easily detect the background song.   Every time when I came to use Pixel devices, I love these google special features in these phones which are unavailable in other phones (though people used that by using Custom Roms).

When we compare the performance of Google Pixel 4a with 3a, it was kind of the same and fine for a normal user. As I was using a phone of super high 120 HZ and suddenly on using 60Hz, I can’t complain about the smoothness. A couple of years ago, every mobile phone comes with 60 Hz and that was also very smooth in use.

Performance

I pretty feel like that snapdragon 730g is more likely to blame here in Pixel 4a. In spite of the super smoothness of the phone the main point which is a concern is for how long will it lasts. This is one of the most common sticking point these days for all the budget phones which are coming in the market. But people still love this phone just like they love Google Pixel 3a because of its great camera but there was one thing which was a concern – the battery.

The battery power is 3140 Mah. And it’s not that much great when compared to the last phone which I have used – One Plus Nord. Well, we can ignore the battery part as the display is quite good at 1080p with 60Hz. These days everyone is following a quarantine lifestyle and battery plays an important role as a phone is a primary thing which people use all the time. Here, in Pixel 4a, I’m getting 5 hours of screen on time easily and ending the day with 10 to 20%  easily. So, it will not be a problem for anyone and when compared to older pixels, things are doubled up with a lesser price.

Conclusion

So for this price, the lack of wireless charging, IPx rating, glass, metal body, stereo speakers, and extra cameras isn’t really a deal-breaker. In fact, it is a simple plastic build with a 60hz screen is just fine. The biggest upside is still the camera and the biggest downside is the performance. This is just a few difference but in the competition of the phones like one plus Nord and iPhones SE, Google Pixel 4a undercuts then in price which is 350 bucks. It is the insane amount with which you are getting a premium phone with all these features. But, all the competitive phones has its own set of advantages. Like Nord is going to be a better performer and iPhone is going to take a better video but with Google Pixel 4a, you will get more google features and a better camera.

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