THIS is How You Make A Budget Phone: Google Pixel 4a Review

Google always releases interesting smartphones. The pixel lineup has consistently provided fantastic camera quality. But what if you take all those fantastic camera technologies the pixel line is known for and shove it into a budget phone? This is the Google Pixel 4a. It’s only $350. With that price, it’s skipping out on something right? Or is this the best budget android phone?

I was sent this device from Google #giftfromgoogle #TeamPixel. That being said, I do get to keep the device. That means if I like it or if I dislike it. I still keep it. Beyond that they don’t get to view this video before it goes up, so this review is nothing but my honest opinions.

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Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:03 Specs
1:23 Physical Features
3:15 Personal Experience
4:08 What You Came to See (Camera)
5:53 Personal Experiences (UI Smoothness)
6:15 Pixel 4a Quickly Compared to OnePlus Nord, iPhone SE and Samsung A71
7:57 Why The Pixel 4A Makes Sense
9:27 Conclusions

When comparing this to the original pixel 4. You’ll notice a few things. The 4a doesn’t have a big forehead, it has a hole-punch camera and only comes in one color. A matte black and a mint home button. The Pixel 4a also has a headphone jack.

The phone is made of plastic, and the indent houses the fingerprint sensor. I miss phones this size because it fits in your pockets so well compared to some of those massive devices. The bottom has the usb type c port in the middle and two grills on the sides. The right one is a speaker, and the left one houses the mic. The camera bump contains one 12mp camera and flash. Overall, the design is really streamlined, minimal, and very modern.

Battery life after a day, the Pixel 4a had 30% battery left with gaming, social media, and watching YouTube videos. YMMV. The OLED screen is good. Nothing to complain about. I expected the speakers to sound tiny but the Pixel 4a speakers sound decent.

The camera is great. In daylight it looks like a premium smartphone. The colors on the pixel 4a camera are pretty close to life, but a bit cool toned, and it’s 12mp camera gets decently sharp. This camera shines in HDR situations. That’s a word that gets thrown around a lot, but basically for cameras, dynamic range is how a camera handles situations with varying degrees of light. So take this picture taken with both the google pixel 4a does well in this regard and does better than my iphone xs max at keeping the clarity in these photos. The same thing happened when I compared the front cameras, the Pixel 4a selfie camera was also wider.I love the pixel camera’s tracking auto focus. It will track the object you pressed. Only downside of the camera is that if you snap a picture then enter the gallery instantly to view the image, it’s not done processing and takes a second to enhance the image. I found no real problems with the Pixel 4a’s performance. Scrolling through UI elements is smooth, when opening apps that aren’t in the background it does take half a second.

How does this device compare to some devices you may be looking at. Like, the Samsung a71, iphone SE and Oneplus Nord. I feel like the oneplus nord isn’t aimed at the demographic this pixel 4a is aimed at. The Nord is a device built for techies. It shoves as much specs as it can into the lowest price that they can to make a device that would satisfy most people for a ~$500 price tag. The pixel 4a is taking the “Less is more” approach that would satisfy 80% of people’s needs. The Samsung A71 is comparable to the Pixel 4a. And beats it in areas such as the larger battery and 5G support. But from my own experience owning Samsung devices they tend to have bloatware and a history of providing you untimely updates. The iPhone SE has a faster chip that I think will make the device last longer in later years, and get more updates too. But the camera, display, and battery life on the iphone SE wouldn’t compare to the Pixel 4a at all.

What do I think about the Pixel 4a? It’s a fantastic option, there are few rivals in this price range that is well rounded as the pixel 4a. They’re all lacking in some category and even the Pixel 4a is missing 5G support. But the Pixel 4a ticks all of the boxes for the average consumer. It’s not the best smartphone around but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re someone who isn’t a techie, doesn’t need the smartphone with the most cutting edge tech, or are on a budget, the first place I’d look is here. The Pixel 4a is looking like a great option to start your search with and is my current android recommendation for a smartphone buyer who doesn’t want to spend the big bucks on a good smartphone experience.