Google Pixel 4a : Full Review

Google Pixel 4a : Full Review
Google Pixel 4a : Full Review

If cheap-and-best is what you are looking for while buying your next smartphone, Google Pixel 4a should be your last stop. Having all the best features of Pixel 3a, Google Pixel 4a specs include the flagship-caliber camera, great software and is hardy as well. The icing on the cake is its low price.

With a bright OLED display, fresh design, and high storage, Google Pixel 4a has won the race with iPhone SE. Although iPhone SE offers features like water resistance and wireless charging, Google pixel 4a specs alongside a low price have stolen the show.

If you prefer 5G connectivity then it is advisable to wait for this fall for Google Pixel 4a 5G. But, if you want all the features mentioned above at a cheap price, Google Pixel 4a is your bull’s-eye.

Google Pixel 4a: Pocket Pinch and Where to Buy 

To be in the market from 20 August, the Google Pixel 4a will be available at Amazon, Verizon, US cellular, Google Fi, and other selected carriers. 

Made of a single configuration, Google Pixel 4a offers just black color. Similar to other Pixel phones there is no MicroSD slot. But the phone has a massive 128 GB internal storage. The price? Only $349.

In a relevant context, Google Pixel 4a 5G is to launch along with the more premium Pixel 5. Priced at $499, Google hasn’t spoken about its features or if it is going to differ from the upcoming LTE model.

Google Pixel 4a: Look and Design

Google has always maintained a classy and decent look for its Pixel phones and Google Pixel 4a is no different. It is designed with prominent unique materials, colorways, and finishes.

If compared with Pixel 4, Google Pixel 4a looks mostly like it. But its light and cleaner, has slimmer bezels and a plastic-clad chassis unlike Pixel 4’s mix of metal and glass.

The phone feels solid due to its matte texture. However, the square camera patch at the back is useless considering it has only one camera and LED flash.

The Google Pixel 4a specs include the rear-mounted capacitive Pixel Imprint scanner instead of an in-screen fingerprint scanner. This is a great feature because it brings down the cost of the phone and produces better results. Due to its positioning at the back, you can view notifications and quick toggles by swiping down on it.

The two most significant features of the Google Pixel 4a’s design are the presence of a headphone jack and stereo speakers. 

Google Pixel 4a is not among the flashy phones. Although Google has always played with colors, this time it will just release the phone in black due to the pandemic. Commenting on its decision, Google said it’s releasing just one color to prevent further delay and to streamline manufacturing.

The only design feature in which Google Pixel 4a loses points to iPhone SE is its inability to charge wireless and not being water-resistant. 

With its modern and smart look and a display of 5.8 inches display of Google Pixel 4a beats the 4.7 inches screen of iPhone SE.

Display Review 

OLED display, 5.81-inch screen, and full HD panel of Google Pixel 4a offer the perfect display you would want in your new smartphone. The midrange phone ensures a bright screen and bold, realistic colors.

On its natural color profile, Google pixel 4a renders 105.8% of RGBs color space. It is less saturated than the iPhone SE’s 111.2% of LCD-power. If you are more color-friendly, try your luck in Pixel 4a’s color settings. 

The right full-screen brightness of Google pixel 4a is visible only after turning on its Adaptive brightness. Outdoor in sunlight, the manual settings of Pixel 4a are a maximum of 433 nits. But with adaptive brightness enabled, the phone’s panel can touch 681 nits. On the contrary, iPhone SE can reach 653 nits irrespective of it being in auto or manual brightness mode.

Unlike Pixel 3 and Pixel 4, the auto-adaptive brightness feature of Google Pixel 4a doesn’t detect your brightness preferences automatically. 

The panel of Google Pixel 4a is a big hit except for two glitches. Being priced so low, the OLED quality is slightly shabby to other premium OLED models. A tinge of blue and red is also visible on the screen when viewed from different angles but at normal times your eyes are in safe hands.

Google Pixel 4a Camera Features

At a time when camera features are only being enhanced, Google Pixel 4a offers its trademark 12.2 megapixels and a single lens with ƒ/1.7 aperture. 

But the Google 4a Pixel camera specs have a wide range of attractive options. It offers Super Res Zoom to enhance digital room quality; to see the HDR processing effect before using the shutter you have HDR+. To modify the brightness and contrast, the phone has Dual Exposure sliders. Apart from these, the night mode and the ability to capture starry night skies are bang-on just like Pixel 4. It also has Dual exposure sliders.

Considering the Google Pixel 4a specs, it is one of the best phones available in the market at this price.

This picture of the forest taken on Pixel 4a captures the lush green more vibrantly and hides the overexposed sky. This shot when compared to the one taken with iPhone SE is drabber and oversharpened.

However, in this shot of a vase of sunflowers by Pixel 4a, the color seems oversaturated and bears a strong contrast. The colors of the petal change to more golden with the foreground and background shadows coming out too strong. 

The shot with iPhone SE looks more natural and the colors are more pleasing. But that doesn’t indicate that Pixel 4a’s camera is not up to the mark.

This picture is taken with 3xzoom to emphasize on the Super Res Zoom feature of Google Pixel 4a. Super Res Zoom feature turns down the need for a telephoto lens or any optical zoom. On a shake, it easily fills spaces of the frame. This allows the sensor to pick up more information and works on improving the picture quality.

You will see that there is more noise in the picture taken by iPhone SE whereas the Pixel 4a’s shot is clearer and the white balance is neutral.

Having rear cameras with a single lens, Google Pixel 4a and iPhone SE both rely on the software to differentiate background and foreground in case of shots with shallow depth-of-field.

In this picture, the perspectives of the two phones while taking a portrait is visible. The Google phone crops into the frame to make it look like a telephoto. In case of the iPhone SE, the vantage point is prioritized.

If camera quality is compared, the iPhone scores up with its sharpness and the ability to distinctively distinguish the subject from his surroundings. Having said that, Google pixel 4a offers less artificial facial features and more accurate colors of the subject and surroundings.

Although it has a night mode unlike iPhone SE, Google Pixel 4a’s quality of night images is still questionable. However, in this picture, it is clear that Pixel 4a’s image is more prominent. The elements like the front door, the railing’s shadow on the grass is less noisy and has great contrast.

The picture is an example of the excellent night mode quality and iPhone’s failure in terms of a night mode feature.

The Google Pixel 4a’s specs of the camera offer an 8MP lens, better management of shadows and highlights, managing the white t-shirt’s overexposure as opposed to what the iPhone took.

But, Pixel 4a’s image quality is slightly blurrier and the face is strangely proportioned at places despite beautification being turned off.

Performance-wise Google Pixel 4a

One of the topmost priorities of any android phone user having a cheap phone with high specs would be its performance. Similarly, with Google Pixel 4a’s specs and low price, its performance comes under scrutiny.

But Google Pixel 4a’s Snapdragon 7305 chipset combined with a RAM of 6GB promises efficient and smooth performance in general.

Talking about gaming on Google Pixel 4a, the experience is nothing exceptional. While Asphalt 9 runs smoothly, occasional skip of frames and a low resolution will keep reminding you of the hardware your phone is using.

In terms of photography, Google Pixel 4a takes a few seconds to shed results on images after processing. This is caused due to the absence of Google’s patent Visual core architecture. The camera doesn’t act quickly if you try to take a bunch of photos in quick succession.

The Geekbench 5 which assesses the comprehensive performance of a phone marked Google Pixel 4a with 1,647 points whereas iPhone SE bagged 3226 points. More so because it offers one of the A13 Bionic’s six cores. 

Another area where Pixel 4a lost its points is delivering the encoding test of Adobe Premiere Rush video in 2 minutes and 27 seconds in comparison to iPhone’s 47 seconds.

To bring home a smartphone with less investment and such specifications is a win-win situation.

Charging and Battery Life 

Possessing a battery of 3,140-mAh, the battery life of Google Pixel 4a is nothing mention-worthy.

Across four sessions of Tom Guide’s test of battery, the Pixel 4a lasted for almost 8 hours and 55 minutes. In the test, the phone set to 150 nits of brightness continuously refreshes web pages.

Comparing this with the iPhone SE which lasted for 9 hours and 18 minutes, Google Pixel 4a lies behind. It lost to several other smartphones namely, the OnePlus 8 which lasted for 11 hours and 4 minutes’ and iPhone 11 with a battery life of 11 hours and 16 minutes.

If you’re looking for a phone with great battery life, Moto G Power priced at $249 is the best suited.

Due to the packed-in 18 watt adapter, the Google Pixel 4a charges rapidly. It took just 30 minutes to charge the phone from zero battery to 50%. Although it can charge up real soon, the battery longevity is not so promising.

Software and Add-on Features

Google Pixel 4a specs make the journey of using Android 10 interesting and easier. Just like Pixel 4’s special camera features, Google Pixel 4a too has unique features.

Google Pixel 4a has a Call Screen feature that blocks unwanted calls from telemarketers or robocalls, that too, without even receiving the call. 

It’s recorder app too works wonders and is great at transcribing voice to text accurately. For enhanced note taking, the recorder app can export transcriptions to Google Docs.

Google Pixel 4a users can expect a quick update to Android 11 by the end of the year. Android 11 offers features like a one-time grant of permission for apps, Bubbles and grouping of notifications for messaging apps, built-in screen recording, and a brand new power menu to access Google Pay passes and cards quickly.

Active Edge is one of the features that is missing from Google Pixel 4a specs. This feature adds pressure-sensitive sides to a device which makes it easier to call Google Assistant.

 Google Pixel 4a offers security and software updates for a minimum of three years. It is a better deal when compared to other cheap Android phones which offer a year or two at the most for a few superior models.

Google Pixel 4a or iPhone SE

Those who want to stick to Apple, iPhone SE is your best deal. With A13 Bionic chip, water-resistance, and wireless charging features, the iPhone delivers excellent performance.

Although Google Pixel 4a specs don’t offer features like water resistance and wireless charging, the smartphone is better in many ways. It has a better camera, more modern design, a better display, a headphone jack, and rapid charging.

Google Pixel 4a vs. OnePlus Nord

OnePlus Nord can prove to be a great substitute for Google Pixel 4a but only if you live in an area where the phone is available. 

Talking about its features; the Nord has a display of 6.4-inch, 5G connectivity, wireless as well as wired charging; faster than Pixel 4a, and more battery life.

However, the Nord is more expensive than Google Pixel 4a having priced at $492. Pixel 4a takes better pictures whereas Nord promises more cameras.

To Sum it Up

Google has been successful in delivering a phone that not only has an excellent performance standard but an affordable price.

Having all the important features like a good display, high storage, a great camera, and hardy built; Google Pixel 4a is undoubtedly one of the best buys.