Google`s entry into the smartphone manufacturing market was met with a fair bit of scepticism as consumers held reservations in regards to the company`s ability to deliver the build quality and performance that necessarily follows the names like Apple, Samsung or LG for that matter. However, Google pulled off to a great start through its Nexus and followed it up with the title of industry standard camera quality through its pixel line of devices.
Adding two new names to this series are the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL which hope to bring forth the upmarket Pixel experience at half the associated cost. Let’s dig in deep and find out what these new contenders have to offer.
Design
The design of the Pixel 3a is rather rudimentary with its flimsy polycarbonate back and sloppy plasticky feel to it. Nonetheless, the device seems solid and pretty light for a 5.6-inch device coming in at just 147gm.
Besides the traditional Just Black and Clearly white variant is the new colour called the Purple-ish which looks great in comparison with the other two as it has a neon-green power button. The 3.5mm headphone jack is kept on the top edge of the device with a speaker setup on the bottom edge just beside a USB-C port.
The fingerprint sensor is nicely located at the centre back of the device and works fast with enhanced accuracy.
Display
The display on the Pixel 3a is fantastic 5.6-inch OLED panel which provide vibrant colours and deeper blacks. Over the time we had this device we couldn’t tell if this was a sub 50K phone. The 2220×1080 resolution provides crisp visuals and the OS is optimised to render smooth colours to complement the user experience.
Viewing angles were awesome, however, a brighter display would have made the device more legible under outdoor sunlight. Google allows you to tweak the colours to your liking by fiddling around the settings but we felt the screen to be oversaturated at times.
Performance
The performance was never an issue as having low models helps Google optimise the OS in terms of the demand requirements of the device. Surprisingly enough Google bundled the Pixel 3a with a budget Snapdragon 670 chipset coupled with an Adreno 615 GPU as the companies like OnePlus are offering 855 at the same price point. As was the case, the smartphone performed flawlessly thanks to its heavy optimisation and work that had gone into it. The device also managed to run heavy games smoothly at medium settings with a fair bit of loading time.
Photo processing took a lot of time rendering the final image due to its toned-down processor. RAM management could have been better as the device tend to bottleneck as soon as we try to run some demanding tasks in the background. We hope Google might address these problems in future security patches.
Battery
The Pixel 3a comes with a 3,000mAh battery which is decent but not in the ballpark of what the contenders have to offer. From our testing, we could easily get through most days without having to top off the device before going to bed. The device lasted more than 6 hrs of on-screen time and it took an hour and a half to charge it to 100% from the bundled 18W fast charger.
If you intend to use this device for your daily social media usage it might last longer, however, we might recommend to now get your hopes up high in terms of the battery life that comes with this device. For this instance, we recommend you to take a look at the Pixel 3a XL which delivers 8 hours of on-screen time.
Camera
The USP of this device comes through its flagship camera setup of 12.2MP dual-pixel unit. Following its elder sibling, the Pixel 3a captures shots that were comparable to the ones taken through the Pixel 3.
Despite its low price the Pixel 3a would outperform any flagship, it is pitted against, be it the Galaxy S-series or the Apple iPhone.
Certain shots loss the intended quality we`d expected which seems to be a bug in our device which Google might rectify in later updates. The Pixel 3a includes the various shooting modes like Night Sight, Photobooth, slow motion, and a new time-lapse mode.
Night Sight was something that impressed us a lot back in the day and surprisingly enough it’s the same level that the Pixel 3a delivers. The aperture pulls in as much light as it can to create a raw image which then is processed through Google`s image processing algorithms to merge a burst of images which ends up as a final contrast picture.
Portrait mode worked perfectly with its AI-driven bokeh effect that nicely blurs the background thus enhancing the overall image.
The front-facing 8MP camera on the Pixel 3a took a hit in terms of the image quality. The images left us high and dry in terms of the quality we were hoping to get out of it.
Gizmo Verdict
The Pixel 3a is the best phone given the price-point it comes in at. It delivers a smooth untethered user experience with its native OS which makes a lasting impression. The Camera quality is just stupendous considering it comes with the same hardware as the Pixel 3 which makes this device perfect for mobile photography.
Being on the budget-friendly route comes with its set of drawbacks, like the performance which is subpar considering the competition. It lacks the Gorilla Glass protection, waterproof coating, wireless charging support which is quite a bummer.
Overall, we think this smartphone is every bit as feisty as its elder sibling with half its cost. The undercuts have come with its downfall but Google has tried hard to contain this and has emerged victorious. So, to answer the question, the Pixel 3a is worth the flagship contender it hopes to be. If you’re looking for a flagship under a stipulated budget, the Google Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL is your choice to be.
