Spending four figures on a new smartphone never feels exactly sensible, but in 2020 it seems positively profligate. Enter, then, the Pixel 4a, long overdue by
Spending four figures on a new smartphone never feels exactly sensible, but in 2020 it seems positively profligate. Enter, then, the Pixel 4a, long overdue by all rights and intents, but still turning heads by virtue of Google’s camera chops and a $349 price tag. Like the second-gen iPhone SE, that’s not much money for a brand new phone, and with budgets tight yet expectations high it sets the Pixel 4a up nicely. Google’s efforts in the smartphone space always remind me a little of Wile E. Coyote inadvertently blowing himself up. The search behemoth has some fantastic ideas, plenty of in-house talent, and always seems to get 90-, maybe 95-percent to the point of greatness. Then it stomps on a rake and smashes itself in the face. With the Pixel 4 that was mainly around battery life. Praised for its photography excellence and of course cutting-edge Android features, Google’s 2019 flagship just didn’t last long enough to actually make the most of it all. Factor in the premium price tag and it was no surprise that people got frustrated. The Pixel 4a takes its lead from the Pixel 3a: sift out what’s most important, discard the rest, and give the result a price tag that even flagships from a few years back typically haven’t sunk to yet. For 2020 it means a 5.8-inch display, Snapdragon 730G processor, single rear camera, and a sober-to-the-point-of-sullen black plastic casing. Very little of the $349 seems to have gone on making the design more memorable. Just because it’s drab, though, doesn’t make it bad. At 5.7 x 2.7 x 0.3 inches and 143 grams it’s pleasingly slim and easy to hold; the textured back isn’t slippery like so many phones. The Pixel 3a was certainly more interesting to look at – and I miss the color options – but simple saves money. Google spends those savings on what seems like a decent performance compromise. The Snapdragon 730G is more than fast enough to drive the 1080 x 2340 OLED screen – which is reasonably bright, even, and has nicely-balanced colors – and there’s a healthy 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
