Google launched the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G phones during its hardware event on Wednesday, confirming all the rumors that said the 2020 Pixel flagship wouldn’t be a true flagship this year.
I told you all year long that Pixel 5 rumors suggest the phone will be the biggest disappointment in Nexus and Pixel history, and Google confirmed it all on stage during its 2020 “Made by Google” press event that streamed online on Wednesday. Google went out of its way during the press event to avoid confirming the worst thing about the two Pixel 5 phones, focusing on 5G connectivity and camera improvements. It’s not like 5G is as widely available as Google made it look like. So those camera improvements, combined with the promise of fast Android updates for the next three years, should be the only reason to get an expensive Pixel this year. And the Pixel 5 is too costly at $699, but I’ll get to that later. The worst thing about the new phones is the Snapdragon 765 processor that Google referred to as “Qualcomm Snapdragon processor” on stage. It’s the first sign that Google isn’t even trying to compete with other Android vendors this year, or Apple. And it’s unclear whether things will change anytime soon, or Google is giving up on the Pixel completely. A chorus of Android blogs would tell you that it’s excellent news the Pixel 5 comes with a cheaper Snapdragon 765 processor on board. That Google did things differently this year. That it allows Google to sell affordable 5G phones to the masses. That’s a valid argument, but then what’s the point of the Pixel 4a 5G? If anyone’s going to compromise on hardware when buying a new phone during the novel coronavirus pandemic, then they should look at the Pixel 4a 5G. The $499 phons is $200 cheaper than the Pixel 5 but rocks almost the same specs. It’s got a slightly bigger screen and footprint, likely to accommodate the 3.5mm headphone jack — yes, this one has a headphone jack. The Pixel 4a 5G features a plastic back instead of aluminum-and-bio-resin,6GB of RAM instead of 8GB, and a slightly smaller battery — again, you can probably blame that 3.5mm port for that. And that large screen does not support a 90Hz refresh rate, but it’s just another feature you can forget about on an otherwise decent offering. Otherwise, the Pixel 4a 5G is the affordable Pixel 5 that you can easily explain away as the compromise some Android buyers need right now. The Pixel 5 isn’t a significant upgrade compared to last year’s Pixel 4, and that’s something that won’t go unnoticed.
