Pros:
- Amazing camera for the price (nearly identical to the Google Pixel 3 camera)
- Great software with quick updates
- Nice performance for the price
- Better battery life than the Pixel 3
- Comes with a headphone jack (something the more expensive Google Pixel 3 doesn’t have)
- Great “bang for your buck”
Cons:
- No water resistance
- Doesn’t have “flagship” gaming performance
- Device is small compared to Pixel 3a XL (which is more expensive)
Review Summary:
For $400 this phone is a great deal. This device has a processor that has 90% of the performance as the Google Pixel 2, a better battery than the Google Pixel 3, nearly the same camera as the Pixel 3, and this device has new Android updates with quick updates coming in the future. All of this comes at half of the price of the Google Pixel 3 (at least when it is not on sale). For $500 you can get the One Plus 6T with slightly better performance, but even that device has its own compromises. This makes the Google Pixel 3a the “mid-range king” and the phone to beat of 2019.
Google Pixel 3a Review
So you’re thinking about getting a Google Pixel 3a? I have switched smartphones every month or two for years, and I can tell you with confidence that after I switched to the Google Pixel 3a, I don’t plan to switch phones for a while! Let me share why I think this phone is the phone to beat in 2019.
Design and Build Quality
The Google Pixel 3a comes with a Snapdragon 670, 4GB of RAM, and a 3,000 mAh battery. The phone has a USB-C port for charging, which is pretty standard nowadays, but it also has a headphone jack located on the top-left side of the phone. Including a headphone jack in this phone seems like an odd decision, in fact, the Pixel 3 which is double the cost of the Pixel 3a does not have a headphone jack, so for Google to include this feature in a mid-range phone is surprising!
The Google Pixel 3a is made up of polycarbonate. To some, this may seem like a step down, as the Pixel 3 is made up of glass, but honestly, I don’t care one bit. I keep a case on my phone and wouldn’t really notice what the back of the phone is made of. If you are a person that cares, that is OKAY. The back doesn’t feel as premium as the Pixel 3a, but the polycarbonate back is also less fragile than a glass back, which is also a plus.
Outside of the back of the phone being made from polycarbonate, there isn’t much of a difference from the Pixel 3. In fact, your average person probably wouldn’t notice a difference between the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3a. The phones are nearly identical in size and look nearly the same. From my perspective, the Pixel 3a seems to be very well made, and I haven’t heard of a lot of significant issues with it after release, which is a good sign.
Screen
The Google Pixel 3a comes with a 5.6″ OLED screen, with no notch! There are minor bezels on the screen which can look a little bland compared to some of the newer flashy phones, but the bezels are small enough that in my opinion, they aren’t a distraction. The display is a full HD display at 2220 x 1080 and has an OLED screen that peaks at 401 nits of brightness. While this is good and doesn’t have too many problems, don’t expect the same screen you would get on an $800 phone. Honestly the screen is pretty close to flagship quality, and in my opinion, the screen is just fine.
Performance
This is where the rubber meets the road. Let me summarize the performance for you: it is good. As smartphones get faster and faster and we all upgrade our phones, at some point, it’s just hard to notice any speed improvements. If an app was loading in 2 seconds, but on a newer phone it can load in one, that is great, but at what point are we nitpicking over 0.05 seconds of speed?
People are claiming that this phone has a mid-range processor with mid-range performance, but from all the benchmarks I’ve seen, that is not true. To summarize, this phone has about 90% of the speed of the Pixel 2. The Snapdragon 670 has about 90% of the speed of the Snapdragon 835, so essentially this phone is running with the same speed that the Pixel 2 was. Before this phone, I was using a Snapdragon 845, and I have not noticed any speed drops switching to the Snapdragon 670. Perhaps some of this is because the Pixel 3a is running a very basic version of Android with no bloatware, but regardless of the reasons I have had some buttery smooth performance with my Pixel 3a. This device performs and in my opinion, it performs like a flagship.
The one area that it may not perform as well as some other devices is gaming. The processor is about 90% of the speed as the Snapdragon 835 but the GPU doesn’t have the same punch as the GPU that you would find in the Pixel 2. So I would expect gaming to be about 30% worse on this device in comparison to the Pixel 2. Honestly, this should game better than most mid-range phones around $300, but if you are a hardcore gamer on your phone, you might do well to consider the One Plus 6T for an extra $100.
Camera
The camera is great! The Pixel 3a has a rear camera with 12.2 megapixels that has a f/1.8 aperture This device has the same camera that the Pixel 3 has with just a couple of minor differences:
- First, this camera does not have the Pixel Visual Core image processing chip found in the Google Pixel 3.
- This phone does not have the extra wide-angle lens on the front-facing camera, so selfies may be a little more challenging.
These two differences are very minor. In my testing, my images came out just as good as they did with the regular Pixel 3, and I didn’t notice any significant differences.
In short: You’re getting a camera that has been raved about as the best camera in a $400 phone, so this is a great deal! If a camera is really important to you but you don’t have $800 to spend on a phone, you should really consider this phone!
Battery Life
The Pixel 3a comes with a 3,000 mAh battery. This is pretty much the standard battery size for a phone this size. Surprisingly, I have had significantly better battery life with this phone than I had with previous phones. With the Google Pixel 3 or other phones with similar battery sizes, my phone was normally dead around 7 P.M. With the Google Pixel 3a, I normally have about 20% battery left at the end of a normal day. For most people, you should make it through a normal day without battery issues, which is really good news. This phone only has 100 mAh more in its battery than the Google Pixel 3 has, but the battery life is significantly better. Tom’s Guide has the Pixel 3a lasting over 3 hours longer than the Pixel 3 in their battery tests. This is great news if you’re looking to get a Pixel 3a!
I should also add that this device comes with fast charging, but be warned! Not every fast charger works on this device. Phones from the Google Pixel line only fast charge on specific devices. In my experience, this device fast charged with the charger that came from the box, and my Chromebook charger. From what I’ve seen online, only certain “approved” chargers work, but I highly doubt a Chromebook x360 charger was an “approved” charger, so I’m not sure why certain chargers work over other chargers. It could possibly be because my Chromebook charger is a 45w charger. Either way, the good news is that this device does fast charge, but just be mindful that you may need to buy an extra charger or two if you plan to fast charge in more than one location.
Software
The Google Pixel 3a comes with Android P pre-installed. Google also guarantees three-years of software updates for its phones, so you should expect to get Android Q, R, and even Android S when they release. Google also does very well with releasing timely security patches for their Pixel phones. With Android phones struggling to update themselves regularly, a big plus with getting a Google Pixel is getting timely software updates. Timely software updates help with security and also allow you to try out new features before other people. This phone also doesn’t come with bloatware installed or other useless apps that you won’t need.
Good Bang for Your Buck?
Everyone who buys a phone wants to get a good deal. Is this phone a good deal at $400? I would say yes! Check with your carrier to see if they are offering any special promos or discounts, as they frequently change. If you are with a prepaid company or you don’t want your phone to be “locked” to only work with one carrier, you can always buy this phone at Best Buy for $400. Honestly, this phone does not go on sale often, so $400 is still a really solid deal. In fact, I would say if you pay $400 you’re still getting a great “bang for your buck” when you buy this phone! Best Buy does offer discounts if you activate your phone “today” with your carrier, just keep in mind that if you do select “activate today” or if you buy the unlocked version at Best Buy and have them activate it right away, your carrier will charge you an activation fee. This may save you $50 or even $100 at the store, but you will pay roughly $30 to your carrier later. Either way, if you can save $50 or $100, it is still worth activating at Best Buy to get a deal, so be on the lookout for those activation promos with Best Buy or your carrier!
Click here to view the Google Pixel 3a on Amazon.
Click here to view the Google Pixel 3a on Best Buy.
If you enjoyed my review, please leave a comment for me, and if you have any questions, please let me know!