Google Pixel 5a: Why does this phone exist? 🤔 By Android Central

The pixel 5a is finally here and Google's affordable pixel for 2021 is just a little different compared to last year's model. It's got a much bigger screen. A ginormous battery and important table stakes features like water resistance that were missing from the 4a in 2020, but a more important question than what the pixel 5a is. It is basically just an upgraded pixel for a 5g after all is why it actually exists and that's what we're going to tackle today, while also of course, letting you know whether it's actually any good take a sec to subscribe to android central right here. So you don't miss our pixel 6 coverage coming soon, and we'll get started. Looking at this phone, it clearly belongs to the previous generation of pixels, the 2020 generation, as opposed to the newfangled pixel 6 with its google tensor chip and chunky camera visor.

The pixel 5a looks set to fill that all-important, cheap 5g phone roll for Google, so it makes sense that it's basically just an upgraded pixel for a 5g, same snapdragon, 7652 processors and a very similar, very plain, looking design same six, gigs of ram 128 gigs of storage, same rear, fingerprint. In fact, a look down. The spec sheet reveals very few changes. Ford is a notably cheaper phone than the 4a5g. There are three big hardware additions for the pixel 5a, as well as one minor downgrade that we'll get to later.

First up water resistance with an ip67 rating, making this the first a series pixel where you don't need to worry about getting it wet, there's also a significantly larger battery. In fact, the biggest we've seen in the pixel to date at 46.80 William hours and since the display is still a 1080p panel at 60 hertz, and we're still running that efficient 765 chipsets. It's no surprise to see phenomenal battery life out of this pixel android central's, our wagon have got 11 hours of screen on time across just under two days of use out of her pixel 5a review unit. That's pretty spectacular longevity, but just like the 4a5g you're limited to that pixel standard, 18, watts of wire charging with no wireless option, and that looks just a little dated next to competitors like the OnePlus note 2, which offer much faster wired charging. The 5a also boasts the largest screen we've yet seen in an series pixel at 6.34. Inches diagonally, though this change compared to the 405g, is mainly just a change in aspect ratio, because the 5a now uses a taller 20 by 9 panel.

As for what you don't get well, there's no millimeter wave support in the pixel 5a, so you're limited to just sub 6 gigahertz 5g, that's kind of understandable, considering the price point, but also potentially disappointing. If you're planning on getting boast-worthy speed, test numbers out of this phone also a little weird considering this phone will only be sold in the US and Japan, which are two of the biggest markets for millimeter wave. At the moment. Everything else about the pixel 5a is very much a known quantity. It's got the same cameras on the pixel 5 and the 405g, a 12 megapixel optically, stabilized main shooter, plus 16 megapixel ultra, and it also boasts the same excellent portrait.

Lighting and video stabilization features as those phones. These cameras still hold up really well, especially in a phone that sells for 450, with plenty of color detail pulled out in darker scenes and that trademark pixel, color science. The main thing you're missing out on here is a telephoto camera, but that's pretty rare at this price point, and most people will probably find an ultra-wide more useful anyway. The design here in mostly black, is not much to look at and continues the trend of mid-range pixels. Looking almost painfully dull, but at least this time around Google has some colorful cases available to add a bit of flair and the chassis itself is now a metal unibody, with a resin coating similar to the pixel 5.

Everything else about this phone, as I've said a few times now, is pretty much the same as the Pixel 4a 5g same quick performance same three years of fast android updates from the time of launch they're. Almost identical, in fact, are you looking at b-roll right now with a pixel, 5a or a 4a5g who even knows up close, it's really hard to tell them apart. So that being the case, why does google need a device like this in its lineup, and what does it mean for the rest of the pixel range? Well, the pixel 5a is clearly a much more competitive phone than the 4a5g and makes sense as a replacement for that device with key upgrades like water resistance and that giant battery, but this year there's no miniature pixel 5a, there's just the big one, which kind of suggests that the regular pixel 5 might stick around as the smaller counterpart. Only thing is that model is sold out in the US right now and over in Europe, where the pixel 5 is on sale. The 5a won't even be launching weirdly enough, though the Pixel 4a is available in the US.

So you have this weird situation where both markets have a different mix of mid-range pixels available according to our sources. A lot of those regional restrictions are the result of the current global chip shortage and, if you think about it, then the pixel line as a whole would make a lot more sense right now, if Google could just replace the 4a5g with the 5a and then off of the pixel 5 as that smaller mid-range pixel. But, alas, all three of those phones are affected by the current shortage of 765g chipsets. So right now we're coming towards the end of a very messy release cycle for pixel phones. It started with a Pixel 4a, a budget offering available only in a smaller size.

Then we had the Pixel 4a 5g, a bigger mid-ranger that was kind of a half-step upgrade from the 4a and only available with a bigger screen. Then the pixel 5, which was the highest spec pixel, but again only available in that smaller size, and now we have the 5a, which is better than the 4a5g in most areas, but not quite as premium as the pixel 5. Individually. All of these phones are pretty great products but considered as a whole. The product line itself is kind of a mess, and it's a far cry from the situation a couple of years ago, where you just pick expensive, pixel or cheap pixel and from there the big phone or the small phone.

What's also super weird. Are we have this new pixel phone launching just weeks before a major new version of android drops, which means the 5a as it's being reviewed right now, will be quite a different experience once it gets android 12, with the stable version of that likely to arrive around the second week of September? That's less than three weeks from the pixel 5a street date of August 26th, the pixel 4 a5g was, and still is, a pretty good phone. So it stands that an upgraded version of that that's 50 cheaper will also be worth your attention with the pixel 5a you're, getting a great core google phone experience with handy on-device, AI tricks like now playing for song information and live transcribe for automatic audio captions, along with a camera system that still holds up really well. It exists because Google needs an updated, cheap, 5g phone for 2021, and it does that job pretty well, especially in the US market. Let's just hope that next year, when the pixel 6a arrives that the pixel product line itself is just a bit more coherent, that's it for now hit the comments.

Let us know what you think of the pixel 5a and subscribe to android central, so you don't miss our coverage of android 12 and the pixel 6 coming soon. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time, you.

Source : Android Central