Pixel 4a Review - Budget Beast By Android Police

So, as of late smartphones, seem to be getting more and more expensive and, unfortunately, the trend seems to suggest that, in order to get a premium feeling in performing device, you have to spend upwards of 800. Well, I'm pleased to report that the Pixel 4a is a breath of fresh air in this regard. In almost every sense the Pixel 4a outperforms its competition and in some cases, even the higher end competitors as well. This is Luke Pollock with android police, and today we are going to be looking at why the Pixel 4a might be the best budget smartphone for you, so I'll be breaking down this video into parts and the corresponding time codes are going to be in the description below. But first, let's start out with the design. This year, Google is going with a very familiar hole: punch display design with an insanely high 82.74 percent screen to body ratio. The back is a nice soft touch plastic that some say feels cheap.

But honestly, I really like it considering that every phone nowadays seems to be the same two pieces of glass with some aluminum sandwiched in the middle. Now this year the phone comes in only one color, just black, and it has a very light green power button on the side. Now this design is very reminiscent of the pixel 4 featuring a camera bump. That is pretty thin, but I still think it takes up too much space considering that it's only housing, one camera and flash. Now.

That said, I still really like the simplicity and the form factor is really great feeling in the hand and the haptic feedback is probably one of the best in the business. Also, it features a lightning fast fingerprint sensor on the back. That is very reminiscent of the nexus line, famed dimple, so that's also a plus. All in all, I think google nailed the design of this phone and I would love to see other manufacturers do the same. However, if you're not a fan of the plastic design, then take a look at an option from today's sponsor dbrand just announced their pastel skins, and I'm really enjoying the sunset red skin that I have, if you're someone prone to dropping your phone, but still want a clean and simple design, then take a look at the brand grip case and prism screen protector, which will also be in the description below now in terms of everyone's favorite topic.

The specs on this phone are pretty good. The pixel ships with a 1080p OLED display, with a PPI of 444, a snapdragon 730, six gigabytes of ram 128, gigabytes of non-expandable storage, a 3140 William hour battery and, lastly, a single rear-facing camera at 12.2 megapixels and an 8 megapixel front-facing shooter, as well now on paper. These specs may not seem, like anything amazing in fact, they're actually pretty standard, but fortunately, for you, there's nothing standard about this phone. The display quite simply looks amazing. Colors are rich and blacks are deep because of that OLED panel and the hole punch design really just makes me hate, notched.

Phones. One thing to note is that the display does support HDR, and it performs pretty well also now the snapdragon 730g doesn't chug at all and because the 4a makes use of UFS storage, everything is quick and snappy gaming is similar with there being no noticeable lag or dips in performance. However, do keep in mind that this phone will struggle with heavier titles, and I suppose another downside of these specs might be the lack of a micro SD card slot, but honestly this day and age with cloud storage. This really isn't that big of a deal so obviously with the phone at this price point you're going to have to sacrifice some things and in the pixels case it's wireless charging and multiple cameras talking about power. First, the battery in this phone is a respectable 3140 William hour battery and although there's no wireless charging, you honestly don't really need it, because this phone's battery life is truly amazing.

I easily got at least six hours of screen on time and sometimes even closer to eight in some previous iteration of pixels. The phone would even make it through the afternoon, but here that's not a problem at all, and that brings us to the camera and honestly, it's really all good here as well. The Pixel 4a shares the same sensor as the pixel 4 and for a 350 dollar phone. The camera processing, for still images, is amazing in both ideal and low lighting conditions. The 4a produces some astounding photos, colors are accurate, sharpness and detail are there and while you don't get two times, optical zoom or a wide angle lens honestly, in most scenarios, I didn't miss them because of the power of google software processing.

Digital zoom photos outperform many budget two-time cameras and while you won't be zooming into 50 times, like some flagships, everyday photos outperform most. In fact, as you can see, in direct comparisons with the iPhone 11 Pro max. In almost every scenario, the Pixel 4a competes, if not outshines the 11 pro. Even in portrait mode, Google has nailed the shallow depth of field effect. Now, obviously, it's not going to beat the iPhone and video, but I'm pleased to report that stabilization is decent and is going to do more than fine for casual recording.

Lastly, in night side mode in macrophotography mode, the pixel again performs great I'm truly impressed with how well the single lens system works and, if you're still not convinced here, are some more examples of its amazing camera. Wrapping up. Probably the best thing on this phone is the OS experience, the Pixel 4a ships with Google's highly optimized stock version of android 10, which is now updated to android 11 and, to be frank, it just works. This truly might be one of the first times when I think that android is more optimized than iOS. The menus are quick and smooth, and moving in between apps just operates like a breeze.

Now the menus do seem to move a bit quicker than normal. However, this can be easily altered in developer settings if you'd like honestly, the phone is just simply fun to use the UI is simple and easily navigated, and everything just feels polished even down to the simplest of animations. Google really did a great job of making sure things operate smoothly on the Pixel 4a, so is the pixel 4 a worth the buy at 350? Definitely because of the device's, build quality, OS battery life and experience. The 4a ends up punching well above its weight class and easily outshines the competition. Well, if you like this video, give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing to android police.

If you'd like to see some of my own content feel free to check out my channel too techno minute, but for now this is Luke with android police, and I'll catch you in the next video you.

Source : Android Police