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SPECIFICATION
NETWORK
Technology : GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE
BODY
Dimensions : 160.1 x 76.1 x 8.2 mm (6.30 x 3.00 x 0.32 in)
Weight : 167 g (5.89 oz)
Build : Front glass, plastic body
SIM : Nano-SIM, Electronic SIM card (eSIM)
DISPLAY
Type : OLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size : 6.0 inches, 92.9 cm2 (~76.3% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution : 1080 x 2160 pixels, 18:9 ratio (~402 ppi density)
Protection : Asahi Dragontrail Glass, Always-on display
PLATFORM
OS : Android 9.0 (Pie)
Chipset : Qualcomm SDM670 Snapdragon 670 (10 nm)
CPU : Octa-core (2x2.0 GHz 360 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 360 Silver)
GPU : Adreno 615
MEMORY
Card slot : No
Internal : 64 GB, 4 GB RAM
MAIN CAMERA
Single : 12.2 MP, f/1.8, 28mm (wide), 1/2.55", 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS
Features : Dual-LED flash, HDR, panorama
Video : 2160p@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps
SELFIE CAMERA
Single : 8 MP, f/2.0, 24mm (wide), 1.12µm
Features : HDR
Video : 1080p@30fps
SOUND
Loudspeaker : Yes, with stereo speakers
3.5mm jack : Yes, Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
COMMS
WLAN : Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth : 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX HD
GPS : Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO
NFC : Yes
USB : 2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector
FEATURES
Sensors Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer
BATTERY
Type : Non-removable Li-Po 3700 mAh battery
Charging : Fast battery charging 18W, USB Power Delivery 2.0
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REVIEW
Design
It
has the same iconic design as the Pixel 3, a lightweight, unibody
design and a matte finish with a glossy shade on the back (it's made out
of polycarbonate though instead of glass like the Pixel 3). Also, the
interestingly colored power button is still there to provide a pretty
cool touch. You can also still launch Google Assistant or silence an
incoming call by squeezing the phone's sides (Google calls this Active
Edge).
Display
Vibrant,
color-accurate 6in OLED display, it's as good, if not a little better
than it's senior Pixel 3 phones. Sadly, it has thick bezels, for a 2019
phone.
Software
Of
course, one of the key selling points of the Pixel series, is the
clean, stock version of Android directly from Google, along with three
years of promised updates (which are generally delivered almost as soon
as they are launched). Then there are some interesting Pixel only (at
least as of now) features like Call Screen, which screens spam calls and
telemarketers and shows you a live transcription of the conversation so
you can decide whether to accept or reject a call.
There's
also Digital Wellbeing which helps curb phone usage by giving you info
about how much time you're spending on the phone and it lets you set
time limits for apps. To help reduce eye strain, you can schedule Night
Light to turn your screen to a yellowish, sepia color, andthere's an
option for grayscale too.
Performance
Pretty
good performance, with the Snapdragon 670 chipset at the core, while
it's of course not as powerful as the flagship Snapdragon 845 on the
Pixel 3 phones, you are unlikely to notice much of a difference in daily
use (except with high-end games).
Well,
a 4GB RAM continues to be a bit limiting for Pixel phones, if you are
used to a 6GB/8GB RAM phones, you will find that not as many apps stay
open in the background.
Camera
The
biggest plus point of the Pixel 3a series is that it packs the same
grade-A camera as the Pixel 3 series, with the same amazing Night mode.
Photo quality is excellent, images are clear, bright and vibrant. You
can still take portraits with that dramatic, depth of field effect and
adjust the focus and blur of the picture after you take the shot. The
phone still has Top Shot, which helps you choose the best image out of a
series, and Super Res Zoom, which improves detail when you zoom in at
faraway objects.
There's
also a new feature to record time lapse videos, you can condense
between 50 seconds or 20 minutes of recorded footage into 10 seconds and
the results are pretty good. Overall, the Pixel 3a series, along with
the Pixel 3 series continues to be the second best overall camera
experience on any smartphone (the first spot is now taken by the Huawei
P30 Pro).
Unfortunately,
it's 'Night Sight' processing is a little bit slower now (compared to
the Pixel 3) due to the less powerful processor. There's also no second
wide angle front facing camera like the Pixel , so wide "group selfies"
are out.
Audio
Well, it has a headphone jack finally lol! (unlike the senior Pixel 3 series), also, Stereo speakers are pretty good too.
Battery
Very
good battery life with a 3700mAh battery, along with some good software
optimization, you will comfortably get 1.5 days of use.
CONCLUSION
The
Pixel 3a series, apart from the pure 'Pixel' experience, brings the
same amazing camera of the senior Pixel 3 series to a lower price
bracket, and does that while making relatively minor compromises in
terms of processing power. If you are looking for the best shoot as you
go cameraphone, at the lowest price point, the Pixel 3a series is the
one to get.
Unfortunately,
there will be tough competition though from 2 other great 'budget
flagship' phones, such as the OnePlus 6T (which will give you twice the
amount of built in storage, a faster processor, and a solid camera, even
if it's not as good), and the Galaxy S10e (which gives you a more
striking design, water resistance, wireless charging, more onboard
storage, and almost as good camera).
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