Google Pixel 3a And 3a XL: A Bang For Your Buck

When other phone makers add new attracting features into their handheld devices, and as a result, increase the asking price out of the reach of more people, Google decided to do the exact opposite. As OnePlus is loosening its grip on the mid-range market, Google is right there to replace it.

With the price of Google Pixel 3a and Google Pixel 3a XL, there will be some tradeoffs. Expecting all of the high-end features on a budget-friendly smartphone is not exactly realistic, but having just some of them is. Their cameras are good, Android 9 Pie is excellent, and the battery is durable. However, what you will have to sacrifice is the chipset, the plastic cover, the absence of a water-resistant feature or wireless charging function.

Cheaper Materials, But That's Okay

The Google Pixel 3a and Google Pixel 3a XL look quite like the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. On the rear, there is a fingerprint reader and the unique matte and two-colored appearance. At first glance, most people will recognize the work of Google.

Instead of the classy metal and glass, the company used plastic to keep the cost down. This is where you have to make a sacrifice. Although plastic is more durable, it is nowhere near the beauty of glass or metal. If Motorola can offer the Moto G7 with metal-and-glass at a price lower than the Google Pixel 3a, Google can do the same.

The appearance is no looker, but in practice, it does not make using the phone less comfortable. All of the buttons are within reach, and the fingerprint reader works seamlessly. However, there is still room for improvement with the haptic feedback.

Excellent Sound And Vision

The Google Pixel 3a and Google Pixel 3a XL have 5.6-inch and 6-inch display respectively. They both have an OLED screen with FHD+ resolution.

If you mind the 1080p resolution, here is the deal. There is nothing wrong with it. We see the same thing on OnePlus 6T, Galaxy S10e, and Huawei Mate 30 Pro and they are all best-selling smartphones. The iPhone XR’s screen resolution is even less than that, but the phone is still a success for Apple. As a person who knows a lot about smartphones would know, the resolution is not everything.

However, there is still a minor difference between the Google Pixel 3a and Google Pixel 3a XL; The former has a cooler display than the latter. This is not a deal breaker as many other smartphones have this disparity too, the iPhones for example.

Google decided to remove the notch completely from these smartphones, but it does not aim for an as big display as possible as there are still big and visible bezels on them both. If you can handle the bezels on the Google Pixel 2 XL, the same thing on the two newer smartphones are nothing.

Good sounds complement the excellent display. Even when you turn the volume on to the highest possible level, distortion is still minimal.

The overall experience with sounds are less impressive than many other smartphones, but given the price, not many people will complain.

Same Great Camera With Night Sight

What a lot of users care about is the cameras of the Google Pixel 3a and Google Pixel 3a XL. As we all know, Google brought the snappers of the Google Pixel 3 to these two phones at a lower price. This is why users are curious whether they truly have that great cameras on two budget-friendly smartphones.

After several tests, the photos taken with the two newer phones are proven to be on par with what you have with the Google Pixel 3.

Google said that they had spent a lot of effort on ensuring that users have the same quality on the Google Pixel 3a and Google Pixel 3a XL as the Pixel 3. And what most reviewers say is Google has told you the truth.

The photos taken with the two new phones are sharp, vibrant, and have good contrast, a feature a lot of people will appreciate. Overall, some people will prefer cameras with a better dynamic range that does not make the photos look over processed.

If you use the Night Sight, you will have to hold the phones still for a few seconds. However, to make the process feels less lengthy, Google makes sure that the processing stays in the background.

In one of the tests, the Night Sight mode on the Google Pixel 3a XL takes up to two seconds longer than the Pixel 3 XL to capture enough exposures. However, there are occasions in which the 3a XL’s actually work quicker.

Pixel 3 has a better Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset so if you open the shots in Google Photos; the phone is faster at producing photos than the Pixel 3a XL with the Snapdragon 670 chip.

This is not deal breaker either as with the price, there is nothing to expect more with the Pixel 3a and 3a XL. However, some might find holding the phone still for a couple of seconds more a little bit annoying.

So Much For The Money

The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are both excellent, but their prices make them out of the reach of a lot of people. So this year, Google wants to change that. It aims at bringing that same clean Android, excellent cameras, and long battery life to a wide range of audience.

Up until before the release of the Google Pixel 3a and Google Pixel 3a XL, the best option for those who want higher-end features on a budget-friendly smartphone is from OnePlus. However, as the company is advancing further into the premium smartphone range, it will be forced to loosen the mid-range market. Since that niche is cleared out, Google makes sure that it has prime candidates for the leading spots, and what it released are the Google Pixel 3a and Google Pixel 3a XL.

So far, there is no other phone with the same quality that users can get with that low price. They are both a bang for the bucks.