Google Pixel 4a is by far the search engine giant’s best offer in the budget-friendly price bracket.

However, when you place the phone next to similarly priced smartphones available on the market, it seems like the phone lags behind in both raw power and photography capacity.

Display

Google Pixel 4a’s screen is 0.2 inches larger than that of the Pixel 3a. However, the company has taken a leap with the 4a and completely remove the bezels.

While it’s true Google has done a good job making a seemingly bezel-less phone, if you look close enough, you will see a sliver at the sides and base of the display.

The display is under a layer of Gorilla Glass 3, which should help it avoid small scratches and scruffs. But Google doesn’t exactly invest much here as OnePlus Nord uses the fifth-generation of Corning glass while Sony Xperia 1 II gets the latest.

The OLED screen measures 5.81 inches with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. Overall, the display on Pixel 4a is bright, colorful, and clear.

Processor

Pixel 4a has enough raw power to help you do almost anything you want.

Under the hood, you get 6GB of RAM, a Snapdragon 730 chipset, and onboard storage of 128GB. This seems ok with the price tag of the Pixel 4a but if you look for the best money can but, the phone is outperformed by a number of other rivals.

If you look hard enough, you will find several other smartphones with a newer processor, more storage, and more RAM. Not to mention more cameras.

In reality, the phone can run any apps you want but some may take up to two seconds to load, especially graphics-intensive gaming titles.

For example, when you play PUBG with a high frame rate and HD graphics, you will notice the menu and the screen taking more time to load.

But when you enter a match, everything runs smoothly but not at the highest graphics.

RAM

6GB of RAM is an average amount when it comes to mid-range phones. It ensures you can run anything you want but doesn’t exactly deliver a snappy experience.

Battery

Google Pixel 4a is powered by a 3,140mAh, which is larger than that of its predecessor, and definitely more powerful than the 1,812mAh on the iPhone SE.

Google said its Adaptive Battery technology allows for up to 24 hours of use with a single charge. However, in reality, not many users can achieve that much.  

The best you can expect is a full-day battery with average use. After 11 A.M, you will most likely have a single-digit percentage of juice left. If you want slightly longer battery life, switching always-on display off will help.

After long sessions of gaming or video playback, expect the battery to drain fast. With three hours of streaming music and gaming, by early evening, you will need to charge it right away.

While we have no wireless charging here, not something too surprising with this price range, the phone does come with an 18W charger, providing fast-charging capacity.

Camera

Google Pixel 4a has only two cameras, one on the rear and the other on the front. This is a controversial choice given the common tactics of manufacturers to add as many cameras as possible to create a selling advantage, except for the iPhone SE.

The one on the back is a 12.2MP snapper with an aperture of f/1.7 and a field of view of 84 degrees.

You are able to shoot super slow 240FPS videos, along with 720p/30FPS, 1080p/30FPS, 60FPS, and 120FPS, as well as 4K/30FPS videos.

While one camera might look too little compared to a double, triple, or quad-camera setup, that of the Pixel 4a has its own charm.

The Pixel 4a makes taking pictures easy, all you have to do is to point to the subject and shoot, and Google’s intelligent software will handle the rest.

Users are offered a wide range of modes to choose from, from portrait to panorama. Since the phone has no depth sensor, the blur effect with the former mode relies entirely on AI.

However, expect to see some flaws like the blur effect doesn’t perfectly around the subject or visible stitching in panorama, especially if your hand isn’t steady.

But for a smartphone of this price, that performance is still impressive.

If you have images with an overly bright or dark area, you can tap on the area you want to fix, conjure the dual-exposure controls, and adjust the brightness as you like. This allows you to take good photos, especially if they are backlit.

If the light level is too low, the phone will suggest you switch to another mode, like the Night Sight over the standard option. Night Sight works fantastically despite the lower power compared to its flagship brothers.

With just one camera, there is no hybrid or optical zoom. The phone relies heavily on the imaging smarts to offer 7x digital zoom. While it’s is totally digital, users can hardly tell the difference unless they inspect the shots very closely.

At 7x, you will notice degradation in image quality but if your hands are steady and there is enough light, the shots still look pleasing.

The lack of a macro lens isn’t an issue with the phone but the phone still does a good job with close-up shots with a good level of detail.

We have only one selfie camera with the Google Pixel 4a, which is an 8MP, f/2.0 snapper with a field of view of 84 degrees. You can shoot 1080p videos at 30FPS with this camera.

The front camera also has Night Sight and an obligatory portrait mode, which adds background blur to your selfie. The latter mode is helpful when you want to take pictures of yourself when the lighting isn’t exactly flattering, as long as the surrounding isn’t too dark.

Overall, you will have a capable front camera on the Pixel 4a, which can produce vibrant selfies with enough details and colors.