Google Pixel 3a Review – IGN

By Kevin Lee

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Google used to rule the mid-range phone world with its affordable Nexus phones. However, since the company switched to its much more expensive, ‘self-made’ Pixel line and $1,000+ smartphones have become fashionable, Google seemingly abandoned the budget smartphone market. But that all changed when Google announced the Pixel 3a.

The Pixel 3a was introduced as an affordable version of the Pixel 3 with the same looks, camera, and all its software features while costing half as much. After spending some time with the phone I can say that, thankfully, the $399 Google Pixel 3a lives up to the hype, making it one of the most exciting and best budget smartphones to come out in a long time.

Google Pixel 3a – Design and Features

For the most part, the Pixel 3a looks like a spitting image of the Pixel 3, and that’s isn't a bad thing. Google’s flagship Android phone was already a handsome handset thanks to its simple two-tone design that mixed shiny accents with a matte finish. When that same style is applied to a phone that’s affordably priced, suddenly the Pixel 3a is the best-looking budget phone ever made. Compared to other devices in its price bracket it certainly has more personality than every other black rectangle with a touchscreen.

One big differentiator between the two Pixel phones is the Pixel 3a features a polycarbonate (or plastic to be less scientific) body, whereas the Pixel 3 is made of glass and aluminum. This change in materials definitely helped to drive down the cost of this handset, but it doesn’t cheapen the overall feel.

Instead, by going with a plastic frame, the bottom of the phone is now made of one seamless piece of plastic rather than an imperfectly color-matched combo of aluminum and glass. Of course, having a large portion of this phone coated in soft-touch paint helps hide the plastic-y feel of the device.

After slinging the phone around without a case for the past week, the Pixel 3a hasn’t shown any signs of wear at all. Not a single scratch has developed, even on the glossy areas where there’s only bare plastic.

Google Pixel 3a (left) vs Google Pixel 3 (right)

Google also gave the Pixel 3a a slightly larger 5.6-inch screen to help distinguish it from its 5.5-inch flagship sibling. This new OLED display is only slightly taller in size, which ends up adding an extra 40 vertical pixels to the original Pixel 3’s 1,080 x 2,160 resolution. Additionally, the bottom speaker that is located right below the screen on the Pixel 3 has been moved to the bottom edge of the device. You still get stereo sound, but it’s a shame Google decided that having all front-firing speakers was a premium feature.

The headphone jack makes its glorious return here, but it’s bittersweet as its inclusion also prevents the Pixel 3a from being waterproof like most modern smartphones. Another sad omission is the lack of Qi wireless charging, but at the very least the Pixel 3a still rocks a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner that can unlock your phone instantaneously.

In terms of cameras, the Google Pixel 3a keeps the same exact 12.2MP rear camera and 8MP front-facing camera as the Pixel 3, however, it sadly loses the second ultrawide (19mm) camera that makes taking selfies in cramped spaces much easier.

The Pixel 3a's internal specs include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. Interestingly, there are no other storage options and you can't add an SD card either. Google says this is no big deal since it gives users unlimited cloud storage for their high-resolution photos, but that doesn't really help when you run out of space for music or games.

Compared to the Pixel 3, this phone is equipped with a more mid-range processor, the same amount of memory, and fewer storage options. On the plus side, the Pixel 3a nets you a slightly bigger, higher-res screen and a longer-lasting 3,000mAh battery—as opposed to 2,915mAh.

As a Pixel-device, you also get a completely clean version of Android—9 or Pie being the latest version—which will also see the latest updates sooner than other Android smartphones (i.e. the Samsung Galaxy S10 and LG G9 ThinQ) and guaranteed software support for three years.

What about the Google Pixel 3a XL?

Like the Google Pixel 3, the Pixel 3a has a bigger XL-sized brother. This phone is much less of a budget clone of the original 6.3-inch Pixel 3 XL as it trades its webcam notch for a traditionally thick top bezel and smaller six-inch screen. Because of this new screen size, the Pixel 3a XL is fatter and shorter than its flagship brethren, not to mention the display isn't as sharp at 1080 x 2160 pixels—a noticeable downgrade from the Pixel 3 XL's 1,440 x 2,960 display resolution.

The Pixel 3a XL is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 CPU, 4GB of memory, and 64GB of storage. Sadly, there are no higher-capacity SKUs of this phone and you won't be expanding your storage space with a Micro SD card either. The good news is this bigger budget handset keeps the Pixel 3 XL's 12.2MP rear camera and 8MP selfie camera, but it doesn't have a second ultrawide front facing snapper. The only clear upgrade is the battery, as it's been upgraded from a 3,430mAh unit to 3,700mAh.

Like the Pixel 3a, the XL version isn't waterproof and doesn't support wireless charging, but it has a headphone jack and a fingerprint reader on the back.

Google Pixel 3a – Performance and Gaming

Despite running a slower Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 CPU than that on the Pixel 3, the Pixel 3a doesn't feel more sluggish. In my testing, apps on this smartphone only took a fraction of a second longer to load. There wasn't any slowdown whatsoever once apps are open either, whether it be a simple calculator, web browsing in chrome, or even playing some games.

When it comes to gaming, the Pixel 3a didn’t introduce any lag or choppy gameplay in Real Racing 3 or Sky Force R. More intensive games like PUBG got a bit hitchy whenever there was a lot of action happening on screen, but I still had a surprisingly playable experience from a phone with only 4GB of video memory. For serious mobile gaming, I still would recommend the Pixel 3 over its budget version. The two phones might have the same amount of RAM, but any phone with a recent Snapdragon 800-series processor will perform better.

And those who want the best gaming experience will want a high-end gaming phone like the Asus ROG Phone or Razer Phone 2 that pack at least 6GB of memory and an overclocked processor.

The only really noticeable downgrade users will experience is when taking HDR, Portrait, Night Sight, or other types of photos that involve computational horsepower. The reason is the Pixel 3a lack’s Google’s Pixel Visual Core, which has been used for processing photos with machine learning since it was first introduced in the Pixel 2. Without this chip, more complex images beyond basic snapshots can take a moment longer to resolve. It’s a small annoyance and you won’t really notice it unless you’re the type of person who needs to look at a photo immediately after you take it.

In terms of software, the Pixel 3a is as feature complete as its more premium sibling, which is quite impressive. You still have full access to the latest versions of Android 9 Pie and all the handy features of Google Assistant—squeezing the phone’s sides will even summon the digital assistant just like the regular Pixel 3.

Google Pixel 3a – Camera

Although this phone lacks Google’s dedicated imaging chip, it still features the same exact 12.2MP camera as the Pixel 3. From all the photos I shot, there wasn’t any discernible drop in image quality compared to the Pixel 3 whether it be resolution, color, dynamic range, or sharpness.

You also still have full access to every single camera mode including Night Sight, Super Res Zoom, and Portrait mode.

I’ll let the images speak for themselves, but for $400 you can’t really ask for a better smartphone camera.

Google Pixel 3a – Battery Life

Between having a less power hungry processor and larger battery—3,000mAh as opposed to 2,915mAh—the Pixel 3a unsurprisingly lasts longer than its premium sibling.

With the Pixel 3, I’d struggle to get through a day with more than 20% battery life left over. The Pixel 3a, on the other hand, gave me plenty of breathing room with 30% or more still available at the end of the day.

My phone usage is fairly heavy as it includes watching about two hours of video and just as much podcast listening time, plus reading a fair number of articles, checking social media, and short spurts of mobile gaming (Editor's note - Kevin, we need to talk.)

This phone probably won’t make it through two days of operation unless you’re just turning it on occasionally, but the Pixel 3a is more than capable of getting you through a full day of usage.

Purchasing Guide

The Google Pixel 3a is available at a starting price of $399 and the larger six-inch Google Pixel 3a XL starts at $479. Both phones come with 64GB of storage to start and that’s it, there are no larger capacity versions to choose from nor the option of adding an SD card to expand your handset. That said, you do get free unlimited storage for high-quality images in Google Photos.

There’s a growing number of budget smartphone rivals trying to steal the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL’s thunder. One of these smartphones is the Moto Z4, which features a 6.4-inch (1,080 x 2,340) screen, the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 processor, 20MP camera, and a bundled Moto 360 camera for $499 to start.

Meanwhile, the $499 Asus ZenFone 6 is a surprisingly well-equipped mid-range phone packing a 6.4-inch (1,080 x 2,340) screen and higher-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 CPU. It also has a dual-camera system—one 48MP main camera and 13MP ultrawide snapper—which also flip up to turn into selfie cameras.

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