Google released the premium version of their Pixel line up late last year, the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. The phones were well received, but considered to be expensive. In fact, since the Pixel line began, the price of a Pixel has been on the premium side of things. This is in contrast to the previous line of Google phones, the Nexus, which most people considered the perfect balance between premium features and price.
And while Pixel phones are well liked, at a starting price of $799 for the small variant and $899 for the larger version (XL), you are paying a pretty penny for a phone that 1 year later will lose its cachet (with the current 1-year upgrade cycle). And with middle-tier phones from Apple (iPhone XR) and Samsung (Galaxy s10e) nipping at its heels in terms of features, performance and price, it was no wonder the Pixel 3s didn’t sell well.
Welcome to the Pixel 3a. A less expensive, less premium, version of the Pixel 3. A phone that in my opinion, sacrifices very little and saves a lot. With prices starting at $399 (small) and $479 (XL), you are saving half. In fact, most of the cost-cuts Google made to bring the price down, are things the majority of people will not miss. All of the features that made Pixel 3 a great phone are in the Pixel 3a.
Things like:
- Excellent low-light photography
- Excellent overall camera
- Guaranteed updates for 3 years
- Google’s clean-android version of the OS
- Pixel-only features like squeeze for Google Assistant
- Secure-chip for storing sensitive data (Passwords, cryptography keys, etc)
So why should anyone get the premium version? That’s a good question. The only reason is if you cared about the features you’d be missing with the Pixel 3a. Features like wireless charging, dual front-facing cameras, faster processor (which seems to only impact night-time image processing), and larger storage capacity options (the 3a is limited to 64gb of storage). However, none of those, at least for me, are features worth double the price, none. Even the storage limitation can be mitigated with Google’s own photo backup service, which will back up your photos to the cloud at full resolution for free.
It looks like the upcoming OnePlus 7 will have its hands full with another mid-priced contender.
