Google has released its new budget Android phone Pixel 4a today for $349, its most affordable priced phone since the inception of the Pixel brand in 2016. Thanks to the stellar camera and great software performance for its price, its predecessor 3a and 3a XL were a smashing hit made Pixel 4a the most awaited Google Phone of the year. Also, as expected in the leaks, there won’t be an XL version of 4a.
The Pixel 3a lineup wasn’t a perfect phone for its price due to keeping it under the budget of $400. It helped Google to outsell major smartphones like OnePlus in 2019 due to the better sales performance in the US and Europe. Both 3a and 3 managed to gain Google 0.4% global market share shipping 7.2 million units in 2019.
Source: Google
In 2020 Apple has upstaged the competition with its iPhone SE 2020 in the similar price bracket of $399. Since its debut, it has been doing wonders for Apple in sales, no surprise there. In a recent Canalys report, Apple posted a growth of 25% QoQ, the only manufacturer who have posted growth in that period.
Apart from its attractive price tag, Google Pixel excels in its important department, flagship level camera performance. The 4a comes with a one size fits all 5.8″ Full HD+ resolution OLED display with HDR support and a hole-punch display for the front facing camera, a first in Pixel smartphones which helped to make the display closer to the edges.
Google Pixel 4a has doubled its storage size to 128GB
The smartphone is powered with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 730G octa-core SoC paired with a 6GB LPDDR4x RAM and a 128GB storage. The only storage variant available, thanks to Google for doubling the storage from the 64GB in its predecessors.
In the front hole-punch, Google has put an 8MP ƒ/2.0 aperture camera with 84 degree field-of-view and capable of capturing 1080p videos at 30fps.
At the rear, the same flagship 12.2MP camera with ƒ/1.7 aperture which support all the flagship camera features like Portrait Mode, Night Sight, Top Shot and Astrophotography. It is also equipped with Optical and Electronic Image Stabilization to deliver the images and videos shake-free.
Credits: Android Police
The Google Pixel 4a comes with stereo speakers for better sound output and 2 mics for noise suppression during calls. It packs a 3140mAh battery with up to 18W fast charging technology through USB Type-C 3.1 with USB-PD 2.0 support.
The device will come with Android 10 pre-installed. However the 4a will get the next update Android 11 days after when it is announced, one of the advantages of pixel phones. Google is promising 3 years of OS updates and monthly security patches for the Pixel 4a.
In the connectivity, 4a has included 3.5mm headphone jack on the top side of the phone. It also included Bluetooth 5.1, NFC and dual band Wi-Fi with 2×2 MIMO support. Like its predecessors, 4a supports both Nano SIM and e-SIM.
Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 is expected to launch this fall
The phone will be available in only 1 colour ‘Just Black’ and it will go on sale from August 20 in the US and October in India. The 4a is also coming to in Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain and Taiwan.
Google has also announced 2 other Pixel phones this fall, Pixel 4a 5G starting at $499 and Pixel 5. It will be available in selected markets like U.S, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Japan, Taiwan and Australia.
