Google Pixel 4a 5G review: The best 5G phone value
Our Verdict
The Pixel 4a 5G may not be as skillful a value as the Pixel 4a, only it has many of the features of the Pixel five for hundreds less. That makes it a ameliorate option if you lot want a 5G phone from Google.
For
- Big, colorful display
- 5G phone for less than $500
- Splendid cameras
- Google's latest software
Confronting
- Poor battery life
- Verizon version costs more than
- Subpar performance relative to similar phones
Tom's Guide Verdict
The Pixel 4a 5G may not be as expert a value as the Pixel 4a, merely information technology has many of the features of the Pixel v for hundreds less. That makes it a better option if you want a 5G telephone from Google.
Pros
- +
Large, colorful brandish
- +
5G phone for less than $500
- +
First-class cameras
- +
Google's latest software
Cons
- -
Poor battery life
- -
Verizon version costs more
- -
Subpar performance relative to like phones
Pixel 4a 5G: Specs
Starting price: $499/£499
Screen size: 6.2-inch FHD OLED (1080 x 2340); 60Hz refresh rate
CPU: Snapdragon 765G
RAM: 6GB
Storage: 128GB
Rear cameras: 12MP primary (ƒ/1.vii ); 16MP ultra-wide (ƒ/2.2)
Front photographic camera: 8MP (ƒ/two.0)
Battery size: 3,885 mAh
Charging: 18W wired
Size: six.i x 2.9 10 0.iii inches (153.9 x 74 10 8.2 mm)
Weight: 5.9 ounces (168 grams)
The Google Pixel 4a 5G remains a practiced buy despite it now having been replaced by the Google Pixel 5a. Especially for U.K. customers where the 5a isn't currently sold.
While the basic Pixel 4a was for people who wanted the best photographic camera phone in the cheapest possible device; the Pixel 4a 5G aimed for people who want a competitively-priced photographic camera phone just as well 5G connectivity, meliorate performance and a larger brandish.
- Pixel 4a 5G vs. Pixel 4a: Which affordable phone is for you lot?
- The best 5G phones
In that location are a slew of other mid-range 5G phones which the Google Pixel 4a 5G goes toe-to-toe against — an LG Velvet here, a Milky way A71 5G there. And I recall it fares pretty well, as Google's expertise with mobile photography outweighs any concerns about the Pixel'due south subpar battery.
But in many ways, the real competitor to the Pixel 4a 5G are other Google phones. Aside from the Pixel 5a, the Pixel 5 shares much in common with its cheaper sibling — and then much so that ultimately, the Pixel 4a 5G gets the better of whatsoever comparison. If y'all desire a 5G phone from Google, and can't await for the Pixel 6 or can't go the Pixel 5a, the Pixel 4a 5G is the one to go.
Pixel 4a 5G review: Price and availability
There's i version of the Google Pixel 4a 5G — a 128GB model with 6GB of RAM — and it will toll yous $499/£499. That's $200/£200 cheaper than the Pixel 5 despite sharing many of the same components. You will pay $150/£150 more over the bones Pixel 4a though, which may strike some as a steep premium for 5G connectivity. The Pixel 4a 5G is only $20 more than than the starting price of the Pixel 3a XL, which doesn't work with 5G. (Run across how the latest Pixels compare to their predecessors in our Google Pixel 4a vs. Pixel 3a comparison.)
Google sells the phone unlocked, and you can also buy versions from the Google Store that are tied to Verizon and Google Fi. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon all stock the Pixel 4a 5G themselves too.
One note well-nigh the Pixel 4a 5G sold through Verizon — information technology costs $100 more than the standard $499 version. That'due south because information technology's designed to piece of work with Google's high-speed mmWave-based 5G towers that outperform 5G networks congenital on low- to mid-band spectrum. Verizon 5G features mmWave in 51 cities, while a nationwide network congenital on lower band spectrum launched in October. (You'll still go 5G with the Pixel 4a 5G without mmWave, but it merely be a footling bit faster than LTE.)
Pixel 4a 5G review: Design
The Pixel 4a 5G is a handsome phone, and at times, when it was sitting face-up on my desk-bound opposite of a Pixel 4 Xl, I had to do a double-take before I knew which phone to grab. That's non the example when the Pixel 4a 5G is flipped over — the dorsum is made from plastic, and information technology definitely looks it.
You may not get a fancy glass or metal frame to lend your telephone a impact of style, but the Pixel 4a 5G is nevertheless comfortable to hold. Fifty-fifty with a six.2-inch screen, it'south fairly lightweight at just five.9 ounces (168 grams). The fancier-looking LG Velvet tips the scales at 6.3 ounces, and if you like easier-to-carry handsets, the Pixel 4a 5G's lighter weight makes a world of difference.
The edges on the Pixel 4a 5G are fairly plain, with the power push button (in a contrasting white on the Merely Blackness version of the phone) and volume rocker on the right side. The height contains a headphone jack, which is good news for people still using wired headphones and earphones.
On the back of the phone, a little flake southeast of the rear camera assortment, Google included a fingerprint sensor. The location seems a little high up for my gustation, as I sometimes had trouble locating the sensor. Peradventure that explains why it occasionally took me a couple of tries to unlock the Pixel 4a 5G, especially when I was holding it with my correct manus.
Purchase the Google Pixel 4a 5G from the Google Shop, and you tin only pick the Only Blackness option. That's as well the only color offered to U.K. buyers. Verizon currently gives you lot a choice between blackness and white, which aren't exactly the most vibrant colour decisions y'all'll always be asked to make.
Pixel 4a 5G review: Display
Like the Pixel 4a and Pixel 5, the Pixel 4a 5G uses an AMOLED brandish with an FHD resolution, and a punch-hole notch for the forepart camera in the top left corner. At 6.two inches across, the Pixel 4a 5G is the largest of the 2020 Pixel line-upward, chirapsia the 5.viii-inch Pixel 4a and half-dozen-inch Pixel 5.
The brandish is one of the biggest trade-offs yous'll make when you choose betwixt the Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5. Information technology'due south not that the more expensive Pixel has a more colorful screen — it covers 128.viii% of the sRGB color spectrum, compared to 128.3% by the Pixel 4a 5G. Rather, the Pixel v offers a 90Hz refresh rate that can make scrolling smoother and other content more immersive. The Pixel 4a 5G goes with a more than conventional 60Hz rate.
Set up the two phones side by side and you'll notice a difference. A phone with a faster-refreshing display offers a better experience overall. I'm not sure it's $200 worth of difference, though, and unless you're downgrading from a phone that already offered a fast-refreshing screen, you're not likely to be bothered by its absenteeism on the Pixel 4a 5G.
The Pixel 4a 5G'south screen is colorful enough, though the LG Velvet captures more of the sRGB color spectrum at 140.six%. Colors are merely as accurate on both phones, though, as they take equal Delta-E rating of 0.three. That's about equal to the Pixel 4a's 0.29 rating, merely behind the iPhone SE and its 0.2 score. (Numbers closer to zero are better.)
1 of my biggest complaints with terminal year's Pixel 3a lineup was the dim screen Google used on its upkeep phone. Things accept improved with the Pixel 4a 5G, which can reach a maximum brightness of 638 nits when you've got Adaptive Brightness turned on. That's non as skilful as the Pixel 4a'southward 681-nit rating, but in line with the iPhone SE's 625 nits. Information technology'south also alee of mid-tier 5G phones like the LG Velvet (567 nits), Motorola Edge (558 nits) and Galaxy A71 5G (481 nits).
Just make sure y'all have Adaptive Brightness enabled when you go outside. Otherwise, effulgence tops out at 411 nits for the Pixel 4a 5G, and the glossiness of the display can brand it very hard to make out details in the bright dominicus. I had to squint when watching Hail, Caesar! on Netflix or playing PUBG Mobile to get the full picture of what I was looking at when outdoors.
Indoors, I found the Pixel 4a 5G's brandish nice and colorful, whether information technology as Channing Tatum's clean dress whites from a Hail, Caesar! musical or the green wallpaper in the bar where he was dancing. The YouTube trailer for Stardust besides reflected the muted '70s colors as well as Johnny Flynn's transformation from David Bowie to the magenta-haired Ziggy Stardust.
Pixel 4a 5G review: Cameras
While Pixel 4a owners make practice with a single rear camera, the Google Pixel 4a 5G gets the same set of sensors as the Pixel 5 — a 12MP master lens along with a 16MP ultrawide shooter. Google's elevation computational photography is along for the ride, as well.
Those cameras are probably the best thing virtually the Pixel v, and the same can exist said here. Even better, you're paying $200 less for photos that look only as proficient every bit the ones captured by Google's flagship.
The Pixel 4a 5G does a solid job capturing this photo of some breakfast tacos, fifty-fifty with some unforgiving light streaming in from a kitchen window to the right of the shot. The colors are accurate — from the bright carmine peppers to the dollop of sour cream. I also like how the Pixel kept everything in focus, even the taco in the groundwork.
That same taco doesn't expect as abrupt in the LG Velvet's photo and the colors seem to accept an overly yellowish cast to them. The differences are pocket-size merely they're enough to divide a decent midtier camera phone similar the Velvet from a superior i like the Pixel 4a 5G.
That'due south non to say the Pixel 4a 5G nails every shot. At that place's zip actually incorrect with this scene of a foggy Santa Cruz cliffside, though I think the LG Velvet does a better job overall depicting the fog in the shot, particularly every bit it wraps around the trees in the far background. The Velvet's photo shows a more detailed texture for the tree body in the left foreground of the shot, while that same tree looks much darker in the Pixel's shot.
That said, the Pixel 4a 5G more than successfully handles the sunlight breaking through the fog and backlighting the tree on the correct-mitt side of the photo. You have a fiddling over-exposure in the LG Velvet's prototype.
How does the Pixel 4a 5G fare confronting beefier contest? To discover out, I used Google's phone and an iPhone 11 Pro Max to shoot a picture of my favorite surfer. You'd really be hard-pressed to say which photo came from which phone, though if you study the details, the iPhone xi Pro Max did a better job highlighting the patches of blue in an otherwise foggy sky. However, you wouldn't await at those two photos and run across $600 worth of departure, peculiarly in the manner the Pixel 4a 5G matches the iPhone'due south ability to capture the surfer's reflection on the water of the tide pool.
Speaking of tide pools, I used last year's Google flagship — the Pixel iv Twoscore — to shoot a picture of a tide pool to run into just how much the Pixel 4a 5G could replicate its more expensive predecessor. And I recall these pictures come up as close to being a perfect lucifer as possible. Both pick up the details of mussels clinging to the surrounding rocks and you can run across a adequately detailed outline of a ocean anemone just underneath the surface of the water. If yous want a flagship-quality camera without the accompanying price, the Pixel 4a 5G is equally close every bit you're going to get.
I'g too impressed by how the Pixel 4a 5G makes the about of Google'south prowess with ciphering photography. The Night Sight feature on the Pixel 4a 5G produces photos as sharp as whatsoever Pixel phone and tin can go toe-to-toe with the low-lite photo manner of handsets like the iPhone xi Pro Max.
You could argue that the Pixel 4a 5G better captures some of the nuances of the flowers in this movie of Halloween decorations, though I think the iPhone does a meliorate task with the shading on the skull to the correct of the flowers, not to mention the groundwork lighting. Still, this Pixel 4a 5G low-calorie-free shot is ameliorate than anything produced past a sub-$500 telephone should be.
I call up the Pixel 4a 5G also does a credible job with portrait shots, at least determining where the background ends and the subject field begins. The outline of my daughter is very distinct in the Pixel 4a 5G's photo, unlike with the iPhone 11 Pro Max where some of her hair and a little halo around her left should get caught upward in the blur.
I likewise prefer that the Pixel 4a 5G'due south shot includes more of the background, though that tin be a personal preference. Where the iPhone excels is skin tone — you can still encounter my daughter'south freckles, while the Pixel over smoothes her face. (This happens a lot with Google phones.) And I just think the mistiness on the iPhone's shot looks a trivial more natural and less figurer-generated.
Turning back to a phone in the Pixel 4a 5G'south toll class, we see how much better its 8MP front camera can handle selfies than the front shooter on the LG Velvet. My face looks hearty and healthy in the Pixel's shot. Perchance my skin'southward a footling too smoothen, only it'southward a very skilful shot with counterbalanced colors and lighting. The Velvet makes me look as if I've seen a ghost, draining all the color from my confront and making me await slightly over-exposed.
Google Pixel 4a 5G: Performance
We discover more similarities between the Google Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5 when information technology comes to their processors. Both employ a Snapdragon 765G, which isn't the most powerful chip y'all'll detect in this twelvemonth'southward all-time Android phones. But it is a processor favored by phone makers who want to offer 5G-ready devices — the Snapdragon 765G includes a built-in 5G modem — merely don't want their phones to cost as much as the priciest flagships. The LG Velvet also uses the Snapdragon 765G, while the Galaxy A71 and Motorola Edge use a slightly lower-powered Snapdragon 765.
On Geekbench 5, which measures overall performance, the Pixel 4a 5G had the worst multicore score of any of those Snapdragon 765/765G-powered phones, posting a upshot of 1,614. That wasn't far off the Pixel 5's ane,617 outcome, only the A71 (1,796), Motorola Edge (1,867) and LG Velvet (i,927) finished well alee of that mark. The Motorola and LG phones have the same amount of RAM every bit the Pixel 4a 5G, so that doesn't actually explain the deviation in scores.
In graphics testing, the Pixel 4a 5G also trailed the rest of the field, scoring a two,885 in 3DMark'south SlingShot OpenGL test, compared to 4,644 for the LG Velvet and iv,237 for the Motorola Border. On a newer 3DMark graphic examination, Wild Life Unlimited, the Pixel 4a 5G at least edged the Pixel 5, with a score of i,199 (vii frames per 2d) to the Pixel 5's 1,160 (also 7 fps). The LG Velvet outperformed both phones with a score of 1,680 (x fps).
Ultimately, this probably won't affect users who plow to their phone to run basic apps similar social media, e-mail and web browsing. I even plant that demanding games like PUBG Mobile run just fine on the Pixel 4a 5G, even if I've seen sharper-looking graphics on more powerful phones. It'due south just a petty disappointing that the Pixel 4a 5G appears to be at the back of the class for Snapdragon 765G-powered devices.
Pixel 4a 5G review: 5G connectivity
That alphabetic character and number at the end of the Pixel 4a 5G proper name tells you all you need to know about what networks this phone connects to. Like the Pixel 5, the Google Pixel 4a 5G works with the emerging 5G networking standard.
U.S. customers can either connect to sub-6GHz networks similar the kind favored by AT&T, T-Mobile and now Verizon for their nationwide coverage. High-speed networks similar Verizon'southward mmWave-based Ultra Wideband network require a unlike model that's a little thicker and heavier to make up for the extra antennas — and more expensive, as we mentioned. Otherwise, information technology's the same every bit the standard Pixel 4a 5G. (In the U.K. Google just sells a sub-6GHz version of the telephone, which makes sense since it'southward the only kind of 5G available in the country.)
You may have heard virtually 1 Gbps speeds with 5G, merely temper your expectations. At this indicate, the most widespread form of 5G is just a petty bit faster than the LTE you're used to. Using a T-Mobile SIM on the Pixel 4a 5G, I can connect to T-Mobile 5G, only I only get 25 Mbps download speeds, which is a hair or two better than T-Mobile LTE in my area.
Such modest speed gains — for sub-6GHz 5G anyhow — may make you wonder if y'all're improve off getting the cheaper Pixel 4a and its LTE-but connectivity. That depends on how long you lot program to hold on to your phone. 5G performance is going to better, and if you've already picked up a 5G phone like the Pixel 4a 5G, you'll do good from that improvement over time.
Pixel 4a 5G review: Bombardment life and charging
Yous become 3,855 mAh of battery capacity with the Pixel 4a 5G, which is quite a lot more the Pixel 4a (3,140 mAh) and a picayune less than the Pixel v (iv,080 mAh). That should exist plenty to keep the Pixel 4a 5G powered up, but 5G tin be a demanding connectivity standard.
The Pixel 4a 5G didn't fare very well in our battery examination, in which we set up the phone'due south display to 150 nits of effulgence and have it surf the web over cellular — in this example, T-Mobile'due south 5G — until information technology runs out of power. The Pixel 4a 5G averaged eight hours and 12 minutes on our exam, which is well below the average for smartphones. It's also not in line with similarly priced 5G phones, as the LG Velvet lasted 10:29 and the Galaxy A71 5G fared fifty-fifty amend at 10:49.
To exist fair, the Pixel 4a 5G held up well in daily use, as I was often able to make it through a twenty-four hour period of gaming, video watching and surfing without needing to recharge the battery. We'll continue to investigate why the Pixel 4a 5G fared so poorly on our bombardment test, though it'south worth noting other contempo 5G phones did not have the same trouble.
To help with longevity, Google uses adaptive battery software to analyze how best to manage the apps and processes going on in the Pixel 4a 5G'south circuitry. It promises to prioritize powering the features you're actually using and reduce the drain from your lesser-used apps, therefore eking out the near from the battery. This isn't something you're likely to observe working the moment you begin using your Pixel, as some time is required to "learn" your habits, though it could extend endurance down the line.
Google too boasts that the Pixel 4a 5G tin can utilize its Extreme Battery Saver manner to concluding upwards to ii days before needing to charge again. You lot're unlikely to need this most of the fourth dimension, simply it could certainly exist handy if you need to stretch out the power you lot have left.
The Pixel 4a 5G charges up somewhat apace, thanks to 18W charging. In 15 minutes, you tin charge the telephone up to 23%, and 46% in half an 60 minutes. That'due south well ahead of the iPhone SE, which only got up to 29% after thirty minutes with its 5W charger. The LG Velvet was a slowpoke, too, only reaching 24% in half-an-hour.
One affair you lot tin't do with the Pixel 4a 5G is accuse the telephone wirelessly. That'southward a feature that didn't make it over from the more expensive Pixel five.
Pixel 4a 5G review: Software
Early admission to the latest version of Android used to be the Pixel's sectional calling card, and while y'all'll find Android 11 on the Pixel 4a 5G, it'south not a unique proffer anymore. The OnePlus 8T besides ships with Android 11 pre-installed. At least Pixel owners can count on Android updates reaching their phones as before long equally they're available.
Android 11 introduces some prissy improvements — even long-time iPhone users will appreciate the snap of changing apps and swiping between home screens. Google likewise offers some special features you won't detect in Android 11 on other phones. For instance, suggested apps volition now appear just in a higher place the search bar based on contextual clues and AI.
Like Google's previous phones, the Pixel 4a 5G also has call screening to fend off robocallers and the excellent Recorder app with its genius automated transcription. Recorder adds handy new editing features that lets you trim an audio file past highlighting text in the transcript and chopping it out. Another Recorder feature lets you share a video of your recording, transcript and all.
Like the Pixel 5, the Pixel 4a 5G adds Google's new Hold for Me feature (though, you do have to enable it by going into the setting of the telephone app and turning Hold for Me on). With Hold for Me, when you lot're placed on hold, you can task the Google Assistant to listen to that horrible agree music on your behalf, alerting you lot when a human being operator is on the line to talk to you.
Google Pixel 4a 5G review: Verdict
The Google Pixel 4a 5G hits the market at a fourth dimension when other similarly priced 5G phones have go the dominion rather than the exception. And while other 5G phones certainly deliver better battery life and a trivial more processing oomph than the Pixel 4a 5G, Google'south phone provides something those phones tin can't offer — a camera that produces pictures to rival what more expensive flagship phones are capable of.
In fact, after conducting this Google Pixel 4a 5G review, I tin can't aid but experience that it's not the likes of the LG Velvet or Galaxy A71 5G or whatever 1 of a number of mid-range handsets that this phone is competing against. Rather, the Pixel 4a 5G'southward biggest competitor appears to be the Pixel five.
On that front, the Pixel 4a 5G holds up very well. It doesn't have the 90Hz refresh rate that the Pixel v offers nor the IP68 water resistance. Just at $200 less, you're getting an fantabulous photographic camera, 5G connectivity and no real trade-off in terms of overall operation. Google at present offers two 5G-ready devices between the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G. And it'due south clear to me that the Pixel 4a 5G is the amend purchase.
Richard Priday contributed to an before easily-on with the Google Pixel 4a 5G.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/google-pixel-4a-5g-review-the-best-5g-phone-value
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