On Monday, Google announced the release of three smartphones, the Pixel 4A 5G, Pixel 5 and Pixel 4A. The latter can already be pre-ordered and there is a lot of talk about it in newspapers and specialized sites due to the rather competitive price – 389 euros – that Google has managed to keep low despite the Pixel 4A's performance being high-end smartphones: Dieter Bohn of The Verge claims to prefer it to the Pixel 4 which costs 759 euros, while Wired wrote that “the perfect phone does not exist, but the Pixel 4A is very, very close”.
The price One of the main strengths of the Pixel 4A and the reason it has attracted so much attention is the price: it costs ten euros less than the old Pixel 3A and more than a hundred euros less than the iPhone SE, Apple's direct competitor smartphone. of 4A. According to Bohn, it's important to keep the price in mind, because “it makes the many advantages of the Pixel 4A, such as its high-end camera, even more remarkable.”
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Brian X. Chen of the New York Times tried the Pixel 4A and wrote that the reason why the price is so low is related to the lack of what he called “frills”, for example the system to unlock the phone with recognition. facial and the one for wireless charging, elements that in high-end smartphones raise the price a lot.
How it's done The outward appearance of the Pixel 4A is also essential and unadorned: “no frills, no sophistication, simply an easy-to-grip phone with no embellishment,” wrote Bohn. The screen is of the OLED type, which is a rarity for smartphones that cost less than 400 euros: to be clear, it is the same technology as the screens of the iPhone X and XS. The outer shell is made of fairly sturdy plastic, available only in black.
The camera All the reviews agree that this is the Pixel 4A's strong point: the camera is 12 megapixel and has both portrait mode and “night” mode, which improves shots in low light by making the elements stand out. even without flash. According to Bohn what makes the Pixel 4A's camera special is the software rather than the camera itself, which is the same one that mounts the Pixel 3: Bohn used and compared it to that of the more expensive Pixel 4, concluding that it is practically impossible to distinguish the photos taken by the two devices.
Julian Chokkattu of Wired believes that the Pixel 4A takes great photos in any conditions: with daylight they are not too saturated or with too much contrast, while its “night” mode, according to Chokkattu, is able to beat the camera of the Samsung. Galaxy S20 (which costs more than double the Pixel 4A).
Among the camera modes there is also what is called “Astrophotography”, designed for taking highly detailed photos of the starry sky. Chokkattu, trying it, managed to photograph some stars even in the New York sky, where there is enormous light pollution.
The Pixel 4A's camera, however, isn't perfect: when it comes to shooting videos it's not as good as it is when taking pictures. According to most of the reviews it is not just a defect of the Pixel 4A but of all Google smartphones.
Battery The battery life of the Pixel 4A is in line with that of other smartphones. Chen in the New York Times writes that it depends a lot on how it is used: he tried it on working days, sending emails and messages, and at the end of the day he had about 30 percent of remaining battery left. During the weekend, however, when he had more free time and used his phone more intensively, he ran out of battery in a few hours.
According to Wired, those who use the smartphone little can arrive until the morning of the next day, but those who use it conspicuously will have to charge it every day. To write the review on Wired, Chokkattu used it incessantly from 7.30am, watching videos, playing and browsing – he had to charge it around 11am.
Power The Pixel 4A has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G processor, that is the one usually mounted on mid-range smartphones. Some of the less enthusiastic reviews like Bohn's point to this as one of the Pixel 4A's weaknesses. In particular, comparing it to the iPhone SE, Bohn wrote that while Apple was able to afford to mount the more powerful processor even on its least expensive model, Google had to settle for a less powerful processor.
The problem is not so much in daily use, where the Pixel 4A remains fast enough, as in the longevity of the product which depends on the power of the processor and its ability to work with future software updates. In any case, Google has promised that the Pixel 4A will have updates for at least three years.
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